Perchance to engage: Imagine Canada's pan-Canadian engagement strategy
By Elisa Birnbaum
February 15, 2010
What does it take to get an incredibly diverse nonprofit sector working as a united force and talking collectively with one empowered voice? A whole heckuva lot but thanks to an unprecedented initiative by Imagine Canada, there is hope it can be done, that the seemingly impossible may, in fact, be possible.
Common discourse couldn’t come at a better time for a sector of more than 160,000, boasting about as many challenges. Whether matters of funding, financing, advocacy, human resources, or governance, the issues charities and nonprofits grapple with on a daily basis can be downright overwhelming, nevermind the “other” matter of running an organization. For these challenges to be dealt with effectively, a unified voice seems a logical route. But the common refrain among many is the sector is way too disparate, way too diverse to speak together. Perhaps so, but that won’t stop Imagine Canada from trying.
Let’s talk:
How to unite the nonprofit sector
The mission can probably be best summarized in Imagine Canada’s recent press release announcing the unique Pan-Canadian Engagement Strategy: “We are at a turning point,” it stated, “and the time is right to solidify our common ground.” Indeed. According to Brenda Cameron-Couch, director of community outreach, a number of factors aligned making it possible for this project to move forward. First was the arrival of Marcel Lauzière, Imagine Canada’s most recent president & CEO, with a brand-spanking-new strategic plan.
It identified three key roles for Imagine Canada: leader, facilitator, and enabler, the second of which remains at the heart of this initiative, though one could argue all three will play a part. The Agora Foundation, meanwhile, was looking for ways to contribute to the sector. And, lastly, was an overarching sensibility among Imagine Canada that the only way to take effective steps forward is through collaboration. And so, with the support from the Margery J. Warren Endowment of the Agora Foundation, the Pan-Canadian Engagement Strategy was born.
You want to do what?
Finding common ground and advancing nonprofit issues
The idea behind the strategy is three-fold. First is the creation of a platform to strengthen the collective voice of the sector and advance common issues. “As a sector at large, we haven’t done a good job at that,” says Cameron-Couch reflectively, explaining, “we often focus more on the differences of our sub-sectors.” Unfortunately, that reality has decreased the sector’s clout. Despite the sheer number of organizations and the voluntary workforce, Cameron-Couch rhetorically asks the age-old question: “Where are we on the radar?” As an example, she offers the recent government strategy for the H1N1 pandemic. Despite the obvious impact on charities and nonprofits and the roles they would have played should it have come to disaster levels, no mention was made of the sector. Rather than malicious, the omission can best be explained by a lack of influence.
And for those who say that diversity undermines that unified voice, Cameron-Couch points out to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Representing bigger companies on one end and mom-and-pop corner stores on the other, the group has still found common ground. Similarly, she says, “We believe there are common things that as a sector we can work on together too.”
Another objective of the strategy is to foster knowledge exchange and innovation to build capacity. Sharing should be encouraged, says Cameron-Couch. It’s not a question of replicating another organization’s hard work but about not re-inventing the wheel. The Pan-Canadian Engagement Strategy will also create and support linkages, networks, and partnerships to enhance our effectiveness as a sector. The goal is to support new ways of doing business. “It’s getting people to think about how they may work differently,” she offers.
But how?
Networking and social media in the nonprofit sector
Imagine Canada hopes to achieve its objectives in a few ways. One is through pan-Canadian symposiums held every two years in different cities across Canada, the first in 2011. The second is the use of provincial gatherings every second year, which will hopefully build momentum for the former. And the third is through the use of social media, an effective way of communicating and reaching those who may not be able to make it out to the provincial meetings.
"We can sit back as a sector and passively wait and see [what happens next] or we can try and come together and create our own future." |
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The first phase began last fall and involved community road shows across parts of Canada. With the help of well-connected people on the ground, Imagine Canada representatives engaged in community conversations with groups representing a variety of subsectors and sizes. The discourse had an overarching premise says Cameron-Couch, namely: “We can sit back as a sector and passively wait and see [what happens next] or we can try and come together and create our own future.”
The responses garnered during those meetings confirmed Imagine Canada was onto something. “We heard across the country that the sector needs to get their act together and the time is right to do that.” Cameron-Couch was particularly encouraged by the overall attitude of those filling the rooms. There was no “woe is me,” no search for handouts. People were talking from a place of strength, looking for ways to achieve results with their heads held high.
People were using different language, she adds. A young woman working for an arts group in Vancouver, for example, referred to her agency as a social profit, not a nonprofit or voluntary organization. What’s more, she claimed to be searching for investors, not donors, a distinction that may shock some but, “That’s part of this whole genesis,” says Cameron-Couch. When someone throws out a more provocative idea, it gives others something to think about it. “It’s very exhilarating.”
While talking about provoking thought, we should mention that Imagine Canada will be partnering with the Philanthropist, an online journal. The intent is to set the stage for further discussion and to produce articles on hot-button issues they’ve identified while speaking with the sector. “We’re hoping it will help get some ideas out there,” she explains. “There’s not a lot of that kind of writing done in the sector; we need to push boundaries of people thinking.”
Status update:
Provincial gatherings and training for nonprofits
The initiative has now entered the second phase: provincial gatherings. “This coming year we are trying to pull together events in each province,” confirms Cameron-Couch, adding she’s optimistic they’ll be scheduling meetings in the Canadian territories as well. It’s all part of their longer-term vision, of course. Information that comes out of working on issues at the provincial get-togethers will be fed back to the Pan-Canadian event in 2011, which will then be used as important fodder to be debated, developed and discussed at smaller, local events the year after.
Throughout, they hope to attract a mix of people representing organizations of various sizes, subsectors and geographical representations. It’s all about fostering important, collaborative, forward-moving conversation.
What’s more, in-depth workshops on different topics will be available for participants at provincial events as well. For instance, the HR Council will provide sessions on managing human resources, Canada Helps will offer a workshop on web 2.0, and Imagine Canada reps will speak about risk management.
In partners we trust: Partners and support for nonprofits
Which brings us to Imagine Canada’s partners. Provincial events, for example, are organized thanks to invaluable contacts on the ground. “We don’t have capacity to do that,” explains Cameron-Couch. “It’s critical that we have partners at that level.” More significantly, these partnerships underlie the very objective of the engagement strategy: collective efforts, the idea that not everything can be done by one organization. Other partners include the United Way in Saskatoon, Community Links in Nova Scotia, who will work with a network of other groups and, of course, the Philanthropist mentioned above. Some informal partnerships include an advisory committee with representation from Volunteer Canada, Canadian Conference of the Arts, community foundations, and the list goes on. “We’re trying to be as broad as we can,” says Cameron-Couch.
Communicate!
Nonprofit blogs, social media, and webinars
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In their attempt to engage, Imagine Canada will not only be making efforts to meet people face-to-face, they’ve also adopted social media initiatives. A new blog, for example, will help Cameron-Couch and others capture what they’ve heard on the ground and communicate those ideas to the virtual world.
The next phase will involve looking at tools like webcasts and webinars, with the ongoing objective to reach and move as many people as possible, especially those who may not have had a chance to attend provincial events.
Yet no matter how this unique initiative will reach individual organizations, the message will hopefully be clear throughout: look beyond your organization’s subsector, size, geographical boundaries and individual challenges to find the commonality that lies at the root of this sector as a whole. Then, let’s talk.
Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance journalist, producer and communications consultant living in Toronto. She is also president of Elle Communications and can be reached at: info@ellecommunications.ca.
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