Embracing messiness, discomfort, and ambiguity A big thing that often gets in the way of embarking on change work – like reimagining how nonprofit organizations think about and do governance – is the sheer messiness of it all. Discomfort, or even dread, is common when we confront change or try something new. Add in a sense of ambiguity about how things may unfold, along with...
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Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) took effect on October 19, 2021. Nonprofits who are subject to ONCA have until October 18, 2024 to transition to the new rules.
When it comes to nonprofit governance, we need to be visionary. These are complex times that are shrinking or stretching resources, challenging organizations to do things differently, and presenting opportunities for innovation. Nonprofit leaders are beginning to see that the governance of organizations sits within a larger context of equity, power, and the future of the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit governance is not consistently meeting the...
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Systemic racism exists in Ontario. This is unacceptable and this must change. The Ontario Nonprofit Network stands in solidarity with our Black, Indigenous and People of Colour colleagues and community members, and their loved ones. ONN acknowledges the devastating impacts of recent events and the deepened grief and trauma on Black communities. ONN is committed to addressing anti-Black racism in a meaningful way and doing...
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Our Annual General Meeting usually takes place at a lunch plenary as part of our annual National Conference on Strategic Philanthropy. In March this year, it became clear that due to COVID-19 we would be unable to gather our members together in Regina in April. Following the flurry of dealing with the cancellation, and all that it brought to our small team, we turned our...
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There is a lot of pressure on community benefit organizations to be more “business like”. Some of this “business like” behaviour is really code for “be more competitive”, including approaches to labour force costs. On the surface, with governments looking for efficiencies and value for money, with donors and volunteers experiencing “fatigue” and with the “culture of can’t” looming large, it does seem that being...
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