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Tel: 416.581.1530 goldie@thegoldiecompany.com thegoldiecompany.com

The Goldie Newsletter: Vigilance, Hope and Sustainability

Issue 3, Fall 2015

As many of my colleagues often say, fundraising is about people.

While we’re committed to our donors and volunteers, though, we

fundraisers often neglect to cultivate ourselves and our peers.

According to the 1999 report Building on Strength: Improving Governance and Accountability in Canada’s Voluntary Sector, the attraction,

engagement, development and retention of talent

is one of the key success factors for Canada’s

charitable sector. Investment in people—including

ourselves, our staff, our boards—is critical.

At The Goldie Company, we’re committed to

raising the bar. We do this in a few ways: we support new professionals

and students (see Page 3), we encourage our clients to perform internal

reviews, and we engage in our own regular evaluation.

As a proud partner of the Canadian Nonprofit Employer Of Choice™

Awards (see Page 2), we’re also part of a movement that recognizes and

celebrates charities that have committed to become better managers

of human resources. This annual program also encourages sector-wide

adoption of best practices for talent management. It’s our hope that the

program will contribute to a healthy non-profit sector with a thriving and

dedicated talent base.

It is, after all, about the people.

PUTTING PEOPLE FIRSTBy George Stanois

Fundraising is about people.

A new awards program celebrates charities that are making strides in governance and talent management.

Humber College students Susan Barnes and Maggie Hutton receive scholarships that honour past professionals.

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page 2

page 3

Putting People First

Governing Well and Growing

Profile: Future Fundraisers

IN THIS ISSUE

A series that celebrates Canada’s first wave of fundraisers.

page 4

The Accidental Fundraiser: David Chambers

VIGILANCE, HOPE AND SUSTAINABILITY

The Goldie Newsletter: Vigilance, Hope and Sustainability2

Tel: 416.581.1530 goldie@thegoldiecompany.com thegoldiecompany.com

As part of a growing sector-wide movement to

address governance and talent management in

non-profits using best practices, Hilborn:ECS, in

collaboration with several partners, has developed

the Canadian Nonprofit Employer Of Choice™

(NEOC) Awards. Launched this year, the first and

only program of its kind in Canada intends to recog-

nize non-profit organizations that have committed

to become better managers of financial and human

resources.

“As service delivery is downloaded to non-profits,

we have to do more with less. At the same time, the

public demands better and more transparent prac-

tices. Our sector suffers when we lose the public’s

faith or lose good talent,” says Colleen Fleming,

chair of NEOC’s advisory board.

Colleen says the annual awards program will inspire

organizations to be creative about supporting good

governance and cultivating talent. “Simply complet-

ing the evaluation is a good exercise to raise aware-

ness within an organization and its board, which can

have a very positive impact,” she says.

The assessment process is similar to taking an

inventory, says Jeff Doran, a member of the NEOC

project team. “Through the collection of leader-

ship attributes, HR policies and procedures, and

employee opinion, a charity can learn what it is

doing well, and plan on how to make it better.

Detailed reporting helps to highlight the key areas

that will have the biggest impact on the organization.”

The program is also designed to establish a body

of knowledge to further advance and strengthen

non-profit employment practices. “As we collect and

assess data, we can help the sector to understand

the trends that will have a deep impact on culture,

engagement, and branding. Our long-term plan is to

be a valuable resource for the sector,” says Jeff.

After a successful first round of award submissions,

which closed on October 31, the project partners are

keen to see NEOC grow. “We want to see the non-

profit sector recognized for making positive steps,”

Colleen says. “Fostering best practices and continu-

ous improvement is what will allow our sector to

continue to do good work for years to come.”

Award recipients will be recognized at an

inaugural event in January 2016. To learn more

about the awards program, click here.

GOVERNING WELL AND GROWINGA new awards program celebrates charities that are making strides in governance and talent management.

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Tel: 416.581.1530 goldie@thegoldiecompany.com thegoldiecompany.com

The Goldie Newsletter: Vigilance, Hope and Sustainability

PROFILE: FUTURE FUNDRAISERS

Contributing to the cultivation of future fundraisers

is one of The Goldie Company’s top priorities. As

part of that commitment, we’ve established schol-

arships to honour the legacies of Kevin Allen and

Gordon Goldie, two fundraisers who contributed

significantly to the growth of the profession in Cana-

da. These scholarships support Humber College

students who are on their way to creating meaning-

ful change as fundraising professionals.

Future fundraisers Susan Barnes (L) and Maggie Hutton (R) are the recipients of the 2015 Gordon L. Goldie Memorial Scholarship and the Kevin Allen Scholarship for Student Excellence in Fundraising

Humber College students Susan Barnes and Maggie Hutton receive scholarships that honour past professionals.

We spoke with this year’s recipients to learn more

about their professional goals.

Before she started at Humber College, Susan

Barnes interned at a human rights non-profit and

worked for a Toronto women’s shelter. “These

immersive experiences—meeting the people who

work tirelessly for a vision and seeing their impact—

sparked my passion for fundraising,” she says. “When

I came across the Humber program, it became clear

that it would provide a life-changing learning oppor-

tunity and help me get ahead in my chosen career.”

Susan says the Goldie scholarship gave her the free-

dom to focus on her internship and get the most out

of the Humber experience as possible. Click here to

read Susan’s interview.

A zest for travel and a personal commitment to

volunteerism brought Maggie Hutton to Humber

College, where she recently completed her program.

“Volunteering has helped me realize that the

world outside our doors needs our help,” she says.

Maggie’s goal is to work in corporate community

relations. “It’s a difficult sector to enter and not

always the most common choice,” she says, “but I

really enjoy the work.” Click here to read Maggie’s

interview.

Are you interested in contributing to a future

fundraiser’s education? To learn more about

supporting these scholarships, click here.

Contributing to the cultivation of future fundraisers is one of The Goldie Company’s top priorities.

“ “

The Goldie Newsletter: Vigilance, Hope and Sustainability4

Tel: 416.581.1530 goldie@thegoldiecompany.com thegoldiecompany.com

THE ACCIDENTAL FUNDRAISER: DAVID CHAMBERSThe Accidental Fundraiser series celebrates Canada’s first wave of fundraisers—the trailblazers who defined the country’s non-profit sector and inspired many profes-sionals along the way. This issue: David Chambers.

David Chambers has sung in church, school and

community choirs all his life. In 1975, he brought

his love of singing to the tenor section of Hamilton,

Ontario’s Bach Elgar Choir. Not long after he joined,

a new conductor arrived, bringing big ideas. The

Choir’s new direction meant the group needed more

support. “They needed somebody to manage opera-

tions, so I took the role,” he says.

Securing financial support soon became the focus

of David’s job. He began learning by experience and

absorbing strategies from others. A few years later,

he made the conscious decision to pursue it as a

career path when he joined the Toronto Symphony

Orchestra (TSO) as its director of fundraising.

Despite the TSO’s size, he says, the fundamentals he

learned during his time with the choir were trans-

ferable. David stayed with the TSO through some

major shifts in the organization, including its historic

move from Massey Hall to Roy Thomson Hall.

After a few years, Gordon Goldie asked if David

would join his firm—and he did, starting with a

national program for the Canadian Red Cross. When

Gordon announced his retirement, David and other

partners made the decision to buy the company and

continue their work. For many years, David served

as president and senior partner, eventually inviting

George Stanois, the company’s current owner, to

the table as a partner.

In 2005, David joined Durham College and the

University of Ontario Institute of Technology as

director of fundraising. Eventually he became presi-

dent of the Durham College Foundation and associ-

ate vice-president of the Office of Development.

Under his leadership, the foundation has raised

$21 million over the last five years, primarily for

the renewal of the college’s Whitby campus. During

the same time, the Durham College Foundation’s

endowment fund has grown substantially—from $8

million in 2008 to $16 million in 2015.

As David prepares to retire from Durham College,

he looks back on his decision to choose fundraising

fondly. “What made me interested in the first place

still holds true,” he says. “I enjoy interacting with

people, determining their interests, and learning

about how they’d like to improve the human condi-

tion.” Fundraising also supports David’s fundamental

objective, which goes back to his days as a young

man in singing in church. “In all modesty, I wanted to

try to see what I could do to help people less

fortunate than myself and to make this world just a

little bit of a better place.”

This article is excerpted from a longer version.

For the full article, click here.

David Chambers

As a fundraiser, your job is to establish integrity and trust with people.

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— David Chambers