 NEIGHBOURHOOD SMALL GRANTS
Help build connection and engagement in your community. WHAT ARE NEIGHBOURHOOD SMALL GRANTS (NSG)? The Neighbourhood Small Grants (NSG) program was created by Vancouver Foundation in 1999. The program is based on a simple but powerful idea: when people feel a sense of connection and belonging to their neighbourhood, they are more likely to be engaged in activities that make it a better place to live. When people are active in the life of their neighbourhood, our communities are strengthened from the ground up. The Connections and Engagement survey that Vancouver Foundation conducted in 2012 with 3,841 people from Metro Vancouver demonstrates the validity of this idea of connection and engagement well. NSG helps connect and engage residents in their community by encouraging them to come up with their own ideas for how their neighbourhood can be strengthened. Vancouver Foundation then funds those ideas. Small grants of up to $1,000 are available for projects initiated and undertaken by local residents. WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF NEIGHBOURHOOD SMALL GRANTS? Grants are given to projects that meet the following goals:
Neighbourhood Small Grants are available in 16 communities throughout Vancouver, the North Shore, Burnaby, North Surrey and New Westminster through our 10 community partners. If you would like to get further information, please contact the NSG Program Coordinator for your area. The Able Altruist, February 10, 2014 by Janna Finch Nonprofit fundraising is hard. And getting donors to donate more than once isn’t easy, either. The Urban Institute found that overall donor retention rates fell to 41.5 percent in 2010-11, down from 49.6 percent in 2004-05. Asking for donations from people who have already contributed to your cause costs less than soliciting new donors—so it’s important to implement strategies that facilitate repeat donations. Software Advice conducted a survey study which found that proving your mission’s success through impact stories and a little old-fashioned direct mail can go a long way towards encouraging donors to give again. The report surveyed 2,833 people who donate to nonprofits to find out what motivates them to give more than once. Here, we explain the most effective ways to persuade people to donate again. Key Findings
Donors Want Impact Stories We asked donors what types of updates they want to receive from the nonprofits they contribute to. The results underscore what we expected: a nonprofit’s level of success is a major factor in a donor’s decision to give again. Impact stories are a great way to show the good your organization is doing and proves to donors their gifts are being put to good use. READ MORE Software Advice Website 2nd Story maps personal stories onto community landmarks. Created by The Only Animal with PHS Community Services, 2nd Story shares your stories online, in galleries, and through the augmented reality application Ghostlight.
READ MORE  OuiShare Fest 14 will explore “The Age of Communities”. Connected by shared values, knowledge, resources or by digital and physical spaces, communities are transforming cities, organizations and civic action everywhere in the world.
They are driving movements such as collaborative consumption, open source, makers and fablabs, coworking, crowdfunding, alternative currencies and more. How do these pieces fit together? What is the bigger picture? At this year’s OuiShare Fest, entrepreneurs and social innovators, non-profit and business leaders, grassroots activists and public officials will gather in one place to build a common vision of a collaborative society. If you are ready for a unique experience which will produce knowledge, accelerate projects and foster new collaborations, then join us in Paris from May 5 -7. READ MORE 
March 29, 2014 by Maggie Clegg
The Stratford Festival is celebrating a huge success under their new leadership. With Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and Executive Director Anita Gaffney at the helm, the 2013 season saw increased attendance and reduced expenses, resulting in a surplus of 1.4 million dollars. Ticket sales were strengthened by new programming and marketing initiatives, which included the Stratford Festival Forum, the Stratford Direct Bus, and incentives such as two-for-one Tuesdays, while demand for tickets led to the extension of five productions. In all, ticket sales were up by 11 per cent or 50,000 patrons over the year before, the largest percentage increase since 1999. Revenue was up 5 per cent for a total of 57.1 million dollars, while expenses were slashed by 3.5 per cent thanks to an extremely effective cost management strategy. Also at the Annual General Meeting, Cimolino and Gaffney announced Stratford@Play, the Festival’s film project which will see the capture of an estimated three productions each season. They can then be distributed through cinemas, television, on-demand, and on DVD. The films will also be made available to schools and will be accompanied by digital study guides. The 2014 season of the Stratford Festival will run from April 21 to October 12. THE CONVERSATION, 18 March 2014
C.P. Snow’s pessimistic view of “two cultures” – the arts and the sciences at war with each other, glowering across no man’s land, entrenched in their embattled fortress of true expression (as each saw it) was a nihilistic prospect indeed. Fortunately, this view couldn’t be more wrong – wrong then, in 1956, and even further from the truth today. Never have the arts and the sciences had so much cause to celebrate what they have in common and never has the opportunity for theatre particularly to engage with scientists, and with the scientific process itself, been higher. Cambridge Science Festival, for example, are hosting a number of theatrical performances that cover topics such as immortality, computer hacking, melancholy and Albert Einstein. In my opinion (I speak as a scientist), a critical reason for this bridging of the “void” is that academic scientists in particular are increasingly speaking directly to an audience beyond their peers. Although “popular” scientists have always been with us, the scientific lecture as “performance” has become the norm in the age of university expansion. Audiences for a typical undergraduate lecture can top several hundred, enough to fill a medium-sized theatre, and many scientists, having honed their skills before 300 biology majors, have graduated from the lecture theatre to the theatre proper, trying their hand at stand-up comedy, or in directing or writing for the stage, as Jonathan Miller has done. READ MORE Calgary Herald, March 26, 2014
Home to the first city in Canada to launch and operate a community sourced funding platform, InvestYYC (www.investyyc.com) is ensuring that a sustainable culture of citizen engagement and participation is hardwired into its a vibrant, dynamic and growing arts cultural scene. Launched in November 2012, InvestYYC has already raised more than $600,000 through donations for approximately 50 projects ranging from dance productions, to video and new media installations. According to Emiko Muraki, Director, Impact & Engagement of Calgary Arts Development, the not-for-profit organization responsible for administering the platform, projects on the platform have achieved a 97% funding rate. While InvestYYC’s ability to leverage the community has been the key to its funding success, it’s also rooted in the platforms origins. In 2012, the city was designated Cultural Capital of Canada title along with the Niagara region in southern Ontario. In a pivotal development, Calgary 2012 launched a website to crowd source bid ideas and of the 5,000 voices assembled, one of the ideas that quickly emerged was to leverage the one-time infusion of capital by building a sustainable fundraising tool for artists and arts organizations to broaden audiences and donor communities. “There’s long term resonance. Champions of culture are bonded with the arts environment,” says Karen Ball, former Chair of Calgary 2012. READ MORE Website Strategy | by Alex McLain | March 26, 2014
Navigation is one of the most import building blocks to your nonprofit’s website. It’s one of the first items users see on your site, and it is the system that leads to all of your content. So, it stands to reason that your navigation needs to be as functional as possible. Now for the tricky part; there are about a million ways to tackle your site’s navigation. Do you have a lot of content, or only a little bit? Should your navigation be on the top or over to the side? What’s right for your site? First and foremost, you need to organize and categorize your site content. This will help your navigation be clean, clear, and free from clutter. A navigation system is the road map through your site. If confusing, users can get lost, frustrated with their experience, and ultimately leave before engaging with any of the important information you have to offer. Primary v. Secondary NavigationThe contents of primary and secondary navigation differ from site to site. What might be considered primary on one site, could be secondary on another. This varies depending on what information each organization deems most important, and can be a daunting task for larger, more complex sites. How do you decide what information goes where? Primary Navigation refers to the content that users are most interested in, and usually holds the most prominent real estate. For your nonprofit, primary navigation could be links like About Us, Mission, Services, Blog, Volunteer Opportunities, or Donate. Secondary Navigation then refers to the content of secondary interest to users. Secondary navigation also usually holds a prominent spot on the site. Items like log-in or register links, and social media icons are found in the secondary navigation. Even links to a shop, various resources, or a call to request more information about your organization can be found in the secondary navigation. READ MORE  Spring has Sprung & the 2nd Annual PHTheatre Auction has begun!We invite you to visit our Online Auction home page to browse and bid.
There is something for everyone with house concerts, jewelry or even a Date with Jay Brazeau! Browse & Bid here: www.pht.charity-auctions.ca Auction closes on March 30 and please note closing times on the items. |
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Canopy Arts Desk 
Tammy Hampel (Isaacson)
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