EVCN - Blog

Ask@Endeavour - Social Entrepreneurship

Last week, we announced the launch of Ask@Endeavour, a new knowledge-sharing initiative that provides non-profit practitioners with an opportunity to connect with seasoned professionals and seek answers to real-life questions. Featured Guest This month, our theme is social entrepreneurship and we are featuring Dr. Ann Armstrong, Lecturer and ...

Ask@Endeavour - new knowledge-sharing initiative for non-profits

Endeavour is a community-driven organization. We strive to enable non-profits to improve and sustain their organizational impact. One of our 2012 strategic goals is to improve access to resources and expertise for other non-profit practitioners. This is why we are excited to announce a new knowledge-sharing ...

Making the Transition to the Nonprofit Sector

The opinions/views expressed by the author is theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or position of Endeavour. Author: George Oliver, President BGO Consulting and Endeavour Advisor I am often asked for my opinion and advice about making the transition from working in the private sector to working in the ...

Recommending Problems

A colleague described to me an epiphany she had about what it means to be a management consultant, reflecting on her more than ten year career in advisory services in the public sector: "We recommend problems”. What an insight! Most of us call this "framing the problem". But Recommend Problems ...

Mixing It Up!

Mixing It Up: Endeavour’s Summer Mixer on Diversity Author: Zahra Qureshi, Volunteer on Endeavour's Development Committee On August 4th, Endeavour held another successful mixer at the new ING Direct Centre in downtown Toronto. About 100 current and prospective enthusiastic volunteers came out for an evening of networking and great conversation. The ...

Non-Profit Myths: Unpacking the Misconceptions

I recently had a conversation with someone from the financial sector on my work in the non-profit sector. At one point I was asked how I could afford to spend so much of my time volunteering. I was confused; volunteering? Slowly the wheels started to turn; this individual did not ...

TO BE, OR NOT TO BE: Choosing Between “Not-for-Profit” or “Registered Charity” Status

By Nick G. Pasquino, Borden Ladner Gervais, LLP People often use the terms 'not-for-profit' and 'charity' interchangeably when describing organizations in the non-profit sector. In fact, from a legal perspective 'not-for-profit' and 'charity' mean very different things. The distinction between these legal concepts is misunderstood by many if not most people - likely because they come out ...

Reflections on Keynote in the Community

By Andrea Wong, President, Endeavour Recently, I had the honour of sharing my experiences of creating and growing Endeavour in a keynote speech at the 10th Vision Gala. The gala was in celebration of both the graduates of the Vision Youth Leadership Program, and the decade of contributions that ...

Profiling the Diversity and Talent of Endeavour Volunteers

By Lucy Dai, Director of Business Intelligence, Endeavour Endeavour welcomed its seventh round of volunteers in September. In this round, there are 35 volunteers serving on five consulting engagements. Out of the 35 volunteers, nine volunteers are returning engagement managers and consultants from prior rounds. Since Round 1 in Fall 2007, Endeavour ...

Hands-on Boards are the Norm in the Non-Profit Sector

George Oliver Advisor, Endeavour President, BGO Consulting Inc. It is a common assumption that the responsibilities of a non-profit board member are limited to attending meetings, sharing 'wisdom', evaluating the management and offering advice - that is not the case. The vast majority of non-profit boards are known as 'working boards', ...