Back to the blog

After several months away it’s time to get back to blogging – it’s not that I’ve been lazy or disengaged, just distracted by other things. Here’s a summary of what I’ve been up to since (gulp) my last post in February.
In late May, I was the conference program co-chair of the Association for Nonprofit and [...]

The Janus Face of the Financial Crisis

There is a temptation when crises hit to turn inward: marshal the troops, focus on the immediate needs of your organization or sector and weather the storm. This applies whether the crisis is localized (e.g. accusations of malfeasance) or more global in context — major natural disasters, massive outbreaks of food borne-illness or disease, and [...]

The market meltdown and voluntary sector: News media beginning to take notice

In a previous post I criticized Canadian news media, key government departments and leading non-profit organizations for lagging in their reporting and public commentary about the impacts of the global economic slowdown on the voluntary sector. Although not all have begun to speak publicly, kudos to those that have done so. Among news media, the [...]

Silence in Canada as International Charities Feel Market Crunch

In June 2008, Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), a London, UK-based international development charity, issued a media statement urging City employees to “swap their six figure salaries” for voluntary work in the developing world. Citing looming prospects about labour market uncertainty, VSO argued that volunteering in the poorest parts of the world will deliver more than just a [...]