We are coming to the end of October. The Dollarama is already selling Christmas decorations. Before you know it, Starbucks will be brewing their Christmas blend and pumping out holiday carols. This is the time of year when all charities ramp up their solicitation and bring in most of their donations. People, including your own staff, are busier at work and in their personal lives. Companies and charities are seizing every opportunity to pull at

Peer-to-peer fundraising has been growing in popularity for decades. CIBC's Run for the Cure is a volunteer-driven, single day event that involves nearly 100,000 participants and raises about $17 million a year towards breast cancer research. It takes place in various communities across Canada. The Heart and Stroke Foundation's Jump Rope For Heart encourages schools all over the country to join their skip-a-thon and raise money for research that prevents heart disease and stroke. There are many

It may seem like your congregation disappears into thin air during the summer months, especially in Canada, where the summer is short and the draw of cottages and camping feels impossible to ignore. But people’s faith doesn’t go on hold between May and October. In fact, for an environmentalist like myself, the summer presents an incredible time to nourish my spirit. Thanks to the abundance of communication tools at our disposal, churches can be a

1. See problems; create solutions Successful start-ups create a solution or a better way of doing things for a targeted audience. They take an idea, build a vision and put it into action. Faith-based organizations have been responding to needs in their community and providing solutions for centuries. That being said, times are changing; the needs are different and yet many churches are offering the same-old types of ministry. The best way to find out

by Marlie Whittle If this thought has ever crossed your mind, then keep reading. There are many reasons why a financial campaign can be an extremely stressful time for your organization. When we treat a campaign as a response to a crisis, it is deflating and exhausting and rarely yields positive results. In all this, we tend not to think about why or how we got in to this crisis in the first place.  The

M & M International has five core values that drive the decisions we make and the work we do: Client-focused Adaptable Faithful Professionally Supportive Environmentally Committed These values distinguish M & M International from other consulting firms working with nonprofit organizations. Over the last few years, we have developed a stronger commitment to conduct our business in an ecologically sustainable way. What does ‘Environmentally Committed’ mean to us? For many years our commitment to reducing

by Marlie Whittle “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” – Dalai Lama Fundraising is about creating or strengthening the relationship between a person and the mission of an organization. This connection is created when the people closest to the cause, volunteers, staff, board members, those who receive the services or the donors, share their passion for the organization with excitement (or urgency) and authenticity. The

by Marlie Whittle We have all said it: “I’m just one person, what difference can I make?” There are two things that I would like you to consider next time you are inclined to utter some version of that sentence. First, if you don’t try, someone else will. Second, if you do try, you won’t be alone for long. In the sessions I attended at Toronto’s Association of Fundraising Professionals Congress 2017 recently, I