Dear Stakeholder:
On June 12, 2007 the Community Spirit Program Consultation Process was launched. This email is a reminder for you to complete the online questionnaire before July 31, 2007. The News Release and accompanying questionnaire can be found on the Community Spirit website – www.communityspiritprogram.ca.
Please complete the workbook/questionnaire online or in a printed format. Please share information about this consultative process with others who might be interested in providing their comments regarding a proposed Community Spirit Program.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this important process.
Project Team
Community Spirit Program
Showing posts with label spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spirit. Show all posts
Friday, July 13, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Womb to Tomb
It never ceases to surprise me when I encounter someone in my daily walk or while doing a presentation on child hunger who says something like ” if something is truly important, then government should be doing it and that discharges my duty to privately help others”. I admit that I have embelished the language but this is the sentiment. I can usually explain my position that macro systemic programs don’t solve issues, they at best mitigate and at worst perpetuate the problem. My assumption is that there aren’t a lot of people like this but Arthur C. Brooks “Who Cares: America’s Charity Divide — Who Gives, Who Doesn’t, and Why it Matters” offers a different insight about Canada.
This nanny state mentality has crossed into our philanthropy. In general we are very stingy. Americans give US$900 per person to charitable causes each year, while in Canada, the average is $400. In Quebec, the average is $176, the lowest amount of any province or territory.
I was at a meeting of government and sector leaders last month where many were bemoaning the lack of a private donor culture in our country. I blasphemed when I suggested ” that is our problem, not the donors”. The response was ” the government will/should make up the shortfall”.
In Alberta, the government announced in the throne speech a new initiative called the Community Spirit program where the Alberta charitable tax credit will be increased and a system of matching individual donations will be funded by budgetary surpluses. This type of encouragement will do a lot more build a private donor culture than the entitlement mentality that seems to be pervading society and the sector.
This nanny state mentality has crossed into our philanthropy. In general we are very stingy. Americans give US$900 per person to charitable causes each year, while in Canada, the average is $400. In Quebec, the average is $176, the lowest amount of any province or territory.
I was at a meeting of government and sector leaders last month where many were bemoaning the lack of a private donor culture in our country. I blasphemed when I suggested ” that is our problem, not the donors”. The response was ” the government will/should make up the shortfall”.
In Alberta, the government announced in the throne speech a new initiative called the Community Spirit program where the Alberta charitable tax credit will be increased and a system of matching individual donations will be funded by budgetary surpluses. This type of encouragement will do a lot more build a private donor culture than the entitlement mentality that seems to be pervading society and the sector.
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