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The Current Scene in Canada

Canadians are often sensitive to the question of whether a vendor is exclusively focused on Canada or whether they have followed the siren song of that huge market to the south, the USA.

PRO (Prospect Research Online) was marketed right away to Americans as well as Canadians and the company seems to have won a degree of market share down there over the years. As a business, Rainforest Publications went public as IWAVE in 1999 and then back to a private company in 2005.  Over time, their commitment to foundation research, particularly in Canada, has waned as they morphed into a compendium or re-distributor of 3rd party resources such as Zoom Info, Guidestar, HEP and others.

Most prospect researchers would now consider IWAVE’s PRO to be primarily a source of information on individuals rather than foundations.

The Canadian Centre for Philanthropy rebranded in 2004 as Imagine Canada which is how they are known today. They have continued to produce a modest but well respected online directory that is priced with the smaller organizations in mind. Their new release of Grants Connect may be a game changer, however.

Imagine Canada does far more than produce a directory. They are the major spokesperson for the charitable sector. When the government plans legislation that affects charities, Imagine Canada expects to be consulted. When they are not and they perceive that a correction is needed, they will publically advocate for the sector.

They have had new releases over the years but, until now, have never been real innovators. They are known for competent and reasonably current research. There is also a significant halo effect from their good works on behalf of an industry that is often misunderstood.

However, as I mentioned above, they have now released Grant Connect which promises to be a big jump ahead from their former directory. (Review to come)

Imagine Canada has been able to create a solid market niche as the charity vendor offering a very affordable alternative.

Their major competitor, Metasoft‘s product, FoundationSearch/BIGOnline, is much bigger and much more expensive, so the market profile of each is somewhat distinct.

Until 2002, Metasoft’s resource for not for profits was the BIG Database. Two years previously, they had begun to enter the US market and in order to swim in these faster waters, had to quickly ramp up the US resources on BIG. However, the next stage of Metasoft technical innovation was just around the corner.

Both Canada and the US had, as now, publicly available tax returns for foundations. Metasoft now released a tool for searching both across and within these returns.

In the USA, over 80,000 American foundation 990 returns became quickly searchable employing OCR technology and indexing. You could now search from within an individual return for the word ‘polio’, for example, or across all the returns for the foundations whose 990 included that word.

It was a real breakthrough and their closest US competitor (FDO) took three years to catch up.

Sadly Canada did not benefit from this innovation despite Measoft’s best intentions. The image quality of previously faxed returns (remember fax machines?) was too poor for the OCR technology to work properly. Eventually the searchable T3010s were withdrawn although the searchable 990s remained a mainstay of their US product for years to come.

Not done with innovation, Metasoft released the Grant Analyzer two years later. This tool was based on a large historic grant database that could produce reports in dynamic maps, charts etc. It was very slick and no one else had it. For the first time, the biggest and most expensive product was now also the prettiest. More importantly it provided an easy intuitive way to sort a large amount of data.

This feature was implemented in both Canada and the US and was a challenge to all competitors to meet and exceed what Metasoft had done.

I will be reviewing the latest release from Metasoft early in the new year.

In the last year, a new vendor has emerged which is aiming to challenge both Metasoft and Imagine Canada.

Ajah‘s Fundtracker emerged on the scene in 2011 and was quickly spotted by fundraisers as an interesting addition to the mix.

For the first time, a resource emerged from Montreal and the founder Michael Leczner pulls on a both a non-profit background and a solid understanding of the importance of technology to smoothly manage large amounts of data.

Can this newcomer successfully challenge two long standing competitors, Imagine Canada and Metasoft?  In coming weeks I will be looking closely at all three based on my own experience but I am also eager to hear of your experiences, observations and opinions.

In January I will publish a review of each resource in turn – incorporating both my own judgement and any feedback I get from others.

And I am also planning webinars on the topics of  how to effectively use these tools, what features to look for, and how to make the best selection based on your own particular needs.

Stay tuned!

The Canadian Story:  Early Days

It all seems so long ago now!

In the mid-nineties, foundation (and corporate) information was found in hefty tomes.  Sticky notes were your friend here as you flipped back and forth from index to profile. In Canada at that time, full research involved consulting not one but two big books on foundations. These were published by the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy. They offered one book for information about the foundations themselves and a separate one for the grants they gave out!

The Centre, then as now, was well respected and they were the last word on foundation funding in Canada. They also had no competition at that time.

Incidentally the Centre was set up as a registered charity in Canada and was modeled after the Foundation Center in the USA which is a 501C3 organization. While both sold their directories to charities and others, they were not and are not today businesses per se, and their directory sales these days might be deemed a social enterprise.

A new company had recently emerged in British Columbia which eventually moved to Prince Edward Island. This was Rainforest Publications. Founded by Cindy and Terry Burton, they began publishing an excellent hard copy resource The Directory of Corporate Giving in Canada in 1991. This volume along with Centre’s Directory on Foundations made a winning combo before digitization and the internet changed the scene dramatically.

Coincidentally,  shortly before Rainforest Publications released Prospect Research Online in 1996, another company had entered the market in BC.

Metasoft Systems had been around as a company since the mid-eighties but until the mid-nineties had nothing at all to do with the not-for-profit sector. Their main product was an image processing application aimed exclusively at corporate clients. But then they purchased a directory of government grant opportunities which was only available in a hard copy book format. They converted this to a searchable database available on floppy discs and this was the start of the BIG Database.

In a short time, Metasoft was offering foundations, corporations, and government programs (all on floppy discs) and it was all key word searchable! It was such a huge step from books that it seemed almost revolutionary at the time.

Metasoft won the race to provide digitalized information with their floppy discs but Rainforest Publications was the first to provide information for fundraising research online. So when RP released PRO, they may not have been quite the first to produce a computerized version of prospect research in Canada (Metasoft narrowly won that honour) but they bypassed floppy discs and CD ROMs entirely to release Canada’s first internet based resource.

The Canadian Centre for Philanthropy was now feeling the heat of competition for the first time.  Metasoft was ‘in their face’, adopting telephone sales to promote BIG. The Centre’s sales of its books dropped dramatically for the first time.

Meanwhile, Metasoft quickly read the tea leaves and though initially reluctant to embrace the internet, they had their first website in the fall of 1997. Bigdatabase.com was born. There was still a CD ROM kicking around to placate clients when the site was nor fully functional.  But it was gone within the year and the entire product was now online.

Not to be outdone, the Centre for Philanthropy also produced their own online version by the end of 1997.

Now Canadian researchers could choose between three internet based products.

This short time period was perhaps the very best for consumers as three major players were determined to produce the best and most innovative product. Prices were not that high either and RP and Metasoft in particular remained in lock step with a $995.00 product.

Jumping ahead fifteen years, we are again in a very dynamic period of innovation. Some of the players have stayed the same, one has shifted focus and there is a ‘new kid on the block’.

…to be continued.

Plan for a Series of Posts and Product Reviews

North America has a robust culture of foundation philanthropy. Canada and the USA both register  their charities and foundations with their federal  tax departments, and information from those returns is publicly available, but not in a form that is particularly convenient for finding suitable prospects for your cause.

Various services have arisen in both countries to make this material more accessible and useful but they have a wide range of costs and capacities and it is always a challenge to determine which is most suitable to your needs and budget.

In order to assist with this task,I will be publishing reviews of current resources for both the fundraiser and prospect researcher, first for our Canadian scene and then the American.  Comments and discussions are very welcome. Later I will follow with other areas of the world.

What is my history?

Full disclosure… For those of you that do not already know this, I came to this part of our fundraising world by way of an extended stint at one of the key vendors in this space, Metasoft Systems , who provide FoundationSearch and BIG Online  in both Canada and the US.

Before my time at Metasoft, I was involved in starting up several non-profit organizations, all of which are still operating successfully but finding funding sources was always a challenge.

Since mid 2011, I have been an independent service provider + observer/commentator of this scene. My opinions are my own and do not represent any particular vendor including my past employer.

I plan to start with a couple of posts looking at how the industry has developed up to now and then to look more deeply at each of the current products.

Next post will be about how things got started in Canada.

This Year, Give Yourself the Gift of Professional Development!

Take advantage of these Holiday Specials@ ConnieHubbs.com

9 Recordings for $99.00
(Of sessions worth a total of 11.25 CFRE credits!)
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N.B.You may also order six of your favorites or just one particular session at similar special prices!

We also have special holiday rates on early registration in our upcoming 2013 webinars (see on the right for information and registration links)

These Holiday Specials are in effect until December 31, 2012.

Continue reading ‘Holiday Specials’ »

Starting next week, I will be doing a series of blog posts on Foundation research tools including some of the history of these products and reviews of the current major players in the market.

Fabulous theatre, inspiring and instructive professional Development!

AFP Toronto Congress has now been over for more than one week and while it seems longer than that in many ways, we are now bringing our experiences to life in our practice.

My personal reasons for attending are as follows:

• Adding to my body of knowledge in our profession of fundraising
• Connecting with fundraisers and learning about their needs
• Identifying dynamic presenters and original ideas to include at conniehubbs.com

The plenary sessions were outstanding this year and anyone attending can attest to the amazing talent and creativity that we saw, especially in the Fundraising Theatre on the last day and  Don Tapscott with his jazz improv session. Just fantastic!

Here now is a brief review of the workshops I attended and the takeaways. (Some of the ideas and presenters will show up at conniehubbs.com over the next year.)

1. Beyond Small-Town Fundraising: Grassroots and Rural Development.

I was already familiar with the wonderful and experienced Cynthia Armour who was one of my first three presenters last year. Cynthia uses humour and warmth to connect with her audience and she really knows her fundraising.

Shelley Allison from New Brunswick was new to me and I was very impressed with her quiet command of her topic. She is an effective communicator and has proven a strong and able leader of Big Brothers/Sisters and Boys & Girls Club. She shows us what is possible in a small town area like the Miramichi. One challenge in this area is the new and emerging generation of donors. Will they support their community as their parents did?

Next was The Philanthropic Mind: Getting to Know Canada’s Top Philanthropists led by Matthew English and Mo Lidsky. Many of us were intrigued to see what they had learned and included in their new book.

They got very good access to some of our wealthiest donors and heard a lot about what they love/hate about working with charities.

One disturbing section reported some expectations of rewards for giving that would violate AFP fundraising ethics. This ranged from the relatively benign request for a special parking place at the facility they are supporting, such as a hospital to wanting to jump queues for medical treatment. Mo had a seminal story of a million + donation to a medical school withdrawn when the donor’s son was not admitted. We also heard of a doctor soliciting a wealthy patient as he was going under for surgery. Ethics horror stories? What you know about you can begin to address so this was a fascinating session.

Surprisingly after all these years at AFP Toronto, I had never had the pleasure of attending a session with Kay Sprinkel Grace. She had us in the palm of her hand. If you have not had the pleasure, make sure you catch her.

Perhaps it will be on a webinar at conniehubbs.com.

Tuesday I began the day with a case study presented by Sharon Lee on Reaching Diverse Communities.

She reported on original work with Muslim, Tamil and Sikh communities. Very fruitful and very valuable!

I hope to include this work in an upcoming session with conniehubbs.com. Stay tuned.

Umeeda Switlo of CUSO then presented a case study on  her experiences in Rwanda working with a local mental health organization to build revenue, self esteem and hope with some social enterprises she helped them start. Umeeda said ‘I started my assignment by trying to understand what the organizations needed. I had never worked with deaf, blind or physically handicapped people, or people with mental health challenges, so there was a real learning curve. I decided to work with those that had the biggest financial challenges, UPHLS, an umbrella organization working with people with disabilities and HIV/AIDS, and NOUSPR, a national organization working with users and survivors of psychiatry. I was so happy to hear that the organizations didnot want to be dependent on funds from outside the country.

Notable was the powerful symbol of the kite. They began to create large kites that can be flown and tiny kites as   pins and a symbol. Together we created a branding and fundraising tool for NOUSPR, a lapel pin of a kite made of traditional kitenge cloth and beads. The kite symbolizes the hopes and dreams of those that suffered from mental illness.  It could be a great in-country fundraiser, with people proudly wearing the pin in support of the organization. What was best was that a cooperative for women with mental health challenges made the pins, earned money and raised funds for NOUSPR.ization.

Umeeda will present on this inspiring topic April 4, 2013 at conniehubbs.com

I took the opportunity to attend two sessions with Laura Fredricks who is one of the most seasoned and respected fundraising leaders in our profession.

Laura is notable for her insights, her depth of knowledge and how she engages us all in the session to move the discussion forward. Excellent!

 Last and a great way to end was Simone Joyaux. Her challenging session stimulated us to envision a path to non profit leadership. Do not be mere technicians! Read about the wider issues of non profit governance, financial management, human resources and much more.

The choice of which tools you will use for keeping track of donors is a big decision with lasting impact on your organization.

On April 25, Robert Weiner and Jeff Gignac will discuss ‘Five Common Mistakes in Selecting Donor Databases (And How to Avoid Them)’.
More Information Register Now

Coming up on March 21 , another great webinar with Terry Burton

More Information           Register Now

Join us on January 24, 2013 for a session on starting up and getting through the first five years of a new social enterprise.
more info

This year, the World Forum for Social Enterprise (Oct 16-18) was held in Rio de Janeiro at the Centro Cultural Ação da Cidadania and I had the privilege of attending.

I was particularly excited by the chance to join site visits to local social enterprises.

Tuesday, October 16, attendees could go to in the morning to either

Projeto Rio Ecosol.

Rio Ecosol was established to promote the local “solidaritu economy”, supporting entrepreneurs in the four communities of Manguinhos, Complexo do Alemao, Santa Marta and Cidade de Deus. These are all favelas in Rio. The last, Cidade de Deus, was the subject of the 2002 film City of God.

or

The Valle Encantado Cooperative, which was the one we visited.

The Valle Encantado Cooperative was created by members of the community of Valle Encantado (“The Enchanted Vally”) in the Tijuca Forest, one of the largest urban forests in the world and the third largest in Brazil to create economic opportunities through eco-tourism and the promotion of local cuisine.

Social/Environmenal Mission

Tijuca Forest’s original vegetation was Atlantic Rainforest; however, due to degradation processes caused by the removal of timber for building, firewood and charcoal, and expansion of coffee plantations and other crops, this was partially destroyed. Portuguese Emperor D. Pedro II ordered the area to be reforested with a rich and diverse flora of native and exotic species.

Today the Forest remains home to rare tree and plant species as well as protected animals. In 1991, the Tijuca Forest was registered by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site. A joint effort of government and the communities surrounding the park has developed the Alto da Boa Vista Citizenship Council, aimed at managing the coexistence of the communities with the conservation of the Tijuca National Park. The Forest is also home to a community of over 400 inhabitants.

http://www.wola.org/es/node/2109

Social Enterprise

The lack of job opportunities and concerns about environmental conservation led the Vale Encantado community to seek new opportunities for social and economic development. Deforestation, lack of employment, poor sanitation, lack of street lighting, waste collection and public transport, lead the community to organize itself into a Cooperative – COOVE-RJ (the Vale Encantado Cooperative Ltd.) – aimed at transforming Vale Encantado into a tourist destination in Rio. The proximity of the Tijuca National Park, the lush natural surroundings, and the community’s unique organization has attracted interest of foreign and Brazilian tourists. The community is now an ecotourism destination and seeks to stimulate sustainable tourism through two main lines of action: 1) nature trails, and 2) promoting local cuisine.

The COOVE’s Social Buffet is a social business intended to introduce tourists to local cuisine while generating income especially for the local women of the community. Today COOVE has 20 members employed as management staff, chefs, waiters and tour guides. COOVE expects to be completely self-sustaining through the

Wewill arrived at Vale Encantado, located in Alto da Boa Vista, an area known for its natural beauty (rainforest, rivers and waterfalls). Our first activity included a one-hour, easy eco-tour guided walk with magnificent views of Rio’s West Zone beaches. Our guide showed us the local fauna and flora and explained  the way in which the community interacts with its natural environment, including its history, struggles, accomplishments and the creation of the COOVE cooperative.

Originally the inhabitants came to be coffee farmers. They own their small land holdings which they wish to continue to live on. The challenge is make a living and the social enterprise is a way that if successful may help them stay. There are external pressures from the desire of others to develop what is now valuable real estate with beautiful views.

Will the cooperative be able to attract tourists? It is a lovely setting, the hike not too ardurous with local sustainably grown produce cooked into a delightful lunch.

Will the residents be able to withstand the pressures of encroaching development? Can this social enterprise model work to provide income for the residents?