Blog

Reference: Tracy Ebarb: National Director of the National Association of Nonprofit Organizations & Executives (NANOE) 

I recently came across this article (see link above, and it’s posted on the NGO section of my website, along with other resources) and wanted to share it here, as well. While much of it I agree with, I have a few small points of possible disagreement (although it may be a misinterpretation of wording, not content).

The real data from National Center on Charitable Statistics reveals that approximately 30% of nonprofits fail to exist after 10 years, and according to Forbes, over half of all nonprofits that are chartered are destined to fail or stall within a few years due to leadership issues and the lack of a strategic plan, among other things.

Nanoe

Within in the NGO world, there is a lot of great work being done. At the same time, the cycle above (new NGOs starting, failing, and opening up a spot for the next one to open and then fail) is a significant problem. In my experience, it’s a problem that is not being talked about enough, and I think we can change that. So, let’s talk. 🙂

Reason #1: Empty Optimism – or Pie in the Sky Dreams (without the proper ingredients to bake a pie)
I’ve seen some of the best, most needed (in my view), and earnest efforts falter and fail because the leaders simply did not accurately calculate the amount of support that would be available and the alliances and partnerships that they would need to support their humble beginnings. In other words – they lacked a sound business plan upon which to build a platform for success. The old saying ‘to fail to plan is to plan to fail’ is so very, very true. (Bold mine).

Nanoe

Many of the reasons given are clear, and I have no disagreement. Lack of strategic plans, failure to develop a strong organizational leadership team (outside of the founding CEO) and others are clearly top of the list for why countless small NGOs fail to make it through the first few years, and the transition to a new CEO. I have some disagreement with point #6:

Misplacing Priority #1 – or forgetting who the ‘real boss’ is
At the end of the day, for nonprofit organizations – Money is more important than Mission. Nonprofits exist to serve and to meet needs on a global scale, and we care deeply for the causes we embrace, often to the detriment of our funders. A successful nonprofit knows that their #1 Customer is their donors, period. Without the donors, there would be no impact, no people served, no mouths fed, no backs clothed. Those we serve are important, but if we really want to have an impact, we must take care of our donors first, we must make sure that our programs are designed to give our donors an opportunity to fulfill the goals they have for their philanthropy, and then constantly communicate to them the impact their dollars are having. And when it comes to taking care of donors, relationships, personal relationships are KING! No fancy CRM or automated gift response mechanism will ever trump a personal relationship.

Nanoe

I agree that NGOs need money to operate, and that NGOs need to be clear, open and transparent with donors about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how the money is being spent. I do not agree, however, that as non-profits, we are here to serve the donors. Rather, the organization and the donors together are working together for greater good, and to serve the communities in which we work. We share a common goal, and are on the same time to reach our goals.

Here is the author’s summary, along with the items earlier in the article (Nanoe) of the primary reasons NGOs fail:

• Not Having a Qualified Leader.
• No Website Or Poorly Designed Website.
• Poor Planning and Record Keeping
• Poor Accounting and Money Management
• Marketing Only to Large Donors and Not Thinking Smaller Donors are Just As Important
• Nonprofit Doesn’t Mean Tax Exempt.
• Ultimately, the real reason nonprofits fail is because they shouldn’t have existed in the first place. (Bold mine).

One that I would add (perhaps as a subset of leadership or money management) is the expectation that goods and services (rent, IT support, computers, staff time, experts/consultants, advertising, pro bono work etc etc) are somehow automatically “owed” to the org, by virtue of the fact that the org is trying to do something good or is a registered non-profit. Volunteer recruitment is important, but does not substitute for a budget to cover the basic costs of running an organization and paying for the goods, services and skills that you need to get the job done. If you don’t have the money (or a plan to get money) to pay for any of the basic items or staff that are required to run an organization, you don’t have a viable plan yet.

And, further to his first point(s), I would emphasize that failure to plan (essentially variations on “I have never run an NGO and have no idea how to do it. I have a different full-time job, no strategic plans, no website and no money, but I’m sure that if I just start, everyone will hand me money, computers, a building and their expertise for free and it will all work out, because I’m such a nice person and I have a nice goal…”) is one of the most common mistakes I’ve seen. Failure to plan also includes lack of plans for how to successfully hand over the project from the founding CEO, in a reasonable time frame. (Considering starting a new NGO? Start at the end with your planning: Do you have a viable plan to hand the org to a new CEO in 10-15 years?)

On a related note, failure to seriously support other existing orgs that are already working in the same space (before starting a new org), is one of the biggest failures that I have come across.

For those of you in the non-profit world, do you have anything to add? Any adjustments you would make to the list?

Hey everyone! I have a quick action item here for you, if you are interested. There appears to be some movement on getting a National Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform. Passing this would be a significant step towards a better, more equitable voting system here in Canada. Thank you for your support!

Please share with others, in your circles, who might be interested in supporting this important step.

FVC has lots of resources and info on their website, plus an easy way to send a letter to the PM and the committee.

Click the link above, or go here to send an email to the PM and the committee.

Thanks to the leadership of the NDP’s Democratic Reform Critic, MP Daniel Blaikie, a motion on a National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform is about to be put to a vote at the Procedures and House Affairs (PROC) Committee!

To win this vote, we need six principled MPs to say YES to a courageous next step to strengthen Canada’s democracy.

Send a message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the MPs on the PROC Committee urging them to support a National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform!

FVC

Click here to send an email to the PM and the committee.

NOTE: The discrepancies above do not account for the fact that, in a Proportional System, Green Party supporters, for example, would be more free to vote for their true first choice, as opposed to voting for a lower choice, in order to avoid an even less desirable choice. With full PR, therefore, the “how we vote” shares would be more diverse than it is now, and that greater diversity would be represented more accurately in “what we got.”

Click the link above, or go here to send an email to the PM and the committee.

Exclusive: documents seen by Guardian show companies fought clean-air rules despite being aware of harm caused by air pollution Guardian

As with the climate crisis, further documentation has emerged that demonstrates that the fossil fuel industry knew – at least 50 years ago (before I was even born) – that their products cause significant negative health impacts. Despite that, they have spent decades not only continuing to produce something that is known to be harmful, but actively fighting against regulations.

The documents, which include internal memos and reports, show the industry was long aware that it created large amounts of air pollution, that pollutants could lodge deep in the lungs and be “real villains in health effects”, and even that its own workers may be experiencing birth defects among their children.

But these concerns did little to stop oil and gas companies, and their proxies, spreading doubt about the growing body of science linking the burning of fossil fuels to an array of health problems that kill millions of people around the world each year. Echoing the fossil-fuel industry’s history of undermining of climate science, oil and gas interests released a torrent of material aimed at raising uncertainty over the harm caused by air pollution and used this to deter US lawmakers from placing further limits on pollutants.

Guardian

And yet, despite the overwhelmingly negative impacts of fossil fuel use -for people and the planet – not only are we not doing everything in our power to end the fossil fuel industry’s damage, nationally and globally, we are still actively subsidizing the very industry that is causing so much damage. So, things need to change – and this is not a “tweak around the edges” kind of change, but rather a complete, top to bottom systems change. Fossil fuel producers know that they are causing harm, and are actively taking massive public subsidies (direct and indirect) to continue to do things that cause harm. Essentially, we, as taxpayers, are paying them to cause harm, and then paying again to clean up the mess that they made. A radical systems change is needed (and should have started 50+ years ago, when the harm was first known.)

Among other changes, one of the most basic is to stop paying others to harm us, and require that companies (and others) pay the full price for their pollution, while actively supporting more positive options.

Clearly, pricing the negative consequences of fossil fuels, especially carbon dioxide, is critical. “If fuel prices had been set at fully efficient levels in 2015, estimated global CO2 emissions would have been 28 percent lower, fossil fuel air pollution deaths 46 percent lower, tax revenues higher by 3.8 percent of global GDP, and net economic benefits (environmental benefits less economic costs) would have amounted to 1.7 percent of global GDP,” according to the IMF report.

VOX

I firmly believe that we can’t fix what we don’t acknowledge. Denying the scale and scope of a problem does not help us get to a solution. In this case, fully understanding the scale to which some governments and major corporations are actively working against humanity is the first step towards positive change. With this info, we are now better equipped to:

• take individual action to reduce our own carbon footprint
• work in our communities and groups to collectively reduce our carbon footprint
• actively work to elect governments that are serious about tackling the climate crisis at a national and global level.

All problems are solvable, and we can do this, too, if we work together to create the positive future that we all want for future generations.

Further reading:

• Fossil fuels are underpriced by a whopping $5.2 trillion: We can’t take on climate change without properly pricing coal, oil, and natural gas. But it’s a huge political challenge. VOX
• The Guardian: UN secretary general urges all countries to declare climate emergencies.
• BBC News: Climate change: ‘Default effect’ sees massive green energy switch.

…………………………………..

There are always lots of amazing deals on sustainable, zero-waste items in my online store! Check the website for details!

Out of the many tragedies that have emerged from this pandemic, one of the few silver linings is the possibility that, once we have demonstrated the ability to completely shut down and restart our societies, we will, collectively, use that towards restarting in a manner that is safe and sustainable, for people and the planet. The power to do so is in our hands – all we have to do is make the choice, individually and collectively. The data could not be more clear – we know what we need to do, and we know how to do it.

• US urged to cut 50% of emissions by 2030 to spur other countries to action Guardian
• Global lockdown every two years needed to meet Paris CO2 goals – study Guardian
• NYTimes: Volvo Plans to Sell Only Electric Cars by 2030 NYT

Carbon dioxide emissions must fall by the equivalent of a global lockdown roughly every two years for the next decade for the world to keep within safe limits of global heating, research has shown. (Bold mine).

Lockdowns around the world led to an unprecedented fall in emissions of about 7% in 2020, or about 2.6bn tonnes of CO2, but reductions of between 1bn and 2bn tonnes are needed every year of the next decade to have a good chance of holding temperature rises to within 1.5C or 2C of pre-industrial levels, as required by the Paris agreement.

Guardian

Changes of this scale, as with the pandemic, are multi-faceted, including individual actions (eg wearing masks, staying home when needed to protect ourselves and others), governmental (eg clear public health orders, income support as needed), business (eg switching to curbside pickup or work from home, where applicable). Likewise, for the climate crisis, we need all levels and sectors involved, doing everything possible to get us to where we need to be.

So, in the most immediate term, reducing our emissions by 50%+ over the next few years (and then further after that) is not a small task. How are we going to get there, and what actions can we take, starting today, to get us there, in each sector?

• Reducing the size of our home by 50% will reduce our heating/cooling emissions in half (as a rough estimate, simply because we have less space to heat/cool). If, by extension, we also own less stuff, there are emissions reductions (and other gains) to be found there, as well.
• Switching from an animal-based diet to a whole-foods, plant-based diet has a significant impact (exact % depends on what you were eating before, and whether you switch fully or partly to plant-based etc)
• Living in a higher density area helps reduce driving-related emissions, as more day-today trips are within walking distance (as does using public transit or an EV when you aren’t walking or biking)
• Significantly reducing or eliminating flights will take out a significant emissions source, depending on how much you were flying before and how much you reduce. Before flying, consider whether the flight is essential or not.
• Electing governments that are serious about tackling the climate crisis
• Supporting businesses that are working to tackle the climate crisis (zero waste and others) instead of business-as-usual
• Countless others – far too many to list here. 🙂

Naturally, different people will tackle things in their own order – and for someone who already lives in a small home in a high density area, downsizing is obviously not the place to start. However, most of us have room to improve, and places to start. What changes have you already made? Which are you interested in trying next? Which are you most curious about? Which do you think will be easier or more challenging?

We’re all in this together, so let’s help each other out, and build a better future for everyone!

…………………………………….

There are always lots of amazing deals on sustainable, zero-waste items in my online store! Check the website for details!

It is shocking (and quite disturbing) to me, that some faith groups still believe that they are called to a mandate of exclusion, instead of inclusion, on any of a wide number of otherwise protected identifiers, including gender and sexuality. Over and over, to the best of my knowledge, faith group and their major texts call for love of neighbour, welcome of the stranger, living simply and service to others. Nothing in that suggests, or allows, discrimination based on who we are at our core, or an acceptance of destruction of creation. And yet, some faith groups still fight for the right to discriminate, and avoid talking serious action on the climate crisis – and it must end.

Major Evangelical Adoption Agency Will Now Serve Gay Parents Nationwide

NYT

At a time when we are facing multiple global crises (including a pandemic and a climate crisis), faith groups should be leaders, setting an example of how to care for all of creation – including all people, animals, and the environment. Instead, some groups still put their energy into excluding others, and denying women the right to a full range of reproductive health services, as though that is the way to a better world for everyone.

A justification that I sometimes hear from others is that something can be found somewhere in one’s ancient texts to justify discrimination. In response, I would suggest that many people only take texts literally on things that are life-limiting for others, without requiring us to change ourselves. I’m suggesting a different approach (along with countless others).

Want to take the Bible or other ancient texts literally? How about focusing on the countless times that we are told not to accumulate wealth? Living simply requires a lot more from us than telling someone else how we think they should live their lives.

Think swapping out “My faith says that you should be straight” and replacing it with “My faith says that I should be less wealthy, live in a smaller home, eat more lentils, help others more, create less garbage and drive less often.”

Likewise, the admonition to not kill or steal features in many faith texts: how about putting our energy into banning militaries and the theft of natural resources (and extreme wealth discrepancies, locally and globally) that is contributing to climate change? The list could go on and on…

For faith groups to be relevant into the future, we need to, collectively, move beyond this idea that we can live our own lives as we wish, while excluding others, and destroying the planet. We can, and must do better, together. We can do it. 🙂

……………………….

There are lots of amazing, sustainable and zero waste items in the online store! Check out the website for details!

Winter may be almost over, or spring may feel a long ways away, depending on where you are living. Either way, the Encircled Winter Clearout sale is now, some items have been reduced by 40%. Looking for cozy items for next winter, or something for cool evenings in summer? Now’s the time to put an order in!

Want more details on Encircled? Click here

(Note: Discount code should apply automatically when you order items from the winter discount collection. Having trouble? The code is at the top of the Encircled page on my website for reference.)

Looking for other cool, sustainable stuff? Check out all of the amazing partners in the online store.

Not sure what you are looking for? Check out all of the partners to find zero waste, plant-based food, sustainable tech, sustainable laundry detergent strips, upcycled yarn products and so much more!

Happy Spring!

Great news! Another partner has been added to the online store! Our “Good Food for Good” page is now live and ready for you to browse, click and order!

On a mission to create a positive difference by making it easy for you to add flavors you crave without the added sugar or preservatives, and by donating a meal to a person in need through Buy One, Feed One program.

When love for great taste, meets quest for clean ingredients & giving back to the world.

NO ORDINARY SAUCE
At Good Food for Good, we make our food with organic ingredients and ensure it is free of gluten, soy, corn, refined sugars, dairy, preservatives or any other ingredients you wouldn’t add if you were cooking yourself. That’s not all, every time you buy any of our products, we donate a meal to feed someone in need. We are a Buy One, Feed One venture.

We are a B Corp Certified™ Company. We use business as a force for good in the world. Our accreditation aligns us with other like-minded companies globally.

“The Caveman Diet: We Used To Eat Meat, But Should We Now?” (PBN)

There has been a lot of talk, in recent years/decades, about the idea of eating keto/low carb/like someone who lived in a cave. However, I think we can do better than that.

(Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist. What I am offering is what I believe is common sense advice, and the opportunity to do some further reading and research for yourself and/or with your health care provider).

With that, comes this idea that eating bacon and eggs, steak and burgers is being true to our ancestors in some way.

So, for a person who likes eating bacon and eggs, the idea that continuing to do so is not only healthy, but being supportive of one’s history and ancestors, might have a certain appeal, even if it’s not actually supported by the evidence.

And, it turn out, the link is likely not that clear, and there are a number of gaps in the logic. For example, among others:

• our bodies have changed over time
• the diet that was eaten way back then clearly did not consist of freezers full of plastic-wrapped, factory farmed steaks and other similar items, bought in bulk at the grocery store
• our lifestyle now is widely different than it was in the past
• we understand far more now than we did, even 50-100 years ago, about the climate and emissions impacts of an animal-based diet and the need to switch to a plant-based diet
• the global population now is very different than it was long ago.

Actually, yes. Cavemen used to eat meat whenever they could get it, but this wasn’t often. In fact, almost never. You try hunting animals that are bigger and/or faster than you with the most rudimentary of tools, and you’ll quickly see how hard it is to snare your supper.

So, we actually ate very little meat and, thanks to recent improvements in DNA analysis of ancient teeth fragments, we know that we survived mainly on foraging for plants, nuts, and berries. Foraging is great because it keeps you in tune with nature: in season, eating locally and physically nimble and fit.

PBN

So, where does that leave us now? To reduce emissions, help ensure that everyone has enough to eat and be healthy, and to live in balance with people and the planet, the best evidence suggests a (heavily or fully) plant-based diet as the best path forward. Looking for more ideas, or resources? My website, along with countless others, have info and resources to help make the switch to plant-based eating easier to do.

Eating consciously, along with minimalism (rethinking consumption) mindfulness (rethinking our urges) environmentalism (rethinking our relationship with nature), is vital as we look to come back from Covid better and more harmonious than before. 

Everything is up for grabs when you consider how unhelpful much of our perceived wisdom is.

So eat like a caveman and cut the meat. You’d never have kept up with that bison anyway. (Italics mine).

PBN

It’s official! We are now live, here at the new site: mennoadventures.ca. There are still a few things getting uploaded and tidied up (some related to the transition and some new pieces), but the site is now ready for you to come and see what we’ve been working on for the last few months.

In addition to the basic website redesign and transition, the online store has been newly reorganized, for your browsing pleasure – and is full of countless, amazing sustainable products. Plus, there are some new items coming soon to the store – stay tuned! 😊

If you have any questions, please feel free to send a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Happy browsing!

In case you missed it in the earlier post, here are the transition details and notes, below.

…………………………………..

After a great deal of work, (mostly by my amazing designer!) I am pleased to let you know that we are now live at the new domain name! There are still a few details being worked out, but we are up and running! 😊

The next post will be from the new website, but there are a few details that I wanted to share with you first, so that nobody gets lost in the transition.

Here is what you need to know:

1. Please change your bookmarks etc to the new website: https://mennoadventures.ca
2. If you subscribe via social media, everything should have switched over to the new website. If you have any problems, either try subscribing again – or contact me if you are having trouble.
3. If you subscribe via email, you may have received an email to confirm that you want to stay subscribed at the new domain name. (Had a few tech challenges with this piece – which is why there are a few variables here). If you did, please confirm that way. If you did not get a confirmation email (or it got lost in cyberspace), please go to the new website and re-enter your email address to subscribe again.  Thank you!
4. If you follow directly via wordpress, I believe that you will need to follow again from the new website. (Still working on that piece.) Again, if you have any trouble,  please let me know.
5. The old website will stay active for a little while yet, to redirect people to the new website, until the transition is fully complete.

Over the next few days, hopefully most of these transition details will be finished, and we will be ready to go on the new site. Other updates will hopefully be coming, down the road, in the next few months.

If you have any questions, comments or feedback on the new website, please let me know using the contact form, and I will get back to you as soon as possible! Thank you all for your support so far! Hope to see you at the new website soon! 😊

2020 was not the year that any of us were expecting, when the year began. A global pandemic forced a radical reset of how the world operates, in countless ways. Some of those changes were relatively easy – such as office workers switching to more remote meetings, with less travel for in person work. Other changes were much more difficult – in addition to the catastrophic death toll that results from any pandemic or other major crisis. Some of these changes, however, have resulted in a significant – if temporary – reduction in our emissions. Contrary to the frequently asked question – “When will things go back to the way they were?” – we were, globally, on a trajectory that was not sustainable. Therefore, we should, instead, be asking “How can we come out of this pandemic to something better than what we had before?” (as many people are already doing).

• Covid Took a Bite From U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2020: NYT
• BBC News – Climate change: US emissions in 2020 in biggest fall since WWII
• Amid 2020’s gloom, there are reasons to be hopeful about the climate in 2021 Guardian
• InsideClimate News: Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to Zero.
• InsideClimate News: Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to Zero.
• Lloyd’s market to quit fossil fuel insurance by 2030: Guardian

What does coming out of this to a new, better normal look like? What changes do we need to keep? What new changes will we still need to make? There is not the space here to allow for a comprehensive answer, but there are a few key pieces to highlight:

• We must continue with the significant, rapid reduction in emissions that we saw during this pandemic. The rapid pace of change that happened showed that change is possible, where there is a will. Now, we need to maintain the momentum of these changes, without the catastrophic pressure that comes from a global pandemic. Globally, we all need to act fast, without waiting for others who might be further behind in this process.
• A Universal Basic Income is essential, for many reasons, and should be implemented as soon as possible.
• Multi-party systems, with proportional representation, seemed to fair better (based on research that others have done), and also are key to reducing polarization and misinformation campaigns. Countries that still have First-Past-The-Post or other non-proportional systems should put serious effort into switching as soon as possible.
• Food and travel/transportation are big areas of emissions, both of which we have significant control over in our daily lives. Changes are critical – and will need to go beyond what is easy or comfortable at times.

Moving into a better 2021 – and beyond – means living within our planetary boundaries, not taking more than our fair share and living simply, in balance with our global neighbours and with the earth. (Photo Credit)