Capacity Canada 2013 Annual Report

STORIES OFSOCIAL�

INNOVATIONANNUAL REPORT 2013

2013 ANNUAL REPORT • CAPACITY WATERLOO REGION 2

85% of executive directors gain access to NEW

rEsourcEs

of executive directors ENhaNcE thEir

lEadErship capacity

90%the average time

spENt oN our WEBsitE

Executive directors gain access to ExpErt advicE

aNd guidaNcE

The progress of non-profits really depends on a whole lot of people

in the community being invested in

their success

3 CAPACITY WATERLOO REGION • 2013 ANNUAL REPORT

49,402have read the posted

storytElliNg guidE

MatchBoard has liNkEd 70 Manulife employees to vacant roles on governing boards since 2010

94%said boot camp

helped them rethink thE govErNaNcE

of thEir orgaNizatioNs

of our website visitors are through

MoBilE phoNEs

8.2percent 3316

on social media

90% of board members become

more stratEgic & accouNtaBlE


Be bold. How are those for marching orders? But that’s what Tim Jackson, founding chairman of Capacity Waterloo Region, told me five years ago when we were figuring out how best to serve the charitable non-profit community in Waterloo Region.

No question, we already had terrific organizations led

by men and women who knew how to

stretch a buck. What they needed was support and affirmation.

So Capacity took a

page from Communitech,

the local organization that

serves the tech community.

We connect our non-profit leaders to peers and mentors, and encourage

them to tell people the stories behind the fine work their organizations do.

Capacity provides training in board governance, and helps with the never-ending challenge of finding committed, skilled volunteers to fill board roles. A huge thanks goes to Manulife Financial for its exceptional faith in — and support of — Capacity’s efforts.

I can tell you that more than 70 Manulife employees have been matched to local non-profit boards, and that about 200 local board directors have improved their skills by going through our Manulife-sponsored governance boot camp.

But another measure of Capacity’s success is the favourable attention it draws from outside the region.

That’s what makes 2014 such a pivotal year: We are sharing our knowledge in centres such as Toronto and Fort McMurray, and we are changing our name to reflect our wider reach.

Let me introduce you to Capacity Canada.

As our new chair, Steve Farlow will help lead us to opportunities outside our borders, while we continue to strengthen our non-profit partners here in Waterloo Region.

I couldn’t have imagined this five years ago when we were sorting ourselves out and looking for office furniture. Tim pushed us to be innovative, to look beyond the obvious and see possibilities.

Which brings up one bittersweet element in all this exciting news: Tim has wrapped up his term as chair to take on new duties — and big time commitments — with the Centre for Impact Investing at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. We won’t be seeing as much of him as we’d like.

So back at you, Tim. Be bold.

capacity at 5: rEachiNg out BEyoNd our BordErsMessage from the Executive director in residence

Cathy Brothers

LOCAL BOARD DIRECTORS havE iMprovEd thEir skills By

goiNg through our Boot caMp

200


tiM JacksoN takEs oN NEW challENgE iN toroNtoMessage from the chair of the Board

Q: How do you view the progress Capacity Waterloo Region has made over five years?

A: I’m thrilled… Any time you start something new, it’s never a straight line. Good entrepreneurs adjust constantly, and Cathy (Executive Director in Residence Cathy Brothers) has done that… We’re having a significant impact on the community. That’s what makes it entrepreneurial: It’s adapting to needs. Manulife is a perfect example. Manulife comes along and says, “We’d like to engage some of our managers and get them involved in the community.” And Cathy says, “We have a program. We can make that work.”

Q: Innovation is a powerful word in the tech sector. Does it have a place in the language of charitable agencies?

A: When I was running a venture-capital firm (Tech Capital Partners), if an entrepreneur or group of entrepreneurs came to us and asked us for a million dollars, and we liked their idea, we would typically give them $2 million. We would do that because we knew that for them to be successful, they had to have the ability to make mistakes. Not everything would work out perfectly… If you look at the winners in the tech sector, they have been allowed to make mistakes, but have been backed well financially. We need to do the same thing in this sector.

a man in demand in Waterloo region, tim Jackson recently joined the centre for impact investing, a division of the Mars discovery district in toronto. this means he is stepping down as chair of capacity Waterloo region, which he helped establish to provide executive mentoring, peer-to-peer networking and board-governance training for Waterloo region’s non-profit community. he offers some thoughts as he says au revoir, not farewell.

TimJackson


Board of dirEctors

Stephen Swatridge Terry Reidel Joanna Lohrenz Steve FarlowTim Jackson

Q: Do you think people are aware of the social problems in their community?

A: At one point the talk was we had 5,000 job openings in the tech sector, and 5,000 people out of work in the old manufacturing sector. If you’re 55 years old and you’ve been working at one of the plants for 25 years, that’s got to be a horrible situation trying to get back in the workforce. Because of that, demand on things like the (Food Bank of Waterloo Region) and social services is huge — and growing. I do think some people don’t understand that.

Q: How do you encourage people to give back to their community?

A: At the end of the day, if we want to live, work and raise families in a vibrant, active community, then I think we all have an obligation to play a role in that… The executive directors who are running our non-profits, the way I look at it, are just as skilled as the people running our for-profits… If those people have made a personal sacrifice to run those organizations, shouldn’t I find a way to support them… whether it’s sitting on a board, or helping fund-raise or providing mentorship?

See capacitywr.ca for a longer version of this interview.


Daniel Cook weighed 372 pounds in 2010. In 2013 — 190 pounds lighter — he ran a half-marathon.

It’s a great story, and there are more like it — about hope, inspiration and beating the odds — on the Centre for Community Knowledge (CCK) website. An offshoot of the Storytelling Boot Camp organized by the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation and Capacity Waterloo Region, CCK encourages non-profits to tell people about the impact they have on the lives of others.

RunWaterloo features Cook’s story, in video and text, on its CCK page. Running can change a life for the better.

“A good story goes much further in talking Impact, and building relationships with donors and volunteers, than do mission statements and financial reports,” says Cathy Brothers, Capacity’s Executive Director in Residence.

Stories Worth Telling, the program guidebook written by Jennifer King, attracts eyes from around the world to Capacity’s website. The boot camp sessions run three times a year.

Nelson Dunk of Skylight Productions looks after the video portion of the training. Christian Aagaard of Rapidviking Communications handles text. They work with Brendan Sheehan and Chelsea Arnott of the community foundation.

Since 2012, 84 Waterloo Region non-profits have completed training in text and video storytelling. Sixty-six have created CCK profiles.

“It would be a shame to let the stories of non-profits go untold and forgotten,” Brothers said.

gEttiNg hiddEN storiEs TOLD & SHAREDkWcf storytelling

“It would be a

shame to let the stories

of non-profits go

untold and forgotten.”

Cathy Brothers, Executive Director in Residence,

Capacity Waterloo Region

Visit cckwr.ca

Photo (L to R): Chelsea Arnott, Brendan Sheehan, Nelson Dunk & Christian Aagaard


Don McCreesh Board Governance Expert

Mark Weber Board Governance Expert

Ruth Cruikshank Board Governance Expert

Fred Galloway Board Governance Expert

Tupper Cawsey Professor Emeritus (OB/HRM) Wilfrid Laurier University

MaNulifE Board govErNaNcE

Boot caMp

lEt’s BriNg this MEEtiNg

to ordEr


There was a time when well-intentioned citizens met, nodded a few approvals and quickly dispensed with the business of non-profit boards.

No more.

“There are more regulatory and legislative compliance issues and requirements,” Fred Galloway said shortly before 38 men and women graduated from the Manulife Board Governance Boot Camp in March. “There has been this coalescing of a whole bunch of factors that has brought

governance to a point where it needs to be professional and more understood.’’

Galloway is among the faculty leading the governance program. He runs F.J. Galloway Associates Inc., a London, Ontario-based management consultancy.

Hosted by Capacity Waterloo Region, the annual boot camp has attracted board chairs and executive directors from about 200 organizations in Waterloo Region since the program began in 2010.

A two-day session in November covers such topics as the legal responsibilities of boards, and the different roles boards and management teams play in running successful non-profits.

Participants leave with a plan to take on a specific governance challenge facing their own organizations, then report back in March.

This year, Capacity added advanced governance training over three nights in April and May.

Surveyed after the 2013-2014 boot camp, 94 per cent of respondents said the program helped them rethink the governance of their organizations. Almost 90 per cent said it clarified the duties of boards and management.

Filling board vacancies used to be as easy as asking friends. Boards should carefully consider how well the interests and skills of candidates mesh with the jobs that need to be done, Galloway said. He suggests they prepare a one-page synopsis setting out expectations.

Funders, donors and governments “are looking for best practices — how we make a difference in people’s lives,’’ he said. “All these things have come together to reshape the role, purpose and model of governance.”

Funders, donors and governments “are looking for best practices — how we make a difference in people’s lives. All these things have come together

to reshape the role, purpose and model of governance.” he said. Fred Galloway, Board Governance Expert

Photo: Boot camp graduating class of 2013.


BE iNspirEd & iNforMEd by meeting people in the community

EMpoWErinnovative

decision-making

EstaBlishclear roles and

relationships between board members & executive directors

lEarN throughshared experiences

& challenges with peers, faculty and other

organizations

MaNulifE Board govErNaNcE Boot caMp offErscapacity Waterloo region's governance boot camp delivers practical governance training to non-profit charity Boards and equips them with relevant action plans that will deliver a noticeable performance improvement in their boardrooms.


More than 2,600 kilometres of rock and trees separate Waterloo Region from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta.

But the two communities have a shared interest in healthy non-profit agencies.

“There is amazing rapid growth in the community,’’ Nancy Mattes says of Wood Buffalo."That places pressure on the social-benefits sector to respond to the growing needs all the time.”

Mattes is director of Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo, a five-year project

based out of the University of Waterloo and supported

by the Suncor Energy Foundation.

It strengthens non-profit organizations serving a region where jobs on the oil sands have created a boom

economy. The workforce tends to be young and

transient, and housing costs are painfully high.

Retaining non-profit leaders poses a big challenge, but Capacity Waterloo Region is there to help. Cathy Brothers, Capacity’s Executive Director in Residence, sits on the Social Prosperity steering committee. She flies to Fort McMurray from time to time to meet non-profit leaders.

“For not-for-profit organizations, governance and strategic planning are very important components,’’ Mattes says. “People have been so excited and delighted with having somebody of Cathy’s experience share her knowledge, and work in a very one-on-one way.”

With Imagine Canada and Capacity Waterloo Region, Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo took nine non-profits through an accreditation workshop series that improved policies and procedures.

Brothers says Suncor deserves full marks for its commitment to community development in Wood Buffalo. It understands that employees want to live in communities with vigorous social features, she adds.

“Social good is a responsibility of all sectors,’’ Brothers says. "The progress of non-profits really depends on a whole lot of people in the community being invested in their success.”

fort McMurray: An inTERSEcTiOn Of EcOnOmicS & SOciAL gOOD

Nancy Mattes

”There is amazing

rapid growth in the

community…That places

pressure on the social-benefits

sector to respond to the

growing needs all the time.“

Nancy Mattes, Director of Social Prosperity Wood Buffalo


So it’s not surprising that Affan Khan, a treasury analyst for Manulife Financial, finds comfort in keeping accounts in order at the Waterloo Community Arts Centre.

He’s been a volunteer there for two years, a connection made through the Manulife Financial MatchBoard program hosted by Capacity Waterloo Region.

“I was looking to volunteer… and the MatchBoard program seemed like a great way to start,’’ says Khan. “It’s great to know that I can use my skills and knowledge to impact the community.”

Capacity’s flagship program since 2010, MatchBoard has linked 70 Manulife employees to vacant roles on governing boards in Waterloo Region’s charitable

non-profit sector. Among them was Joanna Lohrenz, who

joined Capacity’s own board of directors.

Lohrenz, vice-president of contact centres for Manulife’s Canadian division, says MatchBoard

“does a really good job of understanding

what a person’s interests are — where are they

passionate — then looking for a board that can help match that passion.”

The job of co-ordinating matches, and staying in touch with Manulife volunteers

as they settle into their board roles, belongs to Judy Blasutti and Moira Taylor. Taylor is an Executive in Residence at Capacity; Blasutti is Manulife’s manager of employee engagement.

In 2014, the program will expand to Manulife’s Toronto offices to match executives to roles on non-for-profit boards in the Toronto area. It’s the program’s first reach beyond Waterloo Region, and occurs just as Capacity changes its name to Capacity Canada.

“Manulife totally gets the importance of social good that comes about through all of these non-profit organizations,” says Cathy Brothers, Capacity’s Executive Director in Residence. “Its commitment to volunteerism is wide and deep.”

MatchBoard: succEssful partNErship With MaNulifE ExpaNds to toroNtothere is something calming about numbers that add up. it points to sensibility and good governance.

Affan Khan

MANULIFE EMPLOYEES havE BEEN liNkEd

through MatchBoard to

vacaNt govErNiNg Boards

70


70,917 uNiquE visitors

to our website

90%of executive directors Build stroNgEr

NEtWorks & coNNEctioNs

95% of executive directors develop new ideas & strategies and

gaiN dirEctioN & clarity


Ninety-six seasons. Ten league champions. It’s a record any sports team would love to have.

More remarkably for the Kitchener Panthers of the Intercounty Baseball League, it happened with relatively few people running the show over almost 100 years.

“I was the main guy as far as the Panthers goes,” Bill Pegg says of the

club’s recent administrative history. “If I got hit by the bus, we would

have been in serious trouble.”

To build security around the brand, the Panthers last year incorporated into a formal, community-owned, not-for-profit entity.

Pegg had some people in mind for the new board of directors; but he turned to Capacity Waterloo Region — with its

board governance boot camp and Manulife MatchBoard program — to help build bench strength in the back office.

“Capacity Waterloo Region helped us identify the needs of our organization, in terms of the types of board members and the interests that people had,” says Pegg, chair of the board.

“We simply didn’t have a good business model. We were always going from good to bad, to worse, to back to good again. It was a roller-coaster.”

Today, the Panthers board adds stability and expertise to a legacy organization that fields top senior and junior players at Jack Couch Park. The brand reaches into minor ball, with players as young as eight wearing Panthers uniforms. Fundraising is strategic.

“We’re not really selling an advertising opportunity,” Pegg says. “What we’re selling is a branding opportunity with one of the oldest amateur sports brands in the country, if not the oldest.”

The team at Capacity Waterloo Region provided guidance on board governance and bylaws, and introductions to potential board recruits.

“I’d say we couldn’t have done it without them,” Pegg says. "They were very, very helpful.”

capacity WatErloo rEgioN hElps Ball cluB Build WiNNiNg Board

Bill Pegg

15

a happy Match for st. Mary’s hospital

Don Shilton and Christine Henhoeffer have high praise for Susy Martins.

“Manulife employees are very broad-thinking, and she certainly has the global perspective,’’ says Shilton, president of St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener. “That has been a real strength to add to our board.”

Martins, a human-resources executive for Manulife Financial, is a graduate of the Manulife-sponsored MatchBoard

program that Capacity Waterloo Region runs. It teaches board governance and responsibilities to Manulife employees, then matches their interests and skills to vacancies on community boards.

“I’ve learned a lot by being on the board,” Martins says. “I’ve learned how the hospital system works, and the different protocols on the board. And I’ve learned just how far-reaching St. Mary’s is in the community.”

St. Mary’s, meanwhile, benefits from Martins’ expertise

in “lean” thinking, an operational approach that minimizes waste

while focusing on the best outcome for the customer or consumer. St. Mary’s uses lean strategies.

“Susy Martins is from a younger generation and brings a very unique perspective,” says Henhoeffer, chair of the St. Mary’s board. “She challenges those of us who have been around longer. I think she has challenged the board.”

“The scope and complexity of issues in health care mean that hospital boards have to be made up of people with diverse skills and interests,” Henhoeffer says.

“We need chartered accountants, we need lawyers, but we also need people from business who have tried different methods of leadership, and different methods of teamwork, so that we are exposed to that,” she says.Don Shilton

& Christine Henhoeffer

Susy Martins

”It teaches

board governance and

responsibilities to Manulife

employees, then matches their

interests and skills to vacancies

on community boards.“

Susy Martins, human-resources Executive, Manulife Financial


A group of volunteers sets out to fill a gap in community services. The group becomes an organization.

The organization — eventually — needs a more formal structure.

When Muslim Social Services reached that point a few years ago, founding director

Idrisa Pandit sought out a friend to talk about such challenges as building a

diverse and collaborative board, setting policies and staying true to

the organization’s strategic vision.

She turned to Cathy Brothers, Capacity Waterloo Region’s

Executive Director in Residence, and head of Capacity’s

mentorship program.

“We certainly benefitted from her experience and mentorship,” Pandit says. “That guidance has been tremendously beneficial.”

A mentor herself, Brothers pairs other leaders of not-for-profit organizations into effective mentorships, some of which last for years. She can also turn to Capacity’s executives in residence for specific skills.

“When we are swamped, we lean on each other for help,’’ Brothers says. “And that’s what mentoring does: it provides valuable, clear-headed perspective on our jobs.”

Formed in 2007, Muslim Social Services now has a small staff and its own space in The Family Centre on Hanson Avenue, Kitchener. Having a mentor, Pandit says, helped her “stay on course and not get discouraged” by the to-do list involved in turning the organization into a full-fledged non-profit.

“We know, from the tech sector, the importance of mentoring, networking and collaboration,” Brothers says. “Those types of relationships also create innovative non-profits.”

MENtorships: lEadErs hElpiNg lEadErs Build BEttEr NoN-profits in the charitable non-profit sector, it’s a familiar story.

Cathy Brothers

Cathy and Idrisa discuss the challenges

of building a diverse board.

“When

we’re swamped,

we lean on each other

for help. And that’s what

mentoring does: it provides

valuable, clear-headed

perspective on our jobs.“

Cathy Brothers, Executive Director in Residence, Capacity

Waterloo Region


Toronto-based Magnusmode Ltd. has developed interactive cards that prompt people with special needs through such tasks as taking a bus or preparing a meal.

“It builds in the very structure that they need to thrive and act independently,’’ Hamilton says.

This spring, she spent several weeks with Communitech’s ASCent (Accelerating Social Cause Entrepreneurs) program in Kitchener.

Capacity Waterloo Region is one of eight partners supporting ASCent to nurture for-profit or non-profit ventures that address a social need.

“Anybody who comes by and sits beside me has something to offer,” Hamilton says of ASCent. “Everybody’s doing something incredible and trying to change the world. It’s great to learn from people who are in the same position as I am, or six months ahead of me, or even a year or two ahead of me.”

“It’s almost like you step inside a community of mentors because there is so much to learn from everybody.”

ASCent benefits from Capacity’s connections and breadth of experience in Waterloo Region’s charitable non-profit sector, says Glenn Smith, who leads the program. Startups and charitable non-profits often face similar challenges raising money and pushing innovation.

“Cathy Brothers (Capacity’s Executive Director in Residence) is a champion of social innovation,” Smith says. “If non-profits are struggling for funding, it can often be tied back to the need for better ideas.”

Brothers joined a panel this spring to judge ASCent’s social enterprise competition, which drew 60 entries from Ontario universities. Edusight, a startup with an online platform to help teachers grade work and track the performance of students, won the $5,000 top prize.

capacity JoiNs ascent prograM to hElp social ENtrEprENEurstired of seeing her autistic brother troy miss out on opportunities, Nadia hamilton took an idea and turned it into a company.

Nadia Hamilton

Glenn Smith

“It’s almost like you

step inside a community

of mentors because

there is so much to learn

from everybody.“

Nadia Hamilton, Magnusmode Ltd.


2013 2012Audited Audited (7 months*)

INCOME

Donations $ 110,450 $ 88,910

Fee for Service 52,888 131,138

Grants 354,796 238,762

Total Income $ 518,134 $ 458,810

EXPENSES

Salaries & Benefits $ 300,417 $ 242,440

Contracted Services 74,320 124,481

Administration 22,018 41,561

Meetings & Conferences 31,245 41,030

Educational Events 54,524 35,229

Technology 7,817 26,369

Marketing & Promotion 22,898 5,309

Professional Fees 10,478 9,650

Amortization of Property & Equipment 968 2,849

Other (Transfer to Capacity Waterloo Region) - 69,200

Total Expenses $ 524,685 $ 598,118

Excess (Deficit) of Income over Expenses $ (6,551) $ (139,308)

Net Assets 84,066 154,174

Transfer from Tides Canada 4,826 69,200

Net Assets – End of the Year $ 82,341 $ 84,066

fiNaNcials

* Combined Total of Audit & Tides Canada Financials


Accelerator CentreASCEntAstley Family

FoundationBob & Judy AstleyAV OntarioBlackberryDon BourgeoisCathy Brothers Tupper CawseyCommunitech

Conestoga College Megan Conway Cowan FoundationBill Creighton Ruth CruikshankDeborah CurrieJan d’Ailly Mandy DennisonEvergreen Digital

MarketingSteve Farlow

Roger & Cathy FarwellFred GallowayDavid & Pat GrahamMark HallmanChris HowlettIBM CanadaiNotForProfitTim JacksonDavid & Jan JaworskySheri Keffer

The Kitchener & Waterloo Community Foundation

Anne Lavender Louise LeonardLibro Credit UnionJoanna LohrenzLyle S. Hallman

FoundationManulife FinancialDavid McCammon

Matt MillerMike Murray Ontario Ministry

of Citizenship & Immigration

Ontario Trillium Foundation

Regional Municipality of Waterloo

Terry ReidelChristine Rier

Ken Seiling Jason ShimReg Snyder Social Prosperity

Wood BuffaloSuncor Energy

FoundationStephen SwatridgeMoira & Roger TaylorTivoli FilmsUniversity of Waterloo

Karin Voisin Wallenstein Feed

Charitable Foundation

Mark WeberFrances Westley Wilfrid Laurier

UniversityVivian Zochowski

thaNk you

Accelerator Centre 295 Hagey Boulevard Waterloo, ON N2L 6R5 519.513.2606

Photographs by: David McCammon

Stories by: Christian Aagaard

Design by: Two Blonde Chicks Inc. Design + Marketing GroupCharity # 81658 9287 RR0001

@capacitywr • www.capacitywr.caCathy Brothers Executive Director in Residence

Andrew Wilding Director of Operations

Tanya Darisi Executive in Residence

Moira Taylor Executive in Residence

Matt Miller Executive in Residence

Jim Miller Executive in Residence

Dave Jaworsky Executive in Residence

Shubhagata Sengupta Digital Media Coordinator

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Capacity Canada 2013 Annual Report

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