After almost three decades of dealing with governance for Canadian registered charities and non-profits and their directors, Mark Blumberg has now created a course to help non-profits and charities understand governance. We hope that you find it helpful. Here is a description of the course:
Governance for Canadian Charities and Non-Profits and their Boards of Directors
Non-profits and registered charities in Canada are very important for Canadian society on many levels. Registered charities have revenue of over $393 billion and non-profits have revenue of over $100 billion per year. These large amounts of revenue don’t give you a full appreciation of the importance of the non-profit and charity sector in dealing with some of the most important areas in Canadian society, including social assistance, education, environment, religion, health care, arts, etc..
Governance is not easy for registered charities and non-profits for many reasons, including that each non-profit or charity is different, and the governance approach has to meet the needs of the organization and the organization’s regulatory requirements. Governance involves people, and people don’t always have a correct understanding of governance that is needed for a particular organization. Often, there is confusion over the difference between governance and management. As well, governance is not just about legal compliance but also having a culture of compliance that takes into account legal, ethical, practical, reputational issues and has good financial management and internal controls.
Increasingly, organizations are receiving a lot of stakeholder scrutiny. Funders, the media and public are going beyond legal compliance and criticizing charities and non-profits for questionable governance practices and even voluntary standards that the charity has agreed to but is not abiding by.
With the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (CNCA), the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA), and other significant corporate changes in other provinces over the last 15 years, most non-profits and charities will have or will need to make governance changes. What might have worked in the 1980s may not work today.
This course, Governance for Canadian Charities and Non-Profits and their Boards of Directors, will provide participants with a better understanding of non-profit and registered charity governance, including information on:
- Who should care about governance?
- Key documents
- What is Governance?
- Members, Directors and Officers
- Board Responsibilities – 7 Key Tasks
- Governance Gremlins
- Board Orientation
- Every organization is different when it comes to governance
- One-size-fits-all all governance is a disaster in the making
- Distinguishing between Governance and Management
- Distinguishing between Registered Charity and Non-Profits that are not charities
- What is a Non-Profit that is not a Registered Charity?
- What is a Registered Charity?
- Distinguishing Law / Ethics / Risk Management and Governance
- Ethics/Standards
- Trying to establish a culture of compliance
- Risk Management
- Misuse of Charity and NPO Resources
- Internal Controls
- Corporate Law and Compliance
- Conclusion
This course will be of interest to those involved with non-profits and charities in Canada, including Directors/Board Members, Fundraisers, Financial staff, Program staff, volunteers, Members, Funders and government regulators.