tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/non-profits-75395/articlesNon-profits – The Conversation2023-05-24T18:42:43Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2051692023-05-24T18:42:43Z2023-05-24T18:42:43ZAs governments shirk their responsibilities, non-profits are more important than ever<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526608/original/file-20230516-25-53n9ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C65%2C5414%2C3481&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a neoliberal era, where profitability is prioritized over social duty, all orders of government in Canada are increasingly shirking responsibility for providing social services onto non-profits.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You’ve likely walked past that non-profit youth centre or literacy program in your neighborhood countless times. You’ve probably never needed to make use of it and never given it a second thought. </p>
<p>But on your next stroll, take a moment to consider the work that organization does, the challenges it faces and the vast benefits it brings to your community.</p>
<p>In an age of <a href="https://thepointer.com/article/2023-02-26/150-nonprofits-want-government-budgets-that-equitably-and-effectively-prevent-mounting-social-problems/">proliferating social troubles and government retreat</a>, Canadians must be aware of the critical role played by the non-profit sector. </p>
<p>Recent decades have seen <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/neoliberalism.asp">the welfare state withdraw in favour of free-market principles</a>. In a neoliberal era, where <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336700342_Neoliberalism_and_poverty_An_unbreakable_relationship">profitability is prioritized over social duty</a>, all orders of government in Canada have <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/liberating-temporariness--products-9780773543829.php">shirked much of the responsibility</a> for providing social services onto non-profits. </p>
<h2>Importance of social connections</h2>
<p>As non-profits have become saddled with more obligations, they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/eccs.3562">handcuffed by limited funding</a>. Long-term funding arrangements between governments and non-profits have been replaced by provisional and competitive funding. While non-profits are expected to do significantly more, they are relegated to coping with <a href="http://www.justlabour.yorku.ca/volume22/pdfs/06_baines_et_al_press.pdf">far fewer resources</a>. </p>
<p>This has serious implications for the long-term well-being of communities, especially those already marginalized and under-served. </p>
<p>Not only are non-profits now providing critical services and social supports for which the state previously took responsibility, they are also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2020.101817">settings where vital forms of social capital are produced</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Bowling_Alone/rd2ibodep7UC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=bowling+alone&printsec=frontcover">Social capital</a> refers to networks of trust, belonging and support developed among people within a given community (bonding social capital), and between people who identify with different communities or social groups (bridging social capital). Social capital enables people to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226012883/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0226012883&linkCode=as2&tag=thplofyo07-20&linkId=4QCXIF457L26NDJI">work together toward mutual well-being and goal attainment</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526578/original/file-20230516-11525-g5d19v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman with short hair wearing a mask carries a box of fresh fruit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526578/original/file-20230516-11525-g5d19v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526578/original/file-20230516-11525-g5d19v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526578/original/file-20230516-11525-g5d19v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526578/original/file-20230516-11525-g5d19v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526578/original/file-20230516-11525-g5d19v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526578/original/file-20230516-11525-g5d19v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526578/original/file-20230516-11525-g5d19v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Charities and non-profits do vital work to support communities, often with limited funding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Social capital doesn’t just happen</h2>
<p>Communities must find ways to create worthwhile forms of social capital. And that’s where non-profit organizations can fill a gap. However, constantly scrambling for money leaves these organizations little time, resources and capacity to provide programming that fosters social capital. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs42413-022-00186-2">Our research</a> on community literacy organizations illuminated the role of non-profit organizations in helping people cultivate social capital. We conducted interviews and focus groups with program leads, staff and service users at eight non-profit organizations in southern Ontario to learn how they support literacy in their communities.</p>
<p>We found that producing social capital enabled them to serve communities in ways that transcended their primary mandates. </p>
<p>It is unrealistic to expect people to build social capital on their own, devoid of enabling social infrastructure. The challenge of creating meaningful social connections is daunting. Especially as society becomes increasingly individualistic. <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-secular-life/201911/is-canada-losing-its-religion">Religion</a> — once a stalwart source of community — continues to decline and <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-rise-in-self-service-technologies-may-cause-a-decline-in-our-sense-of-community-201339">technology</a> is rapidly displacing face-to-face human interaction. Urban planners and community stakeholders need to provide the settings and opportunities for people to come together, connect and collaborate. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toronto-needs-more-beauty-in-its-waterfront-designs-100871">Toronto needs more beauty in its waterfront designs</a>
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<p>We found that non-profit community programs serve as settings where people from marginalized backgrounds can build beneficial forms of social capital. Such local initiatives provided individuals with recurrent and predictable channels to interact, share lived experiences and work together. </p>
<p>For example, mothers of children with disabilities participated in self-help groups where they shared their experiences, exchanged information and generally supported one another. Civic projects, such as a community garden started at one organization, brought together residents, young and old. </p>
<p>Non-profit programs provide people with opportunities to interact with different community members and forge meaningful interactions with people outside their social group that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10632921.2012.761167">mitigate prejudice and foster trust and understanding</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526580/original/file-20230516-21-4ordb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman standing in front of people seated in a classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526580/original/file-20230516-21-4ordb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526580/original/file-20230516-21-4ordb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526580/original/file-20230516-21-4ordb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526580/original/file-20230516-21-4ordb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526580/original/file-20230516-21-4ordb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526580/original/file-20230516-21-4ordb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526580/original/file-20230516-21-4ordb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Social programs, like those improving literacy, provide vital space for people to build meaningful social connections.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Over the course of our research, we saw what started as bridging social capital strengthen into bonding ties between program participants, and in many cases between program users, staff and volunteers. The significance of these bonds was powerfully conveyed by one participant who took part in our study: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… what I take away from this group [is] that there are good people still left in a world that’s so scary, and people that are there to support. And whether I’m here or not, they’re always willing to help somebody else that’s in need. And… knowing that the option of … being there and the people that come together for this group–it’s really incredible to know that you have somebody.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The programs we studied connected individuals to new people, organizations, supports and resources and provided ongoing opportunities to build bridging social capital.</p>
<p>While the primary purpose of the non-profit organizations was to improve literacy, these programs accomplished much more. By providing a judgement-free safe space where participants had opportunities to share and collaborate, these organizations fostered social capital within communities. </p>
<p>The community organizations we studied had recently lost their primary funding provided by a regional anti-poverty program. Program leads and staff remained committed to supporting service users but struggled to do so given the need to devote more time and resources to addressing funding insecurities. </p>
<h2>Benefits of social capital</h2>
<p>When social capital is actively fostered, social trust is elevated. Research has demonstrated that <a href="https://static.prisonpolicy.org/scans/Community-and-the-Crime-Decline-The-Causal-Effect-of-Local-Nonprofits-on-Violent-Crime.pdf">the more non-profit organizations there are in a community, the lower the crime rate</a>. Non-profit organizations help to lessen crime by enhancing levels of social capital and trust and expanding opportunities and hope. </p>
<p>Strengthening people’s social and organizational ties broadens their horizons and improves their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230287624_5">well-being</a>. Non-profits play a crucial role in fostering and sustaining such social capital. </p>
<p>If governments expect communities to be viable and fend for themselves amid diminishing public support, local non-profits cannot be relegated to financial precarity. By starving the non-profit sector, governments are ironically undermining the capacity of communities to live up to the neoliberal ideals of self-reliance and local resourcefulness.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Gosine served as a third-party evaluator and accessed research funding provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation by way of the Local Poverty Reduction Fund of the Province of Ontario. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darlene Ciuffetelli Parker served as a third-party evaluator and accessed research funding provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation by way of the Local Poverty Reduction Fund of the Province of Ontario. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffany L. Gallagher served as a third-party evaluator and accessed research funding provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation by way of the Local Poverty Reduction Fund of the Province of Ontario. </span></em></p>Non-profits provide critical services and social support for communities. They also provide settings where vital forms of social capital are produced.Kevin Gosine, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Brock UniversityDarlene Ciuffetelli Parker, Professor, Department of Educational Studies; Director, Teacher Education, Brock UniversityTiffany L. Gallagher, Professor, Department of Educational Studies and Director, Brock Learning Lab, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2011312023-03-08T20:56:07Z2023-03-08T20:56:07ZMontreal Gazette: A case for the local ownership of community news media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513834/original/file-20230306-1219-30sx50.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2941%2C1881&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Copies of the 'Montreal Gazette' are shown on a newsstand in Montréal on Feb. 16, 2023. Local Montréal businessman Mitch Garber has expressed interest in buying the newspaper. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Montréalers awoke on Feb. 16 to the news that a local <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/businessman-mitch-garber-pitches-taking-over-montreal-gazette-as-paper-faces-more-cuts-1.6276114">businessman and lawyer was trying to buy the <em>Montreal Gazette</em></a>, the city’s only anglophone daily newspaper.</p>
<p>No doubt many missed this news in the swirl of information at our fingertips, especially considering the <em>Gazette</em> is now a mere shadow of its former self. </p>
<p>The latest indignity the <em>Gazette</em> faced was a series of layoffs. Initially, <a href="https://rover.substack.com/p/postmedia-scales-back-gazette-layoffs">10-12 layoffs were expected</a>, but the hit was scaled back to six after <a href="https://montreal.citynews.ca/2023/02/12/petition-postmedia-montreal-gazette/">public pressure</a>, leaving just <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/advisory-council-will-keep-journalists-in-the-newsroom-at-montreal-gazette-postmedia-1.6287942">32 journalists and three managers</a> covering a metropolitan area of four million.</p>
<p>This marks a tremendous change for the <em>Gazette</em>, whose well-known writers have included <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mordecai-richler">Order of Canada recipient Mordecai Richler</a>. Its fame has even been enshrined in bronze, in the form of a statue of a man reading the newspaper that stands in one of the city’s anglophone enclaves.</p>
<h2>News industry challenges</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A statue of a man leaning against a building and reading a newspaper" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513822/original/file-20230306-14-igwd0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513822/original/file-20230306-14-igwd0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513822/original/file-20230306-14-igwd0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513822/original/file-20230306-14-igwd0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513822/original/file-20230306-14-igwd0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513822/original/file-20230306-14-igwd0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513822/original/file-20230306-14-igwd0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A statue in Westmount, Que. of a man reading the ‘Montreal Gazette.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The <em>Gazette</em> has suffered the familiar challenges of the news industry. It hasn’t been locally owned since 1968 <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/montreal-gazette">when it was bought by Southam</a>. A list of chain owners followed: Hollinger acquired it in 1996, Canwest in 2000 and Postmedia in 2010. </p>
<p>In 2014, 100 people lost their jobs when printing was outsourced. But the real damage came after Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey hedge fund, acquired a two-thirds stake in Postmedia in 2016. The <em>New York Times</em> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/business/media/hedge-fund-chatham-mcclatchy-postmedia-newspapers.html">reported that Postmedia cut 1,600 jobs across Canada</a> in the first four years of Chatham’s ownership. </p>
<p>As a society we have expressed concern about newspapers that have closed — 470 of them since 2008 in Canada, <a href="https://localnewsmap.geolive.ca/">according to the Local News Research Project</a>. But we are increasingly paying attention to the growth of <a href="https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/expanding-news-desert/loss-of-local-news/the-rise-of-the-ghost-newspaper/">“ghost newspapers”</a> — publications that still exist, but whose newsgathering activities have shrivelled to almost nothing. </p>
<p>The <em>Gazette</em> is certainly not a ghost, producing lots of excellent local coverage every day, but it’s undoubtedly trending ghostward. We also know life is worse in communities with less local news: local journalism <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2013.834253">increases voter turnout</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108950930">reduces polarization</a> and <a href="https://www.cjr.org/q_and_a/investigative-reporting-value.php">saves communities money</a>. </p>
<h2>Mitch Garber’s offer</h2>
<p>This brings us back to the businessperson who offered to purchase the <em>Gazette</em> in February, Mitch Garber. He is an investor and a minority owner of the Seattle Kraken NHL team. </p>
<p>When news of the recent layoffs broke, the <em>Gazette</em> staffers <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2023/02/16/prominent-businessman-mitch-garber-pitches-local-ownership-for-montreal-gazette.html">reached out to him</a> for help. In a series of since-deleted tweets on Feb. 15, Garber declared he would consider buying the newspaper.</p>
<p>“I never really wanted to own a newspaper,” <a href="https://www.iheartradio.ca/cjad/audio/mitch-garber-explains-importance-of-montreal-gazette-calls-out-advisory-council-1.19260566">he told CJAD radio</a>. “Do I have a plan? No. But I want to do what I can to help,” he <a href="https://rover.substack.com/p/knives-out-at-the-montreal-gazette">told <em>The Rover</em></a>. “I am a capitalist, I believe in smart investments and I know that investing in the print news business isn’t a big money-making investment. But some things are more important than money and I think this city needs an English language daily.” </p>
<p>Postmedia CEO Andrew MacLeod <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/postmedia-ceo-not-sure-it-s-the-right-time-for-local-ownership-of-montreal-gazette-1.6277293">dismissed the offer</a>, noting that sharing printing, distribution and stories across newspapers makes it hard to remove one of them. </p>
<p>It’s worth taking Garber’s suggestion seriously, even if not in the short term. Chain ownership might lower costs. If the purpose of a newspaper is to build up local democracy, it’s important to consider what the true cost of these savings is, and whether they outweigh the tremendous shrinkage of the newsroom. I know what my answer is. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man speaks into a microphone while another man, who is bald, looks on" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513845/original/file-20230306-18-h3ki0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513845/original/file-20230306-18-h3ki0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513845/original/file-20230306-18-h3ki0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513845/original/file-20230306-18-h3ki0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513845/original/file-20230306-18-h3ki0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513845/original/file-20230306-18-h3ki0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513845/original/file-20230306-18-h3ki0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=585&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Businessman Mitch Garber, right, speaking at a news conference in Montréal in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although Garber has invested in a range of industries, he appears to have no background in media. “Some things are more important than money,” is a promising statement, and anyone who is willing to put their own money on the line to save a community asset has my attention. </p>
<p>But individual owners can be capricious. While local ownership, no matter its structure, brings a level of accountability to the news business, it is worth taking a moment to think about how to actually build a more responsible, community-focused news source. </p>
<h2>Are non-profits the future?</h2>
<p>The <em>Gazette’s</em> local competition offers examples worth examining. <em>La Presse</em>, a French-language, online-only publication became a non-profit in 2018, meaning all profits generated are put back into the editorial process. </p>
<p><em>La Presse’s</em> owners left $50 million in its accounts before the conversion and its circulation <a href="https://nmc-mic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/SNAPSHOT-2022-REPORT_Total-Industry-01.31.2023.pdf">has been rising</a>. </p>
<p><em>Le Devoir</em>, a French-language newspaper published in Montréal, <a href="https://www.lesamisdudevoir.com/fr/les-amis-du-devoir.html">has been owned by a non-profit trust for over 100 years</a>.</p>
<p>Joseph Atkinson left the <em>Toronto Star</em> to a charitable trust in 1948, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/about/history-of-the-toronto-star.html">a move that was overturned by government legislation</a>, but whose charitable spirit was preserved through the trustees <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/05/the-toronto-stars-owner-once-dreamed-that-it-would-be-a-nonprofit-now-its-being-sold-to-a-private-equity-firm/">who owned it until recently</a>. </p>
<p>And reaching further back, revenue from the operations and eventual sale of the <em>Toronto Telegram</em> <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1t88wsq">helped support Sick Children’s Hospital</a>. (Today, of course, it’s newspapers that are the charity case.)</p>
<p>South of the border also has plenty of interesting examples. One of the oldest examples is the <em>Tampa Tribune</em>, <a href="https://www.poynter.org/history/">left to a trust by its owner</a>. </p>
<p>H.F. Lenfest, a prominent businessman and benefactor, <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/business/museum-of-the-american-revolution-lenfest-institute-for-journalism-philadelphia-20220419.html">created a non-profit to house <em>The Philadelphia Inquirer</em> in 2016</a> to ensure the newspaper would remain locally owned. Lenfest also created the <a href="https://www.lenfestinstitute.org/">Lenfest Institute for Journalism</a> that same year to fund local journalism.</p>
<p>This non-profit has contributed to what is one of the most vibrant news ecosystems in the United States, a goal that all newspapers should strive for. Anyone talking about bringing a chain newspaper local would do well to examine the history of <em>The Philadelphia Inquirer</em>.</p>
<h2>News media sustainability</h2>
<p>Postmedia is perhaps doing us all a service by putting the brakes on Garber’s offer. <a href="https://www.postmedia.com/2023/02/16/postmedia-announces-gazette-community-advisory-council/">The chain has put together an advisory council</a> to work on promoting the sustainability of the newspaper. </p>
<p>While a little late, this might be a move in the right direction for what should be a community-focused organization. If we’re serious about it, Montréalers would do well to put together our own process to figure out what we want and need from the <em>Gazette</em>. Perhaps this could even lead to a standing community advisory board, a check that a new owner would do well to encourage and listen to.</p>
<p>In any case, we can expect little from Postmedia, especially while Chatham Asset Management is involved. Local ownership seems worth a try. Garber seems like a good candidate, and he would do well to read up on what’s worked elsewhere so that he can ensure the <em>Gazette</em> remains an important local asset.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201131/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Magda Konieczna does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Local media ownership brings a level of accountability to the news business and offers benefits to communities by increasing voter turnout, reducing polarization and saving communities money.Magda Konieczna, Assistant Professor of Journalism, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1824042022-05-10T18:25:18Z2022-05-10T18:25:18ZFederal budget delivers long-overdue policy changes for Canada’s charities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462118/original/file-20220509-15-30xmfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=491%2C108%2C4542%2C3592&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Canadian charity sector has significant social impact and is committed to providing unwavering support to every aspect of people’s lives.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://www.imaginecanada.ca/sites/default/files/Sector-Monitor-Ongoing-Effects-COVID-19-Pandemic-EN.pdf">dealt a catastrophic blow</a> to Canada’s charitable and non-profit sector. Representing almost nine per cent of the country’s GDP and employing over two million people, the sector experienced an <a href="https://sscf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SSCF-Vital-COVID-Focus-2021-Report-Web.pdf">overwhelming demand for services</a> with fewer staff and even less volunteers to meet increased demand during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Beyond the sector’s substantive <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/211004/dq211004d-eng.htm">economic contribution</a>, it has an extraordinary social impact and commitment to providing unwavering support to every aspect of people’s lives. </p>
<p>Charities were expected to pivot quickly in response to the crisis. Coupled with profound capacity challenges, this translated into staff feeling overworked, leading to <a href="https://thephilanthropist.ca/2021/07/pulse-check-with-sector-leaders-on-mental-health/">burnout and other mental health problems</a>.</p>
<p>More than half of charities also experienced declines in revenues, leading to <a href="https://pavro.on.ca/resources/Documents/Career%20Ads/Imagine%20Canada%20pre-budget%20submission%20-%20Budget%202021%20(January%202021).pdf">depletions of their operating budgets for two reasons</a>. On one hand, significant revenue losses are attributed to cancellations of numerous in-person fundraising campaigns and a delay in shifting to online fundraising, as it required different skills.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A volunteer organizing cardboard boxes at a food bank." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462119/original/file-20220509-19-pi08y8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462119/original/file-20220509-19-pi08y8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462119/original/file-20220509-19-pi08y8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462119/original/file-20220509-19-pi08y8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462119/original/file-20220509-19-pi08y8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462119/original/file-20220509-19-pi08y8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462119/original/file-20220509-19-pi08y8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the past six months, the Daily Bread Food Bank and its member agencies have seen an average of 105,000 client visits each month, a 51 per cent increase compared to previous year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, as people grappled with job losses and limited financial resources, charitable donations — <a href="https://www.imaginecanada.ca/sites/default/files/2019-05/30years_report_en.pdf">one of the key sources of revenue streams for charities</a> — also declined. </p>
<p>While charity financial data is slowly becoming available to confirm the impact of COVID-19 on the sector, <a href="https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/npo-current-state-report-covid-19-summer-2020.pdf">community evidence suggests</a> that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nonprofits-charities-pandemic-closures-1.5625165">a handful of charities ceased operations</a>, especially those in the areas of sports and recreation, arts and culture, and religion.</p>
<h2>Support for charities was temporary</h2>
<p>While the federal government did attempt to support Canada’s charities during the pandemic, it introduced only temporary measures. Programs such as the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance and the Canada Emergency Business Account only offered <a href="https://imaginecanada.ca/en/360/ongoing-impacts-covid-19-crisis-charitable-sector">42 per cent of charities some relief</a>. </p>
<p>The government also offered charities serving vulnerable populations assistance via the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/emergency-community-support-fund.html">Emergency Community Support Fund</a> worth $350 million. This funding was distributed in the summer and fall of 2020 by three national partners — United Way Centraide Canada, Community Foundations Canada and Canadian Red Cross — according to eligibility criteria.</p>
<p>In January, the federal government announced an additional one-time $400 million investment as part of the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2022/01/government-of-canada-launches-call-for-proposals-for-national-funders-to-support-charities-and-not-for-profits.html">Community Services Recovery Fund</a>. It is likely that this fund will be distributed through the same three national funders, but <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/social-development-partnerships/community-services-fund.html">the decision hasn’t been finalized yet</a>. </p>
<p>While this kind of support is welcome, it is partial and only available for charities registered with the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/giving-charity-information-donors/about-registered-charities/what-difference-between-a-registered-charity-a-non-profit-organization.html">Canada Revenue Agency</a>, which excludes many non-profits. </p>
<p>After a two-year struggle to remain afloat, charities and non-profits continue to endure financial and capacity challenges, leaving their daily existence in question.</p>
<h2>New reforms for charities</h2>
<p>Charities and non-profits in Canada will finally get a break as the <a href="https://budget.gc.ca/2022/home-accueil-en.html">2022 federal budget</a> implements long-needed regulations to support the charitable sector. Two new amendments will take effect. </p>
<p>As part of the first amendment, charity funders with investment assets exceeding $1 million will be required to increase their annual funding to five per cent from 3.5 per cent. Taking effect on Jan. 1, 2023, this rate increase will translate into an additional $2.5 billion in annual funding. </p>
<p>Foundations with investment assets below $1 million and above $25,000 will continue to grant at 3.5 per cent, with the rest remaining fully exempt from granting obligations. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman standing and speaking behind a podium. She holds a bundle of papers in one hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462120/original/file-20220509-11-shi01k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462120/original/file-20220509-11-shi01k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462120/original/file-20220509-11-shi01k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462120/original/file-20220509-11-shi01k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462120/original/file-20220509-11-shi01k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462120/original/file-20220509-11-shi01k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462120/original/file-20220509-11-shi01k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland holds a copy of the budget during a visit to Dalhousie University in Halifax on April 12, 2022. The new budget implements long needed regulations to support the charitable sector.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the proposed regulatory change to granting foundations is framed as a response to the pandemic, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360427251_How_Foundations_Spend_Is_the_Current_35_Asset_Disbursement_the_Right_Public_Policy">researchers have long asked</a> the federal government to adopt a scale-based payment policy specifically for the outlined reasons.</p>
<p>The benefit of regulating charitable funders in this way is twofold. First, significant funds will be channelled back to the charitable sector, allowing it to recover financially and rebuild its capacity. Second, a <a href="https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/cpp.2014-033">scale-based payment policy like this</a> considers the ability-to-pay principle, which helps maintain a financially healthy charity sector. </p>
<p>Crucially, the second amendment will allow granting foundations to provide <a href="https://pfc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/budget-2022-member-advisory-en.pdf">funding to organizations outside of those registered with the Canada Revenue Agency</a>. This means that other non-profit organizations will become eligible for financial support, as long as certain accountability requirements are met. </p>
<h2>A new home for charities</h2>
<p>While the details of the two amendments are still being confirmed, these policy changes are encouraging steps forward for the charitable sector. </p>
<p>However, to ensure its long-term health, the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/corporate-reports-information/advisory-committee-charitable-sector.html#8">Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector</a>, which represents voices of community leaders, non-profit sector stakeholders and researchers, is calling on the federal government to <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/corporate-reports-information/advisory-committee-charitable-sector/report-advisory-committee-charitable-sector-february-2021.html#h11_2">create a “home” in the government</a> for charities. </p>
<p>Like <a href="https://agriculture.canada.ca/en">Agriculture Canada</a> for farmers, or <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage.html">Canadian Heritage</a> for artists, this home will create and support programs relevant to charities and non-profits. It will also communicate on behalf of these organizations with other government departments. It is needed because charities are crucial for our society. We need to continue to support this vital part of Canada’s social fabric for everyone’s well-being and for overcoming future crises.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182404/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Iryna Khovrenkov receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant for "Impact Assessment of Actions Taken by Canadian Grantmaking Foundations in Response to Social Inequalities and the Environmental Issue” project.</span></em></p>The 2022 federal budget implements long needed regulations to support the charitable sector.Iryna Khovrenkov, Associate Professor, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1532542021-01-31T14:00:11Z2021-01-31T14:00:11ZHow COVID-19 could transform non-profit organizations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380891/original/file-20210127-15-1whjzx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3940%2C2664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how non-profit organizations operate and how they're funded. Whether it will be enough to help the non-profit sector address growing social problems remains to be seen. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 has been disruptive to non-profit organizations that are, in many cases, <a href="https://charify.ca/challenges-of-npos/">already operating on a shoestring</a>.</p>
<p>Our research team has spoken with leaders from front-line non-profit organizations, and their funding partners — like public and private foundations — to better understand how the pandemic is affecting organizations across Canada. </p>
<p>Preliminary findings indicate that traditional funding practices have eroded the resiliency of charities and their ability to build sufficient capabilities that can be drawn upon during tough times. </p>
<p>But the pandemic has also emboldened funders and non-profits to rethink traditional models and implement changes that have enormous potential to strengthen the non-profit sector. </p>
<h2>How non-profits operate</h2>
<p>Operating on small budgets is standard for many front-line, non-profit organizations like food banks, youth support organizations and homeless outreach organizations. Doing more with less is a badge of honour. </p>
<p>We spoke to officials at one non-profit delivering youth programming who recounted how visitors to their organization had been impressed with the leanness of the organization. This “leanness” is baked into the non-profit DNA, reinforced by industry observers like <a href="https://www.charityintelligence.ca/">Charity Intelligence</a>. </p>
<p>This leanness is shaped by policies and long-held <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong?language=en#t-137559">beliefs about how non-profits should conduct themselves</a>. Traditional funding models allocate money to specific projects, like youth support programs or senior engagement initiatives, constraining how funds are spent. In addition, this funding must often be renewed annually. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-non-profits-can-use-business-as-a-force-for-good-121674">How non-profits can use business as a force for good</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In principle, pushing funding directly to a non-profit’s constituents makes sense. But it leaves little money to build organizational capabilities. The razor-thin budgets diminish organizational flexibility, capacity and resilience. </p>
<p>Taken together, this makes planning for the future difficult at the best of times. But it makes preparing for crises like the COVID-19 pandemic nearly impossible. </p>
<p>This is problematic because non-profit organizations are vital resources for marginalized and under-served groups. In Canada, communities are struggling and the need for social services far outpaces the supply. This <a href="https://www.imaginecanada.ca/sites/default/files/2019-08/imaginecanada_charities_sustainability_smart_growth_2016_10_18.pdf">social deficit</a> has been exacerbated by the global pandemic, increasing the prevalence of social problems and making the non-profit sector all that more critical. </p>
<h2>Non-profit responses</h2>
<p>Despite the myriad challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced, the non-profits we spoke with adopted creative and innovative approaches to executing their missions. </p>
<p>Make no mistake, the ability for non-profits to continue to serve their communities is a testament to their passion, with non-profit team members pouring their heart and soul into their organizations. </p>
<p>Mission, passion, will and determination have been integral to sustaining non-profits over this time. Across the organizations we spoke with, leaders described the personal sacrifices they and their teams had made. This included long hours, maintaining a flexible outlook and mental tenacity. </p>
<p>Employees of front-line organizations also faced personal risks due to daily interactions with clients and possible COVID-19 exposure. These realities have adversely impacted the mental health of employees in this sector. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman wearing a mask and carrying a clipboard checks on a homeless person in a tent." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A worker from a non-profit organization checks on homeless people in their tents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto in April 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Funding partners have responded in significant ways too. The funding organizations we talked to recognized the need to alter traditional funding procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, many funders immediately removed spending restrictions on existing grants. </p>
<p>As one funder stated: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“You guys know your business better than we do. Use the money as you need it to help you with the adjustment.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The shift to unrestricted funds suggests heightened trust and a recognition that as funders, they did not know how the organizations they supported should best use the money. </p>
<p>This trust was monumental for many non-profit organizations. As one front-line non-profit leader stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“For the first time, all of a sudden, there’s access to operations funding, which we never had before … that’s been absolutely fantastic, to suddenly have money just to pay people to do what they’re doing.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In some cases, the access to unrestricted funding that could be used for the organization’s highest priorities was the difference between continuing to meet the needs of the community and shutting the doors. </p>
<p>It’s interesting that during a time of heightened stress and confusion, many funding partners looked within and found that they trusted the non-profits they were funding, transforming a traditionally paternalistic funding relationship. </p>
<p>What remains to be seen is whether these changes are temporary, or whether they open the door <a href="http://give5.ca/">for reimagining</a> funding relationships. </p>
<h2>New pathways forward</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges but might also represent a critical inflection point for the non-profit sector. While we expect 2021 will <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nonprofits-charities-pandemic-closures-1.5625165">be a challenging</a> year for non-profits, the <a href="https://imaginecanada.ca/sites/default/files/COVID-19%20Sector%20Monitor%20Report%20ENGLISH_0.pdf">sector’s response</a> to date indicates two important and related ways the sector could <a href="https://imaginecanada.ca/en/wake-up-call-report-download">build back better</a>. </p>
<p>First, the pandemic has spurred funders to reconsider their relationships with the non-profit organizations they fund. This may have long term implications for the sector. Many funding organizations are currently waiting for COVID-19 spread to slow, signalling that the time to build back is here. </p>
<p>As non-profits navigate through COVID-19, funding partners should seek a new balance. They can do this by releasing some control and shifting from short-term funding designated for specific projects to long-term unrestricted funding aimed at building non-profit capacity. </p>
<p>Second, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of capabilities and capacity — human resources, information technology and even extra staff and resources, all expenses that have traditionally been generally discouraged by funding organizations. Yet to build capacity for resilience, non-profits must be permitted and encouraged to build this capacity.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has let the light in when it comes to how non-profit organizations operate and how they’re funded. Whether it will be enough to help the non-profit sector address the growing social deficit remains to be seen. </p>
<p><em>Lynn Fergusson of Social Impact Advisors contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153254/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brent McKnight received funding from the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Mitacs and McMaster University for research that appears in this article. This project also received funding from Social Impact Advisors, a B Corp providing strategy consulting to the non-profit sector.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Gouweloos received funding from Mitacs for research that appears in this article. </span></em></p>The COVID-19 pandemic shone a light on how non-profit organizations operate and how they’re funded. Is it enough to boost non-profit sector capacity to address social inequities post-pandemic?Brent McKnight, Associate Professor, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster UniversityJulie Gouweloos, Instructor, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1332032020-05-28T14:41:43Z2020-05-28T14:41:43ZSocial ties, not politicians, may drive political participation on Instagram<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338227/original/file-20200528-51471-1qwsnd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C40%2C1917%2C1172&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Instagram users may be more influenced politically by their social connections on the platform than they are by political accounts.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Dean Moriarty, Pixabay)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Politicians of all stripes use <a href="https://www.martenscentre.eu/publications/political-marketing-use-of-social-media">social media</a> to share their party platforms and connect with voters, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>More than ever, they use video and image-driven platforms, especially <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/737d2428-2fdf-11e9-ba00-0251022932c8">Instagram</a>. </p>
<p>Many major Canadian federal political parties and leaders have <a href="https://www.narcity.com/news/ca/federal-party-leaders-social-media-followings-differ-greatly">large followings</a> on Instagram, and younger voters especially are <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/10/share-of-u-s-adults-using-social-media-including-facebook-is-mostly-unchanged-since-2018/">regular and active users</a>. Political information related to COVID-19 is regularly shared on the platform by Canadian <a href="https://www.instagram.com/justinpjtrudeau/?hl=en">political</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/andrewjscheer/?hl=en">opposition</a> leaders. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/B34qY1ug91U","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>The number of Instagram users has also increased rapidly in recent years. In February, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/">Statista reported</a> that Instagram had a billion monthly active accounts, up from <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/">200 million users in March 2014.</a> </p>
<p>Until recently, much attention <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/03/09/the-man-behind-trumps-facebook-juggernaut">from the media</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23333-3_3">academic researchers</a> has focused on how politicians and citizens use Facebook and Twitter for political engagement. Less coverage and work has examined how voters use Instagram to engage with political information, especially in Canada. </p>
<h2>Users interact with people they know</h2>
<p>A number of Canadian voters sought political information about the 2019 federal election on Instagram. This included posting related content or liking, sharing or commenting on posts made by political parties. </p>
<p>Recent survey research conducted as part of the <a href="https://www.digitalecosystem.ca/about">Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge</a> shows that respondents who used Instagram to engage with political information during the election were more likely to interact with people they knew on the platform rather than professional accounts designed to foster political participation. The results are seen below:</p>
<iframe title="How respondents engaged with political information related to the 2019 federal election on Instagram" aria-label="Bar Chart" id="datawrapper-chart-hBkM9" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/hBkM9/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="509" width="100%"></iframe>
<p>This is an important finding because it suggests that professional communicators, even with all their expertise and resources, were still less effective than respondents’ friends, family members and acquaintances in driving engagement on the platform. </p>
<p>This point is made more salient when we consider <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699018763307">recent research</a> that highlights the strategies behind political candidates’ use of Instagram and other social media accounts.</p>
<p>Some of this work, for instance, examines the role of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v5i4.1062">digital storytelling</a> in candidates’ efforts to project and manage their political images.</p>
<h2>Findings and implications</h2>
<p>The survey includes responses from 208 Canadian citizens 18 years and older. Respondents intended to vote and to access political information related to the election on Instagram. The survey was conducted online in French and English, from Oct. 4-13, 2019. The data collected is not nationally representative, but results give useful initial indicators. </p>
<p>Many respondents, more than three-quarters, used Instagram to engage politically on issues related to the election in one or more ways. Yet these Canadians were more likely to interact with users who they knew offline (27 per cent). They were less likely to engage with content posted by professional accounts, such as political candidates (19 per cent) or non-partisan organizations (10 per cent). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338225/original/file-20200528-51445-16t88o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3350&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338225/original/file-20200528-51445-16t88o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338225/original/file-20200528-51445-16t88o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338225/original/file-20200528-51445-16t88o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338225/original/file-20200528-51445-16t88o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338225/original/file-20200528-51445-16t88o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338225/original/file-20200528-51445-16t88o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Instagram users are more influenced politically by their social connections on the platform then they are by political accounts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In particular, respondents were less likely to interact with content posted by groups, including political parties (13 per cent), news outlets (13 per cent) and non-partisan organizations (10 per cent). Rather than these groups, survey participants more readily engaged with accounts run by or representing a single individual, such as a political candidate (19 per cent) or a journalist or other public figure (21 per cent) — though still not nearly as much as they engaged with people they knew offline.</p>
<p>This research suggests that respondents’ offline relationships drove political engagement on the platform more than professional communicators. It also signals the important role that social ties played in respondents’ communications on Instagram around the election. </p>
<p>These findings have spurred some recommendations for civil society groups like unions or non-profits whose work involves political engagement. </p>
<h2>Encourage content sharing</h2>
<p>When sharing nonpartisan political information online, civil society groups should consider how they can most effectively use Instagram to spread that content. Since the study suggests that individual users may be more inclined to engage politically on the platform with people they know offline, these groups should consider strategies that encourage individual users to screenshot or otherwise independently share their content. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338224/original/file-20200528-51509-13tst5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338224/original/file-20200528-51509-13tst5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338224/original/file-20200528-51509-13tst5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338224/original/file-20200528-51509-13tst5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338224/original/file-20200528-51509-13tst5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338224/original/file-20200528-51509-13tst5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338224/original/file-20200528-51509-13tst5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338224/original/file-20200528-51509-13tst5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Civil society groups like unions and non-profits should encourage people to share their content.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">{Piqsels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This could allow civil society groups to better connect with individual Canadians.</p>
<p>Also, civil society groups whose mandates include digital literacy should include discussion of political engagement on Instagram in program materials and initiatives. As young people are more active users of the platform, these efforts should target teenagers and young voters. </p>
<p>These initiatives could address how young people can develop their political knowledge and participation on Instagram.</p>
<p>Further work could show the extent to which these behaviours are reflected nationally, and in relation to political information about COVID-19. </p>
<p>The findings give initial indications that social capital may play a greater role than political, industry or third-sector financial resources in political engagement on Instagram. That’s important given the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v5i4.1062">expertise and resources</a> behind many of these efforts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133203/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was made possible by an award from the Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge, funded in part by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet a été financé par une bourse du Défi de recherche sur l’écosystème numérique, financé en partie par le Gouvernement du Canada. </span></em></p>A survey shows respondents who used Instagram for political information during the 2019 federal election were more likely to interact with people they knew, not political accounts.Sabrina Wilkinson, PhD candidate, Communication, Goldsmiths, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1285342019-12-12T14:15:21Z2019-12-12T14:15:21ZHow Canada’s new election law has silenced political debate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306216/original/file-20191210-95115-d0oxdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2964%2C1841&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People march during a climate strike in Montréal in September 2019. Climate change is a top concern for Canadians, but new Elections Canada rules left civil society organizations fearing they could not speak out on the need for climate action during the election. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s almost 2020, and with a minority government in power, another federal election could be upon Canadians sooner than expected.</p>
<p>So as the dust settles on the 2019 vote, it’s important to examine the data on an issue that clouded the election campaign — the impact of new <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-canadas-environmental-charities-are-afraid-to-talk-about-climate-change-during-the-election-122114">Elections Canada regulations</a> on public debate by civil society organizations.</p>
<p>In June 2019, the federal government amended Canada’s <a href="https://laws.justice.gc.ca/PDF/E-2.01.pdf">Elections Act</a>. The rules require third parties, including non-profit groups, to register with Elections Canada if they spend more than $500 on “political advertising.” That includes any spending to promote positions during election campaigns on public policy issues on which political parties have taken a stand, or to support or oppose particular candidates and parties.</p>
<p>The new Elections Act also sets specific spending limits on third-party election advertising. </p>
<p>These changes to the Elections Act are important measures to prevent the type of unlimited spending by political action committees (PACs) that followed the <a href="https://news.law.fordham.edu/jcfl/2018/03/07/citizens-united-8-years-later/">Citizens United</a> decision by the United States Supreme Court in 2010. The court ruled that spending limits on third-party election advertising was an unconstitutional restriction of free speech.</p>
<p>Since 2010, what are known as <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/summ.php?chrt=V&type=C">super-PACs</a> have subsequently become major players in American elections, enabling wealthy individuals to exert enormous political influence. Indeed, wealthy donors spent more than <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/11/1-4-billion-and-counting-in-spending-by-super-pacs-dark-money-groups/">US$1.4 billion</a> during the 2016 presidential election campaign. </p>
<h2>Silencing voices</h2>
<p>The new <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=pol&document=index&dir=thi/ec20227&lang=e">Elections Canada regulations</a> impose spending limits on third parties ($1,023,400 in the pre-election period and $511,700 in the election period) and specific regulations against collusion between third parties that would prevent the type of unlimited spending by super-PACs in the United States.</p>
<p>However, the new Elections Canada regulations have also played a role in silencing the voices of many Canadian organizations on a wide range of public policy issues — from climate change to health care to international aid.</p>
<p>This chilling effect came into play most powerfully when Elections Canada indicated in a training session for non-profits that organizations with public policy positions on climate change would need to register and report on their spending, given that right-wing candidate Maxime Bernier had made <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/environment-groups-warned-climate-change-real-partisan-1.5251763">public statements denying climate change</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1112677625619759105"}"></div></p>
<p>The silencing impact may not have been intentional, but it is very real and represents a threat to healthy public debate and democracy in Canada. Elections are important opportunities for Canadians to debate public policy, and it’s crucial that civil society groups are able to contribute to those debates. </p>
<p>On the surface, the new Elections Act appears to strike a balance between free speech and excessive influence by wealthy individuals and corporations. </p>
<p>The Elections Act does not prohibit civil society organizations from spending money to promote public policy positions. However, many organizations saw the requirement to register and report on spending as ominous — especially after the crackdown on charities carried out by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) under <a href="https://www.fasken.com/en/knowledge/2018/08/political-activities-of-charities-a-new-world/">Stephen Harper’s Conservative government</a>. </p>
<h2>Fears of another crackdown</h2>
<p>Justin Trudeau’s government made significant changes to the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/charities/policies-guidance/public-policy-dialogue-development-activities.html?utm_source=stkhldrs&utm_medium=eml&utm_campaign=PPDDA">CRA regulations</a> in 2019 that allow charities to engage much more freely in public policy debates. But many Canadian civil society groups still worry that the federal government will crack down on organizations that criticize its policies. </p>
<p>The regulations also add bureaucratic headaches and expenses to non-profit organizations, many of which cannot afford to pay additional costs for participation in public policy debates. </p>
<p>Staff with many Canadian civil society groups have reported that their organizations did not speak out on public policy issues during the election campaign for fear they’d be penalized by Elections Canada or the CRA. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-canadas-environmental-charities-are-afraid-to-talk-about-climate-change-during-the-election-122114">Why Canada’s environmental charities are afraid to talk about climate change during the election</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The silencing effect is also clear in data from <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=fin&document=index&dir=oth/thi/advert/tp43&lang=e">Elections Canada</a>.</p>
<p>There are more than 175,000 registered non-profit and charitable organizations in Canada. Only 147 registered to report election advertising in 2019, only 50 reported spending more than $10,000 (the reporting threshold set by Elections Canada) and only two have charitable status. </p>
<h2>Climate change a key concern</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/Four-Weeks-In-Climate-Change-Fastest-Moving-Health-Care-Still-Top-Issue">Climate change</a> was a top concern for Canadians during the 2019 election campaign. However, <a href="https://johndcameron.com/data-on-ngo-advocacy-in-canada/">my analysis</a> of the Elections Canada data shows that only 17 environmental organizations registered, and only seven reported spending more than $10,000 (for a cumulative total of $634,307) during the election period. </p>
<p>Similarly, while Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer made Canada’s international aid an election issue by proposing to cut it by 25 per cent, only five international social justice organizations registered, and none of them reported spending over $10,000. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/Four-Weeks-In-Climate-Change-Fastest-Moving-Health-Care-Still-Top-Issue">Health care</a> is always an important issue to Canadians, but just one (the Canadian Medical Association) reported spending over $10,000.</p>
<p>The data suggests the new rules kept conservative groups quiet too. Only one gun rights organization reported any spending ($32,091) and just seven explicitly pro-Conservative organizations registered, spending a total of $690,922. As of Oct. 14, 2019 — a week before the election —the total reported by all organizations was just over $9.4 million. </p>
<p>Canada’s new Elections Act may have prevented the type of mammoth spending seen in the United States via super-PACs, but it’s been at the expense of silencing many Canadian organizations with important positions on public policy issues. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The $500 limit must be reviewed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Elections Canada needs to do more to make sure that the new regulations do not block public policy debates. It should also review the $500 threshold for requiring organizations to register with Elections Canada. </p>
<p>With a minority government in Parliament, Canadians could soon head to the polls again, so there may not be much time to make these changes.</p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published Dec. 12, 2019. This version clarifies details about the amended Elections Act and corrects the number of health-sector organizations that registered with Elections Canada.</em></p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128534/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Cameron receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Canada’s new Elections Act may have prevented the type of mammoth election spending seen in the United States via super-PACs, but it’s been at the expense of public debate.John D. Cameron, Associate Professor, Department of International Development Studies, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1216742019-08-27T21:19:41Z2019-08-27T21:19:41ZHow non-profits can use business as a force for good<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289541/original/file-20190827-8851-1y7eu8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1998&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do social enterprises come to view profit as more important than their original mission? New research suggests they don't, and the cause remains a key component of their success.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kat Yukawa/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can a non-profit organization pursue both social gains and business revenue? Or is it as futile as mixing water and oil and hoping that the oil — commercial interests — won’t rise to the top?</p>
<p>Think about <a href="https://ymca.ca/">the YMCA</a> of Canada. The Y is one of Canada’s <a href="https://www.ymca.ca/Who-We-Are/YMCA-History">oldest and largest charities</a>, serving more than 2.25 million people each year from 1,700 program locations. </p>
<p>It offers a wide range of social programs, from youth leadership development and immigrant services to skills development workshops. It also operates what is essentially a health club business that is somewhat more distantly tied to its mission, yet provides a critical source of revenue. The Y seems to be able to carry out its model of social enterprise just fine.</p>
<p>But for every YMCA, there are many more non-profits committed to advancing a social cause that struggle with finding revenue sources to keep themselves afloat. It’s no surprise; these two approaches often require very different mindsets, and trying to pursue both requires a cultural shift for traditional non-profit organizations.</p>
<p>Traditionally, non-profit organizations that wanted to increase their revenues tended to create commercial activities that were unrelated to their core social activities. Think about the annual cupcake sale organized by your local soup kitchen, or the café created within your local history museum. Those initiatives generate a welcome surplus of revenues, but they remain somewhat unconnected to the core social mission of the organization.</p>
<h2>Pursuing profit where it doesn’t belong?</h2>
<p>Many say the concept of social enterprise represents the incursion of <a href="https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20141202/social-innovation-simply-dressed-neoliberalism">neoliberal thinking</a> — putting the market above all else — into a sphere where it doesn’t belong.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-exactly-is-neoliberalism-84755">What exactly is neoliberalism?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/nml.43">Some scholars</a> have predicted that ultimately, the “enterprise” would come to dominate the “social” as the pursuit of funds becomes the goal rather than the connection to a social purpose.</p>
<p>But are non-profits really selling their souls to the market? Maybe not. This argument overlooks the ways in which organizations and their leaders assimilate and adapt new ideas.</p>
<p><a href="https://rdcu.be/bbKGy">Our research</a> suggests that non-profits tempted by the social enterprise model do not necessarily lose sight of their social mission. In fact, we observed the opposite trend: non-profit organizations interested in developing commercial activities learned, over time, how to integrate them more deeply with their social goals.</p>
<p>We came to this conclusion after analyzing 14 years of grant applications submitted to <a href="https://secouncil.ca/index.php/about/enp-landing-page/">Enterprising NonProfits</a>, then a leading Canadian funder that has since shut down, by non-profit organizations that sought to commercialize some of their services to create earned revenue. </p>
<p>With this long-term perspective, we could identify how non-profits in our study described their operating models and whether those models changed over time as the concept of social enterprise emerged and became more prevalent in society at large.</p>
<p>What we found is that the power of commerce did not win out as the years went by. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In fact, profits did not win out over the causes of social enterprises.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Perry Grone/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yes, in the early 2000s, when the concept of social enterprise was still new, many non-profits tended to emphasize the revenue-generation aspect of their new venture over the social mission, and to keep the two rather disconnected. </p>
<p>This was particularly true among non-profits in the social welfare and community benefit space. Perhaps these non-profits wanted to differentiate themselves from others in the field or just could not envision how to realize their social mission while developing commercial activities.</p>
<p>But over time, this emphasis on pure revenue-generation diminished. In the education and health fields, it never even dominated in the first place.</p>
<h2>Enhanced their social missions</h2>
<p>Instead, <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/nonprofits_many_roads_to_revenue_generation">hybrid models</a> sprang up that integrated commercial and social objectives in multiple ways. Some non-profits offered specialized products or services to their target beneficiaries and generated revenue that way. Others provided employment opportunities to their target disadvantaged populations and thus enhanced their social mission.</p>
<p>In short, non-profits became better at managing the tensions inherent in mixing revenue generation with social mission, and more amenable to exploring different options for doing so.</p>
<p>They learned what worked and didn’t work from their peers, as successful examples of hybrid social enterprises that integrated a social mission into a commercial business project became more visible in the environment.</p>
<p>In the process, non-profit organizations realized that injecting some earned revenue into their activities could not only provide some welcome relief to their bottom line, but also had the potential to enhance and deepen their social mission.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by an Insight Development grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and by research grants from Queen's University. Data for the research was made available by Enterprising Non-Profits British Columbia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>New research suggests that non-profits tempted by the social enterprise model do not necessarily lose sight of their social mission in favour of profits. In fact, the opposite is true.Jean-Baptiste Litrico, Associate Professor of Strategy and Organization, Queen's University, OntarioMarya Besharov, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.