Social Enterprise Seminar - Fall 2012

Social Enterprise Seminar 2012.

Held at the Creekside Community Centre Vancouver in Fall 2012, the seminar attracted a group of Rose Charities enthusiasts and supporters with wide interests and areas of involvement.  Rose Charities organizers believe very much in sustainability and local support and involvement for all projects and one way to achieve this is to incorporate social enterprise components wherever possible.

The meeting spanned initiatives both at the donor end as well as the field project end, as well as those which bridged both.  Moderated by Rose International Members, Linda Roberts and Will Grut, the keynote speaker was Margaret Mason of Bull Housser who outlined some of the basic and most important aspects of social enterprise projects.

From the Vancouver end, the 'Lot To Give' and 'Give Group' programs were presented by Laura Benson and Kris Roberts respectively  In principle these are based around the concept of supply of a service either online or through other sources or retail outlet with significant focus on charitable donation.  With Give Group this is through real-estate transactions.

From the field, projects presented included Rose Vietnams paper flower making at Than Thien Village, a centuries old historic art which Rose Vietnam has been helping to revive.  Beekeeping in coordination with the Bee World Organization in Zambia and Cambodia,  brickmaking in Uganda with Dr Andrew Macnabs Brighter Smiles group, and volunteer tourism and elective student field experience trips in Cambodia.  Lawrence Keenan, continually one of the main project instigators and supports in Sri Lanka, outlined the current social enterprise initiatives there, including the amazing  Rose Sri Lanka microcredit program and other initiatives embracing health and food distribution.

Janine Vertone's initiative (Ukama Arts) of import and sale of Zimbabwe sculptures , with much of the proceeds being returned for Zimbabwe school support is a project which links both the field and the donor end.  The honey projects mentioned above also fit into this category as the Honey Bee Centre in Surrey will, if possible, purchase and import any honey not sold locally through its international projects.  Finally Malambo Grassroots in Zambia also has several womens groups who produce handicrafts, some of which are sold in Vancouver

Following presentations were discussions on some of the challenges the projects faced, how they were planned and established as well as future projections.  Interchange of ideas was beneficial and interesting and groups came away with new ideas for further development of plans for their areas.

Refreshments were kindly supplied by some of the participants (thank you Linda Roberts) and there was general agreement that the seminar was both beneficial and interesting, and should be repeated in 2013.

We pay tribute, one year on, to those who helped Tohoku...

11th March 2011:  Around 3.30 pm tsunami hits the Tohoku region of Japan.  20,000 people die; the region is utterly devastated..

The directors of Rose Charities and AMDA Canada pay tribute to...

The AMDA Japan emergency relief teams who were in the region within hours of the disaster.  Day by day more AMDA personnel, nurses, physicians, logisticians, counselor teams were sent to the area who fanned out into all the affected regions to provide emergency relief, shelter and support.  At the same time tons of materials, supplies from all over Japan were shipped in by the truckload

The AMDA relief work still continues, now more in the form of community rehabilitation, school assistance and health clinics

The people of Vancouver, Steveston, and Richmond BC. who, through two fundraisers partly  assisted by Rose Charities Canada and AMDA Canada, as well as a general appeal contributed some $85000 to the AMDA relief efforts. These included  $10,000 from the Johrei Fellowship, Richmond, and over $19,000 from Aero Trading Co. Ltd. (aerovan@aerotrading.ca). A fundraising dinner put on by CIEAF, Stevesdon Community Center, Steveston Buddhist Temple and Kayama Enterprises Ltd, raised $35000 (see photo right).  A second fundraiser,  including sales of photographs donated of the Tohoku region,  put on my Ms's Mari Myiasaka and Tsuneko Ishii and sponsored by the Fraser Magazine (www.thefraser.com) raised around $15,000

The people of Sechelt and Sunshine Coast .B.C. who, though a beautifully organized fundraiser partly by the renowned Garden Bay artist Motoko  (www.motokoart.com ) raised around $15000  for both the Red Cross and AMDA relief efforts

The UK Shiatsu groups (many) and  Shiatsu Society UK  who donated generously via Rose Charities UK to the AMDA relief effort

To all you people who rose to assistance of the suffering of the people of the Tohoku region in Japan, we thank you. Your generosity will not be forgotten.


And to the people of Tohoku:  we salute your quiet bravery and your dignity.  It is almost impossible to imagine  your losses, but we are with you and will remain with you in our thoughts.  You are inspirational in the visage that you have shown to the world in this terrible time. 

Penang IV Internat Meeting. March 2012. Program

Nine things board members could do to help raise funds

Here are 9 things you could ask your fundraising-shy board members to do:  by Nell Edgington

Help create or evaluate a business plan for an earned income venture. If you have business leaders or entrepreneurs on your board this would be a great use of their time and add tremendous value to your organization. If they can help you create a more profitable business, they are directly contributing to your organization’s bottom-line.

Advocate for government money. You may have a board member that can’t stand the idea of asking their friends for money, but they are well connected in city, county, state or federal government and could open doors to you for government contracts, grants, fee-for-service or other government monies.

Provide intelligence on prospects. If you have a board member that seems to know everyone in town, but for whatever reason refuses to ask any of them for money, they can still be incredibly useful. You may be getting ready to ask a prospective donor for $1,000, and this board member can tell you what that person has already given to, at what level, who else might know them and so on. When you make an ask, the more information you have going into it, the more successful you will be.

Set up a meeting with a prospective customer. If your nonprofit is engaged in an earned income venture, you probably always need help with new sales. If you have a board member who is part of, or connected to, the target customer(s) of your business, they could open doors to new customers. Or at the very least, they could help you think through your sales and marketing strategies and make them  more effective so that you can attract more customers.

Email, call or visit a donor just to say thanks. The stewardship of a gift is an often forgotten, but incredibly critical, part of the fundraising process. According to Penelope Burk’s annual donor survey, 84% of donors would give again if they were thanked in a timely way. And being thanked by a board member is a bonus. A donor who renews their gift to a nonprofit is providing more money for the organization.

Explain to a prospect why you serve. A board of directors is a group of volunteers who care so much about the mission of the organization that they are willing to donate their time (a precious resource) to the cause. As a donor, it is affirming to see that a volunteer is contributing time, but it is even more motivating to hear, in the board member’s own words, why they feel compelled to serve this organization. That story can be enough to convince someone to give.

Host a small gathering at your home. Over the course of a year, most people invite a gathering of friends and/or family into their home at least once. A board member could take a few minutes at their next dinner party, birthday celebration or Super Bowl feast to talk about something that is near and dear to their heart: the nonprofit on whose board they serve. They don’t have to ask people for money, But they could simply say, “If you’re interested in learning more, let me know.” And then the nonprofit’s staff could take it from there with those who are interested.

Recruit an in-kind service. If a board member could remove an expense line item from a nonprofit’s budget that would directly contribute to a stronger bottom-line. For example, if a board member works at an ad agency, could they convince their company to provide some pro-bono marketing services to their nonprofit? But keep in mind, these in-kind donations must be of value to the nonprofit and provide an offset to a direct cost that the nonprofit would otherwise have to bear.

Negotiate a lower price from a vendor. Do you have a board member with great negotiating skills (think of all of those lawyers on your board). Could they negotiate with your insurance providers, office space rental company, or printers, for a lower price? If so, that’s more money in the bank.

If you think of a board member’s “get” responsibilities in these much broader terms, then I find it difficult to imagine a board member who cannot bring money in the door. You just have to get strategic about how each individual board member can best contribute to the organization’s bottom-line.

Rose Charities International Meeting: Progress update Jan 2012

Rose IV Meeting and Conference: Penang :  Update Jan 2012

The Rose IV Meeting in Penang, Malaysia (22^nd to 25^th March 2012), and hosted by the Penang Rose Charities Association (Rose Charities Malaysia)  is shaping up to be an amazing gathering of both Rose Charities , and other people the world over.

Delegates representing projects or registered Rose groups from,  Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uganda, UK, USA and Canada and Guatemala  will be attending.  

The ‘Hillman Fund’, a special group inside Rose Charities Canada which sponsors health education projects in Africa, Pakistan, and Cambodia will have a big presence including chair of the Hillman Committee, Dr Joanne Young of Vancouver,  Annette Borkent of the Safe Motherhood Guatemala Project, Dr Wagma Reshsteen of Primary Health Frontiers, Pakistan, and Dr Wais Aria of  The Tabish Social Health Organization, Afghanistan.

Dr Andrew MacNab (B.C’s Childrens Hospital)  founder of African Hearts and Brighter Smiles, Uganda will be speaking on his work with Health Promoting Schools, and Rachel Green of Rose Charities USA on the topical area of Social Networking.

AMDA International’s senior Emergency Relief Director (Mr Nithiananan) will be attending (AMDA and Rose Charities have worked very closely a number of  emergency relief operations and are very close partners) . AMDA has huge international emergency humanitarian relief experience, and is one of the foremost NGO’s in this area.

Joanna Thomson, founder of the Rose Cambodia Rehab Center will be discussing her amazing assistance to the disabled of Cambodia,  Mr Louis Lap Nguyen co-founder of Rose Charities Vietnam,  the impressive range of Rose Vietnam projects with include sight restoration, income generation and orphanage assistance

Rose Charities Sri Lanka with its spectrum of multi-sectorial projects, ranging from early childhood care and education, through education for all ages, including college support, micro-credit, sports for peace and vocational training will be represented by co-founder Mr Anthony Richards as well as Dr Yoga Yogendran.

From Rose Charities New Zealand, Mrs Anne George will be representing. Rose New Zealand works closely with the Rose Cambodia Sight Center providing expertise and resources. In 2011 the Sight Centre passed the mark for patients assisted (many with sight restoring operations). Rose NZ also assists eye programs in Nepal and work in NZ itself (Anne Georges specialty) with new immigrant program(s).  Rose Australia delegates will include Sarah Miller, an expert in Cambodia programs, Rose Austalia’s main focus.

Rose Charities Malaysia, the hosts will be very well represented, not least by Mr  Lawrence Cheah Chair of the Rose International Council.  Rose Charities Malaysia, running out of Penang assists Malaysias indigenous people (Orang Asli), help the aged programs and helth promotion in Penang.  

The meetings will work at three levels.  a) sector focus groups on specific areas (Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka,  and Health Education/Safe birthing etc ) , round-table discussion for the whole Rose network and a more formal Conference component where persons from Malaysian (and other) NGO’s and interested parties will be invited.

Malaysia’s Penang Island, with its historic UNESCO listed George Town, is a wonderful location for the meeting, most of which will be held in the seaside Tanjung Bunga area at the Paradise Sandy Beach Hotel.

All Rose Charities persons and other linked or interested parties are welcome.

For details, please contact Mrs Sarah Miller (Australia)    sarah@rosecharities.org.au

                                      or  Ms  Judith Peralta (Canada)     jbperalta@hotmail.com    

* Note: with one or two exceptions where limited assistance has been offered, all attendees are self funding.  Conference costs have been kindly born by Rose Charities Malaysia from specifically donated sources.  No Rose Charities charitable donation funds have been used for the conference or meeting, unless specifically given by donor(s) for that purpose.    

                    

Health Promoting Schools Conference Nov 2011: a grateful student kindly writes

Learning Outcomes from Many Voices One Song Colloquium

I would like to thank the Hillman Fund for their support for allowing me the means to attend the health promoting schools colloquium at Stias. With your support I was able to present regarding my experiences working in health promoting schools with Brighter Smiles Africa this past summer in Uganda, another project the fund kindly supported. This colloquium was the first time that I have the opportunity to present at an academic session and there are indeed many lessons that I have learned. It was  also nice to be reunited with one of the Ugandan students I had worked with in the summer.

Learning about other models of health promoting schools currently being implemented was very interesting, especially as we were learning from the very people who created them. Aside from the successes that were described, the sessions also provided healthy discussions of the challenges and obstacles that the different programs have faced and the approaches that were taken to solve some of the roadblocks. Key lessons that came up over and over again included:

·       The importance of creating relationships with communities prior to initiating projects.

·       Really listening to what is being asked for

·       Having local buy-in within communities and champions who are willing to run projects

·       Having a clear entry and exit strategy so that projects are created in a supportive and sustainable fashion 

·       Having a willingness to learn from communities and to be flexible. This can allow projects to evolve

·       How patience and persistence are critical to success in navigating complex bureaucracies

I was quite inspired by the different people that I met at the colloquium. There was such a diverse mix of professionals ranging from physicians, dentists, nurses, educators, social workers, psychologists, anthropologists, psychologists, students and politicians. Even more fascinating was the diverse collaborative roles that many of the participants had; for instance, to see a physician involved in front line education, policy making, and community development while also running a practice and having a rich personal life was vital for me to see. This alone expanded the way I view my role as a future health care provider.

Stepping back from my studies for a week to take part in this conference helped me see the bigger picture. This colloquium also helped me to create links and gain an understanding of how ideas get created, and the paths they take to get implemented. Listening to stories of success and failure taught me the importance of persistence and patience when working with bureaucracies. More importantly, this event impressed upon me the significance of collaboration - not only among colleagues and other professionals but also with members of communities – in dealing with social and health care issues.

On a personal level, I was touched by the support and encouragement that was shown to me. Prior to going, I felt as though I was just a student going to present to other professionals, but I was wrong. Throughout the entire conference I was treated as a colleague and it was an honor to be respected and heard. This experience taught me that as a student, I represent the future, and that I can have a role in helping to determine how individuals, communities and governments work in dealing with social issues.   

Participation in the colloquium has also planted seeds for future international discussion and collaboration between the students present; the chance to contribute to a consensus statement on the future of Health Promoting Schools; and an invitation to submit a joint paper to a focus edition of the journal Health Education to be dedicated to the work presented.  

Lastly, I would like to emphasize that the mentorship and guidance shown to me by Dr. Macnab and his colleagues is a precious and lasting gift that I deeply cherish.

Thank you

Sincerely

Mohammad Bardi    

Rose NZ, Poonga and Christmas

Dear Fellow Rose Trustees

I want to tell you all about my visit last night to the big end-of-year event for the Poonga- Tamil Community Education Group which we have donated to over the last five years.

It really was a most sparkling and heart-warming event, with lots of children involved from pre-schoolers to tertiary students, all there in glittering costumes or beautifully presented saris, with parents and volunteer teachers. Obviously a huge amount of work goes into the children's performances, training that has gone on every Sunday when Poonga meets throughout the year.

 The stated philosophy is "to integrate with the mainstream" while also trying to keep the Tamil language and culture alive. For the first time the early childhood group, dressed in paper cutout "puipuis" , did a Maori action dance, as well as their own cultural dances.  It was a joy to see --- and the kids obviously loved some of the eye-rolling, tongue- poking moments. Anne , who has just finished her Early Childhood Diploma to add to her other professional qualifications in social work trained the kids for the Maori dance, as on the NZ curriculum, Te Whariki.

There is no doubt Poonga does a marvelous job of supporting the Tamil families it is involved with on five levels--- pre school (where 63 children are enrolled); Tamil language teaching; Bridging School, which links the children to the NZ curriculum ; examinations conducted in Tamil through Australia and internationally from Year 1 to 10;  and a parent group which offers first aid and health programs.

Best December wishes again---more coming!