11 ideas from non-profit CEOs on how the federal government's aid package can be better

Last week, the federal government announced $82 billion in aid for businesses, non-profits, and individuals impacted by COVID-19 social distancing recommendations. But many in the social impact sector — including Imagine Canada CEO Bruce MacDonald, speaking with Future of Good — have said it’s not enough. 

Non-profits are struggling through this crisis — from frontline service organizations working to meet increased demands while protecting their staff from the virus to others whose operations have been put on hold and are facing an unprecedented challenge on the fundraising front. 

Future of Good reached out to close to 20 non-profit CEOs for their ideas on how the federal government can help the social impact world through this time, beyond the measures already announced. Many of them agree that more funding is needed to help non-profits jump immediate hurdles like paying their staff while fundraising slows, and to relieve the pressures that are limiting non-profits’ ability to do more forward-looking, long-term work. Many also stressed that COVID-19 should encourage the government to invest in social safety nets and community infrastructure that make people at the margins less vulnerable to crises, now and in the future.

These responses have been edited for length and clarity. 

Kendall Anderson, Executive Director of the Samara Centre for Democracy 

“The social impact sector is particularly at risk in a time of economic slowdown. Social impact is concerned with upstream thinking, solving problems at the root and inclusion — not necessarily emergency measures. Investments in the social impact sector require long-term thinking and the ability to fail and learn from those failures. In a contracted economy, a scarcity mindset takes hold and we become at risk of starving good ideas on the vine. I would ask the federal government to consider long-term funding in core staff support to allow workers in the sector to confidently continue to think long-term, even in a crisis.”

Anne Babcock, President and CEO of WoodGreen Community Services

“At WoodGreen, we are on the frontline of this situation. All of our staff either continue to work with our most vulnerable clients directly or are transforming the way they support our community virtually. We applaud the federal government’s measures that provide an economic bridge in a way that can stabilize our economy moving forward. However, the measures included must provide direct flexible funding to the community service sector so that we can move fast and provide what our clients need without the stress of lengthy reporting structures. To be successful, our sector must be empowered by the government to make fast decisions and respond to what the community needs now. That includes spending in areas that were unanticipated, keeping our staffing levels high to ensure we have the coverage we need and providing the ability to ramp up new solutions as they emerge without the fear of footing the bill to hold us back. The community impact sector is best positioned to respond in an emergency and with the right support from the government, we can mobilize faster and stronger.”

Michelle Baldwin, Executive Director of Pillar Nonprofit Network

“In any crisis, the first phase must be to respond to basic and immediate needs. We have joined many of our peers in the social impact sector in calling for the federal government to allocate significant financial support to charities, nonprofits, and social enterprises — similar to other large and crucial sectors of our economy — to save jobs and ensure they are able to continue serving communities.

However, we are also turning our attention to the next stage: how the sector’s history of innovation and resilience can be harnessed to help reimagine and rebuild stronger, more equitable systems and society when we emerge from this particular crisis, in order to be better prepared to handle the other (and any future) crises facing our communities, such as climate and housing.

To that end, we believe all orders of government need to recognize there is a rare opportunity to rethink and shift the very structures that have been enabling and perpetuating social and economic inequities laid bare by this crisis. Governments have a role in supporting and funding cross-sector collaborations (between nonprofits, social purpose businesses, labour organizations, and public institutions like health or education, for instance) not only in creating new products, services, and solutions to the issues caused or exacerbated by COVID-19, but also to reverse the chronic underfunding of tried-and-true public services, policies, and institutions that we know have always worked to keep our communities safe, healthy, active, and prosperous.”

Geoff Cape, Founder and CEO of Evergreen and Founding Partner of Future Cities Canada

“The future has never been more present. The short-term crisis needs attention first and foremost to support the health and well-being of those who are most vulnerable and those on the frontlines who are taking extraordinary actions for community benefit. But it’s critical to adjust now to the longer-term shifts that will play out as result of this pandemic. We need to ensure the continued strength of our civil society and the institutions that ensure long-term community resilience. Evergreen, like many other institutions, has had to shut down its site. This has a profound impact on our community fabric, but also on our finances. The next 6-18 months are pivotal to rethink, redesign and rebuild how we deliver our programs. Financial support from the federal government is imperative to sustain the innovation required by the social impact sector – the charities and the people they employ and support – to build the resilience needed for the future.”

Owen Charters, President and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada

“We are only just beginning to understand the impacts of COVID-19 and social distancing at this early stage, but we know that this crisis will take a toll on the most vulnerable populations in Canada — the populations that need the social impact sector the most. We know these communities and we know how to respond to their needs. The federal government can utilize our expertise. Flow crisis response funding into our organizations — many vulnerable communities turn to us in times of crisis, as do our employees. Rely on us as a supplemental response — at Boys and Girls Clubs, we are developing a comprehensive suite of online, interactive programs, based on proven Club programming, that will reach vulnerable children and youth and bolster educational resources offered by provincial governments while schools are closed. And finally, put supports into place that will empower the social impact sector for the next year and beyond — the long-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis will not be fixed with a spike in funding. Our sector offers much-needed stability as communities rebuild.

Dan Clement, President and CEO of United Way Centraide Canada 

“We are several months into the global COVID-19 pandemic but only weeks into a nation-wide crisis. Agility and adaptability on the ground in communities is what’s needed. Canada has built an adaptive innovating network of community services for vulnerable people. Yet the very nature of this virus is striking at the heart of this service capacity, drastically reducing the availability of volunteers due to social isolation, spiking demand for basic needs, putting front line staff at risk, and threatening the very existence of this critical service capacity as revenues dry up.

Flexible community funding to support our most vulnerable, delivered in local communities is what we need immediately across Canada. United Way Centraide and foundation partners are delivering this flexibility and all levels of government must do the same, immediately. Federal and provincial governments need to mobilize community response funds delivered at the local level where on-the ground knowledge is key to respond with agility.

Flexible community funding to support our most vulnerable, delivered in local communities is what we need immediately across Canada.

Finally, the federal government must adopt a charitable sector stabilization program to backstop our essential community service infrastructure, ensuring it will be there to serve Canadians today, in six months, and in the years to come.”

Sue Gillespie, President and CEO of Pathways to Education 

“This global pandemic has exposed something to many that Pathways to Education has seen first-hand for years: that access to technology is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity for educational success. It’s an area the federal government has worked hard on addressing over the years, however, it is now clear more must be done. Pathways to Education works at removing barriers for youth living in low-income communities across Canada by providing a combination of academic, financial, social, and one-on-one supports. 

Access to technology is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified these barriers and challenged us to find innovative ways to continue this support. While schools are closed and social distancing is our new reality, we are connecting with students and their families to respond to their immediate needs, adapting our programming to leverage technology, and continuing to provide a sense of belonging and hope virtually. As we continue to consider our response, it is essential that we think about those in greatest need—parents who are suddenly having to choose between putting food on the table and an internet connection so their children can continue learning; families who no longer have access to a computer at school or work to stay connected with social services; and new Canadians trying to navigate this situation with limited English skills. 

These are challenges most Canadians don’t experience as their children have the technology and means to continue receiving an education, while the gap between them and those from low-income communities grows. We believe the federal government can make a difference in the lives of those who need it most by ensuring everyone has access to technology, which is now more than ever a universal basic need. By continuing to recognize Pathways and other social sector organizations as essential services, the federal government can contribute to positive collective impact — both short-term and long-term — on families, communities and our country.” 

Marina Glogovac, President and CEO of CanadaHelps 

“The federal government can: Provide direct wage subsidies to charities so that they don’t need to lay employees off, create a short-term tax incentive for Canadians to keep donating, over and above existing ones, and put pressure on the credit card companies to reduce their interchange fees for charities for the next 6-9 months and on the payment processors to pass those savings to charities.”

Kate Higgins, Interim Executive Director of Oxfam Canada 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to have a long-term impact on the social impact sector’s ability to provide essential services to the most vulnerable here in Canada and around the world. The need for these services, whether it’s providing emergency housing to women who are escaping domestic violence or providing critical water and sanitation infrastructure in the world’s most crowded refugee camps, will only increase in the coming months. We have seen much analysis on how the pandemic is particularly impacting women: they are at the frontlines of caring for the sick, elderly and children and will be more vulnerable to the economic shocks created by the crisis. Women also make up the majority of workers in the charitable sector, engaging in advocacy, designing new tools and delivering programs that seek to make Canada, and the world, more equal, inclusive and sustainable.

We need the federal government to bring a strong intersectional gender analysis to their efforts to address the impacts of the pandemic.

We need the federal government to bring a strong intersectional gender analysis to their efforts to address the impacts of the pandemic. The crisis opens up the opportunity for the government to put its feminist approach to the test and put in place policies and measures that support sectors invested in advancing gender equality, and ensure that women, particularly those that are most disadvantaged in Canada and around the world, are protected and supported to recover from this crisis.”

Tim Jackson, President and CEO of Shad Canada 

“As the CEO of a charitable organization I have been overwhelmed by the response to this crisis by our funders and donors including individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. My sense is people want to help, and I believe the government could play a role in catalyzing support for the social impact sector. The federal government could consider an enhanced charitable tax credit for donations made to Canadian charities through June 30, 2020. This could provide immediate funds to charitable organizations dealing with a short term cash crunch. The government could also consider relaxing the definition of eligible grantees for foundations to allow not-for-profit organizations without charitable status to receive funds to either allow them to meet increased demand for their services and/or to help keep team members employed during this period of uncertainty. Consideration could also be given to allowing foundations discretion to immediately disburse a percentage of permanently endowed funds to address this unprecedented situation.”

Liz Weaver, Co-CEO of the Tamarack Institute 

“We believe the federal government must ramp up investments in people and services who are most vulnerable in our communities, first and foremost. This means establishing a basic income benefit to individuals who are facing a financial crisis, loss of employment, potential homelessness and deep poverty. Helping individuals and families, and the services that support them, navigate these challenging times is a critical investment in individuals and also in our communities, because these individuals and families will spend this basic income benefit locally and in community. 

We also recommend the federal government invests in and supports the development of community roundtables to begin planning for community life post-COVID-19. This is a time of great concern but also great innovation and we see it happening across Canada in communities and organizations large and small. Invest in what matters, and enable citizens to engage with one another.” 

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