Kimberly Udy, the Marketing and Communications Coordinator at the centre says they’re working hard at the centre to pivot to more digital ways of communicating.

“We have done a few virtual events and fundraisers to combat the lack of in-person events we would have normally had over the past year,” says Udy.

She says that it’s been important to stay creative with virtual events and utilize unique strategies.

“We’ve hosted a peer-to-peer run, a virtual-online auction, increased our video communication and social media presence to better reach a wider audience and are working hard to ensure our message is being shared within our network and asking stakeholders to continue bringing awareness to their external networks as well,”

Kimberly also explains how the centre has seen an increase in calls to the shelter since the pandemic has begun.

“We are receiving more calls, but also not as many as we would think due to fear surrounding leaving a violent situation to come to a shelter and the risk of contracting COVID-19."

“However, we are still seeing an increase in calls, but are under the assumption we will continue to see more and more as the COVID-19 situation evolves and more families weigh the risk of their current situation and the pandemic," says Udy.

Udy also says that the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters recently released a six-month snapshot of 2020 Alberta shelter data. This recent report showed that those living in violence continue to be at a high or extreme risk of domestic violence homicide and that many are not getting the support they need.

Due to the pandemic Udy says that the centre has had to stay on their toes with increased call volumes while creating new ways of interacting with the public and digitally fundraising.

“We have created more video content, shifted to more content focused social media strategies and dove in head first into peer-to-peer and other online fundraising."

Kimberly went on to say that they’ve been grateful to have a great team to work with, who’ve been open to learning new strategies and implementing them since the pandemic began.

“We are super lucky to have some marketing expertise on our board, work with a few local communication and public relations firms and have great volunteer experience to support the Brenda Strafford Centre while we try to expand our capacity to digitally fundraise.”

If you’d like to donate to the Brenda Strafford Centre, the link below.

The Brenda Strafford Centre, a centre designed to help women and children seeking second stage shelter from family violence, is navigating their way through the pandemic and finding creative ways to engage users and donors online with unique strategies.

How the Brenda Strafford Centre is successfully navigating through the pandemic

Now more than ever, people are becoming aware of their social impact and taking this into consideration when thinking about the businesses and corporations they want to endorse. It’s becoming more important for businesses to keep track of their social impact. Being socially aware is a game changer, as it can also help to boost your business and attract more customers and clients while positively impacting the community.

There are a variety of ways you can strengthen your social impact and become more socially conscious as a company. Staying aware of socially conscientious trends can benefit your employees and your company as a whole. 

Because being socially conscious is a huge benefit to companies and to consumers, Tillen+ wants to help you have a positive social impact for your employees and your community.

Here are five ways to become a socially impactful business using Tillen+.

The first step to becoming a more socially impactful business is to engage your employees. Your employees are the heart of your business. Creating opportunities for them to connect with each other outside of the office, interact with the community, and work towards a common goal that impacts a cause that means a lot to them is great for team morale, employee satisfaction and retention. Creating a company challenge or initiative will help raise charitable awareness within your own organization and allow for further growth of your business’s social impact.

The second step is to engage customers with a charitable challenge. Engaging your customers and inviting them to participate in campaign that means a lot to them is a perfect way to build your business’s social impact and build trust with your customers. It’s important to consumers to see that your company is taking charitable action and helping your community thrive.

The third step is to create an employee matching program. Having a donation matching program allows your employees to make a donation and your business and double the support to their chosen charity by matching theirdonation.Your business can automatically match employee donations from your Tillen+ account! 

The fourth step is to track your organization's charitable impact. Tillen+ helps you do this by tracking your organization’s engagement automatically through the interactions and activities of your employees and customers. All of your Challenges, donations, matched donations, and customer interaction are tracked to help paint a clear picture of your organization’s social impact with an automated and customized impact report. Tracking your organization's charitable impact has never been easier and allows for full transparency and a look into the social impact you have made.

The fifth step is to make a donation. Donating to causes and charities that are important to your customers helps you build trust and loyalty with them. These can be tracked through Tillen+ and for every donation that you, or your business makes on Tillen of $20 or more, you will  receive an automated tax receipt. Donating to causes that have the same values as your customers will allow for engagement by them on social media, as they often like to share these charitable acts with their friends and followers. Understanding your consumer and finding charities that connect with them is important as they are the ones who will be the ones measuring your social impact. 

Now is a great time to add Tillen+ to your organization. Tillen+ is a simple and streamlined way to increase donations and engage your employees and customers. These steps will help you to further your company’s or business’s social impact and build awareness and support for charities that your customers and employees care about.

Making a difference in your community has never been so easy.

Five ways to become a more socially impactful business using Tillen+

More than 70% of charities in Canada are expecting to raise less money in 2020 than they did in 2019, and two-thirds believe the same will happen in 2021, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ (AFP) Coronavirus Response Survey.

2020 was a hard year for most, but one of the sectors that was hit hardest due to the COVID-19 pandemic was the nonprofit sector. Their revenues dropped drastically, with more than two-thirds of charities reporting a 31 per cent drop. 

This has been detrimental to charities that already struggle regularly to stay afloat at times.

One in five organizations have either suspended operations or ceased programs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Imagine Canada’s Sector Monitor report.

The other large issue is that not all charities that apply for funding receive it.

Forty-four percent of respondents applied to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program, while only 23 percent received the funding.

Most charities believe that 2021 won’t be much better, as the pandemic continues, with 68% believing that the next year will continue to have lower than usual fundraising outcomes.

Even though there seems to be another grim year ahead for nonprofit fundraising, many are taking this as a way to become creative in how they engage more people to give.

Charities are now moving to virtual campaigns and growing their online presence through social media to help create awareness.

There are also actions people can take to help minimize the impact that the pandemic is having on charities. 

A way that you can help charities is by giving when you can and sharing with others on social media to help reach other people who are able to give. 

Social media is one of the best ways to raise awareness among potential donors, especially during a time where we are unable to connect with people in person.

Every little bit helps and even small actions like sharing your favourite charity on social media can be beneficial to spreading awareness and increasing donations. 

Ways that people can give back, is by starting a Tillen fundraiser for a nonprofit in your community.

The first step that people can do to start a Tillen fundraising campaign is by choosing a cause. We allow you to choose any charity registered in Canada to donate to.

The second step is to customize your page by setting images and customizing your description.

The third step is to securely donate funds through our secured donation pages. You can then share to social media where your friends can create pages underneath yours to help support you and the cause.

2020 was a hard year for most, but one of the sectors that was hit hardest due to the COVID-19 pandemic was the nonprofit sector.

Charities struggled in 2020. Here's how you can help.

Charity Intelligence has rated over 800 charities on a scale of 0 to 5 stars. Their five star ratings are based on five factors, including results reporting, financial transparency, need for funding, cost efficiency, and social impact rating. These factors help to give an insight as a donor to how these charities run and the knowledge to make informed giving decisions. These five charities below are great examples of nonprofits that have accumulated the five star rating through Charity Intelligence.

Alberta Wilderness Association has a five star rating based off the Charity Intelligence rating system. They seek to preserve Alberta’s wilderness, water, and wildlife. It does this by seeking protection for regions that represent the province’s characteristic landscapes. AWA’s major program is wilderness conservation, which also protects wildlife and freshwater habitats. 

George Hull Centre for Children and Families mental health services to families in Toronto and Etobicoke, working to reduce suffering, provide hope, and enhance quality of life. George Hull Centre offers mental health services to treat illness and uses programming to protect mental health before illnesses arise.

Greater Vancouver Food Bank assists those in need of food support through various food programs. The charity collects, purchases, and distributes food through GVFB-run distribution locations and partner-run community agencies in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster and North Vancouver. In 2019, Greater Vancouver Food Bank distributed 4.1 million pounds of food, 55% of which was perishable. 

Hope Air is the only Canadian charity that provides nationwide free flights and lodging for people who cannot afford travel costs to access specialized medical care unavailable in their area. In 2019, Hope Air provided 13,097 travel arrangements. This included 11,827 flights and 1,270 bridge and ferry passes. Since 1986, Hope Air has provided approximately 150,000 flights to Canadians in all ten provinces.

Indspire helps Indigenous students in Canada complete their post-secondary education by providing bursaries and scholarships. Indspires Building Brighter Futures grants bursaries, scholarships  and awards to Indigenous students who need financial aid to complete their post-secondary education. BBF funded 5,553 students in 2019, disbursing more than $16 million.

These charities are working hard to help struggling Canadians in a variety of ways. You can find all of these charities on Tillen and help spread awareness by sharing these charities on social media and donating to a cause that speaks to you.

There are many impactful charities in Canada helping to make a difference in their communities.

2020 was a tough year for many of us, as we tried to navigate our way through an unprecedented global pandemic. Even though there were many hardships, there were also moments of generosity that highlighted how great people can be in moments of need. Here are five feel good stories from coast to coast that highlight just that. 

1) Creative kids from Toronto raised $40,000 for charity through entrepreneurship

A group of creative kids in Toronto’s Explorer Hop entrepreneurship program raised $40,000 for charity during COVID-19 through magic shows, virtual concerts and live cooking demonstrations.

“These kids have risen and delivered in such an outstanding way,” says Hasina Lookman, Explorer Hop’s founder and CEO. “More than anything, they believe in making change in the world.”

Six of the children share the heartwarming reasons why they thought it was important to raise money for charity and give back to the community. 

2) Two generous businessmen from Edmonton teamed up to give out free meals during the pandemic 

Imran Javaid and Varinder Bhullar, two local businessmen from Edmonton, teamed up in April to help serve meals to anyone struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Through Javaid’s restaurant Dil-E-Punjab, they helped give out free meals daily to anyone in need.

"No one should sleep hungry, everyone should have the right to food," said Bhullar. 

3) 400 families in Edmonton woke up to the surprise of their lives

400 families in Edmonton woke up on Christmas morning in shock to $250 gift cards left outside their homes, all attached with a poem. 

St. Nick, who chose to remain anonymous, totaled $100,000 with his generous gifts.

The anonymous donor hopes that he was able to give even a little bit of joy to the families, especially during the hardships of the pandemic.

“I hope the gifts gave people a sense that the world is good and there is a brighter future not far ahead.”

4) The “Gift A Good Food Box” campaign raised over $6,000 for Calgary families in need

The Good Food Box Program, a program under the Community Kitchen Program of Calgary raised over $6,000for their 2020 Holiday "Gift A Good Food Box" Campaign. 

The Community Kitchen Program serves Calgarians and those in the surrounding areas with sustainable access to nutritious boxes of fruits and vegetables that are assembled by generous volunteers.

A recipient of the Good Food Boxes had this to say about the program.

“My children so look forward to getting the Good Food Box – always full of surprises. I’m a single parent of two growing children, thank you for all your support.”

5) A virtual walk-a-thon helped raise over $12,000 for adults with developmental disabilities

Fairfield Watson, a group benefits company, hosted The Joey Moss & Friends Walk-a-thon, a virtual charity walk raising money for the Winnifred Stewart Association, which helps to support adults with developmental disabilities.

The walk-a-thon raised $12,455, surpassing their goal of $10,000 goal. 

The funds will go towards helping adults with developmental disabilities achieve their dreams, feel empowered and live an enriched life they are proud of.

2020 was a tough year for many of us, as we tried to navigate our way through an unprecedented global pandemic.

Blog

How the Brenda Strafford Centre is successfully navigating through the pandemic

Five ways to become a more socially impactful business using Tillen+

Charities struggled in 2020. Here's how you can help.

A community making a difference

Five Impactful Canadian Charities

Five Feel Good Stories of 2020