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Canadas Foreign Affairs department is defending its decision to block an opposition member of Parliament, representing a group of Arctic lawmakers from various countries, from speaking at a meeting in Canada.

The incident occurred at a meeting of senior Arctic officials of the Arctic Council in Yellowknife, NWT in late March, but was revealed in detail in a separate report tabled Oct. 8 in the House of Commons.

Dennis Bevington, the NDP MP for Northwest Territories, had asked to speak to the meeting of senior officials, in his role as the vice chair of the Standing Committee of

Five years ago, the social justice group KAIROS was hit in the gut.

For 34 years, the Canadian International Development Agency had funded part of its budget so it could give grants to partner groups overseas, pay salaries and expenses, and talk to Canadians about foreign aid.

When the Toronto-based coalition of 11 churches and religious groups applied for CIDA to fund its 2009-13 programs, the appli-cation was recommended for funding by bureaucrats, but the ministers office put the kibosh on the $7-million deal.

The funding cut became a political storm. The House of Commons speaker ruled that the CIDA minister may have misled members of

Green Party member of Parliament Bruce Hyer and party leader Elizabeth May sat on a couch in Mr. Hyers parliamen-tary office in Ottawa on Oct. 10, disagree-ing with each other about Pierre Elliott Trudeaus strengths as a prime minister

and the former Liberal leaders environ-mental record.

The conversation had veered from a dis-cussion about that weeks House of Commons vote on Canadas military mission in Iraq. There was a bit of tut-tutting from Ms. May at something Mr. Hyer said, and a grumble or two from Mr. Hyer too as they talked.

This is just the way they work, it seems; they discuss, debate and disagree some-times, inside and outside the House of Commons, and for all to see.

On Oct. 7 the two MPs from the same party cast different votes on whether to sup-

port the governments plans for air strikes in Iraq, which Ms. May said received a lot more attention than other times they offer differing opinions. But while conflict within the Liberal Party about the vote made headlines, the Greens disagreement flew relatively under the radar.

Mr. Hyers support for the mission caused some backlash on social media. The motion passed in the House with a Conservative majority, 157-134. The only non-Conservatives to vote with the government were Mr. Hyer

Green MPs agree to disagree on Iraq

Canada defends blocking NDP MP from speaking at Arctic meeting

Adapt or die: The new NGO funding reality

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Elizabeth May and Bruce Hyer say voting on the military mission against Islamic State fi ghters wasnt easy.

Department, minister blame packed agenda.

The North-South Institute closed after 38 years because it couldnt scrape together enough non-federal cash. For many others, that struggle continues.

Laura Beaulne-Stuebing

Carl Meyer

Kristen Shane

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Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Green MP Bruce Hyer are all smiles on Oct. 10 as they discuss their differing votes in Parliament on whether to support Canadian air strikes in Iraq. While the Liberal Party struggled to show a united front in the face of internal conflict over the vote, the Green MPs openly disagreed. Embassy Photo: Laura Beaulne-Stuebing

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Parliament, and a handwritten not scrawled on a funding recommendation made headlines.

This fall marks five years since govern-ment officials told KAIROS staff members they werent getting the money theyd hoped for. It was a 47 per cent cut to the groups revenue, said executive director Jennifer Henry on Oct. 14.

Yet the church group is still chugging along, although with a reduced footprint. KAIROS gradually shrunk staff and had to lessen funds to partners overseas. It relied more on support from its 11 member church groups.

It also doubled down on fundraising and man-aged to receive more than double its support from individual donors, from about $153,000 in 2009 to $360,000 in 2014, said Ms. Henry.

I think people came to know about us through the controversy or the crisis. And I think that we were able to communicate the value that we offered to our partners...to Canadian international development. So we had an opportunity to communicate that in a clearer and stronger way to a larger group of people, she said.

KAIROS is one of many Canadian non-gov-ernmental organizations working on interna-tional development that have lost key federal funding over the last few years.

As the Harper government shakes up the old ways of federal funding for foreign aid NGOs, many of these groups are faced with asking traditional donors for more money, and finding new revenue sources. That may mean shifting resources from crafting federal grant applications to crafting a more concrete vision statement that any potential new donor could understand.

It may also mean wrestling with the ethics of reaching out to new funders without shift-ing away from the groups ideals.

NSI, just the latestThe latest example, the North-South

Institute, closed this fall after 38 years. It was Canadas only independent think tank devoted to researching foreign aid.

In the graveyard, it joins other groups that once had strong government support (if not official links) including the Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL), which closed in 2011; the Pearson Centre, which did peacekeeping training for almost 20 years, until its closure in 2013; and the democracy-promotion agency informally known as Rights and Democracy, which the federal government announced it would shut down in 2012.

The government changed the way it fund-ed foreign aid NGOs in 2010, leading to a focus on funding projects rather than groups. Fewer Canadian aid groups have been receiving core funding: money that isnt tied to specific proj-ects but rather is used to fund a groups core programs. And the government has focused on calls for proposals that pit groups against each other as they bid for federal project funding, rather than responding to groups funding requests.

While the North-South Institute managed to find non-federal funding sources for individual projects, the federal grant helped cover the institutes overhead costs, the kind of money thats used to keep the lights on and rent paid.

[T]he Institute has not been successful in diversifying and growing its funding sources to the extent required to ensure financially sustainable operations, read a Sept. 10 NSI statement announcing its closure.

Not every foreign aid charity relies on government grants to survive. An analysis of 2011 tax data for the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, an association of international development groups, indi-cated that the largest revenue source for aid

and development groups was tax-receipted gifts, with just under 90 per cent of charities reporting this revenue source. Only about 15 per cent of charities reported the federal government as a revenue source.

In another report commissioned in part by CCIC and based on a survey earlier this year of 138 civil society groups, almost 60 per cent of those surveyed said revenue from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (CIDAs successor) made up less than 25 per cent of all their money coming in. Thirty per cent reported being dependent on DFATD for more than 50 per cent of revenue.

The survey suggested that groups reliant on the department for more than half their revenue have been slower to diversify fund-ing sources. Thats worrisome, said Julia Snchez, CCICs president-CEO.

Were seeing the organizations gradually lose their capacity to intervene to follow up with their partners and their projects on the ground as their grants expired, she said.

Her own group lost the biggest chunk of its budget when CIDA cut funding to it in 2010, leaving CCIC to shed two-thirds of its staff. The organizations saving grace was its members, whose fees were doubled to make up the funding shortfall.

The North-South Institute didnt have membership fees to fall back on.

Ms. Snchez said members of the Canadian foreign-aid community need to talk about whether they want something like NSI to exist as a public good, and how might they fund it if they do. Ideas she said shes been hearing included that such a think tank could be housed at a university.

She also said shes keen to look deeper at the funding model of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, an Ottawa-based non-prof-it think tank that calls itself progressive and is supported by individual members.

Youre trying to sellSome of the NGOs that recently closed when

federal funding dried up were often closely aligned with the civil service milieu, said Scott Gilmore, founder of the Canadian non-profit Building Markets. If they werent officially linked or set up by government, their boards included a heavy mix of former bureaucrats, judges and

generals and they were staffed by employees with government ties.

Running an NGO is like running a small business, he said. When theyre created, staffed and run by people whove never lived in that space, its difficult to change their behaviours after so many years of govern-ment funding reliance.

They cant adapt, they cant cut costs, they dont know how to sell, he said. When youre running an NGO, when youre trying to raise money, what youre really trying to do is sell: youre trying to sell an idea, a ser-vice, a program, an impact.

His organization, which helps small business-es in poor countries get access to international customers, finance and investment, has received Canadian government funding off and on, he said, but also money from other governments.

Its offered to do fee-for-service work for international investors, tried to build relation-ships with private foundations in the United

States and Europe and wealthy benefactors, tried online crowd-funding to support general activities, which worked well, and did corpo-rate sponsorship with mixed results.

Charities today seemingly have the pack stacked against them. Traditional loyal donors are getting older and dying, and the question is how to engage younger people in giving, said Peter Ward, who used to lead fun-draising for World Vision Canada and after leaving in 2013 became a private consultant. Traditional media that used to work wont. People wont just respond to pamphlets in the mail. They are making choices online. That makes standing out important. With thousands of Canadian charities to choose from, those that fundraise well know they need to show their unique value, said Mr. Ward. They need to clearly articulate their mission in a way thats appealing to people.

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Members of the United, Anglican and Catholic church communities on Salt Spring Island, BC rally to demand that the Harper government restore fund-ing to KAIROS that was cut in 2009. KAIROS Photo

Go globalGiven Canadas key role in the climate

change debate these days, there would be many Europeans and American foun-dations happy to support a Canadian environmental group, suggested Scott Gilmore, head of the non-profit Building Markets. Dont just look to Canadian funders, he said.

Dont wait for the crisisThe North-South Institute worked hard

for years to get funders aside from the fed-eral government. But even that may not have been long enough. While non-profit fundrais-ing expert Ken Wyman said hes not familiar with the NSI details, struggling groups may need to invest in fundraising staff and build-ing relationships with new donors. That could take five years or more, he said.

Upgrade your donorsTheres a donor pyramid, said Mr.

Wyman. A lot of individual donors will

give a bit of money, and a few will give a lot. The fundraisers job is to try to move the donors at each level of the pyramid upward: convert one-time donors to monthly giving, and ask the monthly supporters to boost their gift. Its easier to convert small donors into larger ones than to find new supporters, he said. Talk to them about giving more.

Make it personal, specificFundraising requires resources, but

it doesnt necessarily need to be cash-intensive or even staff-intensive, said Mr. Wyman. One low-cost method is to use trained volunteers, like board members, to talk to their friends face to face.

Make the pitch specific and purpose-driven. Its never We want $100,000, says Mr. Wyman, its We need to do research on how oil is affecting global politics, and our research plan is going to cost $100,000. Will you be willing to contribute to that?

Fundraising tips

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A person will choose one organization over another not because its been around for dozens of years or is the largest. What people say is that they work on something that is important to me, he said.

International NGOs sometimes describe themselves on their websites in vague, techni-cal jargon, he said. It all sounds the same and its not meaningful to the outside reader.

People need to be inspired, they need to believe that this is an organization thats doing something thats really important that they want to be part of, and that they believe that by being part of that organization they can make a difference.

Groups have to do a better job of telling powerful stories of whats at stake to draw people in, he said. It has to be personal. Telling someone that they can help end pov-erty because millions are suffering is so mas-sive and impersonal that that person will feel like the problem is too big for them to help. Focusing on one child or family makes a much stronger personal connection.

But theres a fine line between fundrais-ing to help a poor person in need and try-ing to sell them like theyre toothpaste or soap. Charities must respect their partners abroad, uphold their dignity and not portray the poor as victims, he said.

Some have it easier than othersEach fundraising method comes with its

own risks and rewards, and some groups have

it easier than others. Emergency relief groups, for instance, may benefit financially from strong imagery of disaster-affected places and people, but that may prompt a flood of one-time donations for a specific cause that doesnt translate into long-term support or money for lower-profile emergencies. Child-sponsorship groups have a more long-term, loyal donor base of people giving $30 a month for years.

Without question, think tanks like NSI have it toughest, said Ken Wyman, who teaches fundraising management at Humber College in Toronto. They are selling ideas and sound policymaking.

They cannot say, Your donation will save a childs life, or drill a well, he said.

Think tanks have to think about the broader audience and go beyond their com-munity of experts in communicating why the public should care about their work, said Mr. Ward. People want to know where their money is going, he said.

Governments do too. That kind of behaviour prompts a quest for all donor money to be accounted for with results, leaving groups like the NSI at a loss for covering operating costs.

Few donors want to give to general oper-ating costs, said Mr. Wyman, so the answer is to do what businesses do: dont tell the cus-tomer the pizza is $15 plus $5 to power the oven and make sure the restaurant is clean; build the overhead cost into the full price of the product. The key is to be up-front with donors and to impress upon them that the results they want cant be delivered without operating teeth.

Biting the hand that feedsThe challenge with having only one or two

big donors, whether its a corporation or gov-ernment, is that the charity may feel beholden to their big backers: they risk censoring them-selves so as not to bite the hand that feeds.

Some corporate donors give unrestricted funds, said Mr. Wyman with the understand-ing that even though they are supporting a charity, that group may still criticize what

they do. Other groups throw money at chari-ties to help scrub their image.

A charity doesnt want to be seen as helping to cover up a companys bad behaviour, said Mr. Gilmore. Whats guided his group in its work with mining companies, he said, is setting up a framework in advance. It would detail which type of companies the non-profit would be will-ing to work with, in terms of their transparency and accountability, for instance. That same filter would apply to every company that comes knocking, no matter how much money theyre bringing to the table.

With any funding option, the group must ask how they can maintain their indepen-dence, said Ms. Snchez.

Organizations cant just chase money because theres money on the table, said Mr. Ward. They have to make sure theyre able to take money that is consistent with their mission.

He said hes seen the temptation of tak-ing money for an area that a charity doesnt work on, and the group moving its mission to fit the money. The group risks becoming something its not, and not being able to effectively get the results it set out to get.

Altogether, said Mr. Wyman, a former fundraiser for Oxfam, not putting all your eggs in one basket is good practice for a foreign aid NGO like it is for a business.

Unfortunately for far too many NGOs, we became dependent on government funding, and that put us at risk.

kshane@embassynews.ca@kristenshane1

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Cant just chase money because its on tableContinued from Page 4

A North-South Institute meeting in July 2013 about global development goals after 2015, with Canadian government, UN, diplomatic and NGO representatives. Embassy Photo: Kristen Shane