Workshop on Charitable and Nonprofit Financing
Wednesday, November 24
10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The Learning Room, United Way of Winnipeg, 580 Main Street

Charities and nonprofits are looking for new ways to finance and provide services due to changes in the current funding environment. This is often the case when an organization needs financing for something not directly tied to a project or strictly for development purposes. Using case studies from charities and nonprofits, participants will have the chance to discuss practical examples of how organizations have dealt with these challenges. The session will provide participants the opportunity to share their successes, provide feedback and learn about options that exist or are being developed to help expand financing available for charities and nonprofits in Canada.

Here are some examples of when charitable or nonprofit organization may need financing not be easily accessible through a grant:

• To invest in diversifying a funding base with new partners and/or corporate sponsors;
• To expand to new communities where services are needed;
• To build new lines of business when an organization has the expertise to fill a gap that fits its mission and could provide a potential revenue stream;
• For capital to buy materials and equipment;
• As bridge financing for cash flow when grants or fees are pending but the funds are not yet received.

This session will be led by Nora Sobolov and Arlene Wortsman who are currently working to develop a loan and financing fund for charities and nonprofits: the Community Forward Fund

[ Register Here ]

Session Leaders:

Nora Sobolov (LLM, MSW)

As a senior manager and CEO, Ms Sobolov has experienced firsthand the needs, challenges and opportunities of charitable and nonprofit sector financing and has led several organizations through financial restructuring and strategic plans for growth. As a vice-president and CEO with the credit union and cooperative system and in the private sector, she acquired knowledge and experience with different forms of financing, investment and capital. Through her work in the community, both in building cooperative and emergency housing and as founding executive director of Housing Help (a one stop facility for people in danger of becoming homeless), Ms Sobolov has learned how to build and fund organizations that meet community needs in a reliable and cost-effective way. She has developed and structured several unique funding opportunities for charities and nonprofits, including collaborative work among foundations, the private and charitable sectors.

While managing her own company, Ms. Sobolov was the chair of a private business CEO group, where she assisted businesses in the creation of new strategies, financing proposals and exit plans. Most recently, as president and CEO of the Canadian Lung Association, she led 500 participants in the development of a national strategy and action plan on Lung Health, which received millions of dollars of investment from government, private sector and nonprofit sources.

Arlene Wortsman, MBA, Director and Co-Founder

As a consultant, advisor and researcher working in the areas of innovation, labour and fund management, Ms Wortsman has a deep understanding of both the financial and nonprofit/charitable sectors.

Currently, Ms Wortsman is a research associate at the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation and a consultant for nonprofits and government. She has worked with many nonprofits and charities both as a consultant and a volunteer. She is a co-author of a study on financing social economy enterprises for Industry Canada.

Previously, in her role as the director, labour at the Canadian Labour and Business Centre, Ms Wortsman was one of the primary investigators in a number of research projects including targeted pension investment in Canada, alternative capital strategies for institutional investors and the role of labour sponsored funds. She was a member of a national research alliance of unions and academics coordinated by OISE/University of Toronto and funded by SSHRC that conducted a three-year study of the financial and social impacts of economically targeted investments (ETIs) of pension funds in Canada and the US. She served as the research director for the Manitoba Centre for Labour Capital (MCLC), a Winnipeg-based, nationally-scoped partnership-oriented pension fund service organization, aimed at providing education and training for union trustees’ pension fund investment decision making.