In an unprecedented year, inequity, the COVID-19 pandemic, a pivotal US election, as well as the WE charity controversy captured headlines in Canada.
Here are ten stories covered by The Charity Report that garnered the most attention:
One. The biggest charity scandal in Canada’s history? August 14, 2020
Two. Poll reveals vast majority of Canadians find foundation giving practices unacceptable May 7, 2020
Three. Charity Controversy: A week of WE. Now what? July 7, 2020
Four. Blackbaud Data Breach: The impact on Canadian charities and what we still don’t know August 24, 2020
Five. Feature Interview with Shanaaz Gokool: The cost of seeking justice July 29, 2020
Six. Private Foundations: Feature Interview with Stephen Huddart, CEO, McConnell Foundation July 9, 2020
Seven. Charity, Philanthropy and the Structures of Racism August 14, 2020
Eight. Edgar Villanueva: ‘the rainy day we’ve all been thinking about is here’ April 15, 2020
Nine. WE operations will close down in Canada. Now what? September 10, 2020
Ten. Canadian’s trust in charities has dropped 6% since May September 9, 2020
The Charity Report was launched on March 18, 2020 as a news hub and intelligence source for those engaged in the charitable sector with the mission of being “an independent source of news in the charity sector.”
“Compared to other business sectors, what we don’t know about the charitable sector is a lot,” says editor in chief Gail Picco. “But the sector is just too big—and there too many lives at stake—for people not have the information and intelligence they need to make informed decisions and target resources.”
The global charity sector is immense. In Canada alone, more than $250 billion flows through charities every year. Globally, charitable revenue is more than $2 trillion annually. Yet for many Canadians, the most they hear about the charitable sector, aside from the fundraising requests they receive, is when a charity hits the front page because of some sort of scandal.
"We had no way of knowing when we launched what kind of year it was going to be," says Picco, "one tremendous challenge and reckoning.