During the first year of the pandemic, when many of us across Canada were on lockdown in our homes and communities I read many articles in national business publications about the incredible rise in employee productivity. And now as many employers are thinking about the return to the office, and many more employees are talking about continuing to work from home, I continue to be skeptical about much of the “productivity” hype during this crisis.

Nowhere did I see it acknowledged that a huge part of this incredible global productivity jump was because we had nowhere else to go! No donor meetings, no charity special events, no childcare pickups and drop offs and of course, no human, community or family obligations. It was an employer’s paradise, knowledge workers (because let’s not pretend we’re talking about front-line or program delivery teams) literally chained to their desks. Available to, and unhealthily accepting, back to back Zoom meetings from morning to night. It was unhealthy in 2020 and is still part of the culture now, and we need to not pretend this something that will translate into the next phase of the world of work. The burnout was and is real. For many, they know they can’t continue this pace that so many employers think is going to magically continue and as such we are hearing more and more about “The Great Resignation”. 

Specifically for those of us who work in fundraising I hope both organizations and individuals can think strategically before we try and just keep endlessly adapting. Some thoughts I’ve collected from peers, please share yours in the comments!

For organizations:

When it comes to ‘words we are sick of’ well “pivot” was the winner of 2020. But in 2021, I would say “hybrid” is leading the pack as many employers think about how to start returning to office life, meeting schedules and for those who manage fundraisers it’s almost laughable that some are talking about the “cost savings” of cutting down on engaging donors directly. Let’s be clear, we will not Zoom ourselves back to full fundraising strength. Sure there will be a time of adaptation and it is indeed exciting the opportunities that video and new technology will open up for donor engagement. But if charities think that fundraisers, often ambiverts who need as much people time as strategic thinking work, are going to keep sitting at home and Zooming/Facetiming/Teamsing donors, I personally think there will be a culture shock once the numbers start to remind us that people trust people and want to engage with people. And of course, as we take advantage of this unique moment when we are rebuilding many things, it’s time to take action to ensure that we can do so in a way that honours racial justice, gender equality and doing right by diverse and Indigenous communities.

For individuals:

I don’t know about you, but as much as I have a profile in our community for being a networking enthusiast, I am one of those people who was and continues to be paralysed with fear about being out in public, in-person meetings and public events. If you’re not, good for you. But many of our volunteers and donors are still living this reality across Canada so we need to not just give ourselves time to emotionally re-acclimatize ourselves but also rebuild the culture of what community means. It won’t happen overnight and as I see charities launch in-person special events this fall of 2021, I worry that we are letting our revenue needs push us too fast. What will replace the handshake? Will everyone show up in sweatsuits? We don’t know but we still need time to figure it out.

For our sector:

If there was one thing our community showed it was that indeed, we could adapt in crisis. Charities who had been holding back on incorporating the many technology solutions around donations realized it was online giving or nothing, jumped on board. As we heard, CanadaHelps raised over $480M in 2020  and even this year, the Great Canadian Giving Challenge raised over $26 million just in June. There continues to be exciting advances in technology like mobile and finally tap-to-give solutions (nod to incredible growth of Tip Tap Pay!) and soon, giving options within digital wallets, banking apps and yes, conversions from cryptocurrency. My work with the Canadian Association of Gift Planners was deeply affected by the huge interest in Wills in 2020, that we are expecting to have a resulting surge in bequest planning in 2021 and the years to come, aided by our http://WillPower.ca campaign we hope! We’ll be hosting conversations about estate and bequest technology this year too ( link https://www.cagp-acpdp.org/en/webinar-wednesdays ) . I hope our community can see that coming out of this crisis there is great opportunity but we can’t pretend it’s going to be easy or that what worked in the pandemic is going to magically translate into “the after”. As we can see from the just-released third report of the Canada Revenue Agency advisory committee on the charitable sector we have a long way to go, especially for vulnerable communities.

Most of all, I’m here to beg our peers in event planning to not plan ‘Great Gatsby’ and ‘Boomtime flapper’ themed gala’s just yet.

We still have work to do and we’re at our best when we do it together.

Paul Nazareth, a 20+ year social-good professional, is Vice President, Education & Development at the Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) and an advisor to CanadaHelps. He has worked as a philanthropic advisor in a bank and a fundraiser with charities of all sizes. Paul is on the board of several charities including The Circle and on the Advisory Council of Carleton University’s Masters in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership program . He is a frequent instructor for the tax and advisor community through organizations like Knowledge Bureau, CPA, Advocis and Estate Planning Councils. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Instagram and Tik Tok at @nazarethnetworks

Cover photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash