NEWS RELEASE

April 12, 2010

Toronto, Ontario – Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Non-Profits (Endeavour) announced today an equivalent of $600,000 in consulting grants to eight non-profit organizations in the Greater Toronto Area for its Spring/Summer 2010 projects. The grants enable non-profit organizations that otherwise cannot afford consulting to receive assistance to help them improve their performance and community impact.

Today’s announcement will bring the value of Endeavour’s management consulting services to $2,325,000 by October 2010, representing over 29,000 hours donated by Endeavour through 32 projects [Footnote].  Instead of receiving a monetary grant, each client is matched with a consulting team for a six-month engagement. The teams are comprised of professional and student volunteers representing diverse expertise and experiences.

Alex Gill, Endeavour board member who runs a non-profit consulting and charity management firm, Mendicant Group, and teaches non-profit management and corporate citizenship at Ryerson University, said, “The private sector uses professional consulting all the time to improve, focus and learn. Unfortunately, this is a resource that many non-profits cannot afford. That’s why I am proud to support and mentor teams from Endeavour. The organization provides enthusiastic, professional volunteers who can help non-profits address many of their consulting challenges, and that’s a situation where everyone wins.”

Endeavour’s clients are early-stage to well-established non-profit organizations from many different sectors, with local to international reach. One of Endeavour’s new clients, Alli’s Journey, was created in 2006 by a young woman with cancer to raise funds for education, research and support for adults ages 18 to 35 with cancer. Pam Shainhouse, President of Alli’s Journey, said, “We are very excited that the Endeavour consulting team will work with us to strengthen our organization by building a more strategic model for our board, allowing us to advance our mandate of supporting the young adult cancer patient.  With their vision, we will be able to attract the right board members to expand Alli’s Journey nationally.”

After the consulting engagement is over, Endeavour stays in touch with clients to evaluate progress and project outcomes. Helen Harakas, Executive Director of Windfall Basics, a client that Endeavour worked with to develop a strategic plan for an earned income venture, said, “The Endeavour volunteers conducted an incredible amount of top quality research into the bridal industry. In addition, they physically came into our space to see it and to observe and interview our staff, our volunteers and our bridal customers during a warehouse sale. In the end, the Endeavour volunteers produced an incredibly professional and thorough strategic plan that we have already put in place. Their recommendations were smart and very clear, enabling us to implement them easily and with great success. We greatly appreciate the quality of the work that the volunteers did on our behalf and we are so excited about working with them again on our upcoming initiative.”

Andrea Wong, President of Endeavour, said, “It’s exciting to see how much Endeavour has achieved and grown in our first three years, solely through volunteers. Spring/Summer 2010 marks our sixth round of projects, and we’re thrilled to have increased our consulting grants from six to eight this round, with 75 new and returning volunteers. As we receive an increasing number of project applications, we are focused on building our capacity so we can continue to serve more non-profits who will benefit from Endeavour’s consulting service.”

Spring/Summer 2010 Consulting Grantees

• The 411 Initiative for Change (411) has engaged Endeavour to help develop a business plan that is aligned with its new strategic objectives.

• Alli’s Journey has engaged Endeavour for assistance with organizational structuring.

• The Always Nubian, Always Scarborough Association (A.N.A.S.A.) Collective, A Trustee Program of Schools Without Borders has engaged Endeavour to evaluate the organizational capacity and sustainability plans required to reduce its dependence on Schools Without Borders.

• Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust (CCLET) has engaged Endeavour to help with business planning for a new set of educational videos and teaching tools.

• International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers (IAMAT) has engaged Endeavour to help explore new directions for the organization that will enable it to make a greater impact in the field of travel medicine.

• Motions Youth and Community Centre (MY.CC) has engaged Endeavour to assist with strategic planning as well as developing policies and procedures.

• Sky’s the Limit (STL) Youth Organization has engaged Endeavour to help develop a 5-year strategic plan.

• Women’s Healthy Environments Network (WHEN) has engaged Endeavour to develop a performance management strategy to effectively evaluate and communicate its progress and results to stakeholders.

Endeavour will begin accepting project applications for the Fall/Winter consulting cycle this summer. To learn more, visit https://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca. To be notified when applications open, subscribe to Endeavour’s mailing list at https://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/subscribe.

[Footnote] Each consulting engagement is valued at $75,000, based on a blended consulting rate of $80 per hour. Endeavour saves each client potentially $75,000 per project by providing volunteer consulting that they otherwise would have had to pay for. The 32 projects include a second project with a returning client.

About Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Non-Profits (Endeavour)

Endeavour provides management consulting to enable non-profit leaders to improve organizational performance and community impact. We are a volunteer organization that serves non-profits that otherwise cannot afford professional consulting. Since 2007, Endeavour has recruited and managed more than 200 volunteers to provide management advice to 31 non-profits helping communities in many areas, such as the arts, children and family services, disabilities, education, environment, healthcare, immigrant services, rural development, skills training, social justice, poverty relief, and youth development. Learn more about Endeavour at www.endeavourvolunteer.ca

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For more information about this news release, please contact:
Andrea Wong, President
Endeavour Volunteer Consulting for Non-Profits
Email: media@endeavourvolunteer.ca

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