Message from the Executive Director
New Environmental Grants Program
Capacity Corner: Fund Development: A special offer; Links to Fund Development Resources; and Volunteer Opportunities with Alberta Ecotrust Environmental Partners
Environmental Priority Issue: Water: Water for Life Strategy
Announcements: 2004 Annual General Meeting; Alberta Ecotrust Ecohouse Update; and Alberta Ecotrek
Project Profile: Operation Grassland Community's Burrowing Owl Management Plans 

Alberta Ecotrust is the leader in building partnerships to create sustainable environmental benefits in our community.

Are you interested?

Alberta Ecotrust is taking applications for the position of Treasurer on the Board of Directors.

Alberta Ecotrust Partners

Alberta Native Plant Council

Alberta Wilderness Association

Anadarko Canada Corporation

ATCO Group

BP Canada Energy Company

Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society

EnCana Corporation

ExxonMobil Canada Ltd.

Federation of Alberta Naturalists

Global Environmental & Outdoor Education Council

Newalta Corporation

Nexen Inc.

Peace Parkland Naturalists

Petro-Canada

RBC Financial Group through RBC Foundation

Red Deer River Naturalists

Sierra Club - Prairie Chapter

Society of Grasslands Naturalists

Southern Alberta Environmental Group

Suncor Energy Foundation

TransCanada PipeLines Limited

Thank You

Alberta Ecotrust extends our appreciation to our  generous supporters and volunteers.

  Apply to win registration fees
for the
Western Canadian Fundraising Conference,
May 9-13, in Calgary! Read more in the newsletter.

A Call for Volunteers

Are you interested in opportunities to engage your employees in environmental activities?

A number of opportunities currently exist with our environmental partners.

Alberta Wilderness Association
Federation of Alberta Naturalists
The Sierra Club of Canada, Prairie Chapter 

Pat Letizia, Executive Director

Welcome to the first issue of “Connecting” for 2005.

You may have read about our recent needs assessment, “Maximizing Effectiveness: An Assessment of Environmental Priorities and Voluntary Sector Capacity Needs in Alberta ” in the November 2004 issue.

The study identified environmental priorities from a variety of expert viewpoints in Alberta and the gaps in capacity facing environmental groups undertaking projects to address such issues.
The study identified environmental priorities from a variety of expert viewpoints in Alberta and the gaps in capacity facing environmental groups undertaking projects to address such issues.

The results of this study have caused a number of changes within Alberta Ecotrust’s operations.

First we learned that the most important environmental issues in Alberta today are: 

• water (quality and quantity);  
• wilderness and wildlife protection; 
• climate change
• urban land management. 

Secondly, we learned that the key factors limiting the effectiveness of environmental and community groups are:

• lack of funding (especially for core activities, including staff)
• communications skills
• volunteer management and recruitment
• board governance/development.

We are dedicating each of the four issues of “Connecting” in 2005 to one of these four environmental priorities and have created a new “Capacity Corner” with quick tips, ideas and resources for groups in Alberta.  In this issue, we have chosen to focus on Water issues and Fund Development. We have also featured changes to our Environmental Grant Program because grant deadlines are fast approaching.

We hope you enjoy reading about the many improvements we are making on the road to maximizing our effectiveness as a grantmaker and community leader!

As a result of a recent in-depth survey of environmental leaders and practitioners in Alberta, we are pleased to announce the framework of a new comprehensive grant program that will focus on enduring environmental protection.

Our intent is to continue supporting community-based environmental action, while recognizing both the limited capacity of some groups and the need for adequate resources to undertake the important work of protecting our provincial ecosystems.

Our emphasis is on results not process . Thus all applicants should consider how their strategies and activities address the long-term outcomes of protection of air, land and water. The foundation will assess all grant proposals against the S.M.A.R.T. criteria: strategic, measurable, achievable, reasonable and timely.

Visit our website for full details on our new grant program, for an application checklist and FAQ's.

Capacity Corner:  Fund Development

The top barriers to acheiving organizational goals and objectives identified in "Maximizing Effectiveness" are funding and funding-related issues. Fifty-seven percent of respondents specifically named lack of funds, and core funding in particular, as one of their top three barriers. When funding-related issues were added (e.g., lack of a professional fundraiser, no time to collaborate and network because of time required to fundraise), this total rose to 68%.

In order to help groups maximize their effectiveness, Alberta Ecotrust will start to focus more formally on programming that builds capacity of our grantees.

In this issue our "capacity corner" includes a variety of tools and resources to help assess the effectiveness of your fund development strategy, identify a few fundraising resources and provide some financial support for the upcoming Western Canadian Fundraising Conference.

To assess your organization's capacity as it relates to effective and strategic fund development, download the attached checklist in MSWord format.

A Special Offer!

The upcoming Western Canadian Fundraising Conference "Learning & Career Advancement" (May 9-13, 2005) in Calgary presented by AFP Calgary Chapter, AFP Edmonton and AAFRE is a great opportunity to learn about upcoming trends in philanthropy, network with other fundraisers and expand your knowledge of fund development strategies, board governance and volunteer resource management.

Alberta Ecotrust values the contribution of our environmental partners and to say thank you,we are offering one of them the opportunity to send one staff member or volunteer to the conference, including travel and accomodation expenses if required.

We are also offering one representative from an Alberta-based environmental non-government organization the opportunity to win free conference registration only.

Please apply to Wanda Spooner by March 15, 2005.

Links to Fund Development Resources

Alberta Association of Fund Raising Executives (AAFRE) -   http://www.aafre.org
Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) - http://www.afpnet.org/
Alberta Government Services -     http://www3.gov.ab.ca/gs/pdf/charities.pdf
Big Database - http://www.bigdatabase.ca
Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations -  http://www.calgarycvo.org/
Canada Revenue Agency -    http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/charities/menu-e.html
CanadaHelps - http://www.canadahelps.org
Canadian Association of Gift Planners - http://www.cagp-acpdp.org 
Canadian Book of Charities -http://www.canadian-charities.com
Canadian Donor’s Guide -   http://www.donorsguide.ca 
Canadian Environmental Grantmakers' Network - http://www.cegn.org/Certified  Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) -   http://www.cfre.org
Charity Village - http://www.charityvillage.com
Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations -   http://www.ecvo.ca/ 
Environment Canada - Green Source - http://www.ec.gc.ca/ecoaction/before_e.html
Grant MacEwan College;     http://business.macewan.ca/gmcc/vsm/home/index.cfm
Imagine  Canada -   http://www.imaginecanada.ca/
Leave a Legacy - http://www.leavealegacy.org
Mount Royal College - http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/conted/programs/nonprofman.shtml
Voluntary Sector Initiative -   http://www.vsi-isbc.ca/eng/index.cfm  
Volunteer Alberta - http://www.volunteeralberta.ab.ca/ 

Environmental Priority Issue - Water
Water for Life: Alberta’s Strategy for Sustainability
by Margaret Chandler

In November 2004, Alberta Ecotrust released its Maximizing Effectiveness report detailing the environmental priorities identified by environmental leaders and experts across the province. Not surprisingly, water quality and conservation were clearly documented as the priority issue for Albertans. This is reflected in the strategic direction of the provincial government and the number of significant collaborations and initiatives addressing water issues in communities across the province.

Water for Life: Alberta’s Strategy for Sustainability is the provincial government’s plan to develop a new water management approach and outline specific strategies and actions to address the province's water issues.

Read more...

Annoucements

This past year has been one of continuous change for the organization. We are implementing our strategic plan for growth and the results of Maximizing Effectiveness: An Assessment of Environmental Priorities and Voluntary Sector Capacity in Alberta provided the important information we needed to allow us to continue to invest in positive change through environmental grantmaking.

Please RSVP by March 15 for this event!

Alberta Ecotrek

In the interest of enhancing and expanding our position in the community as a significant environmental grantmaker, Alberta Ecotrust is undertaking another new signature event.

On September 10-11^th, 2005 Alberta Ecotrust will host the inaugural Alberta Ecotrek, an exciting new initiative that incorporates responsible recreation with environmental stewardship in mountain ecosystems. Alberta Ecotrek is a weekend version of the “Eco-challenge”, a fun outdoors event geared toward Calgary’s young, active professionals.

The principal goals of the event are to raise $75,000 for Alberta Ecotrust to support its community grants program and to build awareness of environmental issues in Alberta’s mountain parks. The event will provide new opportunities to partner with wilderness and conservation groups and work with them to engage and educate new adventure seekers about issues like sustainability, protection of wildlife and natural ecosystems, conscientious recreation and ecological stewardship.

Alberta Ecotrust would like to extend our appreciation to Northrock Resources Ltd ., as the first confirmed sponsor of the event. For more information about the event or how to become a sponsor, please visit our website at www.albertaecotrust.com.

Alberta Ecotrust Ecohouse Update

The Alberta Ecotrust Ecohouse Communications Committee is pleased to announce the selection of Shift Strategies to assist in the creation and implementation of a comprehensive branding, public relations and media strategy surrounding the project. 

Alberta Ecotrust requested proposals from a number of creative and public relations firms last fall to undertake this exciting project on a reduced-rate or sponsorship basis. We are pleased to have Vanessa Farrelly and her team at Shift on board; they have generated a lot of enthusiasm for this project. We look forward to working with their team of experts who have promised to deliver a stellar, creative and cost-effective campaign to raise awareness of Alberta Ecotrust, its many stakeholders, and our Ecohouse project. Our mandate is to educate and engage the public about issues like sustainability, energy efficiency, climate change and green building technologies. Welcome to the team Vanessa!  Read more about the Ecohouse Project.

Operation Grassland Community (OGC) is an Alberta Fish and Game Association habitat stewardship program.  The program works with over 300 farmers and ranchers in Alberta’s Grassland Natural region who manage approximately 190,000 hectares of  native grassland and other important wildlife habitat.

Through recruitment and partnership with landowners, stewards are encouraged and recognized for maintaining healthy parcels of native prairie and crucial habitats for species at risk. The primary objective of the Burrowing Owl Management Plan project is to protect burrowing owl habitat on OGC member lands, which in turn will aid in the recovery of this threatened species.  To read more about how Operation Grassland Community is working towards saving the burrowing owl and its habitat click here .