Charity Spotlight – CCFC

Posted on By John Gregory
Opencity Inc., Christian Children's Fund of Canada, CCFC, Charity Spotlight, Social Responsibility

The Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) works to create a future of hope for children, families, and communities by helping them develop the skills and resources to overcome poverty and pursue justice.

I have a very personal connection with the The Christian Children’s Fund of Canada. Almost 10 years ago my then 8 year old son called to say he had seen an advert on TV and thought that Daddy should adopt a little boy from Africa. He misunderstood a little. He thought the boy would come to live with me, because Daddy was on his own and needed company and the boy in the advert needed help. On behalf of my kids I have been sponsoring a boy in Ghana, who is the same age as my daughter, ever since. The boy in Ghana and I continue to exchange letters.

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Leadership Summit season

Posted on By John Gregory
Opencity Inc., LeadershipForum, Leadership Summit, Igloo Software, HBR, @gregiej, Strategy & Digital Communications experts

We enter a busy time for Leadership Summits across many multi-national corporations.

I recommend a thought provoking article from last year’s March 2015 Harvard Business Review by Bob Frisch and Cary Greene called Leadership Summits That Work. It is timely for many companies as we deliver on our latest annual conference for senior executives.

These are my reflection on Frisch & Greene’s article and how my last company stacked up against their best practice recommendations. Our last Leadership Summit used the theme Lead – Create – Perform in the historical music city of Vienna. This was wonderfully complemented with the orchestra theme and conducting led by Dominic Alldis.

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5 hot topics in 2015

Posted on By John Gregory
Opencity Inc., top posts, hot topics, social responsibility, inbound marketing, strategy & digital communication experts, scorecard

For those who know me best, it will not be a surprise that I always write New Year’s resolutions before the start of the next year!

These resolutions are really a set of guiding principles or an opportunity to re-set your intent. I have always believed goal setting is very motivating.

While you may not care what my 2015 New Year’s resolutions were, what I learned in the process may offer some insights. Importantly, they also guide our expectations for 2016.

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Reflecting on our Charity Spotlights

Posted on By John Gregory
Opencity Inc., Charity Spotlights, social responsibility, @gregiej, inbound marketing,

Over the past months we have focused each Friday on a different charity. Our Charity Spotlights reinforce our ethos in finding ways to be socially responsible.

While we have no new charity spotlight on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day we especially think of all those who are alone, homeless, in poverty and in desperate need. Here is a quick round-up of the charity spotlights we have featured.

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Charity spotlight – Habitat for Humanity

Posted on By John Gregory
Opencity Inc., Habitat for Humanity, Milton Transitional Housing, ReStore, charity spotlight

Habitat for Humanity is a wonderful illustration of those at risk of poverty, the wider community, non-profit and for-profit sectors collaborating together.

Habitat for Humanity has expanded substantially from its roots in Georgia, USA, in 1976. It has become a worldwide recognized non-profit driving force both in providing much needed support one family at a time, while also advocating strongly for those at risk of homelessness. In 2011, Habitat for Humanity Canada completed its 2,000th home and has now helped 2,700 families. You can read the last Habitat for Humanity Canada Progress Report here.

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Med Tech health outcome models

Posted on By John Gregory
Opencity Inc., Med Tech, health outcome models, Diligent, cultural change,

McKinsey&Company report $44 billion in beyond-the-product solutions in the US alone. Here we explore how multi-national Med Tech corporations can develop health outcome models. Much of the success lies in creating sustainable cultural change owned by the healthcare system.

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Charity Spotlight – Blue Sea Philanthropy

Posted on By John Gregory
Blue Sea Philanthropy, Coldest Night, charity spotlight, Opencity Inc.

The Blue Sea Philanthropy model appears quite remarkable to me. A why did I not think of that type brilliant idea.

The Blue Sea Philanthropy website captures this essence

“Blue Sea Philanthropy is a registered Canadian charity that exists to help other charities thrive financially by providing easy access to profitable turn-key fundraising events and services.”

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Social Responsibility – Giving Tuesday

Posted on By John Gregory
Giving Tuesday, CSR, corporate social responsibility, Opencity Inc., businesses, charities

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not new – that being the case why do so many businesses struggle to find structured ways to engage with it?

Giving Tuesday is the latest positive social responsibility campaign. It reflects on those less fortunate after the excess of the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend retail extravaganza.

Social responsibility lies at the heart of the ethos of Opencity Inc. Merely running a successful for-profit consulting business was just not enough. This is what we mean by with conscience. This is how CSR is defined in Wikipedia.

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Charity Spotlight – Diabetes UK

Posted on By John Gregory
Diabetes UK, charity spotlight, diabetes, member advocacy, Walk in the Park, Walk for Diabetes, Opencity Inc.

I have long admired the sterling work of Diabetes UK in engaging their members in advocacy to raise awareness and funds.

As the quote below emphasizes, members (or customers for that matter) have a pivotal role as ambassadors, advocates and promoters of your cause and brand. Diabetes UK has been very effective creating a voice.

“Many charities go out and just ask people for money; We ask people for their voice”.  Scott Harrison CEO, charity: water speaking at Inbound2013

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