Collaborating For Greater Community Impact
“IN THE BEGINNING THERE WERE THREE….” and so the story goes about the pioneering merger that led to the launch of FuseSocial in December 2013. There are an estimated 195 social profit organizations in Wood Buffalo, of which 70 are registered charities. There is an ongoing debate about whether there are too many social profit organizations in Canada, which I will not discuss here, but certainly the multiplicity of organizations dealing with similar issues in silos may sometimes limit the intensity of their impact on community.
FuseSocial emerged from the natural progression of a successful partnership between three of our community assets: Leadership Wood Buffalo, Nonprofit Sector Link and Volunteer Wood Buffalo. The merger was as strategic process, carefully planned and thought through. The three entities discovered that integrating their operations will not only enhance their value to community, but will also align their backbone oriented mandates towards strengthening the impact of the entire social profit sector.
For that reason, FuseSocial evolved with a fundamental value proposition: to amplify the capacity of Wood Buffalo’s social profit sector by providing centralized backbone support that will enable individuals and organizations to innovate to meet the needs of a rapidly changing community. Our focus will include:
- Development of research and data management tools that will lead to sector wide program innovation.
- Expanded professional development programs to leverage and raise the skills of front line teams.
- Leveraging sector wide best practices to improve overall community performance.
Our value proposition is the guiding force behind several initiatives that provide unique value for our sector and community. There are multiple pieces of our work, a sampling of which is provided below:
Capacity Building Calendar for 2014-2015 – a wide spectrum of FuseSocial’s professional development offerings to strengthen the capacity of organizations to fulfill their valued mandates.
Bluebook – a centralized, accessible directory of social profit organizations in Wood Buffalo providing information about the sector that can be utilized to strengthen partnerships and collaborations among organizations, grantmakers, donors and volunteers.
211 Information & Referral Service – launched in Wood Buffalo in May 2014, an innovative service that connects residents to a full range of non-emergency social, health, community and government services. The service is free, confidential, multilingual and available 24 hours a day.
Timeraiser – a unique way to creatively connect people to the causes they care about. We successfully help citizens of Wood Buffalo volunteer thousands of hours of their time to social profit organizations while also supporting emerging local artists.
Project D.O.V.E. – volunteers are the heartbeat of our community. Developing Opportunities for Volunteer Engagement is an ongoing project designed to provide one-on-one support to organizations identify their volunteer needs and implement strategies to meet the needs.
Executive Director Roundtable - we are expanding the scope and reach of this monthly forum to intensify its value as a united strategic leadership platform for the benefit of the entire sector.
Leadership Wood Buffalo – an 8-month program to help develop active community leaders in Wood Buffalo with the capacity to take on the challenges and opportunities that come with responsible citizenship
FuseSocial X – the success of a social profit organization hinges on the ability of its eXecutives to lead effectively. That is why we are designing a suite of programs and initiatives specifically to support board members, executives and directors in advancing their leadership x-factor. Leadership development opportunities, a mentoring program, an annual symposium, webinars and speaker series are some of the components of this new program.
The Knowledge Exchange – information is central to the success, growth and continued viability of every social profit organization. This is a resource that ties together disparate data sources transforming data and vital information into knowledge, and knowledge into informed decisions for the ultimate benefit of community.
As we continue to chart our organization’s course as an asset for our sector and community, we invite you to connect with us @FuseSocialYMM or hello@fusesocial.ca
On one hand, FuseSocial is still new and its story is still being written, as is the rich history of this vibrant regional community we call home. Yet, we do know that we would like the story to end with the following lines: “…a stronger social profit sector. Creating value for Wood Buffalo. Forever!”
