“The idea of fundraising, it’s not rocket science. It’s not anything new. People had been giving if you look historically since the early ages of man. Whether it’s giving an apple or a piece of bread to somebody as they’re passing along the side of a sand road to giving money because of temple worships or anything in between.

From the sense of best practices, it’s been my experience that everybody is very open to sharing. Here in Montreal we’re very fortunate. I’ve come across a lot of different community professionals, each one shares successes as a badge of success and as a model in which they can help the greater community at large. There are other communities where that same level of collaboration doesn’t exist. It’s a dog-eat-dog world. What we do is for us. You can figure it out on your own is their mentality.

There’s a sense of anxiety over people stealing other people’s donors, people stealing other people’s events. Because Montreal is so small, we’re able to get and connect with people. Now it’s a double-edged sword. Your greatest strength is your greatest weakness. Because Montreal is so small, everybody knows from the non-profit world who the big donors are. And the big donors are asked for donations all the time, and there’s a limit to what they’re able to give.

From a Montreal collaborative perspective though there’s so much potential. I’ve reached out to different charities and asked them for guidance, asked them for support. I’ve received funding from other non-profit organizations because they believe in what we do and they believe in helping. So as long as everybody’s willing to put their egos aside, and that’s the first thing that I can say, ’cause it’s not about us. It’s not about the professionals.

It’s not about the volunteers even though an argument can be made that it’s for the volunteers. It’s about our cause. It’s about our kids. It’s about the community at large, and it’s about leaving the world a better place when we’re through with it. And that’s what we have to recognize and that’s what we have to do.”