CanadaHelps is going to be presenting a series of workshops across the country, designed to help registered Canadian charities better leverage the web to enhance relationships with supporters – and raise money, too.  In May, they are running sessions in Calgary, Medicine Hat, Airdrie, Edmonton, Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie, AB; in June, they’ll be in Fredericton, Moncton, Charlottetown and Halifax.  You can learn more here.

The Canada Revenue Agency has announced that on-line registration is now available for its charity webinars.  Topics covered during the free sessions include these perennial favourites:
T3010B: Line by Line Review;
Gifting and Receipting;
Payroll;
Disbursement Quota and Capital Gain;
Financial Statements, Books and Records and the Registered Charity Information Return Summary;
Goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST); and
Fundraising Guidance.

To learn more, or to register, please visit here.

CanadaHelps has announced the dates for this year’s MyCharityConnects Conference:  June 7 & 8, 2010 at the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto.  Topics include “social media, community building, mobile giving … and so much more.  You will learn all about using the internet to fulfill your mission. Whether you’re a fundraiser, marketer, program developer, Executive Director (or maybe all of them!), MyCharityConnects 2010 will get you familiar with the stuff you don’t know, moving on the stuff you do, and correctly evaluating the stuff you’ve done.  This conference is by the sector for the sector; it’s just you and the experts, including charities that have done it right.”

Registration opens March 29 – and you can learn more here.

For Artist-Educators
Ontario-based musicians looking to prepare themselves to work in school and community settings might want to consider the latest offering from the Royal Conservatory of Music:  the 30-hour Artist Educator Foundations Course.  Through the support of the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario artists can enrol in the program for only $60.  The course will be offered this spring in London, Mississauga, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ottawa, North Bay, Peterborough and Toronto.  For more information, and to see if you qualify, please visit the RCM website here.

Free Training Webinars for Charities by CanadaHelps
As part of its commitment to helping charities learn more about social media and online fundraising, CanadaHelps is offering a series of free hour-long training sessions for charities in the first half of 2010. The technical requirements are relatively minor:  all you need is an internet connection and speakers (or headphones) to join in.  Topics include:  Good to Great Emails; Watch It Grow: How To Cultivate Your Email List; The Value of Being Online and How to Get Your Board Onside; Putting Social Media to Good Use: A Case Study of the Salvation Army; Five Free Online Tools Your Charity Could Use;  Measuring the Impact of Social Media and (shades of Christmas in July), Planning for the Holidays … It’s Not Too Early! To learn more and to sign up, visit their website here.

CanadaHelps Training Sessions in Vancouver and Victoria
CanadaHelps, the on-line secure donations portal, is presenting a pair of workshops on online fundraising fundamentals. What does it take to successfully fundraise and market your organization online? Why do you have to ‘let go’ of the brand, and how do you do that? How do you make your “Donate Now” button a real call to action? The cost is only $20, and the sessions are scheduled for

Vancouver:  Monday, November 23, 2009, 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre.  To register, click here.

Victoria:  Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM, Greater Victoria Public Library Board, Nellie McClung Branch.  To register, click here.

Canadian Symposium on Arts and Learning to honour the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation
On December 3, 2009, Canadian Symposium on Arts and Learning will hold a tribute dinner to honour the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation for its outstanding contributions to arts and learning in Canada.  The Foundation launched ArtsSmarts as a national initiative in 1998 to promote the active participation of young people in the arts.   In the mid-1990s, cuts to educational budgets were forcing many schools to restrict students’ exposure to and participation in the arts.  In order to counter this trend, ArtsSmarts was created on the premise that engaging young people in artistic activity is critical to their evolution as creative thinkers and that a creative intellect is a crucial asset for young people as they navigate their way in the new knowledge-based economy of the 21st century.  The tribute dinner will be held at The Royal Conservatory in Toronto.  Registration for the dinner is available at the following link.