Written by: Lauren Anderson
Dear CCP Readers,
Welcome back to the CCP blog! We hope our blog posts continue to educate our community and beyond on areas relating to homelessness, mental health, youth education, and how non-profit organizations can provide support to each of these areas. Today’s blog post will discuss the different teams that make up our organization.
If you would like to learn more information regarding the current state of homelessness in Canada and the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), welcome! If you are returning for more information about the particular challenges faced by youth experiencing homelessness and those with animal companions, welcome back! If you are new to our blog, welcome to the community, and thank you for your interest in learning more about issues regarding the homelessness crisis in Canada and beyond - you are one step closer to becoming a changemaker in your community, and you are in great company.
Overview
When starting your organization, it is important to think about your organizational structure. Defining the various teams you want is important because it delegates essential work tasks across multiple departments. As you start your company or organization, it is important that you remember that you can’t do everything yourself! Hiring candidates with complementary strengths to your own is helpful for the organization as a whole. In this blog post, we share what teams we have in our organization and why, and we also share what some of our staff like about working for our organization.
Organizational Structure
The organizational structure of your organization can be described in your business plan but can adapt as your organization changes over time. Your organization’s structure should reflect the specific needs and goals of your organization. It creates a framework defining roles, responsibilities, and objectives. Before you create the structure of your organization, it is important that you define the goals and strategy being your organization’s mission statement. You must understand this clearly before getting into the specifics. If you need inspiration on where to start, refer to the structure image below. Some commonly essential teams can include finance, human resources, operations, and communications.
The Canadian Courage Project has six teams with 3 organizational roles. Our teams include Education (Edu I and Edu II: Mental Health), Shelter Relations, Fundraising, Research, Strategic Communications, and Events. Our mission is to empower young people to strive for social impact, push boundaries in the workplace, support youth facing homelessness, and offer services for one’s animal companions. Our teams reflect the general needs of an organization, yet also are personalized to meet our mission statement. As a non-profit organization geared towards educating youth and also supporting youth experiencing homelessness, Education and Shelter Relations are the two main streams of our organization.
Our organization has a 60+ member staff and is led by our two founders and directors of each team. The directors lead teams of coordinators and specialists specific to the needs of each team. In the next few sections, we outline each of our team’s objectives and how they fit our mission.
Education
Our Education Team is dedicated to promoting change in the community through the use of education sharing, understanding, action, and wellness. We also created this team with the intention of committing to diverse and equitable education. Our two educational sectors address two different objectives. Edu I is dedicated to our community commitment and Edu II is dedicated specifically to creating conversations on the importance of mental health.
Edu I
The Edu I Team was created to present youth workshops to schools. This
workshop is called How to Make Change in Your Own Community. The CCP
has incorporated the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United
Nations (UN) for these workshops. Our goal for this team is to inspire passion
within youth to use their power to enact change in their community. We
address the problems in their community and prompt them with questions
that guide them toward creating meaningful change to promote the betterment of
their community with their own goals. This team works closely with local
school boards to deliver in-class workshops.
Edu II: Mental Health
The Edu II Team was created to present a workshop in partnership with
jack.org, one of our partners, to youth living in shelters focused on mental
health. This workshop is called Be There. The goals of the workshop are
centered around wellness and to support youth facing homelessness. This
workshop provides youth with tangible ways to support people in their life
who are experiencing struggles with their mental health. It also includes an
overview of mental health resources. The workshop uses group activities to
promote connectedness and learning from real-life situations in an effort to be
present and be there. The Edu II Team supports the mission of CCP as an
integral piece of education on mental health for our target community of
youth going through difficult transitions in life. We believe education on
mental health and wellness provides an essential multi-faceted approach to
better understanding homelessness.
Education Team Spotlight
Shelby works in mental health research and joined CCP as a coordinator in the
education sector and she is now a Director in the Education Sector. Shelby states that when she saw the potential impact the mental health workshops could have in the community, she knew she was exactly where she needed to be!
Shelter Relations
Our Shelter Relations Team works by reaching out to local shelters for collaboration
and partnership. We have partnered with several shelters to distribute donation
materials and organization donation drop-off events. This team promotes the mission
of CCP by providing direct action to those in need in our greater community. This
team is specific to the needs and goals of our organization, but you can create teams
that make sense for the specific goals of your own organization!
Shelter Relations Spotlight
Megan joined CCP and the Shelter Relations Team to be able to collaborate with an organization that prioritizes mental health and provides resources to those in need.
Fundraising/Operations
The Fundraising and Operational Team is dedicated to working with our
partners and stakeholders to plan strategic initiatives. This team is highly collaborative
with both our internal teams and external partners and donors. A fundraising and
operational team is fundamental for all organizations, especially non-profits.
Operations Spotlight
Jacqueline is our Director of Strategic Development and works with each of our
teams to make sure Operations run smoothly and in line with our organizational goals.
She loves developing our programming and fell in love with the mission of CCP!
Research
The Research Team focuses on doing thorough research on the specific needs of our
target population in our greater community and applies to grants that can support
these needs. This team is necessary for the success of our organization and the
stability of our financing aside from the donations we receive.
Research Spotlight
Katie has worked in the field of research for years but joined the CCP to apply the
skills she learned to an organization where she knew she could make a difference. Katie loves working with CCP volunteers on grant writing to help support the CCP team support youth experiencing structural vulnerabilities in the community.
Strategic Communications
The Strategic Communications Team is a fundamental team for any organization.
Communications and/or marketing teams help convey the goals and mission of your
organization to your audience and help gain a following of like-minded individuals.
This team helps us find our voice as an organization and creates our branding. A
strategic communications team is important for making the organizational vision
come to life and how to communicate that with the masses.
Strategic Communications Spotlight
Tvisha is the Director of Communications and has been with CCP since its beginning. She enjoys working with a team that shares the common goal of raising awareness and empowering young changemakers.
Events
The Events Team is integral to the structure of our organization. Our organization
hosts events weekly between workshops, fundraisers, donation drop-offs, and
community engagement events. The Events Team corporates collaboration from all
teams within CCP. The CCP looks to host events that are educational or are meant to
engage the community.
Summary
We hope that this blog post provided an example of how we structured our non-profit organization to be specifically designed for the needs of our organization. We hope that you found this blog post both informational and resourceful. We hope to continue this important conversation and we hope that you do too! Our goal at the CCP is to better the well-being of people facing homelessness. If you would like to join our team or support us on our mission, please contact us! Thank you for reading our blog! Feel free to leave a comment with your feedback and/or insights to help us enrich the quality of future posts and cater to the interests of our community of changemakers.
- The CCP Team
Sources
1. Jack.org. (n.d.). Home page. Retrieved from https://www.jack.org/ 2. The Canadian Courage Project. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadiancourageproject.org/about-us-1
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