"It's strengthening the people behind the work and not just the work itself."
- Jenny Calder, Regional Manager, Social Impact, Southwestern Ontario, RBC
Jenny Calder spent more than 15 years as a fundraiser before she moved to the other side of the table. For the past four years, she has worked at RBC as Regional Manager, Social Impact, Southwestern Ontario.
“It’s really a unique experience to be able to have been on both sides of the table," she says. When you're the one asking for funding, it's easy to form assumptions about funders. Now that she's on the other side, Jenny sees things differently. "I can appreciate the situation that funders are in with the number of asks they receive," she says. At the same time, she’s aware of the many challenges fundraisers are facing, so she tries to keep that perspective top of mind when working with charities. "There are benefits to being on both sides for sure.”
Her colleague Gillian Burt knows that shift well. Before joining RBC, Gillian was executive director of a Toronto-based youth charity and led it through the early days of COVID. A year and a half into the pandemic, in September 2021, she came to RBC. Today she is Director, Governance and Operations Strategy, Sustainability and Impact, and leads the RBC Stronger Nonprofits Program, the bank's program that aims to help strengthen the capacity of Canada's charitable and nonprofit sector.
"Our goal with the program is to support nonprofit leaders to build essential skills, strengthen their teams, and access the resources they need to thrive," Gillian says."We also aim to help nonprofits bridge the digital skills gap and improve operational efficiencies through access to tools, training, and systems."
A Clear Path Forward
RBC's relationship with Pillar Nonprofit Network (Pillar) goes back years, including funding through RBC Future Launch and local RBC teams supporting workshops and events. Jenny knew Pillar personally too. As a fundraiser, she had been a member, and organizations like Pillar were important to her.
So when she joined RBC, she was keen to find ways to support the people behind nonprofits. For a while, though, there was no obvious way to fund Pillar's work within RBC's priorities.
That changed with the RBC Stronger Nonprofits Program. As the program took shape, "we listened to our community investment partners, turned to sector research from organizations like Imagine Canada and the Carleton University Charity Insights Project, as we knew we didn't have all the answers," Gillian says. RBC issued a call for letters of intent and mapped the key capacity builders in the sector across Canada. Pillar came up in that scan. "We really just appreciate Pillar's regional-based approach," she says, "and so they were a natural fit."
As soon as the program got the go-ahead, Jenny reached out to Melanie Riley (VP, Fund Development & Member Services) at Pillar. For her, that was "the moment that we had a clear path forward."
The program's focus areas were intentionally broad. "We really wanted the organizations delivering the programs to tell us what was needed in their communities," Gillian explains.
Convener, Skills Builder, Support Network
From where Jenny sits, Pillar makes a difference for London's nonprofit sector in three ways: "as a convener, as a builder of skills, and also a support network." She has seen all three firsthand.
At Pillar's Big Picture event, she saw leaders from different sectors in one room, learning from one another. On a packed funder panel, she shared advice on applying for funding. And when she and Gillian attended an Executive Director Network gathering, it highlighted "the need to have a safe space for the different executive directors to come together."
A Lifeline for Leaders
Gillian took part in similar programming as an executive director in Toronto, and she agrees wholeheartedly with the leaders who call it a lifeline. She points to the Carleton University Charity Insights Project, which describes the sector's challenges as a "trilemma": rising demand, declining financial resources, and workforce challenges. A 2024 YMCA survey found that 71% of nonprofit leaders reported experiencing burnout, along with 58% of non-executive employees.
"Nonprofit leadership is some of the hardest work," Gillian says. "Bringing leaders together creates opportunities to share experiences, build relationships and break down that isolation that then intensifies burnout."
More Than a Cheque
For Jenny, the partnership with Pillar adds value to everything else RBC supports in the region. "We don't want our partners to just receive a cheque from RBC and then move on," she says. RBC wants to stay connected and help its partners reach the learning, skills, and relationships Pillar offers.
Over the next two years of the current grant, Jenny and Gillian are excited to see organizations across the region take advantage of those supports.
The Ripple Effect
Their message for Pillar's 25th anniversary starts with two words: thank you.
"The thing with intermediary networks like Pillar is your impact is a ripple effect," Gillian says. "Leaders with the right support can better support their organizations, which then supports communities... The nonprofit sector needs you, and you show up for them."
Learn more about the RBC Stronger Nonprofits Program: https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/stronger-nonprofits-program/