2. Our team, led by Peter Davies and
Matt Johnson, have more than 28
years experience advising non-
profits with the development and
implementation of comprehensive
real estate strategies tailored to
meet the unique needs of the non-
profit occupier.
We are the only advisory group
in Canada exclusively dedicated
to working with non-profit
organizations from coast-to-coast.
We understand that your operational
issues need to be fully assessed
long before real estate concerns
are addressed. We appreciate
the fact that non-profits have
unique challenges such as funding
pressures with unpredictable cycles,
transparency and accountability
requirements in addition to ongoing
board governance concerns.
organizations, their leadership and
daily challenges they face. Please
provide us with feedback so we
can make these newsletters and
articles as helpful and interesting as
possible.
We encourage you to forward this
newsletter to your colleagues and
contacts. Also, please follow us
on Twitter @ColliersNFP and visit
us at www.collierscanada.com/
notforprofit
Of note, please keep an eye for
the release of our Office Trends
Benchmarking Survey. We will
be hosting a presentation in mid-
September in downtown Toronto, and
in the interim, we would be pleased to
present our findings in person to any
organization, upon request. If you would
like to be updated on the timing for the
presentation, PLEASE CLICK HERE
We have numerous clients in
core non-profit sectors such as
health, major charities, housing,
institutional, education, religious,
associations and seniors housing.
Our goal with this newsletter is to
further our culture of collaboration
within the non-profit sector, and
to provide access to best practices
being implemented by non-profit
leaders, and to valuable resources
related to topics of importance to
the sector.
We want to share as much
information as possible with current
clients of ours, other non-profit
organizations and other specialized
professionals dedicated to assisting
this sector.
Upcoming issues will continue to
highlight remarkable non-profit
MATTHEW JOHNSON*
VICE PRESIDENT, CO-CHAIR
PETER DAVIES*
VICE PRESIDENT, CO-CHAIR
COLLIERS NOT-FOR-PROFIT ADVISORY GROUP
COLLIERS
NOT-FOR-PROFIT
ADVISORY
GROUP
INTRODUCTION
PAGE 01
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE 02
PAGE 03
PAGE 04-05
PAGE 05-06
“5 MINUTES WITH…”
Tonya Surman, CEO, Centre for Social Innovation
FEATURED PROJECT
Council of Ontario Universities
PROFESSIONAL CORNER:
RBC - Protecting Your Not-for-Profit Against Fraud
REAL ESTATE EDUCATION:
Challenges Facing Not-for-Profits when Building a New Office
3. PAGE 02
“5 MINUTES WITH...”
TONYA SURMAN
CEO, CENTRE FOR
SOCIAL INNOVATION
How does your organization ensure
that your employees are providing
services that meet or exceed the
expectations of your stakeholders?
Our incredible staff team is focused
entirely on meeting the needs of
our nearly 2,000 world-changing
members. We talk to, listten to and
work with our members every
day, striving to create a better
experience. Our work is about
removing barriers to our members
work, so that they can stop fixing
photocopiers and get on with
making the world a better place.
How important is culture
and collaboration within your
organization?
Culture and Collaboration are the
heart of CSI. Fundamentally, we
are about sharing - sharing space,
services, ideas and coffee. And in
order to ensure that collaboration
really happens, we work to enable
a healthy culture which reduces the
friction between connections. Our
culture is embodied in our values
– nine core values which inform
everything that we do. One of our
values - Together or Die - pretty
much sums up how important
collaboration is to us.
Does your physical space promote
collaboration?
Our entire space has been crafted
to create collisions and ensure
transparency. The windows into the
offices enable us to see each other,
the coffee pot takes a full 2 minutes
to brew, forcing us to wait for it
and inevitably talk to each other. All
of the mail is centralized and even
We want people to see our brand
and think that anything is possible.
That we are accessible, open,
diverse, creative, provocative,
scrappy and believe that anything is
possible.
What do you want your employees
and clients to think when they walk
into your space?
We want people to feel the energy
and the buzz. We want them to feel
welcomed and that they are home.
We don’t stand on pretense, the
cutlery doesn’t match and you can
help yourself to a cup of coffee. It is
when people feel relaxed that new
ideas emerge, when the boundaries
come down and people are able to
connect across differences. We aim
to create a space where ideas are
flourishing and barriers are being
dropped.
How important is the use of your
website to promoting your vision?
How about social media?
CSI uses our social media
constantly. Our web presence is our
communications foundation. Our
recent Community Bond campaign,
where we raised $4.3M in bonds to
help pay for 192 Spadina, was driven
through our online work. There really
is no difference between the online
and offline campaigns anymore.
These things are fully integrated into
all we do.
the bathrooms are non-gendered,
ensuring that you never know who
you might meet.
How do you ideally go about
creating or forcing change?
Change is so constant at CSI
that we have essentially had a
management re-org every year for
the last 4 years. Our challenge is
slowing down the pace of change so
that people can get their bearings
straight. We have begun to work
in more modular teams - creating
stable areas of the organization
and then identifying those teams
or projects that experience great
change. By calling out what is
and what isn’t changing, it creates
a greater sense of stability and
enables us to go through the change
more intentionally.
From a funding perspective, how
does your organization position
itself in a crowded non-profit
market?
CSI is a non-profit social enterprise.
We have grown from nothing to now
50 staff and a $7M/annual budget.
We work with funders and partners
around key strategic projects. We
are careful not to take on things that
pull us away from our core purpose
and we really seek opportunities
where we can leverage the partner
investments and bring about even
greater outcomes through the
power of collaboration.
How important is your brand to
you? What do you want people
to think of when they hear your
organization’s name or see the logo?
4. COUNCIL OF ONTARIO
UNIVERSITIES
FEATUREDPROJECT
PROJECT OVERVIEW
In July 2014, the Council of Ontario Universities
(“COU”) engaged Colliers Not-for-Profit
Advisory Group to assist them with the strategic
planning of their office space in Toronto.
COLLIERS NOT-FOR-PROFIT ADVISORY GROUPPAGE 03
CHALLENGE
COU had numerous challenges
including inadequate meeting
space, budget restraints, and a
need to improve design efficiencies
with flexibility to allow for future
changes, and had to respond to
members and stakeholders with
a space that meets key location,
operational and cost objectives.
SUCCESS
To help build the foundation, our
team assisted COU with all of
the items noted below and they
successfully decided to relocate
within their current building with
a reduction in total square footage
by almost 14%, a reduction in total
cost per square foot, and their
lease included numerous landlord
upgrades including direct payment
of over half of the total relocation
costs.
ONLINE SURVEYS EMPLOYEE MAPPINGPROPERTY TOURS
NEEDS ANALYSISFINANCIAL ANALYSIS LEASE SUMMARYLEASE DOCUMENTS
DETAILED TIMELINE
SPACE PLANNING
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5. PAGE 04
THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNAL CONTROLS
• Forensic accountants say when fraudulent incidents occur, they’re typically not discovered internally — they’re found
through outside tips or by accident.
• The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners findings indicate frauds can occur for up to 18 months before being detected.
• A recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey indicates that insufficient internal controls are one of the top three reasons
for committing fraud.
• Fraud can erode up to roughly 6% of an organization’s revenues. It’s essential that organizations know the warning
signs and establish clearly defined fraud prevention precautions and procedures.
PROTECTING YOUR NOT-FOR-
PROFIT AGAINST FRAUD
TILDA ZANETTE
There are few things more
despicable than someone taking
advantage of an organization that
devotes its time and resources to
advancing worthy causes.
Unfortunately, it does happen fraud
– whether external or internal –
can damage your organization’s
reputation and credibility, affect
your ability to fulfill your financial
mandate, and lead to longer term
funding shortfalls and associated
challenges.
Working with Not-For-Profits on a
daily basis, my colleagues at RBC
and I are constantly advising our
clients on ways to minimize the
potential for fraud. Understanding
different types of fraudulent activity
and educating yourself and your
associates about how it occurs
and how to identify it is a great
place to start. From there, you can
incorporate a system of checks and
balances to help prevent fraudulent
activity from occurring in the first
place. Not only do some of these
solutions mitigate the risk of fraud,
they can help improve financial
reporting and save costs associated
with cheque stock, postage/couriers
and employee time.
Fraudsters are always busy at work.
I frequently see clients’ cheques
being altered or counterfeited, the
most frequent instances involving
their cheques being intercepted
and the ‘payee’ altered. This
occurs when a legitimate cheque is
intercepted by a fraudster, and the
payee name is changed. Often, this
goes undetected until the supplier
notifies the sender of the missing
payment, at which point the sender
realizes that the cheque has cleared
their account for the correct amount
but payable to a different payee.
In other cases, we actually see a
client’s entire cheque stock being
counterfeited and duplicated.
Your best protection against
fraudulent cheque activity is daily
reconciliation, which should include
payee name as part of the cross
check. Both of the scenarios I
mentioned can be further mitigated
by replacing cheques with
electronic payments. You even get
the added benefit of saving postage,
stationary costs and time spent on
lost or stale-dated cheques.
PROFESSIONALCORNER
HOW PROTECTED IS YOUR ORGANIZATION FROM FRAUD?
Take a few minutes to test your organization’s fraud protection:
Does you organization...
segregate duties to ensure no single individual is responsible for handling cash, issuing cheques or reconciling bank
statements
require a minimum of two signing authorities for issuing cheques or electronic payments
require an executive or Board Member to authorize payments over a certain dollar threshold
issue individual payments for all expenses, so they can be matched to a specific invoice
keep cheque stock, cash under lock and key
pay regular suppliers including staff reimbursements electronically
6. COLLIERS NOT-FOR-PROFIT ADVISORY GROUPPAGE 05
CHALLENGES FACING NOT-
FOR-PROFITS WHEN BUILDING
A NEW OFFICE
ARLENE DEDIER
REALESTATEEDUCATION
use credit cards or electronic payments to replace cheques when making payments
receive electronic statements to ensure only authorized individuals have access to banking details
reconcile all payments with a vendor invoice or other paper document
do basic background checks on all associates — paid or unpaid
require bonding of associates who handle funds
enforce vacation leaves for all staff-for example 5 consecutive days
avoid using windowed envelopes to mail out cheques
perform daily reconciliation on the full details of cheques that have cleared your accounts, or utilize an automated
notification solution to identify any discrepancies between your paid cheque and your issued cheque file
leave outgoing and incoming mail in a secure area
issue unique passwords for each individual employee, and ensure no employees are sharing passwords, even within a department
have a security policy specifically for IT governing the use of all data, servers and networks, as well as hardware
communicate to employees not to respond to emails soliciting passwords (A.K.A.“phishing” or “spoofing”)
have a formal code of conduct
have an appropriate expense policy
have password protected computer access, changing passwords frequently
restrict access to data based on relevance to employee’s position
use an online banking platform that authorities are assigned, and audit logs are available
conduct random audits on business accounts
As a Not-for-Profit, your organization’s reputation and credibility are your bread and butter. While the tips and advice
presented here are by no means exhaustive, there is a great deal of information available to help you establish fraud
detection and prevention protocols. By looking after your own interests when it comes to fraud prevention, you can do
so much more to help the interests of others.
Tilda Zanette, Senior Account Manager with RBC focusing on the Not-for-Profit sector’s banking needs.
She can be reached at tildazanette@rbc.com
Like a corporate company, not-
for-profits can be faced with the
task of relocating or building a
new office space. As a result, a
great opportunity is presented.
A new work environment allows
for a company to align their
organizational vision and goals,
and have them be reflected in
their work environment. This
consequently presents the not-for-
2. Physical internal resources to
manage a project full time
3. Design or construction expertise
A first reaction to this situation
may be to hire an architect, interior
designer, general contractor or a
construction manager to lead the
overall process. The problem that
then presents itself is that although
profit with the ability to have a more
collaborative, efficient and thought
provoking work environment for
both the employment team and their
constituents and members. Unlike
a corporation however, a not-for-
profit organization faces some
challenges within the scope of such
a project:
1. Financial resources to fund the project
7. PAGE 06
those resources are valuable, their
agenda and priorities often do not
align with the not-for-profit. What
is most important? Design versus
cost? Cost versus constructability?
Both? Neither? The list can be
endless.
“Planning is the process of choosing
among those many options. If we do
not choose to plan that we choose to
have others plan for us.”
- Richard I. Winwood
THE FIRST STEP IN THE PROCESS
IS TO ASK THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS TO ASSIST IN
ESTABLISHING A “STRATEGIC
VISION”:
• What do we need to build?
• What do we want to build?
• What would a successful space
look like?
• How much would this cost?
• How much can we afford?
• How long will this take?
Putting together a wish list is a
natural response – but is it realistic?
Affordable? Achievable? Will it
meet your needs? It is at this stage
where an independent third party
project management company like
MHPM Project Managers Inc. would
come in. They would lead the entire
process from the conception of
your vision, the implementation and
construction of your design, through
to the installation of the furniture.
The reality is that as many as 90%
of projects fail. Poorly managed
projects are often late and over
budget and they do not fulfil the
organizations “strategic vision.”
PROJECT PITFALLS TO AVOID:
• Unclear vision or goals
• Priorities are undefined
• Poor initial planning
• Design not challenged by peer
review or constructability review
• Lack of construction expertise
• Breakdown in communication
A professional project management
company can empower a not-for-
profit by providing them with a
seasoned team led by a dedicated
project manager who will act as the
single point of responsibility on a
project. MHPM’s project managers
lead their team based on the clear
project success criteria established
by the not-for-profit. The criteria
are memorialized in the project
charter and the project manager
plans for the use of the entire
project team.
“If you don’t know where you are
going, you’re going to wind up
somewhere else.” - Yogi Berra
BENEFITS OF HIRING A PROJECT
MANAGER:
1. Having a dedicated resource,
their organizational strength and
their lessons learned focused on
the project goals.
2. Having a project management
company with experience in
the not-for-profit sector and its
accounting requirements.
3. Having a committed resource
to mitigate risk, maximize
opportunity and provide the not-
for-profit with the best value for
their dollar.
4. Having a clear project plan,
communication plan and
protocols and setting a standard
to validate decision making.
HELPFUL HINT – RISK
MANAGEMENT
Project leaders know that you must
act when problems are small and
opportunities are great; otherwise
you lose your ability to influence
and control outcomes. This is the
role of risk management. Many
risks can be anticipated by an
experienced project manager. If a
project is to be successful, regular
communication between all parties
will help ensure that expectations
are realized, understood and
managed. Understanding and
managing the three key elements
of scope, cost and time will result
in a quality project that meets the
client’s criteria for success.
Having an experienced project
management firm leading your
project provides your organization
with the certainty that you have
done your due diligence and
captured the best market value,
utilized the best practices in
accounting and adhered to the
project schedule. The end result
is the transparency required by all
of your stakeholders to be fiscally
responsible and to deliver the best
space for your talent, services to
your constituents and members
and accountability to all of your
stakeholders. The challenge
becomes an opportunity for
success.
Arlene Dedier, Principal of
MHPM Project Managers Inc.
She can be reached at
arlenededier@mhpm.com
CHALLENGES FACING
NOT-FOR-PROFITS
Requirement for fiscal
transparency to all
stakeholders including board
members and constituents
and/or membership and
donors
Requirements for defensible
decisions and clear business
cases and due diligence for
large capital expenditures
