Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada - Calgary Chapter
August 8, 2005
By Nicole Zummach
CALGARY, AB // Whether it's counselling, education,
recreation programs, or advocacy, the Multiple Sclerosis
Society of Canada - Calgary Chapter has been answering the
call for almost fifty years. Since it was established in 1959, the
Calgary chapter has grown to become the largest MS Society chapter in
Canada, offering all types of support and services to people affected
by multiple sclerosis. Staff and volunteers at the organization are
certainly doing something right because they have been a
Donner Award finalist for the past six years. They
won the overall award for excellence in 2000 and received the
Award for Services for People with Disabilities
three times, including last year in 2004. CharityVillage spoke with
executive director Mark Wolff about the chapter's role within
the community, its strategic approach to program assessment, and the
challenges and benefits of being part of a large, national
organization.
CharityVillage: The MS Society is a very well known
organization in Canada. What do you think makes your chapter stand
apart?
Mark Wolff: It's a number of things. We have a
strategic plan; we employ a strategic management process when we set
up how we do things here. We have business and operating plans, work
plans for all the staff, and everything is tied back to the strategic
plan so everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing, where they
fit in. And all of that is linked back to our mission, so everyone is
focused on achieving the two parts of our mission: to be a leader in
finding a cure for MS; and to enable those affected by MS to enhance
their quality of life.
The strategic plan has been here as long as I've been here and
predates me. It's just the way we do things. I think that a lot has
to do with the fact that I spent 18 years in the oil and gas industry
before I came here. I run the organization in a very business-like
fashion. This has enabled us to be very successful from a fundraising
point of view and on the services side what has really helped is that
we're a big believer in program logic models, outcome measures, and
indicators. That's made a huge difference as well. It's easy for
people to say the work they are doing is making a difference, but if
you've got a program logic model, outcome measures, and the
indicators that tell you whether you are making any progress, you can
prove that you are making a difference. Some people will say that
what they do can't be measured. I don't believe that.
CV: How does being part of a large, recognizable
organization assist you at the local level?
MW: We are the largest chapter within the MS
Society, and as such, over the years we've developed some processes
and tools that enable us to be self-sufficient. So we've never really
had to depend on our national organization for much. Though lately
they've been developing some technology-based items that we are
starting to use. We have our own proprietary national database where
we keep track of all our contacts. We've got a common accounting
platform across the country. And we have, and always have had,
graphics standards and things like that. So all of those have helped
us maintain a consistent image and keep us in tune with what the
national office is doing. At the same time, I think there are also
challenges when you are part of a big, national organization. No
matter where you go, communication is always an issue. That's no
different with us.
CV: Describe some of the innovations or unique
approaches that you use in the delivery of services.
MW: Well, as I mentioned, we have program logic
models for everything we do in client services, and those are all
based on input from our clients. We found when we were putting
together the logic models for our recreation program that we had some
ideas of what that program was trying to achieve. We went out and
talked to the participants in the program, as well as the instructors
that were leading it, and found out that their goals were entirely
different than ours. They were coming for different reasons. So we
changed the logic model to reflect what their wishes were.
CV: How might other organizations go about
establishing logic models for their own programs?
MG: We receive funding from the United Way of
Calgary and Area, so we use the United Way of America model for logic
models. There are different ways of putting them together, but
because we are a United Way funded agency we use their model, though
they are all pretty much the same. You've got a brief narrative that
explains what your program is all about and why you are doing it.
Then you have inputs, some activities, some outputs, and short,
medium, and long-term outcomes. In our case, the long-term outcome is
always our mission. You have indicators that tell you whether or not
you are making progress. Then you need some tools to gather data on
those indicators. We belong to the Canadian Outcomes Institute and we
use their program to input all of the data and get the reports we
need.
It's a lot of work to set it up but it's an
investment. Once it's in place, the value is self-evident. But if you
don't buy into the concept, if you are going to fight it, then it
will be really easy to say 'I don't have time to do this'. For us, it
validates the things that we are doing and tells us that the things
we are doing are consistent with our mission and are helping people
affected by MS, that we are spending our resources wisely. It's also
helping us to secure more funding. Certainly, more and more funders
are demanding that you have logic models and outcome measures. I
think that if you have those kinds of things in place it gives you a
credibility that some other organization may not have.
CV: What do you think needs to change in terms of how people
with disabilities are perceived and treated in Canada?
MW: I guess it really depends on the kind of
disability that you are dealing with. MS, for many people, is a very
visible disability. So people who are in a power wheelchair tend to
be treated differently than someone with an invisible disability. I
think that perhaps the greatest challenge is just to increase the
awareness of all kinds of disabilities, the challenges people face,
and some of the issues around these invisible disabilities.
CV: You've been a finalist for six of the
seven years that the Donner Award has been around. What did you learn
about your organization from the evaluations that the Donner Canadian
Foundation provides?
MW: I find the evaluations to be very valuable. The
thing I like about the Donner Awards is that they are trying to take
what has traditionally been a very qualitative area and put some
metrics out there so you can actually quantify how you are doing. I'm
very much a numbers person, so when I get those reports I can see how
we are doing against everyone else that applied and where we stand
relative to them, where we are weak, and where we need to put some
focus to get even better. We've been a finalist the past six years,
as you mentioned, and we've won four awards. So obviously we are
doing something right, but I also believe in continuous improvement;
you can always do something better.
CV: What impact has winning multiple Donner
Awards had on your organization?
MW: We consider the Donner Canadian Foundation
Awards to be very prestigious, so we are very proud of the fact that
we've received it four times. It helps with morale, recruiting staff,
and retaining staff. Our peers see us as a leader, a visionary, and
this just reinforces that.
For more information about the MS Society - Calgary Chapter,
visit: www.mscalgary.org.
To learn more about the Donner Awards, visit: www.fraserinstitute.ca/donner/index.asp.
