Interview with Marcel Lauzière, President and CEO of Imagine Canada

THE STUDENT VERB CHARITIES CONTEST

Tell me about this contest. What does it consists of exactly?

The contest is about challenging students, in both universities and colleges, to look at how they could tell the story about the role and contributions of charities in Canadian society. So we start from premise that while there are thousands of organizations out there doing great work, they are often invisible. So we want to get on the radar of Canadians. And we think the best way to do that is to turn to the next generation and get them to creatively think about how they would actually do that.

Learn about the Student Verb Contest.

Are there any rules or limitations to the creativity?

Be as creative as you want. Through dance, through writing, through music, of course social media, which I expect most will. So if you go on to the website for students for charities it will give you some examples of how creative you can be. The whole idea is to tell the story in the most compelling way about what charities are all about in Canada, and their role and the contributions they actually play. To promote interest in this contest, we’re adding a first prize worth $50,000, courtesy of the Muttard Foundation.

And how are you choosing the first prize winner?

Based on creativity. Whether or not your project is convincing and passionate enough. And whether or not it will make a difference. In other words, as Canadians, when they see this, will they start to say that charities are making a huge contribution and I now have a better understanding of why that is. So they’ll need to be compelling, easily understood. The usual criteria that you would use when you look at a public awareness campaign.

And what are you doing to spread the word about this contest?

We’re using a variety of different approaches. We’re using social media, of course, big time. We’re connecting with universities and colleges across the country, with communication departments, with student papers, with those radio shows. We want to get the news out to them as promptly and broadly as possible. We’re coming out with new ideas every day.

Is it open to all students? Undergraduates, PhDs, etc?

Absolutely, but you have to be full-time students in a Canadian university or community college.

What is the main goal that you’re trying to achieve with this contest?

At the end of the day, the main goal is to find a really creative and innovative way for us to get onto the radar of Canadians. And by ‘us’ I mean the charitable sector. We’re looking for a really great idea about a public awareness campaign to raise the profile of the ongoing contribution charities make to Canadians.

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ARB Team
Arbitrage Magazine
Business News with BITE.

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