For 30 years, the Épisode consulting firm has supported non-profit organizations (NPOs) and businesses in their structure and philanthropic development. Discussion with Laetitia Shaigetz, president of the company.

Épisode publishes studies, notably the Study on trends in philanthropy in Quebec, which allow us to equip the environment, analyze it and understand it. To go even further, we do not hesitate to meet people to probe and understand the issues in order to be able to really better equip our environment which is becoming more professional and which needs this, which is waiting for this, which is hungry for knowledge.

What we want is for there to be a before and after episode and for them to feel that when we leave, they are better structured and more able to seek out funds and also to structure themselves at the same time. internally to achieve their objectives and have a greater reach.

Although we mainly work with NPOs, we also work with large companies and SMEs.

With the rise in popularity of corporate social responsibility, companies are finding that they need philanthropy for many reasons, including employee retention. In recent years, we have had the chance to work with the largest companies in Quebec to help them structure their philanthropy and ensure that they will play their impactful role in their community.

In recent years, we have had to adapt a lot to the professionalization of the sector. We see that there are more and more needs and that, because state funding is insufficient, more and more organizations and foundations are being created. But donors are not increasing as quickly as needs. By being increasingly requested, they are more informed, more demanding and more strategic. This puts pressure on organizations which, in addition to having to prioritize the needs they must respond to, must also develop truly strong skills in terms of business development. It creates a lot of competition in the industry even if we don’t like it, talking about competition in a sector like that.

Although we hear more and more about philanthropy, in the media and elsewhere, there is still a lot of education to be done, for example regarding planned donations. At the moment, we are in a transfer of wealth in Quebec, there is a lot of heritage, why not talk even more about planned donations when it can really change the situation in philanthropy?