Frequently Asked Questions

Why does SoChange exist?

In a sense, the founding of SoChange was inspired by a mixture of passionate idealism and humbling realism. While we are passionately committed to the collective achievement of our core values (reviewed below), we’re also aware that individuals and organizations worldwide are limited in their ability to champion them, despite good intentions. This is often due to limited capabilities in areas such as fundraising, marketing, and project development.

SoChange exists to expand the capacity of actors such as these. By performing tasks such as proposal writing, event planning, and project planning and design, we help partner organizations fulfill their ambitious goals. Considering the reputability of our client base, these goals generally coincide with our own beliefs concerning social justice.

See our Vision and Mission sections for more details.


What does SoChange do?

SoChange is committed to assisting organizations and individuals live up to their potential in inciting positive social change, both on regional and global levels. In a nutshell, we seek to fulfill this mandate by bolstering the social justice community using education, empowerment and efficiency-building techniques. By educating the public through actions such as hosting awareness-raising events, and empowering non-governmental organizations by introducing more effective support-raising models, SoChange helps build human and financial capital that can be used in supporting local and international causes. In addition, we’re constantly devising new strategies to make sure these resources are used as efficiently as possible.

See What We Do and Five Key Services for more details.


What are the founding principles of SoChange?

SoChange is guided by the beliefs that all people are born equal, each with intrinsic human rights and the entitlement to lives of social, spiritual and material dignity. In particular, we fully support the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a benchmark document, and are aware of the special attention that must be paid to women when ensuring these rights are guaranteed.

For a more complete summary, check out our Core Values.


Does SoChange work with local and international organizations?

Yes. We’ve intentionally avoided setting narrow guidelines as to what types of organizations we work with, out of the realization that actors from a wide range of sectors could benefit from our services. The closest thing our client base has to a common denominator is an involvement in social justice causes, either on a regional or global level.

Our current major clients include Asian Outreach, Humber College and UNICEF; visit our Clients page for a full list.


How is SoChange different from other NGOs?

SoChange is somewhat unique, in that it provides an outsourcing model for other NGOs that either totally lack the in-house capacity to perform certain tasks themselves, or do possess these resources, but would simply find it more efficient if someone else handled them. Although the alternative model we present is relatively widespread in the corporate world, SoChange is one of the first actors to offer such a service base to the non-governmental community.


What is capacity building?

“Capacity building” is, generally speaking, a process that involves one actor (e.g. an NGO or government agency) helping another, less able actor (e.g. a developing country or smaller NGO) gain the ability to perform better on it’s own. The concept of capacity building is roughly denoted in the popular phrase “helping one help oneself,” although, contrary to a common understanding of this expression, “helping someone” may involve making great material or personal sacrifices on their behalf (e.g. providing monetary aid).
 

What is international development?

“International development” is one of the most controversial and hotly contested topics amongst academics and policymakers today. Perceptions about what it exactly means vary widely; for example, whereas some believe it primarily involves economic growth in poorer regions of the world, others argue that development practices must also include measures that guarantee the preservation of endangered cultural practices. In accordance with our founding principles, SoChange believes that international development work must ultimately address the lack of equality, dignity, and basic human rights that the world’s vulnerable currently experience.
 

What is social change?

“Social change” is a very broad term that roughly denotes evolutions in the nature, structure, and interactions of social institutions. Whereas social change is often facilitated by direct agency on the part of individuals and groups (e.g. political groups, revolutionaries), it can also come about more indirectly, as a result of a number of smaller, less obvious occurrences. International development – one of the basic activities that SoChange is involved in – is often classified as a type of directly-inspired social change.