Company Culture at Good Works

When you work with us, you’re not just hiring a fundraising consultant. You’re adding a member to your annual or legacy teams.

Our Values

Our values drive us. They guide how we act – towards ourselves, our colleagues and clients, and our community. They shape how we think, where we focus, and what we prioritize.

What we value is who we are. And at Good Works, we value:

Good Works is owned by settler people and operates in Ottawa, Ontario. This is unceded Algonquin Anishnaabe territory.

The peoples of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation have lived on this territory for time beyond memory. Their culture and presence have nurtured, and continue to nurture, this land.

We honour the peoples and land of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation. We celebrate all First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and their immeasurable contributions to Turtle Island.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

At Good Works, we’re all about bringing together awesome fundraisers from all walks of life.

We believe that part of what makes our team strong, is how different we all are! Our team is a mix of identities, intersections, and lived experiences that make our fundraising more real, more equitable, and more ethical.

We’re an equal opportunity employer. And, we’re committed to creating a brave space for our team and out clients, where people feel safe and celebrated at work. Part of that is our ongoing focus on learning and growth around DEIB. Our entire team has completed workshops and training on a variety of topics, including:

  • Social location, systems of oppression, and sharing power
  • Managing microagressions
  • Strategies and approaches for ethical storytelling
  • Moving from unconscious bias to conscious inclusion
  • Building and retaining inclusive teams
  • Understanding privilege
  • Recast Philanthropy’s 5 fallacies of fundraising that limit authentic donor relationships

We’re committed to continuing our DEIB journeys as individuals and as a team. We’ll keep learning, and applying what we learn to our fundraising work every day.

Our Commitment to the Environment and Climate Change

At Good Works, we’re passionate about sustainability! As a direct mail agency, we’re very aware of the impact we do on the environment around us, and we think a lot about ways to offset that.

We’ve designed our workplace to be as kind to the environment as possible. We’ve thoughtfully located our office near to public transit, in a highly-walkable and bikeable neighbourhood, to make sustainable commuting a breeze. In fact, we only have parking for 43% of our team, and we’ve got awesome bicycle parking for our eco-conscious crew.

We embraced flexible work long before COVID! Our flexible structure not only makes our team happy, but also reduces transportation emissions. Our hybrid and remote work options mean fewer cars on the road and a lighter carbon footprint.

Our office? It’s a green haven! Sunlight streams through our windows, reducing energy use, while lush plants purify the air. Our team is committed to composting, recycling, and creating a workplace that loves the planet.

When it comes to our clients, we’re your green-minded partners. We carefully screen vendors who share our environmental values, offering you print production quotes from suppliers who are as committed to sustainability as we are. Looking for printing that respects the earth? We’ve got you covered. From waterless printing and FSC certified paper to cutting-edge machinery that minimizes waste and eliminates harmful emissions, we’ll help you find a print partner that aligns with your environmental standards.

AI in Fundraising

At Good Works, we see thoughtfully-used AI as a powerful tool to improve fundraising across the charitable sector. AI can boost capacity, cut down on repetitive tasks, and make our work more purposeful for our team and our clients.
We also believe AI can be ethically harnessed to help smaller non-profits compete with large charities, and the for-profit sector, like never before. AI can power a higher level of personalization in fundraising, at a much lower cost. With donor journeys that are uniquely tailored to a person’s connection to your cause, and your charity, you’ll create deeper engagement, more meaningful connection, and greater generosity from your supporters.
We also know that, as with emerging technology, we have a responsibility to use AI with a harm reduction lens. This policy lays out the framework by which we will, and will not, use AI at Good Works.

AI at Good Works

When we talk about AI at Good Works, we mean computer systems and algorithms that can simulate human-like cognitive functions such as learning, problem-solving, reasoning, perception, and language understanding.
We think of AI as a really, really smart intern. It will always require the direction, judgment, discretion, and review of an expert – often, more than one – to mitigate risk, catch bias, and ensure the final product is what you’d expect from Good Works.

How We Use AI

At Good Works, we may collaborate with AI on tasks such as background research, brainstorming, formatting, copywriting, personalization, editing, and results analysis. Our designers may also use AI tools to assist in their design process.

Our team works alongside Glitter—our custom-built, private and secure, AI tool—to develop compelling, donor-centered content. Glitter is integrated with enterprise AI models, like Claude and ChatGPT, to support in copywriting. This allows us to refine content while ensuring client and donor data remains protected.

Just as every Good Works team member is trained in our human-centered, story-driven fundraising approach, we’ve trained Glitter to apply these best practices, too. Glitter is a collaborative tool, meaning a human shapes, prompts, and reviews all content before it is shared with clients.

AI Disclosure: Some written or visual content created by Good Works may have been assisted by AI, in line with our ethical guidelines.

Our AI Principles and Ethical Guidelines

  1. AI-generated work is limited to the draft stage—it is never a final product.
  2. Humans create all AI prompts and provide direction.
  3. Humans are responsible for all decisions and approvals.
  4. We ensure accuracy and truthfulness by aligning content with your charity’s mission and values. Human review prevents misinformation.
  5. We prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Humans guide AI to avoid biases or stereotypes, and we’ve intentionally and thoughtfully trained Glitter with this in mind.
  6. All Good Works team members using AI receive training on ethical use and harm reduction.
  7. We protect donor privacy and comply with all Canadian data laws.
  8. We continually assess and refine our AI use to stay responsible and ethical.

Working With Good Works

We’d love to talk about the telling your stories with authenticity, bringing an equity lens to your fundraising, and so much more! Reach out to book 30-minute, no-commitment discovery discussion with us.