Do you volunteer as a family? Are you curious about how to involve your child in helping out, or giving back?

The post below originally appeared in the HandsOn Blog on March 15th 2011. It is a great intro to volunteering as a family, and they were generous in their permission for us to re-post for your reading pleasure!

If you are curious about where to start volunteering as a family in Victoria, read on to the bottom, or please share your experiences and insights through the comments!

[Continue reading Volunteering as a family (and how to start in Victoria)]

Clare O’Kelly, President of the Administrators of Volunteer Resources British Columbia (AVRBC), wrote this positive and passionate article to all AVRBC members – individuals who coordinate volunteers at BC nonprofit and public organizations – a couple of weeks ago. I believe it’s a must-read for all of us who work with volunteers, so with her permission we’ve reposted it here. For more information about the South Island chapter of AVRBC, please visit the AVRBC website or contact me at Volunteer Victoria.

I’ve always found September to be an ...

[Continue reading Reconnecting with Passion]

I’m pleased to introduce guest blogger Zuzanna Szkudlarek, a Volunteer Victoria board member and member of our Emerging Leaders Network. In this post, Zuzanna writes about her great experiences (so far) as a member of the ELN. We’ve been truly fortunate to have Zuzanna participate in this Network as she is a true leader in action in our community.

Recently I was at a retreat with like minded people interested in bettering the community in Victoria. At the retreat were individuals from all sectors (nonprofits, government, and industry) ages ranging from 25-50 whereby five of us all had the commonality of being part of the [Continue reading VV’s Emerging Leaders Network: Engagement in action]

This article first appeared in Volunteer Victoria’s E-Link newsletter on August 26th, 2011. Sign up for E-Link and keep current with news and information from Volunteer Victoria.

The Ministry of Social Development recently announced additional funding for the Community Volunteer Supplement Program (CVS). The CVS program encourages people on income or disability assistance to volunteer by providing up to a $100 monthly supplement to offset volunteer expenses such as travel or clothing.

Applicants who were waitlisted on August 8th will have until October 31st, 2011 to submit a request for a CVS application – and all eligible ...

[Continue reading Connecting Volunteers]

This article first appeared in Volunteer Victoria’s E-Link newsletter on July 29th , 2011. Sign up for E-Link and keep current with news and information from Volunteer Victoria.

A Question of Accountability

The national media recently turned its attention to charitable spending and highlighted the outcomes of a grading system that measures how Canadian charities of various shapes and sizes use donated funds. The report provides a valuable service, benchmark comparisons, and some important answers and also raised many questions, identified gaps in evaluation methodologies and stakeholder communications, and potentially planted seeds of doubt for donors and stakeholders ...

[Continue reading A Question of Accountability]

The following is a guest blog post written and researched by one of Volunteer Victoria’s volunteer writers, Kate Lautens. Kate is one of two Volunteer Victoria Media Copy Writers and she joined us in early 2011.  Enjoy!

To check out available opportunities with the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre, you can search their listings on Volunteer Victoria’s database.

If you dig gardening, composting and wriggly worms, the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre can give you the latest dirt. Founded in 1992, the Compost Education Centre uses its lush garden at its demonstration site, ...

[Continue reading Eyes on the Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre]

Each year Volunteer Victoria works with a wide variety of trainers to deliver workshops for our community participants.  As the Manager of Training and Outreach for Volunteer Victoria, I’m pleased that we are able to offer a good cross-section of learning opportunities for our member agencies and others in our community who need to develop knowledge and skills in nonprofit management.

Just since September last year our staff or contracted facilitators have taught workshops in: fund development, media relations, social media, volunteer management, networking skills, succession planning, communication skills, story-telling, governance, public ...

[Continue reading Our Training Initiatives]

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today seems a very appropriate day to kick off Random Acts of Kindness Week.  We invite everyone (individuals, companies, schools, service clubs, etc.) to join us and take part.

Share your story and/or your ideas here on our blog. This is your chance to help make someone else’s day (and to brighten up your own as well!).

We will tweet out a daily RAK suggestion (#volvicbcRAK) and look forward to hearing yours! Let’s show everyone what an amazing city Victoria is!

Today’s #volvicbcRAK suggestion is to share this “challenge” with others in your network and tell us ...

[Continue reading It’s Random Acts of Kindness Week]

I would like to thank this week’s guest blogger, Janis La Couvée, for once again sharing her insights with us.  If you are at all familiar with the social media scene in Victoria, you will definitely have heard of Janis. 

Janis is a financial services professional with a long history of community involvement, particularly in the areas of capacity building, public relations and the arts.  Long before social media was in vogue, Janis was connecting people and building community. Social media has just made it easier to do!

She has graciously offered to share her Social Media Year-in-Review ...

[Continue reading 2010 Social Media Year-in-Review]

Earlier this week, the Victoria Foundation released the fifth anniversary edition of Vital Signs®, an annual report card that provides a snapshot of the livability and well-being of life in the Capital Region.  A combination of public opinion and statistics, the report is presented in an easy to read format aimed at stimulating conversation around 11 issue areas deemed critical to quality of life.    “As a report card, Vital Signs® has steadily proven its value to the community since 2006,” says Victoria Foundation CEO Sandra Richardson. “Its importance was especially elevated during the economic challenges of recent years, as the ...

[Continue reading Victoria Foundation Vital Signs Report]