leadership Archives - Volunteer Victoria

Stepping into Volunteering

In July 2013, Volunteer Victoria’s Youth Program hosted the first Community Youth Leadership Summit! Part of the week was reflecting on volunteering, the community, and the Summit in the format of a blog post. Sara was one of our awesome participants who put her feelings, thoughts, and ideas into a great blog post for us to share with you!

When I first got interested in volunteering I was completely at a loss as to how I should go about getting involved, nor was I sure what kind of volunteer position I would be suited for so I definitely needed some help. Not knowing what else to do I went to my ‘best friend’ google, searching for ‘volunteering in Victoria’ Volunteer Victoria’s website was one of the first I visited and it quickly caught my interest with a section dedicated to helping youth volunteer. I decided to try getting in contact with the youth program and I got a response within a few days! Through email I set up a meeting, I was pretty nervous at first but once I stepped into the office everyone was really welcoming, within in a few minutes into the meeting my nerves had changed into excitement. It was in this meeting that I found out about the Youth Summit, it immediately had my interest because it would be a chance to learn, gain experience and meet other people interested in volunteering. Although I was spot on with all of that, the Summit exceeded my expectations in every way! Getting involved in the Youth Summit and Volunteer Victoria was definitely one the best decisions I’ve ever made. Now with everything I’ve learned and the support of both the friends I’ve made and that of everyone at Volunteer Victoria I will be stepping into the world of volunteering! Maybe I’ll see you there!

Rediscovering Myself Through Volunteering

In July 2013, Volunteer Victoria’s Youth Program hosted the first Community Youth Leadership Summit! Part of the week was reflecting on volunteering, the community, and the Summit in the format of a blog post. Kathy was one of our awesome participants who put her feelings, thoughts, and ideas into a great blog post for us to share with you!

My name is Kathy, I’m sixteen years old, and I recently participated in this year’s Community Youth Leadership Summit at Volunteer Victoria. This week has really opened my eyes to the entire world of volunteerism that is located right in Victoria and gave me the confidence and encouragement to keep volunteering.

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always loved making the people around me smile. Whether it was by holding a door for a stranger, handing out candy at Halloween, or simply cracking a joke, I always found ways to make someone’s day a little brighter. a person’s beaming face was a sight I could never become tired of.

As I started growing up however, helping others became less and less a priority. Especially starting high school, I felt like I was exposed to a new world. I was introduced to the idea of “fitting in” and I started thinking about of myself and what others thought. During my time immersed in my self centered world, I knew in the back of my mind I wasn’t being my true self.

It wasn’t until grade ten that I truly understood the impact of volunteerism. I unexpectedly found myself in a leadership position leading a grade retreat for a group of elementary schools aged youth. So, a group of my classmates and I started preparing for the day of the retreat and it gave me the opportunity to get to know more of my peers who had the same love for helping others. I was overcome with enthusiasm and fulfillment from being part of a team working together to deliver a lively retreat.

The entire retreat was full of singing, playing, and laughing. I remember looking out at all of the kids and seeing so many genuine smiles. I quickly realized that I had a lot of power– the power to bring light into other people’s lives. In those moments, I knew that I was being my true self, the best version of myself.

Through my experience, I learned that volunteering is a way to bring me back to my true self and it helped me balance my priorities at the same time. I used volunteering as a tool to help me rediscover myself by bringing out the good qualities I always had within me. Seeing the joy of everyone around me and knowing that I was a part of it drives me to continue helping others today.

Steps to Volunteer: A Youth’s Perspective.

In July 2013, Volunteer Victoria’s Youth Program hosted the first Community Youth Leadership Summit! Part of the week was reflecting on volunteering, the community, and the Summit in the format of a blog post. Eva was one of our awesome participants who put her feelings, thoughts, and ideas into a great blog post for us to share with you!

My name is Eva, I’m fifteen years old and I was a participant in Volunteer Victoria’s Community Youth Leadership Summit. During our time at the summit, we learned key tips and tricks for developing our cover letters and resumes, analyzing job posts, and being interviewed in a professional manner. We also became certified in CPR A, took a stroll through downtown learning about Victoria’s not-for-profits on United Way’s Impact tour and did some hands on volunteering at the Rainbow Kitchen Association, painting and cleaning their storage areas.

Oh, and we had lots of fun doing it!

This is what volunteerism should be about. I’m happy to offer my time, skills and effort to a cause in which I have found a passion. I like to think of volunteerism as an exchange. Sure, you aren’t being paid for your work in money, but there is so much to get out of volunteering, and that’s part of the reason that makes volunteering an ideal activity for everyone. Whether you’re doing it for school credit, to learn something new, to share existing skills, to feel part of a community, for recognition, to become well rounded, to be an agent of change, to build your resume, to explore a career… the possibilities are endless. And volunteering can also be used as a stepping-stone for paid work in the not-for-profit sector, as demonstrated by our dedicated Youth Team coordinators, Julia-Anne and Julena.

You also should never feel bad for receiving recognition for your work, and while it shouldn’t be the only reason you began volunteering, it’s always nice to be recognized for doing something you love.

I go to St. Michael’s University School, and you better believe they keep you busy there: advanced placement classes, tests and homework. Not to mention other extra curricular activities like clubs, councils, sports teams, and fundraiser. And the thing is, I love it. I love to keep busy, I thrive in a fast-paced environment where I can do the things I love. My ideal volunteer position would be in an engaging environment where you can bring your own creativity and experiences to the table.

What are the steps towards volunteering? It’s no picnic. The benefits, however, make volunteer an experience that you will never regret!

Discover yourself. Who am I? What kind of volunteer am I? What are your passions? How do you approach a problem? How do you prefer to work? The answers to these questions could help you discover the most rewarding volunteer opportunity.

Consider what your passions are, and what skills you have to offer. This will help you choose where you want to volunteer. If your passion is with animals, try volunteering at a local rescue shelter. If you’re passionate about literacy you can volunteer at the library, or become a tutor or peer note taker.

Of course, you can develop new skills and learn many things by volunteering, but your volunteer work can still be compatible with your interests. I, for example, am passionate about social justice issues, specifically aboriginal and women’s issues. Thus, I considered volunteering at the Didi Society – geared towards empowering women and children through fair trade – through their markets, or helping our at Restorative Justice Victoria. If it’s something you love, make it your own and feel good sharing your skills and passion.

Start small. If you’re like me and already have a busy schedule, volunteering your time for an hour or two per week is a great way to get started without becoming discouraged or overwhelmed. The amount of change you can create in such a short time might surprise you. Then, if you find you enjoy the work and have more time to pursue it, you can gradually take on more and bring your own personal flair to your work. Try not to get pressured into volunteering, or taking on too much. If it stops being rewarding and starts being a chore, back off or take a break.

Get to know others. Through your volunteer work, you’ll build a network of people who have similar goals and passions as you, who all come from different backgrounds and have different skills. Getting to know the people with whom you volunteer is one of the best parts of volunteerism. You could attend a training or orientation session, if one is available; if not, talk to local group leaders and other volunteers in the community about their experiences. You’ll learn what to expect of an organization and your work with it, and you’ll pick up some good tips to make your work there more productive and more meaningful.

Don’t become discouraged. Like in any real-world situation, volunteering can have its ups and downs. Sometimes, the tasks aren’t always glamorous, but know that even painting a room can benefit an organization. When our group was finished our job, our clothes were covered in paint but we were still proud. Imagine if it had only been the church staff painting that room, it would have taken forever! But with our help, they will be able to rent it out to make more money on the side to support the Rainbow Kitchen Association and the work they do.

HAVE FUN! This seems like a no-brainer, but always remember to love what you do. You’ll be more productive, and your enthusiasm will inspire others to follow their passions and help their communities.

Introduction to Volunteer Victoria’s Community Youth Leadership Summit

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change this world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margret Mead

I was reminded of this quote in so many ways this year during the first week of summer. Not only is it a personal favourite – I have it on a sticky note on my laptop – but it truly encompassed the energy and enthusiasm of Volunteer Victoria’s Community Youth Leadership Summit participants to a T. Regardless of whether the youth were on the United Way’s Impact Tour or engaging in a round table discussion about human rights as they relate to interview questions, I kept finding myself thinking, these kids are going places.

Here at Volunteer Victoria the Youth Team works in a variety of ways to help youth throughout Greater Victoria connect to their community through meaningful and strategic volunteering. What is strategic volunteering you might find yourself wondering? Essentially it’s walking the delicate balance beam of receiving as much as you give through volunteering; the best of both worlds. While volunteering in and of its self is an amazing gift and something we at Volunteer Victoria strive to promote both professionally and personally, we also believe you should leave feeling rewarded for your hard work and dedication. In a lot of life’s facets this would come in the form of a cheque, a dollar amount to show appreciation for your time and energy. However, in volunteering the benefits can look like a multitude of things and finding the one that suits your needs the best is a goal the Youth Team aims to meet. For example, some volunteer for the outstanding training agencies can provide, others for free admission into events or festivals, and some give to their community through organizations that have helped those around them. Despite the fact these benefits will look different for everyone and mean something unique to each volunteer, there is a constant –any one you choose or need the Youth Team can help get you there.

Easy. Right? That’s what we thought too.

Throughout the Youth Team’s involvement in the community we have noticed the benefits and rewards to volunteering that we think are strategic (volunteering at a hospital to increase your application to med school and knowledge of health care) are sometimes being lost in the race to complete a set amount of hours in order to graduate. While the completion of this is important, we have started to see youth volunteer in amazing ways at a variety of places but only reap the numerical hour value from their work rather than the life skills and knowledge they have gained in addition. The need for practical hands-on training regarding the volunteer sector: how to get involved purposefully and how to present these educational pieces of wealth in a professional way became apparent. In an effort to meet this Volunteer Victoria created the Community Youth Leadership Summit – a week long program aimed to give greater meaning to the word ‘volunteer’ by not only showing youth how volunteering can enhance their skills and help in achieving their dreams but how to excel at showcasing their attributes through workshops, presentations and volunteering.

We were so fortunate to work with 10 outstanding youth who really exemplified Margret Mead’s words through their dedication to the process and their willingness to learn and challenge themselves both individually, as a group, and in the community at large. Part of the program involved the opportunity to write a blog post for Volunteer Victoria, this is simply the introduction to the incredible literature to come.

These youth reminded us within the Youth Team that the work we do collectively, both within our office and as a community, for youth matters. The ripple effect these youth who ‘graduated’ from this program will have locally and globally, in our minds, will be instrumental. Their ideas and opinions are relevant, important and meaningful. They will change this world, we just were lucky enough to help along the way.

So here’s to them, the 10 fantastic youth who took a week from their sun-filled summers to work with us in learning how they can walk that balance beam in the not-for-profit sector, how they can have the best of both worlds, and how they can highlight themselves for the outstanding emerging leaders they are. They are pretty wonderful and we hope you enjoy getting to see a glimpse of each one through their writing. Thank you Cammy, Sara, Leah, Melody, Brooke, Eva, Holly, Kathy, Angus and Hisashi, you made the start of our summer the best week yet.

Gone Fishin’

If you have looked around your office and realized that no one else is there – you are not alone! It is the time of the year when staff, board members, and volunteers take vacations, stay-cations, and even the occasional fishing trip.

We went fishing this month too – to catch a glimpse of the local non-profit community and to see what trends are emerging.

Now, you should know that this wasn’t a big, complex research study. This quick little survey resulted in a 15% response rate where nearly 60% of respondents have operational budgets between $100,000 and $500,000. The results are not statistically relevant or accurate but they did confirm what many of us already believe – that there are complex funding challenges ahead, non-profit leaders remain resilient but are pulled in many directions, and that many organizations have significant milestones to celebrate in 2014.

Here’s what we learned from survey respondents:
40% reported a 10% or greater drop in revenues from fundraising events
26% experienced a more than 10% reduction or a 100% loss of Government Contracts for Services. One organization articulated the seriousness of their loss, “Our organization is on the brink of serious layoffs, termination of staff and program cuts due to decreases in government funding.”
20% report that it is likely or very likely that they will reduce paid staff. More than 48% are planning to increase wages
78% plan on recruiting student interns to help and 92% are looking for volunteers to help
25% report a 10% or greater reduction in grant funding and 33% report a 10% or greater reduction in corporate donations
60% of respondents report that it is likely or very likely that they will increase grant funding and 45% think it likely that they will increase cash sponsorships in the coming year
Municipal funding is shifting – 23% reported more than a 10% reduction and 23% reported a more than 10% increase in funding
11% reported 1st time funding from Gaming
85% of organizations with non government contracts for services expect revenues to stay the same
United Way funding was the only funding source where 100% of respondents reported no change in revenues
46% reported that they earned more self-generated revenues. 70% report that it is likely or very likely that they will increase self-generated revenues in the coming year
89% expect individual monthly giving to stay the same or increase
62% are actively trying to reduce expenses and 70% are looking for partners to share costs and leverage resources
90% are looking for new program partners
38% of agencies report that it is challenging or very challenging to meet their mission and strategic goals
80% shared reasons for celebration – many organizations are celebrating anniversaries in 2014 – one 50 year and eight 25, 30, and 40 year anniversaries – other celebrations include increased client outcomes, new partnerships, funders, and services, increased client registration in programs, and dedicated staff and volunteers

Book Review: The Abundant Non Profit

Volunteering trends vary greatly across the world and what may be true for most other nations is not always true in Canada; like the idea that there is a shortage of volunteers. Canada has the 2nd largest voluntary sector in the world – after the Netherlands – and with more than 12 million volunteers across the country we do not have a shortage of willing participants.

Vantage Point (Vancouver’s Volunteer Centre) has long advocated for the fact that in this continued environment of resource scarcity non profits have to think and behave differently. They believe so strongly in the idea that non profits need to shift our primary focus from allocating financial assets to developing human assets that staff members Colleen Kelly and Lynda Gerty put pen to paper (sorry, fingers to the keyboard) to write their book “The Abundant Non Profit.”

The book is scattered with wise words and good ideas but if reading non profit management books is not top of your summer ‘to-do’ list, then here are some of the paraphrased highlights.

Non profits cannot always wait for funding to start or finish key projects. Vantage Point believes we must expand our circle of experienced volunteers who can help by breaking down projects into bite sized chunks and getting the work done.
While all volunteers are created equal in terms of their value to an organization, some volunteer work is valued at a higher rate of return than others. For example: the value difference between using volunteers to copy newsletters or to build a new website.
All volunteers need to have work that meets their learning and engagement needs. Create project options with varying levels of complexity.
Create an annual plan for volunteer led and managed projects (and connect them to your strategic goals.)
Integrate volunteers into every level of the organization
Turn project and program managers into people managers. One manager can only complete a limited number of projects or program objectives, but a people manager with 40 to 60 volunteers can increase their productivity exponentially.

You can purchase “The Abundant Non Profit” directly through the Vantage Point website or member agencies can sign the book out of the Volunteer Victoria library.

All On-Board

For many families June ushers in the end of the school year. For many non-profits June signals the beginning of a new year as we wrap up last fiscal year’s audits and annual reports and ask our membership to approve our new slate of board members at our annual general meetings. In fact, June is one of the busiest AGM month’s of the year, and is probably the month when the greatest number of non profits are literally bringing people on-board.

Volunteer Victoria knows a lot about the process of recruiting and appointing board members. We have tons of tools and resources to help member agencies learn more about board governance and board members roles and responsibilities. And, each year, we help individual organizations address governance challenges or explore ways to recruit, engage, or train new/existing board members. As a whole, the local board community is strong, committed, and tremendously impactful.

This being said, we know that recruiting new board members with all the skills you need to help your organization move forward is not always simple or fast and it can sometimes feel like a challenge. The statistics support the point. In 2012, 6% of all volunteer positions posted through Volunteer Victoria were board positions. These positions were viewed by potential volunteers just 4% of the time – suggesting that the local demand for board members may be greater than the the number of people willing to consider applying for the positions.

Board recruitment challenges may also intensify in the coming years as a larger number of board members reach retirement stage – the point at which individual board members wish to stop volunteering in board roles (regardless of their age) or choose to reduce their volume of board work. An informal survey of board members at a recent workshop revealed that close to 40% of attendees sit on more than 2 boards. Trends also suggest that the younger demographic of volunteers – while very capable, educated, and committed – favour volunteer positions with shorter durations.

To help identify potential areas of risk, consider the following:
– How many of your current board members sit on more than 1 board? What strategies can you implement to help board members with multiple board commitments?
How many current board members have reached retirement stage or are within 2 years of retirement? How will you proactively address these challenges?
– Which board positions in your organization are hardest to recruit for? What can you do to increase your pool of volunteers for this position?
– How can you diversify your board?
– How can you enhance board member engagement and satisfaction and make the most of the time you spend with board members?

Stand Up for our Profession

Susan Ellis is one of only a handful of internationally recognized speakers in the field of volunteer management. And, thanks to AVRBC, she was in Victoria last week to help inspire administrators of volunteer resources from across the province.

As you might expect from an expert practitioner, author, researcher, and advocate with more than 30 years experience in the voluntary sector Ellis’s presentation was crammed with nuggets of wisdom and skilled intention. Her straight to the point messages about the importance and power of volunteerism hit the proverbial nails on the head.

Ellis’s presentation was not, however, a gentle walk down memory lane. She challenges all coordinators, managers, and advocates of volunteers to revisit our personal and organizational assumptions about how we articulate and recognize the value of volunteerism and asks us to address any complacency that weakens the impact of our profession and collective work. Her point is that if volunteer management professionals don’t determine the future of our sector, who will?

Here are just a few Ellis inspired questions to contemplate:

– How do we inspire more emerging professionals to choose volunteer management as an intentional career path?
– There are very few accredited Volunteer Management Training programs in Canada and trends suggest that established programs across the world are closing. How do we sustain and share research about volunteer management related issues and advocate for volunteer management training as a priority for our sector?
– How do we ensure that volunteerism is identified as an essential service (like IT or HR) across the entire organization and is not viewed as just an isolated program function?
– What steps will we personally take to ensure that volunteer managers have the tools and resources we need to respond to emerging trends and increasing demands for volunteer services from both the non-profit and public sector?
– How will we share best practices and learnings with each other?

The questions may be simple, but the solutions are complex and far reaching.

Volunteer Victoria, and our colleagues and peers at AVRBC, Volunteer BC, and Volunteer Canada welcome you to share your ideas and experiences in volunteer management. Visit our websites to find out how you can get connected and thanks for choosing this profession!

It’s Just a Stage…

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum (not the 1966 movie or the stage show featuring Nathan Lane and the musical number “Something Familiar, Something Peculiar…A Comedy Tonight!”) but on the way to the non profit forum – the board table.

Every board tries to be nimble, accountable, and effective and we nearly all turn to some type of tool/process (e.g. the board skills grid) to help us figure out who our board members are, what constituent groups they represent, and what skills they bring to the board table. We also use the grid as a tool to help us with new board member recruitment.

Checking off the boxes on the skills grid is an annual tradition for many nomination committees – one outgoing lawyer replaced by one incoming lawyer, one youth leaves and one youth arrives, gender, age, ethnicity balance – box checked/ box unchecked. But when was the last time your organization revisited and expanded those boxes?

Organizations spend a great deal of time and effort recruiting volunteers. Many organizations spend considerably less time figuring out what a volunteer needs in order to work effectively on their board or to stay on the board past a first term, and what knowledge, behaviours, and competencies will be needed to work effectively with existing board members and help their organization reach their preferred future.

Boards can easily and inexpesively outsource certain tasks that require specific skills (i.e finding a new office or making recommendations for new accounting or information management systems) but can rarely afford the cost of not having effective decision making and good team work around the board table.

Healthy organizational cultures and practices lead to good decision making and confidence around the board table. So, even if your board meetings have never felt like a farce, comedy, or tragedy, please consider the following tips:

Host new board member orientation each year.
Invest in on-going evaluation and board member training.
Continue to work on team-work.
Articulate your values and share the rationale for significant decisions that have an impact on future board members.
Encourage curiosity and openness.
Be prepared to change the box.
Ask for help when you need it.

Stay tuned. Volunteer Victoria will be hosting a New Board Member workshop with Dr. Vic Murray this May.

Youth Group Takes Warm Initiative

Sarah Norton is a Journalism and Media Communications graduate from the University of Wollongong, Australia. After studying for a semester at the University of Victoria, Sarah fell in love with the place and has recently moved back. She has a great passion for travelling and making a difference through writing, and is excited about being part of the Volunteer Victoria, volunteer team.

It’s a typical winter afternoon in Victoria: cold, dark and wet. Walking to Shelbourne Street Church I think about having to stay out in this weather all night, every night, not being bundled up in my coat and scarf. The thought is frightening.

It’s an idea that one amazing group of youth have not only thought about, but are positively acting upon in Victoria’s community. The Shelbourne Street Church Youth Group meets weekly to become positively and actively involved in the needs of Victoria.

Matthew Hickman, one of the youth group leaders says, “If we can get youth involved early in their teen years we can show and teach them how to be an active, positive influence in our world.” Shelbourne Street Church Associate Minister, Daniel Patstone isn’t boastful, modestly explaining that in terms of your run-of-the-mill youth group, theirs is similar to any other you’ll find in Victoria. The difference he notices is the passion that these kids have “in terms of walking out a life that reflects what Jesus is teaching them about”.

Prior to Christmas the youth group held a babysitting night for families in the community, to fundraise for a clothing swap with Our Place in the city. It was free of charge save for a bag of clothes, socks, mittens, or underwear. “Desperate parents love to take advantage of free babysitting. A lot of people are in their late 20’s to early 30’s at our church so it becomes a great way to fundraise,” says Daniel.

Upon expressing a desire to provide outreach for the greater community, the Church got in touch with Volunteer Victoria’s Youth Program Coordinator, Julia-Anne, who became the driving force behind connecting the youth with Our Place.

From here the Church group was put in contact with Our Place Society and whilst touring the facility saw that donating clothing would be the best way to contribute to the society.

“These kids have a real desire to keep searching after what it means to live as Jesus lived, to love God and their neighbor in action and not just in words,” Daniel expresses passionately. “That’s what led them to start thinking outside the four walls of our church and contact Volunteer Victoria and ask: what and where are the needs in our city? How can we get involved?”

The Youth Volunteer Connections Program, run by Volunteer Victoria, liaised between the two parties, ensuring that the connection was benefitting everybody, especially the needs of the community. That’s when the youth came up with the idea for a babysitting night. The night began with the youth and their leaders trickling in, all holding a bright smile. Following closely were the parents and young children, full of excitement and boundless energy.

There was warmth exuding through the room, a tight knit community surrounding me and never did I feel like a complete stranger, but a warmly welcomed guest. As a mini soccer game kicks off between the walls of the downstairs youth area, a buzz fills the room and clothes pile in, a successful night already and it’s only just begun.

Mr. Hickman says, “It’s about giving the youth a chance to show the church that they are a contributing group within our church community… Our focus is on building a strong group who are actively involved in our city’s community through positive action, which makes them unique.” The dynamics are instantly apparent and the focus booms loudly that these youth want to make a difference by assisting their community, not tomorrow but right now.” What Mr Patstone highlights is the need to involve youth as early as possible, “The earlier you learn to live a certain way or do something a certain way, the easier it is to make that your every-day way of life,” he says.

Following up on the clothes swap, I’m told how much the youth really enjoyed it. They piled in to a van with tons of bags of clothing and took them down town. Daniel exclaims, “We had so many bags, the guy at Our Place receiving them, looked a little overwhelmed, which is a good thing!” He added that the youth got a lot out of the experience because they love being part of something bigger, beyond the church community. Assuring me that this year the youth will create a positive impact on the city’s community, Daniel says, “This isn’t just a one-time thing. We want to do more with Volunteer Victoria and the city this year.”

As the New Year rolls in we all begin our resolutions toward health, wealth, and happiness. Perhaps we could take something from this ambitious youth group and join their resolution to make a positive difference by walking the talk and taking action, because the Youth Volunteer Connections program is only one phone call away!