www.volunteeralberta.ab.cawww.volunteeralberta.ab.ca
ADVR 2009 First meeting of the New Year!
Focusing on removing barriers to volunteers and promoting volunteerism as a powerful social investment for 19 years
www.volunteeralberta.ab.cawww.volunteeralberta.ab.ca
About Volunteer Alberta• Support & networking opportunities• Establishment of volunteer centres• Connecting to volunteer-engaging organizations• Professional Development• Awareness of issues facing volunteers• Access to information and resources• Removing barriers to volunteerism
Session OverviewWhat does Volunteer Alberta mean for Albertans and
Alberta’s nonprofit/voluntary sector organizations and volunteers?
Volunteer Alberta Board of DirectorsDiverse, dynamic, representative of Albertans
Volunteer Alberta StaffExpert, experienced, and entrepreneurial
What is a Volunteer Centre?
•Promotes volunteerism and raises awareness of the power of service • Builds capacity for effective local volunteering through management consulting on volunteer programs and training of volunteers and managers of volunteer resources • Provides leadership and advocacy on issues relating to volunteerism and volunteer programs
• Connects people with opportunities to serve through recruitment & referral of volunteers to community agencies
Where are Alberta’s Volunteer Centres?
Airdrie
Banff
Calgary
Camrose
Canmore
Crowsnest Pass
Cochrane
Cold Lake
Edmonton
Fort Saskatchewan
Grande Prairie
Grasslands Regional
Hanna
High River
Hinton
Innisfail
Lethbridge
Medicine Hat
Okotoks
Paintearth
Red Deer
Rimbey
Rocky Mountain
St. Albert
Stettler
Stony Plain
Strathcona County
Sylvan Lake
Vegreville
Wood Buffalo
Who does all this work? Program Manager Rosanne Tollenaar
[email protected] Communications and Administration Cindy (Chow) Walter
[email protected] Program/Administrative Assistant Lisa Michetti
events @volunteeralberta.ab.ca Member Service/Marketing Manager Carol Cheung
Police Information Check update
Sigh…….. Unexpected challenges Still will happen Solicitor General and Minister for Public Security staff and Wild
Rose Foundation very helpful Definition of Vulnerable population The services provided by the organization involves volunteers having
personal contact with vulnerable groups, i.e. children, the elderly, people with a disability
“A volunteer is a person who performs an activity which is of benefit to the community, is done of their own free will and is undertaken without monetary reward”
oh my gosh…late breaking update just in….
Alberta Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector Initiative Collaboration Committee
The Collaborations Committees Mission is:
“To develop a mutually supportedinterdependent partnership between the NPVSector and the GOA that enables mechanismsand processes to address cross-cutting issues,to build capacity of the sectors and to engageboth sectors in the policy dialogue”
ANVSI Vision
ANVSI’s Vision is:
“To achieve a robust and healthy
Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector as a vital
component of strong and vibrant communities
that are supported and served by the voluntary
and public sectors”.
ANVSI Core Issues
The challenges faced by the NPVS include issues of: funding human resource availability risk management and protection as well as escalating
operational costs
If left unresolved these issues will dramatically reducethe capacity of the sector to fulfill its vital role incommunities across the province. Failure or collapseof the NPV sector may obligate the GOA to assumethe delivery of those community-based programs andservices demanded by Albertans.
ANVSI outcome
The long-term impact is a sustainable NPVS
which is able to evolve to effectively and
efficiently deliver programs and services which
contribute to strong and vibrant Alberta
communities.
NPVS Priority Activities
Communication Build communication pathways to inform and engage the sector
Sector Issues Develop a process to move the CC from Issue to Resolution Develop a framework for addressing issues such as the funding of the voluntary
sector individual organization.
Sector Knowledge Information gathering and research that will inform both the sector and ANVSI This will also influence both the issue resolution and policy dialogue work This knowledge gathering will include but not be limited to academic research
Policy Dialogue Engage the CC to ensure that NPVS & GOA work together to create social
policy and outcomes resulting in communities with the capacity to meet the needs of citizens.
Alberta Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector
Initiative (ANVSI) Alberta Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector Initiative (ANVSI)
Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector (NPVS) Collaboration Committee (CC) is searching for leaders reflecting the diversity of the 19,000 organizations in Alberta.
Nomination Committee recommends the selection of NPVS CC leaders with the following specific characteristics, skills and attributes: Working in northwest or southwest Alberta An emerging leader Networked leader within sports and recreation Networked leader within population health sector Political acumen within all three levels of government Ability to articulate, translate, interpret discussions in a manner
that clarifies and removes concerns
ANVSI HR Strategy
Educate all levels of government about the importance of the sector to quality of life in the community and the economy, and the challenges related to labour force shortfall;
Advocate the need for departments to establish common policies, procedure, and standard formats for granting and funding; partnership to gather updated data on the Non-Profit sector.
Foster development and strengthen human resource management practices
Work with government and business on strategies to promote the sharing of personnel, resources, training and professional development.
Advocate to government and business for the availability of scholarships, bursaries and ongoing funding to support board, staff and volunteer training and development; and
Advocate to government and other funders for funding levels that allow for fair compensation, long term planning and job security and support organizational sustainability
Trends in 2009
Know your target audience and adapt your practices!
Highly skilled volunteers Baby boomer retirees Urban shift to rural communities Screening volunteers in a mobile society Labour force migration demographics Episodic volunteering Employer supported volunteering
What do you mean there aren’t any volunteers?!
Integrated Human Resources (IHR) is a strategically planned approach to identifying the work functions that need to be accomplished in organizations and involving people – both paid and unpaid to perform the work needed to achieve the mission.
With the changing demographic trends in the voluntary sector and an understanding of the challenges that organizations face, the need to look at an IHR approach is critical for voluntary sector organizations.
In June of 2008, Volunteer Alberta introduced this concept to Volunteer Centres across the province during a provincial forum for these centres. Much work and learning is still needed in this area, as it is a shift in thinking about how to utilize people in this sector
Volunteer Vancouver, a leader in this approach, was contracted to share at a high level the knowledge that they had learned around involving people – both paid and unpaid into organizations in a very strategic process.
“We Inspire and Build Leadership in the Voluntary Sector”
Integrated HR Strategy
Volunteer Alberta will lead 8 – 10 organizations through a process to develop an integrated human resource strategy approach to involving people (both paid and unpaid). In working closely with Volunteer Vancouver as a coach and mentor, Volunteer Alberta will gain the skills and knowledge to work with the selected organizations to develop and implement an integrated human resource strategy.
In order to participate in the project, organizations must have a culture that already supports the involvement of volunteers. In addition, the Executive Director of each organization must commit to work closely with Volunteer Alberta throughout the duration of the project. The process will involve both group learning sessions on key concepts as well as one on one coaching provided to the Executive Director.
Tax credits for volunteering
Mount Royal College Centre for Nonprofit Studies research project
Canada Revenue Agency
Volunteer Canada Public Safety measures Membership and membership benefits volunteer.ca renewed website Economic value of volunteering research
Volunteering Among Immigrants…
Volunteering Among Immigrants
IntersectionsSupporting Rural Organizations to Better Engage Immigrant Volunteers
Volunteering Among Immigrants
IntersectionsSupporting Rural Organizations to Better Engage Immigrant Volunteers
Partners:
Volunteer Alberta
Alberta Human Rights, Citizenship & Multicultural Education Fund
NorQuest CollegeCentre for Excellence in Intercultural Education
Volunteering Among Immigrants
IntersectionsSupporting Rural Organizations to Better Engage Immigrant Volunteers
Project Goals: To increase the body of knowledge about recent immigrants choosing to live in Alberta’s rural communities and these individuals’ community engagement, specifically volunteer activities
To increase the ability of rural Alberta NPVS organizations to engage immigrant volunteers
To build networks between organizations with expertise in the area of immigrant services and organizations in other sub-sectors such as the arts, recreation and health
To create awareness of tools available to the NPVS focusing on diversity
To facilitate community engagement and enhance integration of newcomers through volunteerism
Volunteering Among Immigrants
IntersectionsSupporting Rural Organizations to Better Engage Immigrant Volunteers
Next Steps:
• Complete Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) assessments with organization representatives/community leaders in eight pilot Alberta communities
• Develop individual learning opportunities for participants based on IDI and focus group results
• Develop and deliver group cultural competency training based on findings from IDI and focus groups (Group Learning Retreat)
• Develop and design resources for Volunteer Centres to support other nonprofit/voluntary sector organizations in their community
Volunteering Among Immigrants
What does this mean to volunteers who work to develop and strengthen volunteerism?
• Homogenous versus heterogeneous volunteer pool
• Importance of sustaining efforts to involve immigrants as volunteers
• Volunteer Alberta Intersections Project
Centre of Excellence for Corporate Volunteerism – Volunteer Canada•The next step of the Corporate Council on Volunteering
•The Council will drive the initiative along with a leadership team from the nonprofit sector.
•Provides technology, curriculum, research, and information sharing for non-profit practitioners as well as corporate community relations professionals.
•Through the curriculum developed by the Centre for Excellence,businesses and nonprofits alike will learn from each other andultimately help bridge the gap between the for-profit and nonprofitsectors in communities across the country.
Employer Support for Volunteerism
• What does this mean for volunteers who work to develop and strengthen volunteerism?
– Contributing more than just money
– Fostering involvement prior to retirement
– Building the capacity of the sector to involve employer-supported volunteers
Status of Volunteering nationally
Statistics Canada is recognized as a world leader in data collection. Data provided by StatsCan is accepted as indisputable.
Longitudinal nature of the survey data provided by StatsCan is crucial in realizing the full benefit of the data to ensure that key trends and patterns in the sector are observed and recorded.
Stats Can tracks participation and community engagement in the more remote northern and rural communities that a private firm would not have reach into.
Given the changes to the funding structures for nonprofits, it is essential that Canada’s nonprofit and volunteer involving organizations have access to the same data tools that business has in order to identify potential volunteers and donors, understand donor trends, and develop and execute fundraising strategies.
Statistics Canada
NPVS Voice Heard!
April 19 -25, 2009 National Volunteer Week Release of 2007 gathered stats Major coup for nonprofit/voluntary sector Watch for announcements Wild Rose Foundation Alberta extracts
volunteer alberta
Unleashing the potential or“planning for sustainability”!
•What is the relationship between a strong voluntary sector and a strong economy?
Access to the Future Fund Announcement
iCCAN project
The iCCAN project will enable these organizations, their members, boards of directors and volunteers to create new opportunities for learning and collaboration. It will also facilitate administrative efficiencies and reduce the need for travel.
Early adopter sites: Sherwood Park, Fort McMurray, Red Deer, and Medicine Hat
Screening Volunteers In…Not Out!
Brainchild of Nadine Maillot New educator is Cheryl Humphrey Funded by Wild Rose Foundation
Response to concerns about police information checks used as sole screening tool
Eight centres around Alberta before March 15,2009 Locations on VA website as of January 20
Generative Governance
When people join a board of directors or become governors or trustees, they have a notion about what they are expected to be doing. Their preconception is oversight of operations and reviewing and approving budgets. Being a board director or trustee means much more! It includes both accountabilities as stewards of charitable property and responsibilities to the wider community.
Generative Governance is a new way to govern.
Instructors and experts, Keith Seel and Anita Angilini from Mount Royal College Institute for Nonprofit Studies will be facilitating these sessions.
The New Perspective
Generative Governance
Sessions Dates:
Oct 27, 2008 Fort McMurray
Nov 13, 2008 Jasper
Dec 4, 2008 Grand Prairie
Feb 12, 2009 Camrose
Few other odds and ends…
Alberta Mentoring Partnership Encourage higher levels of engagement from corporate Alberta
(large and small) Membership Engagement Strategy
Communication from not just to you… Volunteer Engagement Audits In-depth research audit to uncover challenges and strengths United Way of Calgary Human Services Project
Provincial network of social service agencies Personal Information and Privacy Act (PIPA)
CCVO survey results; best practice education versus legislation
Rural Alberta’s Development Fund: Heard of it?
• Independent not-for-profit company that wants to work with groups, organizations and communities that care about growing rural Alberta.
• Board of Directors are looking for new or innovative projects that are community-supported, collaborative, and will have a positive, sustained impact on rural Alberta.
• 2006 Volunteer Alberta offered 400 organizations access to insurance seminars in over 40 Alberta communities.
• In 2007, 8 Volunteer Centres hosted 150 organizations at D&O Liability Insurance seminars
•In 2008…
volunteer alberta
Volunteer Alberta focuses on Risk Management in all its forms
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volunteer alberta
A Risk Management Solution: Community Guard
Bookmark 3Free Online Resources
General Insurance Toolkit Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Insurance
Handout Volunteers & the Law in Alberta Online
www.volunteeralberta.ab.cawww.volunteeralberta.ab.ca
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Volunteer Alberta
Membership
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Volunteer Alberta
Membership
gives you access to OASSIS
Employee Benefits
Need photos of volunteers in action?
Download them for free from the Volunteer Alberta website!
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Volunteer Alberta
Updates:
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“The true role of infrastructure organizations is way beyond their service delivery functions. It is important for organizations to understand
this in order to continue addressing the challenges and developing solutions.”
Martha ParkerMartha Parker
volunteer alberta
Volunteer Alberta can provide access to resources & experience
Toll Free (877) 915-6336Phone (780)-482-3300 Email [email protected] www.volunteeralberta.ab.ca