Volunteer Matters
Volunteering without ‘saviourism’
I’m a lucky person. Actually, let’s use the real word. I’m privileged. I’m white, cisgendered, well-off financially and fully...
Finding and using corporate volunteers
Are corporate volunteers part of your program’s strategy? You might want them to be. Good journalism starts with answering the five Ws – who, what,...
Dealing with unappreciative clients
It happened near the end of a long, stressful shift. A client came up to the registration desk, and blasted the volunteer for the length of time it took to get...
'AIDA' is a good process to follow when recruiting volunteers
There is a simple acronym that marketing people use—AIDA—that can help you recruit volunteers. AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire and...
Ways to help volunteers become more resilient
If you google “resilient volunteers”, you will get thousands of articles, blogs, videos, etc on how volunteering can help build resilience in...
Enhance your influence as a leader of volunteers
The position of volunteer engagement specialist, or whatever your particular title is, is often seen as a lower-level position, without a lot of influence. ...
Language used when talking about volunteers is important
How aware are you of issues around the language of volunteering? I had some interesting questions posed to me this week: “How does language act as a...
Sometimes it's necessary to 'fire' volunteers
Is "firing" a volunteer OK? The short answer is, absolutely. Not only can you fire a volunteer, in many cases you must. I know, lots of people say you...
Ways to deal with problematic volunteers
Ann really wanted the position. She did whatever it took to get it, but once she had it, things started to fall apart. Other things took priority for her. She...
Five tips to attract young volunteers
Are you frustrated in your attempts to attract young volunteers? A common concern among not-for-profits is the “aging out” of their volunteer...
Creating strong volunteer programs
Castanet presents our newest regular columnist, Karen Knight, who will focus on volunteer issues. Volunteering is a huge part of Canadian culture. According to...