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Volunteer Matters

There is no single strategy to volunteer success

There is no single strategy to volunteer success

Feb 6, 2025 / 4:00 am

Have you ever wished you could find that one single strategy to help you with some aspect of your volunteer program? A “silver bullet”? In October,...

Preparing for the unexpected in your volunteer program

Preparing for the unexpected in your volunteer program

Jan 30, 2025 / 4:00 am

When you run a volunteer program, you will encounter unforeseen challenges. Preparing for the unexpected before it happens is the key to sustainability. I was...

Sticky issues of reimbursing, paying and charging volunteers to volunteer

Sticky issues of reimbursing, paying and charging volunteers to volunteer

Jan 23, 2025 / 4:00 am

There are a lot of issues, legal, ethical and logistical, that come up when volunteers and money collide. It’s inevitable. Most people have baggage around...

Best practices in volunteering may not be the best after all

Best practices in volunteering may not be the best after all

Jan 16, 2025 / 4:00 am

I have a problem with the term “best practices.” Too often, what we call best practices for volunteerism, aren’t really the best. They are...

Using the Ladder of Inference in volunteer engagement

Using the Ladder of Inference in volunteer engagement

Jan 9, 2025 / 4:00 am

You’ve been there. In volunteer engagement, we are often faced with making quick decisions in complex situations. Whether it’s assessing a...

Don't talk volunteers out of leaving, encourage them to come back

Don't talk volunteers out of leaving, encourage them to come back

Jan 2, 2025 / 4:00 am

Boomerang volunteers are a group that often gets forgotten when we do recruitment drives but they can be the best volunteers in your program. You’ve...

Ways to get casual volunteers interested in long-term volunteering

Ways to get casual volunteers interested in long-term volunteering

Dec 19, 2024 / 4:00 am

Organizations that put on events, either as their main function or to support their cause, have a fantastic opportunity. Episodic volunteering continues to grow...

Brief strategic plans help you meet goals

Brief strategic plans help you meet goals

Dec 12, 2024 / 4:00 am

I’ve spent the last few weeks working on my strategic business plan for 2025. I have a tool I use, a one-page strategic plan, that I’ve modified...

Volunteers becoming a force to be reckoned with

Volunteers becoming a force to be reckoned with

Dec 5, 2024 / 4:00 am

Today (Dec. 5) is International Volunteer Day. The U.N. estimates the world-wide number of volunteers at more than 862 million per month. That’s at least...

The keys to a successful volunteer information session

The keys to a successful volunteer information session

Nov 28, 2024 / 4:00 am

One of the key steps in recruiting volunteers is to hold an information session. It gives you the chance to showcase your program in front of people who are...

Volunteers and the U.N.'s sustainable development goals

Volunteers and the U.N.'s sustainable development goals

Nov 21, 2024 / 4:00 am

The past two years, I’ve written columns about upcoming trends in volunteering. When I reviewed the one from last year, I realized most of the trends I...

When leaders volunteer it helps them be better leaders

When leaders volunteer it helps them be better leaders

Nov 14, 2024 / 4:00 am

I was on a call yesterday with members of the Volunteer Manager Professionals of Canada. Something that one of the participants said got me thinking. Her...

Documentation is key when terminating volunteers

Documentation is key when terminating volunteers

Nov 7, 2024 / 4:00 am

In the National Post on Oct. 3, there was an article about Scouts Canada not renewing a long-term volunteer’s annual application. The plaintive, Wayne...

Marking International Volunteer Managers Day

Marking International Volunteer Managers Day

Oct 31, 2024 / 4:00 am

International Volunteer Managers Day gives everyone in the sector an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate leaders of volunteers, who spend their lives...

Planning for accessible volunteer training

Planning for accessible volunteer training

Oct 3, 2024 / 4:00 am

A little-discussed area of volunteer training is accessibility. The ability to fully access training is of vital importance, especially when that training is...

The difference between values and ethics in the volunteer world

The difference between values and ethics in the volunteer world

Sep 26, 2024 / 4:00 am

In the social impact sector, we often talk about values and ethics. While it can be hard to distinguish between the two, they are really distinct concepts. They...

What to do when staff volunteer and are then terminated?

What to do when staff volunteer and are then terminated?

Sep 19, 2024 / 4:00 am

This situation appeared on the Volunteer Management Professionals of Canada forum. A member asked what should be done regarding an employee who was just...

Welcoming neuro-diverse volunteers benefits your organization

Welcoming neuro-diverse volunteers benefits your organization

Sep 12, 2024 / 4:00 am

Diversity should be more than a buzzword, it should be a lived reality. Diversity is more than including people of different ethnicities or gender...

Creating a volunteer advisory committee

Creating a volunteer advisory committee

Sep 5, 2024 / 4:00 am

A volunteer advisory committee or council can be an exceptional way of gaining input and suggestions for improving an organization’s volunteer program...

Ten tips for getting a volunteer survey completed

Ten tips for getting a volunteer survey completed

Aug 29, 2024 / 4:00 am

Having good data about what volunteers in your organization are thinking, feeling and looking for is crucial for a successful volunteer program, and for...

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