Next Leaders Network
NLN has a great line-up of events coming this fall. Speed Networking, Appreciative Inquiry, Be a Star Performer (I’ll be co-presenting). So much value for becoming an NLN member. See you at all three!
Vancouver Timeraiser
Thursday, September 22
Part volunteer fair. Part art silent auction. All cocktail party. Connect with great people and great organizations at this hip event. I served on the jury to select the organizations, so I know there are a wide variety of causes and opportunities. See you there!
SFU Volunteer and Community Engagement Fair
Wednesday and Thursday, September 28-29
If you’re an SFU student, connect with a wide variety of community organizations. Community organizations, get your vibrant staff and volunteers out and connect with keen university students! Join the president’s reception on the Wednesday while you’re there.
I hope that Jack Layton’s much too early passing is a call to action for the next generation of engaged citizens. Jack gave a strong, educated, passionate and positive voice to Canadian politics. We need more of that.
From Jack:
To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.
While young people get turned off by petty partisan politics and disengage except for the simplest act of voting (and often not even that), partisan politics is the system we’ve currently got. There are many ways to impact this system (examples from the outside are those like Leadnow, Apathy is Boring, and Canadian Women Voters Congress).
Today, I challenge you to make change from the inside. This may seem daunting — getting involved with a political party.
But the very first step is easy. Sign up on a party’s website to volunteer (your postal code will likely get your email directed to your local riding), and see where it goes. No commitment necessary. You don’t need to be a member. You can change your mind later. Heck, sign up for more than one and see what the people are like. Shop around.
Federal Parties
BC Parties
Vancouver Parties
I made this step earlier this year. Sent my contact information on a Saturday. Was contacted Monday morning. Met the candidate’s office manager on Wednesday. Met the candidate and a host of other volunteers shortly after. I’m still not a member. Still unsure how far I’ll go with this. But I’m better educated for it, and I’m adding to a slowly building critical mass of strong, educated, passionate and positive voice in Canadian politics. Like Jack did.
Please do it. You may surprise yourself.
(cross posted at www.27shift.com)
The word “volunteer” usually conjures up an image of a person in a helping role – reading to children, serving at a soup kitchen, stuffing thank you letters. While these activities play important roles, they miss out on a segment of volunteers interested in using their minds more than their hands.
Background
As a director of the Canadian Women Voters Congress, I am interested in knowing more about the context of our work helping women achieve success in politics and leadership. We have a visioning day coming up, and part of that will focus on the direction of our educational programming. However, the board will be in a much better position to decide on that direction if we know the breadth of programs offered in Canada that support women’s involvement in the political process. So we wondered: what are other organizations and initiatives doing in this area?
And from there a Research Associate role was created. We’ve interviewed and hired a talented pair of women from the Ottawa and Vancouver areas to lead the project and are still interviewing more for potential involvement. These high impact volunteers are essential to our growth as a strong organization.
The challenge
Vantage Point, a Canadian nonprofit capacity building organization, has been pushing high impact volunteering for years. But the uptake has been challenging. Many organizations are unwilling? unable? unaware? Sometimes reenvisioning the ways an organization has engaged volunteers from its inception is difficult.
Using “I Wonder”
I suggest having a note pad nearby your desk. An actual note pad. A Google Doc. Something to keep track of questions that unexpectedly or otherwise pop into your head. Things you wonder about.
- I wonder if there’s an easier/better way to do _________.
- eg use technology, public speak, process donations
- I wonder what our stakeholders think about _________.
- eg our brand, our events, our strategic priorities
- I wonder how effective _________ is.
- eg our advertising, our volunteer recognition, our mentorship program
- I wonder what other organizations are doing in this area.
- eg the breadth of programs offered in Canada that support women’s involvement in the political process
These are the questions that high impact volunteers can help you answer.
What questions could a high-impact volunteer help you answer? How have you engaged high-impact volunteers to answer them?
So this week coming to an end is National Volunteer Week.
My reaction? Meh.
This is why.
Volunteers need constant engagement
If organizations are drawing public (or private) attention to their volunteers and thanking them this week only, I bet they are having a hard time retaining volunteers. It’s like a romantic Valentines Day dinner when your partner is an ass the rest of the year. Doesn’t mean much.
Volunteerism doesn’t need awareness-raising
Volunteerism as a concept does not need promotion. Volunteering for specific organizations might. But drawing volunteers to an organization involves more than good promotion. It requires an organizational culture that is attuned to the changes in the expectations and interests of volunteers. I’ve had the opportunity to speak to outstanding people who are meaningfully engaging volunteers through their work – and they have few problems recruiting volunteers, and rarely need to promote.
Volunteer agencies are bad at PR
Yes, #NWV11 has had some traction on Twitter. But really, as someone who is fairly embedded within the nonprofit and volunteerism culture in Vancouver, BC and Canada, I am often surprised how rarely campaigns promoting a spirit of volunteerism reach me. I’m not saying it’s easy – I had the job of promoting engaged citizenship at SFU and it’s was a slow and tough slog. It’s hard when your target market is broad and diffuse. But these organizations are often preaching to the converted, and even then only a very small circle of the converted.
Instead…
Instead, organizations tasked with the promotion of volunteerism should focus on those doing the volunteer engagement. How can you help them succeed in promoting a spirit of meaningful volunteerism within their organizations?
Let’s shift to a place where citizens are clamoring at our doors because we all are offering engaging opportunities that address the realities of the present. Volunteerism isn’t changing. It has already changed.
