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This week is National Volunteer Week here in Canada, a time to celebrate the time, energy, and value that volunteers offer to communities and organizations across the country. Volunteerism and the giving sector have a reputation as a feel-good time and space, it is the warm and fuzzies in a world where these moments can feel few and far between. We should celebrate people for the good work they do but we also need to acknowledge some truths. This is not about to be some big expose on the sector or volunteerism it is just going to outline things we all know but never say. 

Volunteering is an act of privilege. 

It costs on average $1700/year to participate in volunteering. There are many people in our country who do not have the luxury of spare time or energy to dedicate to even thinking about pursuing something that sparks joy in their spare time because their spare time does not exist. They are too busy meeting basic needs for themselves and their families. It means those voices are often missing at the tables in spaces designed to support these same humans. 

Saying everyone is welcome as a volunteer is different from ensuring everyone is welcome. 

In recent qualitative research out of the United Kingdom which collected the stories of BIPOC volunteers and compared them to the experiences of white volunteers. Black, Indigenous and People of Colour volunteers described environments where they felt they had to go over and above to prove their value, battle to make their voices heard, spend extra time and energy to fit in, experience consistent invoking of racial stereotypes and microaggressions. A black woman described her experience of volunteering - "it hurts, it hurts all the time" (Dr. Timbrell) 

Are you uncomfortable?

Maybe this felt like a lot, maybe you are currently composing an email to tell us exactly why we are way off base, maybe you are feeling defensive of yourself or your organizations. That is ok. Centre the voices of people in your organization who are underrepresented, do what they recommend, circle back to check to see what still needs to be done. There is not a checklist for solutions, a certification for completion and perfection is not possible so just start doing something. 

Keep learning.

Inspiration and information for this piece was taken from the below people and spaces:  

• NonProfitAF 
• Dr. Helen Timbrell - "What the bloody hell are you doing here" 
• Jonathan VanNess and Dean Spade on Getting Curious
• ProBono Australia
• CommunityWise  

Great news!!! We are very proud to introduce Virtual Volunteer Centres! These are designed for communities across the country that do not have a physical centre for volunteer engagement but see the benefits of democratizing the volunteer experience. This is a free solution for people who are about thriving communities, organizations, and citizens.

Perhaps you are the mayor, reeve, or council person in your town, or you are the person who plans special events, or you are just the person who knows what is going on! We have created a toolkit to help your community benefit from the connector. 

As a Virtual Volunteer Centre your community will have access to live data about volunteerism in your community, be able to report on the value of volunteerism, shape the future of digital volunteerism and best of all make the experience of organizing volunteers a pleasurable and supported one! 

If you are wondering if this is you or you know for sure and you want to get started, just get in touch! info@volunteerconnector.org

Looking for Work? Here are 7 reasons to consider volunteering.

My name is Michael Slattery, I am an Edmontonian Freelance Photographer. A while back I was watching Tim Ferriss on YouTube. Tim considers himself a human experiment. He tries to master life and documents the results online.  In Fast Inc.'s article, "How to Be the Ultimate Networker, According to Tim Ferriss." 

Tim shares an unusual strategy to find work. Of course when looking for work continue to refine your resume, cover letter and apply. But there might be other strategies to finding work.

If you are looking for work have you considered volunteering?

If you are an artist looking for work, all the more reasons to volunteer, I'll explain below.

Here are 7 reasons to consider volunteering:

• Volunteering gives a break to looking for work. Looking for work can sometimes be depressing and frustrating. Volunteering gets us out of routine, meeting new people. We start feeling connected, appreciated and valued!
• Non-profits welcome the unqualified. I am wanting to branch out into Social Media Marketing. I visited Volunteer Connector in February 2021 to see what opportunities I could find. Lo and behold Defend had a volunteer opportunity for Social Media help. I applied, and told them I am just starting out. I landed the position and am currently serving as a Co-Lead for their Social Media section.
• You will gain experience in your area of choice plus also learn many new skills. My Defend volunteer position has broadened my skills and I am learning public relations and how to write press releases. Non-profits would love to work with photographers, video creators and editors and social media help. 
• Non-profits are in high need for creative work to help them with their online presence. You could do piece work for a series of non-profits and use this in your portfolio. Or you could focus on one non-profit and potentially their full media person. 
• Volunteer work is appreciated and valued.  My experience with Defend so far is they are very happy people are filling roles. They also are graceful when projects are not done, when life gets busy.
• There is a great satisfaction knowing our resources are being used for a cause. There were many positions open at Volunteer Connector. I choose Defend because our values lined up. I feel very fulfilled knowing my time and skills are being used to help other people in need.
• Bonus! You just might land a job with the company, or perhaps there is someone in the company who knows someone who can help you. A big plus is volunteering puts you around people who are kind hearted and like helping out. Who knows they just might lead you to your next position!

I would like to thank the work VolunteerConnector does promoting volunteering! Their services have opened up a door for me to volunteer and grow my skills!

Thank you,

Michael Slattery

www.aphotoessay.com

Last June we posted an awesome blog stating our allyship with Black Lives Matter. It contained a bunch of resources, a statement on our striving to be anti-racist and links for furthering learning. If you missed it or want to review it again, it is here. It is one of our most viewed blogs posts. 

This blog, nine months later, is just a friendly reminder to keep trying. Keep speaking up, keep listening to and centring BIPOC voices. Keep feeling uncomfortable and interrogating biases and beliefs. Continue to engage in activism, marches and calls to action, follow people on social media who are doing the work and support black owned businesses. 

Anti-racism is lifelong work, keep trying. 

We are about a month away from National Volunteer Week (April 18-24) and that can only mean one thing...there are numerous conversations and discussions trying to figure out the magical world of recognition. How to make the humans who give their times and skills to an organization feel seen and acknowledged for the work that they do? 

This question is sometimes complicated by a budget, usually already stretched to the limit. The results are often varied and well let's be honest we all have a drawer full of pens, stress balls and reusable grocery bags and closets full of t-shirts and random ball caps. 

There has been some research into this and it turns out the answer is actually very simple...volunteers want to be thanked and know the impact of their work. That is it, as simple and as complicated as that: a thank you note that outlines their contribution. 

If you are looking for inspiration, Beverly from Chatham, Ontario has spent her year writing over 1000 thank you notes. 

Happy Covidersery to everyone! The past 12 months have been A LOT. High highs, low lows and lots of sourdough. Here at VolunteerConnector we have seen the best of humans. Organizations continuing to the great work they have always been doing or in some cases pivoting to support the changing needs of their community. 2.2 million people looking on the volunteerconnector.org to find causes and opportunities that ignite their minds and spirits. We have also seen people doing great work outside the confines of organizations through mutual aid.

If you are interested in learning more check out this article in the New Yorker or this research conducted by our friends at Volunteer Scotland. 

Following a cause category is an easy way for people interested in giving their energy to their community to see opportunities that are the best fit! We have added a new one- 'election' so if that is something you are interested in, give it a follow! Additionally, if you are involved in municipal, provincial, and federal elections in your community and are looking for volunteers, be sure to use that tag when you post your opportunity! It is all about connecting people who care about the same things. 

The top 3 cause categories right now are children, youth & family, health and wellness, and covid-19! 

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Women Association Calgary is a group of 400 women and when masks became part of the public health recommendation, they got busy sewing. Over the course of a couple months they made over 1500 cotton masks! They turned to the VolunteerConnector to find organizations looking for masks and were successful! 1500 masks getting into the hands of people who can use them, keeping more people in the community safe. 

Watch the www.volunteerconnector.org for ongoing needs related to Covid response as the needs shift with vaccine roll out. There are people in your community that need a little extra help, organizations that work to meet their needs who will be posting! 

Here is a great example: Drive Happiness

Statistics Canada spent their December crowd sourcing information on the diversity of nonprofit and charity boards in the nonprofit sector and now they have released their findings back to the community!

You can read them here - Diversity of charity and non-profit boards of directors: Overview of the Canadian non-profit sector

There is tons of research available about how varied voices around a table produces stronger decisions, better output, more innovation, and better impact. This is a snapshot of where we are at and an even clearer call that there needs to be room made at the table for the different life experiences that exist in all our communities. 

Volunteering can be a family affair! 

Since we all just spent the weekend spending MORE time with our immediate families, we thought we would take a look at family friendly opportunities on the Connector. 

We compared the first 6 weeks of the past 3 years and volunteer opportunities for families have DOUBLED! There are also THREE times the number of youth friendly opportunities. The families that contact us are all shapes and sizes; an aunt looking for something to do with her niece, a grandma looking for an opportunity to do both with her son and her granddaughter. Universally they are looking to engage with causes that they care about and share that experience with a person that they also care about.