Latest News | Recent Posts

Last week I went to Collision Conference in Toronto. Why you ask? Well it's a great place to hear from people doing and thinking about the future of technology. There are so many startups in early stages, one was only 2 days old, to get a window into what people think will improve the world. As an added bonus there is lots of discussion about the state of funding in the private sectpr which typically is a leading indicator of what the charitable sector will face.

With that said, here are a few quotes from speakers I heard (5 stages running simultaneously with 20 min slots so can't take it all in):

• Privacy is our default
• We are a startup that isn't making any money so we can start over if we want
• 2-3 years ago it was hard to get staff now it's funding
• We don't know what fundraising will look like over the next 6 months so I would wait until the new year (a second panelist suggested avoiding fundraising for the next 24 months due to the effort to get very little over the 'correction period')
• Product development should remain in house as much as possible as that will be a competitive advantage
• Growth and revenue are not the same thing, don't hinge those two together
• Growth will be stuck for those that have not built with sustainability in mind
• Only 8% of all startup funding goes to women and minorities
• There is a window of uprising due to the bloodshed like George Floyd, the window won't last so we need to act now
• What is your exit plan? What if it isn't to sell but rather to give it to community . . . there is a range of possibilities

Finally, people I enjoyed meeting the most included:

• Black Innovation Alliance
• Plantaform
• Forage Hyperfoods
• MycoFutures North Atlantic
• And, running into friends from my hometown of course since the pandemic has kept us apart!

As I discovered the last time attended (pre-pandemic, you remember those days right?), there are very few non-profits/charities at the largest tech conference in North America. We hope that will change as our sector seeks to create societal change and uses technology to support that. Of course, that will require a shifting mindset of funders and deep commitment of boards and . . . anyway, if you are interested in our journey then a coffee is warranted or a walk and talk as I did with our friends at Volunteer Toronto while there.

Doug

I believe that people genuinely want to help others, and I also know that we humans like instant gratification. Sometimes volunteering can be a quick and straightforward process and other times it takes some work and some patience. If you’ve been interested in volunteering but are feeling stuck and overwhelmed, here are some steps to take for you to get started, really get started as a volunteer!

STEP 1 – Get Ready. Be reflective and inquisitive with yourself.

What are you most passionate about? Consider the causes that matter to you (be specific) and pick your top three. Google is your friend - research organizations in your area that do the work that you’re passionate about.

How this helps: There are endless great causes and opportunities to volunteer – it’s important to give this some careful thought because it not only narrows down your search but also will connect you to an area that really matters to you, you will be far more likely to be really engaged and fulfilled in your volunteer work.

What kind of volunteer work would you like to do? Are you a front line/hands-on kind of person or more behind the scenes? Do you work best in a group or are you better on your own?

How this helps: If you know where you are at your best, you’re already set up to succeed. For example, in my case, I am passionate about helping animals but know that I do not have the fortitude required to see an animal suffering, so I can’t be the volunteer who rescues animals, but I am great at marketing or fundraising events for animal rescue organizations.

Amanda Sokol from https://www.goosetroop.com

Part 1 of 3 ... to be continued ...

If you are like us you get very excited about all things volunteerism, no matter where in the world that is! Our friends at Volunteer Scotland and Volunteer Australia have both released some research in the past couple months. 

Volunteer Scotland has reflected on their country's response to Covid-19 - The Road To Recovery.

Volunteer Australia is in the early stages of developing a National Strategy for Volunteering, 

Abundantly clear in both is that people are coming together to do good in their communities. Sometimes that is under the umbrella of an established organization. More frequently, it is falling under that 'mutual aid', 'informal' or 'being a good human responsive to the unique needs of our community' umbrella. So that seems like a win for all of us.

What's in a name? Well, it turns out a whole lot! For those familiar with our journey you will know much of the story. For those new to the journey with us here is a statement from our Board of Directors. Simply, we are retiring a name that's been in use for 9 years and continuing to focus on VolunteerConnector which really reflects for us . . . Who We Are!

Message from Board of Directors

Growing our services in the digital space over the last few years is uncharted territory for our organization. But the team was able to navigate this successfully because, as they know too well, we’ve evolved before and it just made us stronger and more sustainable.

Since our inception in 1955, the volunteer needs of our community have driven these changes, and VolunteerConnecter was another evolution to reflect what the staff fortunately anticipated as a growing demand coming our way, which was: a digitized volunteer centre. And now the Volunteer Centre of Calgary is effectively serving a much wider geographical range in 2022 than it ever has before.

It was only a few years ago, we were serving Calgary and region with a few outlier clients in other parts of Alberta. In just this short amount of time, we saw a significant increase in the percentage of Albertan clients outside of Calgary, and soon after, we saw a dramatic increase of users and clients across the nation.

With no other digital tool like ours, the VolunteerConnector has grown over the last four years from serving over 400 organizations in a year to over 4000 this past year; which translated to serving about 30,000 volunteers per year to 500,000 this past year!

A huge part of this growth success is because we also went from having zero regional partners to 37 across the nation!!! Each of which are working hard to empower volunteers in their communities through the VolunteerConnector.  

The pandemic over the last two years, and the BC floods over the last year, demonstrated for us how effective our digital tool is in a time of crisis. And in times of crisis, we learned quickly: we don't have the opportunity to explain what Propellus does for those who don't know us – we only have time to connect the need with the help, and the help with the need. Learning from our users in these instances taught us that the digital tool’s name – VolunteerConnector – was easy for them to spread the word. Wanna help? Go to VolunteerConnector.org Need help? Go to VolunteerConnector.org It was quickly adopted as a resource for communities to share, Emergency Operating Centres to utilize, and disaster relief teams to recruit.

The clarity in the name VolunteerConnector taught us that it really connects with individuals in it’s literal meaning, and we want to continue to foster a community of belonging as we recruit and engage with volunteers seeking purposeful work. As well, it really connects with grassroots organizations – anything from small impact efforts to major societal movements that depend on fellow citizens showing up, and volunteering their time and voice. 

So effectively, and organically, VolunteerConnector has become the beacon that this organization proudly shines its mission through.

With such monumental outcomes from the great work done by the staff, funders and our regional partners, and with volunteers at the center of every decision we make, I’m excited to share with you that the board made a motion at our last meeting and it passed unanimously: Volunteer Centre of Calgary, operating as Propellus, will now be known as Volunteer Centre of Calgary, operating as VolunteerConnector.

Congratulations to the hard working team behind the scenes who worked together to achieve this great success. We are all excited for the continued growth ahead.

- VolunteerConnector Board of Directors - 

We talk to lots of people across the country and sector, and there seems to be a general energy of fatigue and burn out so here are some things that have been getting us through: 

Podcasts: this is an awesome listen from for the wild - ALOK on Unruly Beauty

Music: Harry Styles, Emeli Sandé and Florence and the Machine have new albums out. Spotify or Apple Music should have you sorted there. 

Nature: birds are laying eggs. Things are growing. Check out Brecks if you are in the market for bulbs.

Reading: Hannah Gadsby's book Ten Steps to Nanette is amazing. 

Take care out there! 

This was overheard in a coffee shop recently, someone lamenting their position of treasurer on a board of an organization. It is a reality of volunteerism, we all get tired, burnt out and we stay out of obligation or guilt or whatever we tell ourselves. We stay out of a feeling that it might all fall apart if it were not for us. 

If you are considering signing on for another term for a board but it is not because you are super jazzed about what they are doing in this world maybe take this as a sign that it is ok not to. You can say no. Your fellow board members might be sad, they might miss you but everyone will ok, the organization will be ok. Someone else will find the space there and take on the work you were doing in their own way.

Life shifts for all of us, many us will have 12 different volunteer experiences in our lifetimes. You can take some space and time, when you are rested and ready there are tons of opportunities out there on volunteerconnector.org. Maybe in a couple years you might be overheard at a coffee shop sharing the awesome work the organization is doing! Until then; take a break!

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Volunteer Centre of Calgary (operating the VolunteerConnector) will take place virtually on June 01, 2022 - 9:30-10:30am MST.

Guest: Dr Moyo Mutamba

• Anti-Racism and DEI Consultant,
• Leadership Coach,
• Lecturer,
• Co-Author of "An Anti-Racist Approach to Volunteering"

2021 AGM Business Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, June 01, 2020

• Call to order
• Appointment of recording secretary
• Approve the agenda (motion 1)
• Approve past minutes (motion 2)
• Treasurer Remarks
• Receive 2021 Financials (motion 3)
• Appointment of Auditor (motion 4)
• Appointment of Board Directors (motion 5)
• Acknowledgements
• Adjourn

Our Financials and Annual Report

• Governance & Nominating

In case you missed the other two links . . . 2021 AGM Registration

We feel extraordinarily lucky that people doing awesome work in their communities continue to use the VolunteerConnector to share their cause with the world. Whatever your pathway is to try to do better or make the world you live in a smidge better there is space for you here. We would love to highlight some new organizations to the VolunteerConnector and their very valuable work ...

Black Environmental Initiative - The Black Environmental Initiative (BE Initiative) is a project on the Makeway shared platform that promotes the environmental protection of BIPOC communities in Canada and their well-being. In 2020, BE Initiative started a collaboration with the ENRICH project of Dr. Ingrid Waldron, author of the book and NETFLIX documentary "There is something in the water". Together, with Dr. Waldron, we are currently building a national anti-environmental racism coalition that will act as a permanent watch-dog for environmental justice in Canada. BE Initiative is also a voting member of the National Environmental Justice Network (NEJN) in America.

Frontenac Arch Biosphere Network - The Frontenac Arch Biosphere Region is one of 19 biosphere regions within Canada under UNESCO recognition. The Frontenac Arch is an ecologically unique landscape spanning 2700 square kilometres from Brockville to Westport to Verona and is characterized by an ancient ridge of exposed granite that acts as a wildlife corridor between the Adirondack Mountains and the Canadian Shield.

ShelterBox Canada - ShelterBox teams work with disaster-hit families around the world, offering emergency shelter and other essential items to support them in rebuilding their lives. Every disaster is different and so is every community, so we spend time with those affected to make sure we can offer the right support at the right time to help them along their self-recovery journey.

Yep, there was an important report released in January. Yesterday, with CCVO, we jointly hosted a conversation about the report with panelists invited to share their perspectives. I heard a lot, a lot, of challenge to progress the conversation to action. Intentionally the January report does not include “solutions” as without listening that would be an attempt to recolonize the practices of volunteer engagement vs decolonize those same practices. We know from all our work in anti-racism and here on the VolunteerConnector, everything has to center on volunteers and their voice, not ours.

As a reminder, what we are talking about is belonging in a community of like-minded individuals, belonging in a city, belonging in a province, and belonging in Canada. Typically, volunteering statistics recognize formal volunteering in organizations. This is huge but only represents the actions of just over half the volunteering that individuals do each year. Belonging requires us to recognize the actions of grassroots and neighbourly support for one another . . . we heard from the panel that this can be where the most meaningful societal change can take place. We also heard there is still a lot of exclusionary practices alive and strong.

I heard so many things, but when it occurred to me to write down a few things to contemplate later this is what I captured:

• White supremacy in our society still needs to be named
• Trauma, for racialized people, is always present
• Volunteerism is too often white saviours asking people to reinforce white supremacy
• Power is still performative
• Volunteering is the hope of inclusivity, yet is still so extractive
• One person always needs to call out white supremacy in organizations
• Volunteering is/can be a radical act of love
• Belonging is being part of a beloved community

And in case you missed a very basic human insight:

• Yelling at people is not helping people belong, just stop!

The overwhelming sense I had as I listened to the panelists was – there is zero conversation about anti-racism in volunteering as a system without looking at the intersections of all the systems volunteering seeks to hold up . . . systems of white supremacy that still need to be named.

It’s a tough conversation. But if we truly care for one another, if we truly want belonging for all, then we will need to abolish harmful systems and provide hospice care as we do it.

Thank you to all the speakers who joined us. Thank you for your vulnerability and risking sharing the hard words we all still need to hear. Thank you to:

• Dr. Sonia Aujla-Bhullar | Curriculum & Learning in Inclusive Education, City of Calgary Anti-Racism Action Committee, Sayje Consulting
• Jeff D’Silva | Volunteer, Engaged Citizen, Comedian
• Yvonne Henderson | Bear Clan Patrol
• Taylor McNallie | Taylor Made Studios, Inclusive Canada
• Dr. Moyo Mutamba | Anti-Racism and DEI Consultant, Leadership Coach, Lecturer, Co-Author of An Anti-Racist Approach to Volunteering
• Sheena Swierenga | VolunteerConnector

Our role is to continue to listen to volunteers, continue to remove barriers in volunteering for everyone using the tools we have - VolunteerConnector - and invite more partners to join the movement to decolonize.

We, and our friends at CCVO, cordially invite you to join us in conversation with an exceptional group of humans about anti-racism in volunteering.

Panelists will be Dr. Sonia Aujla-Bhullar, Jeff D'Silva, Taylor McNallie and Dr. Moyo Mutamba. It is bound to a vibrant conversation for wherever you are at in your learning or unlearning journey. We are excited to celebrate National Volunteer Week with this symposium. Perk of Zoom means you can join us from around the country, see you there! 

Sign up here: https://www.calgarycvo.org/events/anti-racism-in-volunteering