November 20, 2024
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June 15, 2021This paper is intended to stimulate discussion and consideration of the importance of citizen and community participation and to put forward an argument for investment and leadership. The potential “investors” in this remarkable phenomenon are many: governments, foundations, the corporate sector, voluntary and non-profit organizations, communities and even individuals. Like participation itself, the process required to think through ways to lever and enrich citizen and community participation needs to be multi-faceted, collaborative and creative. No one agent of society can or should own the leadership or enabling role. Ultimately, action must be harnessed to a shared vision; a vision for a Canada in which each person makes a contribution and together we build a better world.
June 09, 2022Let’s simply skip all of the platitudes about the challenges of COVID and move straight to the learning; what did you learn about your organization during COVID? As we slowly (and perhaps prematurely) start to see the light at the end of the tunnel for COVID, each and every type of organization, and this especially includes non-profits, should take advantage of the opportunity to debrief the COVID chock and what it taught us about each of our organizations. There are lots of learning opportunities during COVID. Warren Buffett, in an admittedly different context, said that when the tide goes out, you get to see who has been swimming naked. COVID exposed the naked parts (and personnel) of a lot of organizations. However, COVID also exposed a lot of people who were wearing brilliantly and beautifully designed swimwear (to stretch the saying). COVID exposed the fact that organizations had inner strengths that were previously unacknowledged, underappreciated, and likely underutilized.
August 16, 2022What are the factors you consider when recruiting for a volunteer role? Chances are you probably want a good volunteer. Someone reliable, up-to-task, efficient, and well-suited to the needs of your organization, its events, and its projects. As you probably already know, the first step to recruiting such a volunteer begins well before the recruitment process. Before interviews and before onboarding, aspiring volunteer managers should first craft a role or position description. This small step is essential to successful recruitment. As a volunteer manager, before beginning recruitment, you should know the requirements and responsibilities of the role you are hiring. Or stated simply, you should know your BFORs.
