OAVR Newsletter - October 2018

The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.
- Helen Keller

In This Issue:

Hybrid Conference
5 a 7
Excellence in Volunteer Management Award
Membership Renewal
Police Record Checks Update
Featured Article: Rob Jackson
What's New
E-Volunteerism Articles
2019 Conference

For more information and to register your spot, click here.

Join us November 1st to celebrate International Volunteer Management Day!

To nominate someone for the award, click here.

For more information, head to oavr.ca/membership-application!

Check us out at www.OAVR.ca!
Send your questions, comments, or newsletter submissions to:
newsletter@oavr.ca

Police Record Checks
A message on behalf of Volunteer Ottawa

A survey was recently conducted over the summer to solicit feedback on the OPS' proposal to introduce fees for volunteers to undergo police record checks. The results of the survey have not yet been released.

With the municipal election taking place on October 22nd, not for profit organizations have an opportunity to find out where candidates stand on this issue. Members are urged to bring the issue up with the candidates at all candidate meetings; when talking to candidates during door to door canvassing; and, by writing a letter to candidates asking for their stance on this issue.

Volunteering is at the heart of caring and thriving communities. Every day volunteers in Ottawa improve the well being of our community and are essential in helping not for profit organizations fulfill their mandates. There is no question that charging a fee for background checks will have an impact on volunteers.

VO has developed a Fact Sheet to assist you in making our case. You may wish to tailor it to your own and insert your own logo.

Featured Article

Leaders of Volunteers: Stop Being so Bloody Nice
By Rob Jackson

Rob Jackson explains why he strongly feels leaders of volunteers need to take off the halo once in a while!

What's New

Webinar - October 18th

How do you brand your capital campaign so it inspires donors to act, and without pilfering from annual giving? What printed or digital tools do you need in the quiet and public phases? How do you inspire major donors to become campaign ambassadors?

In this webinar on Capital Campaign Communications: Creating a Powerful Case for Support, you will learn how to communicate with your donors with confidence, as well as 3 core ingredients needed to engage major donors.

To learn more and register for this webinar, click here.

Webinar - October 24th

Studies have shown that the top two reasons volunteers leave their positions within an organization are lack of job satisfaction and lack of support from staff. In this webinar, we will discuss a long term tool and resource developed by presenter called the Terms of Engagement.

Join Samantha Chivers and Lorraine McGratten to discuss Best Practices for Team-Based Volunteer Management.

If you cannot make the live session, a recording of the webinar will be emailed to you after.

Cost is $10 for non-members and free for PAVRO members!

Survey

There's a lot being written about donor retention - why it's important and how to increase it - and even more data on the averages within the nonprofit sector.

The team at Bloomerang is curious what the real pursuit of donor retention looks like among boots-on-the-ground fundraisers.

They are conducting an anonymous, 2-minute survey on The State of Donor Retention in 2018.

If you'd like to contribute your input, or to learn more information about it, click here.

Free eBook!

As fundraisers, we sometimes suffer from a lack of curiosity about our donors. So many of our donations are from people who we know very little about.

The good news is that research shows that donors actually like it when we ask them questions about themselves and how they feel about our organization.

Whether you're just now discovering the power of donor surveys, or you're looking to up your game, this eBook on Getting to Know You: A Guide to the Hidden Power of Donor Surveys is for you!

To learn more and download this eBook, click here.

e-Volunteerism Free Articles of the Month

"Laddering" in Volunteer Management: What It Is, and Why It May Be Important
Rob Jackson and Erin R. Spink consider the importance of "laddering" in the volunteer management profession. Jackson and Spink define laddering as "the opportunity to report to someone more senior than you who is also a leader of volunteers." Join this important conversation about what could be the missing ingredient and a potential turning point for the future of volunteer engagement.

Designing a Strategy for Persuasion

Betty Stallings is convinced that the ability to persuade and influence is at the heart of successful leadership of these endeavors. She takes you step-by-step through the process of developing your own persuasion strategy.

Interested in reading more? Subscribe to e-Volunteerism to get access to current volunteer management articles in each quarterly issue, and 18 years of archives!

Share it far and wide, the next VMPC conference, in collaboration with PAVRO and Volunteer Canada, is coming to Ottawa! Let's spread this to everyone we can and represent Ottawa well next year!

More details to follow.

OAVR's Mandate:

To promote professionalism in volunteer resource management

To support our members in the pursuit of their goals

To provide a forum to share information and resources

To network with peers

OAVR's Goals:

Exchange ideas and resources

Share information and concerns

Networking

Socializing

Offering support and encouragement to members

Liaising with organizations involved with volunteers

Promoting professionalism among our members

Assisting our members with their professional development

PDU Reminder:

Don't forget that Professional Development Units can be applied to written submissions to this newsletter!

If you're working towards or maintaining your CVA or a similar certification, part of the application process requires a minimum number of PDUs.

So get writing and share your expertise with your fellow volunteer managers by submitting your articles to newsletter@oavr.ca!

Publishing:
Writing related to volunteer resources management (blogs, articles, research reports, website content, etc.)

500 words = 2 PDUs