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Resources for New and Emerging
Volunteer Centres
Volunteer BC welcomes you to this section of our website, designed to support new and emerging volunteer centres as they embark on laying the foundation for vibrant centres of community action, as well as communities that are considering whether there is a need for a volunteer centre. We share with you a variety of tools and resources in the list below, and we encourage you to also contact us for further guidance and support.
Starting a volunteer centre is a daunting mission — one with many steps and hurdles. The comforting news is there are many good resources that provide strong and effective guidance throughout this process. In fact long-established as well as emerging volunteer centres find these resource manuals useful to refer to as a check on the internal "health" of the volunteer centre. This page will also be useful for other organizations interested in promoting volunteerism within their communities and for communities wishing to establish virtual volunteer centres.
This page contains the following sections:
Getting Started
Are you an individual, group or existing organization thinking about starting a volunteer centre in your community, or a community interested to have a volunteer centre? Download our readiness assessment form below to help you determine whether you are prepared for the steps required in opening a volunteer centre.
Volunteer Centre Readiness Assessment
Volunteer BC suggests that new or emerging centres work with existing volunteer centres in the region to benefit from their experience, tools and structures. We would be happy to facilitate peer committees where your centre will be matched up with representatives from two nearby, established volunteer centres, if this strategy is appropriate for you.
Contact us to initiate a peer support committee for your centre.
Browse our directory of existing volunteer centres in BC.
Learn the basics about volunteer centres in Canada, and read the national definition of a volunteer centre.
Part of the planning process for establishing a new volunteer centre should include a community consultation. You may wish to convene together organizations who depend on volunteers in your community and seek their input into a common vision of a volunteer centre. Below are some resources which can support in planning and hosting such a process.
Facilitated discussions : a volunteer management workbook / Liz Weaver [Ottawa]: Volunteer Canada, [2002].
The Community Roundtable Guide / Mary Jacksteit (Washington, D.C.) Collaboration DC (2007).
Tools
There are many steps involved in launching a volunteer centre. To help guide you through this process, we have prepared a check list with some of the key steps. Each volunteer centres’ development will follow a unique path, but this list will help arm you with the basics, to which you can add other steps relevant to your community’s volunteerism needs.
Volunteer Centre Creation Check List
Volunteer BC has partnered with 2010 Legacies Now to make available to volunteer centres and other organizations it’s volunteer matching software, the Volunteer Centre Opportunities Listing Tool. This Tool helps volunteer centres and their members manage their volunteer positions – all online, quickly and easily. The Tool gives a volunteer centre’s member organizations the ability to create a new volunteer position, change information on a posting and remove positions that no longer need filling. For potential volunteers, each volunteer centre’s custom website provides up-to-date information and the ability to search open positions based on interests and availability.
Contact us to schedule a demo of the Volunteer Centre Opportunities Listing Tool.
The Essentials
A popular resource from Volunteer BC that has been used in communities across the country, is our manual for starting a volunteer centre. Recently revised, use this to verse yourself in good practices for volunteer centres and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the steps involved.
NEW! Community Connections: Volunteer Centre Manual 2nd Edition - Contact us for a copy today.
Volunteer Canada’s Starting a Volunteer Centre: Download here.
The Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement is a road map for voluntary organizations, large or small, that proposes strategies to effectively involve volunteers. In many organizations, support of volunteers through volunteer programs exists only at the periphery of the organization. Volunteers are viewed as a “nice to have” but not as critical components of the organization’s work or success. The Code proposes ways to integrate volunteer involvement strategically into the organization, and helps leaders in the organization understand the value and role of volunteers.
The Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement
The Volunteer Centre Toolkit, from Volunteer Canada and the Advisory Council of Volunteer Centres, is a one-stop shop for building strong and healthy volunteer centres in Canada: within this online toolkit you will find sample forms, policies, procedures, templates, and documents submitted by you and your colleagues, as well as recommended reading materials. Whether you are an emerging or established centre, based in a rural area or an urban centre, the Toolkit is a collection of resources to help strengthen your baseline operations.
Learn more about the Volunteer Centre toolkit.
Download the Toolkit Tip Sheet.
Staying Fresh
It’s important to evaluate volunteer centre programming regularly, at all stages. You may also wish to provide your member agencies with useful evaluation and assessment tool for maximizing the value of their volunteer programs. There are a plethora of existing resources to assist you in evaluating your programs, even if you’ve never been involved in an evaluation before.
Volunteer Program Evaluation and Assessment Tools, Compiled by Energize, Inc.
Volunteer England’s Volunteer Centre Quality Accreditation
Maintaining Standards: Best Practices Resources
ACCESS: The Non-Profit Learning, Training and Development Index, from the HR Council for the Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector.
The Non-Profit Good Practice Guide
Imagine Canada John Hopkins Library for Non-Profit Organizations
Samples Policies for Volunteer Programs from Volunteer BC
Strategic Planning, from the Voluntary Sector Knowledge Network
Volunteer Canada’s Volunteer Management Audit Tool
Best Practices Guidelines for Screening Volunteers, from Public Safety Canada
Promising Practices in Volunteer Management
Effective Practices Catalogue, from Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association
For more information about starting a volunteer centre in your
community, please contact us directly.
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