Change Starts with You: Driving Volunteer Engagement Through Leadership
Beth Steinhorn | President at VQ Volunteer Strategies
Change is inevitable—but how you lead through it makes all the difference. Whether you're facing colleagues resistant to engaging skilled volunteers, launching new initiatives like corporate volunteer programs, or navigating shifts in mission or strategy, this session will equip you to lead with confidence. Using Kotter’s 8 Accelerators for change, you'll apply a proven framework to a real challenge in your work. Through guided reflection, peer discussion, and a hands-on workbook, you’ll leave with practical next steps and a stronger sense of your power to drive meaningful, strategic change within your organization.
At the end of this session, participants will...
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Have a better understanding of the difference between managing change and leading change.
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Become familiar with one research-based model for change leadership.
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Apply this model to a current or anticipated change challenge at their organization and leave with a few clear actions to take.
Safeguarding: A Different Lens
Lisa Mort-Putland | Governance & Volunteer Management Lead at Volunteer Victoria
Let's take a deeper look at safeguarding policies and practices that underpin volunteer assessment and management. Professionals have systems to screen volunteers before they join a program, but we also need to stay current on tips and tools to support and retain volunteersas they grow and change to ensure that we keep both volunteers and volunteer programs safe and strong.
Beyond the Hours Logged: Simple Evaluation for Volunteer Programs
Shelby Corley | CEO at Three Hive Consulting
Volunteer programs run on commitment and care — and rarely on spare time. Evaluation can feel like one more thing to add to an already full plate, but it doesn't have to be complicated to be useful.
This session makes the case for simple, intentional evaluation and gives participants practical tools they can put to use right away. We'll explore why evaluation matters for volunteer programs of any size: understanding what retains volunteers, learning why people leave, capturing the difference volunteering makes in people's lives, and articulating the real value of volunteer contributions to funders, boards, and communities.
From there, the session shifts to the practical. Participants will walk through how to build a simple evaluation plan and explore low-lift methods — short surveys, structured conversation tracking, and easy logging habits — designed for organizations without dedicated research capacity.
Participants will leave with a framework they can adapt and a clear starting point for measuring what matters most in their program.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
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Explain why evaluating a volunteer program matters for retention, impact, and organizational credibility
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Identify the key questions their program most needs to answer
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Build a simple evaluation plan using a structured, accessible framework
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Select and apply low-resource evaluation methods appropriate to their context
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Use evaluation findings to describe volunteer program value to internal and external stakeholders
Board Ready: Onboarding and Growing Great Directors
Gretchen Ferguson| Director, Education & Consulting Programs at Vantage Point
This session explores how to intentionally identify the mix of competencies, attributes, and perspectives your organization needs at the board table and how to onboard new directors so they contribute confidently. Board members and executive leaders will leave with practical approaches to strengthen board composition and set new members up for meaningful engagement.
How can Youth Voices Grow the Volunteer/ Non-Profit Sector?
Grace Davidson| Administration & Community Engagement at Volunteer Terrace
A session on how to work with, collaborate and listen to youth, from a youth perspective. Opening our minds to the importance of youth voices in the volunteer/non-profit sector.
Before we recognize the impact that youth have on the sector, we need to understand how to work alongside them.
It comes down to mutual respect, communication, understanding, and an intent to hear their thoughts, ideas, frustrations and goals. I find youth will respect, listen, communicate and understand as long as it’s all reciprocated.
Creating Meaningful Non-profit and Business Partnerships
Paula King | Board Member with Volunteer BC
In many communities, relationships are everything. Yet, building effective partnerships between nonprofits and businesses can still feel unclear or out of reach. This session offers a practical look at how to engage businesses through funding and corporate volunteer opportunities. We will explore what motivates businesses, how to position your organization clearly, and how to build partnerships that feel authentic, not transactional. You will leave with simple, actionable approaches to strengthen connections and create shared value.
Micro-Volunteering: Creating a Volunteer Buffet
Karen Knight | Owner of Karen Knight Consulting
More often than not, potential volunteers express interest in helping out but hesitate when faced with long-term commitments or rigid schedules. In today’s fast-paced world, people are looking for flexible and meaningful ways to contribute, on their own terms.
Imagine offering opportunities that allow volunteers to pick and choose how they engage with your organisation—a “Volunteer Buffet.” A Volunteer Buffet creates the freedom volunteers need while ensuring you still get the help you require. In this interactive class, we will explore the whys and hows of creating a volunteer buffet—an approach that can help you bring more volunteers into your program and achieve a greater impact.
What you'll leave with:
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A clear understanding of the reasons for establishing a volunteer buffet;
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Tips on selecting appropriate tasks to “stock” your buffet;
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Useful guidelines for recruiting, onboarding and supervising micro-volunteers;
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What challenges you may face and how to overcome them; and
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Ideas to make the day-to-day management of your buffet run smoothly.
The world of volunteerism has changed. To keep your mission moving forward, you will need to find new ways to attract and engage volunteers while still getting things done. A Volunteer Buffet will do that for you.
From Relationships to Resources: How to Secure Funding Through Collaboration
Devin Gambler | Pamihtâw Consulting Inc.
Securing funding has become increasingly competitive, especially for non-profits, Indigenous organizations, volunteer-led groups, and community initiatives working with limited capacity. This session provides a practical, experience-based approach to finding grant opportunities, building meaningful partnerships, and positioning organizations for funding success.
Participants will learn how to identify funding opportunities that align with their mission, develop strong local collaborations, and avoid common mistakes that weaken applications. The session will also explore how organizations can leverage partnerships with local governments, Indigenous communities, businesses, and service providers to strengthen proposals and demonstrate measurable community impact.
Using real-world examples and practical strategies, attendees will leave with tools they can immediately apply to improve their grant readiness, partnership development, and long-term funding sustainability.