Sustaining Capacity for the Non-Profit Sector
While interest in volunteering reached an all time high during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, non-profits—a key enabler of volunteerism—were experiencing major operational disruptions. And while they pivoted, grassroots, mutual aid and "caremongering" initiatives were formed at a record pace to fill urgent requests, such as mask-making and food delivery. Identifying the needs of both formal and informal groups became necessary to start rehabilitating the system of volunteerism in Toronto.
The work started with listening. With a dramatic drop in non-profit volunteer recruitment across all sub-sectors, we prioritized time and space to learn more. To better understand what was happening on the ground, we hosted sector forums for volunteer program leaders in essential services, such as: meals on wheels, food banks, tax clinics, housing, mental health, seniors support, and employment programs.
While challenges varied group to group, an approach to reducing knowledge gaps emerged through new ways to deliver resources and facilitate ongoing and supportive connection points. Thankfully, the United Way of Greater Toronto has consistently demonstrated an understanding of how meaningful volunteerism is enabled. And with additional emergency funding, a new partnership between Volunteer Toronto, Volunteer Markham and Volunteer Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon was formed to expand our collaborative efforts and explore a unified approach to address one of the Greater Toronto Area’s most in need roles – volunteer drivers. In in the summer of 2020, the collaborative deployed a new Driver Matching Program.
425+
one-on-one consultations provided in 2020-2021
20%
increase in volunteer engagement as a result
75,000+
volunteers screened, trained, and/or recruited
Training expertise was also leveraged across all regions to create a COVID-19 Learning Library, with comprehensive resources to support both virtual and in person volunteer programs. Leaning further into the benefits of one-on-one support, a non-profit engagement team was created to reach out to hundreds of groups and organizations through phone consultations and interviews. This United Way of Greater Toronto investment in our capacity also led to the creation of a permanent learning management system: learnVT.ca.
"At the beginning of the pandemic, our team rapidly shifted gears to begin delivering food boxes to families in-need. Repurposing and expanding our existing operations, we were in desperate need of drivers to help carry out our deliveries. Volunteer Toronto's Driver Matching Program has provided us with dozens of pre-screened, committed drivers looking to help out wherever they can. By helping with our recruitment needs, it allowed us to focus more on our operations and spend less time on staffing."
— William Oestreich, Director of Operations
Pre-pandemic, Volunteer Toronto identified the most in need role was Volunteer Drivers. Organizations that require drivers to deliver food or provide transportation to vulnerable individuals were always recruiting. When the pandemic hit, these groups—who struggled to secure volunteers—indicated a dramatic increase in demand for services given more individuals were isolating.
Suddenly, an ongoing challenge in the sector became an urgent challenge. As a Volunteer Centre, we needed to do something to ensure people are fed and kept safe. It was out of this urgency, and our GTA partnership, that a brand new Matching Program was created.
The new program pre-screened volunteers that aligned with specific organization's needs for Volunteer Drivers. Volunteers were then referred to the organization based on their location, availability to deliver, and whether they already had a Police Check and/or a Vulnerable Sector Screening.
23
The pilot was effective in matching 200+ Volunteer Drivers for immediate needs. However,
the systemic issue of needing more Volunteer Drivers is ongoing. Our team continues to evaluate the effectiveness of matches and is exploring new technology, such as an app, to sustainably address Volunteer Driver placement beyond the pandemic.
Matching Partners were in urgent need of Drivers
One of our biggest takeaways in engaging with non-profits and grassroots groups during the pandemic, was that micro-learning options were absolutely necessary. If we want to inform real change in volunteer programs, we need to develop resources that can be quickly absorbed and accessed with ease. We also learned that case studies of real programs and practical tools would help groups adapt sooner.
Throughout the year, our team released free resources through our brand new COVID-19 Learning Library. We interviewed effective programs and shared their learnings, covered the basics through webinars and one-pagers, and created tools for immediate use, such as our virtual game, BRINGO, as well as a letter template for essential volunteers in case they are stopped by police during stay-at-home orders.
75+
new sessions and resources developed
1,500+
volunteer managers
engaged in training
As a special initiative to support Toronto's mass vaccination efforts in Spring 2021, we opened recruitment services to any organization providing vaccinations, including pharmacies. To ensure sites were prepared, we deployed a micro-resource video to train leaders on their responsibilities to protect volunteers in high risk environments.
This year brought a lot of instability for those whose job it is to lead volunteers, making our partnership with TAVA important to stabilizing the sector. We provided financial contributions to subsidy memberships, alternated the hosting of monthly professional development workshops, co-designed an annual conference, and assisted with COVID-19 program recovery plans.
The Toronto Association for Volunteer Administration (TAVA) provides professional development for their members through educational events, networking, mutual support, and raising awareness of the importance of volunteerism in the community.
For the 2021 conference, TAVA and Volunteer Toronto held their first-ever virtual event. The "Change Makers" joint conference saw volunteer managers from across the country tune in to an engaging group of speakers. Attendees heard from the Ontario Non-Profit Network, dove into strategic foresight reflections, and asked questions of a panel with real-life examples of adapting programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Youth volunteers are some of the most active volunteers in our city and the most likely to adapt to virtual roles. With the pandemic stretching on, volunteer managers needed our help engaging this key demographic of volunteers. It was in partnership with Pledges for Change, a youth-driven grassroots group in Canada, Volunteer Toronto addressed this challenge with the creation of a Youth Virtual Volunteer Engagement Playbook, released in November 2020.
The Playbook helps groups looking to create, improve, and enhance their youth (under 18) virtual volunteer programming. Throughout the process of designing the Playbook, more than 30 youth and 20 non-profit leaders were consulted. The Playbook includes infographics, case studies, and six tools that can be used today.
2604
leaders of volunteers trained
In early 2021, our workshops for volunteer managers made a return, with all new updated content for the pandemic environment. Thousands joined us online to learn leading practices in volunteer engagement from our training experts. Topics included: Screening, Conflict Management, Recruiting Youth Volunteers, Privacy and Data Collection, Legislation & Policies, Police Checks & the Ontario Human Rights Code.
330
board members and/or leadership trainees
For non-profit leaders, we hosted eight training sessions on board member related topics. Our updated content educates participants to value their diverse and lived experiences and the importance of including new voices and perspectives at the leadership level. For those looking to join boards, we shared information on what it takes to secure a role and what you can expect once you're on a board. For those already active, we held intensive sessions covering all of the essentials--from legal obligations to liability and committee meetings.
I felt a sense of ease throughout the session and really enjoyed the engaging format. The facilitator offered a wealth of well-balanced information, and the session provided the insights I was looking for to better understand the roles and responsibilities of a non-profit Board Member.
— Becoming a Board Member workshop trainee