January 2008 E-bulletin

FEATURE ARTICLE
Volunteer Manitoba - New Faces, New Places
RELATED RESOURCES
Eva
TIPS & TOOLS
Characteristics of Less Effective and More Effective Approaches to Evaluation
SPECIAL EVENTS
7 Measures of Success - The Path to Greatness
VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION
Recipient of the Royal Bank Local Hero Award (2007)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
International Volunteer Day - December 5 !
Winnipeg UAS Community Forum - December 6
Community Places Program Increases Funding by 50%
NEW 2007 CONTACT Community Information Guide - Hot off the Press
Imagine Canada introduces: Promising Practices Catalogue and Knowledge Exchange
Tips to Get Technology Funding

FEATURE ARTICLE

Volunteer Manitoba - New Faces, New Places
by: Tracy Douglass, Community Outreach Coordinator, Volunteer Manitoba

Here are highlights of what is new at Volunteer Manitoba for 2008!

New Faces:

Anneli Rosteski joins MYVOP as the new Coordinator as Lee Anderson begins her retirement. Anneli has worked in community and economic development for over a decade and has a diploma in Rural Development. Some highlights of her past experiences include working with Community Development Corporation, Community Futures Partners of Manitoba, owning her own consulting company through which she coordinated a housing and homelessness project in St. Vital and in collaboration with Argyle Alternative High School, developed a video titled "Pockets of Poverty, Housing and Homelessness in St. Vital". Locally she has worked with a focus on international development issues developing curriculum with the Canadian Food Grains Bank and Sisler High School on Food and Hunger which was recommended for S1 – S4 Social Studies curriculum. She has worked with the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation on a human security project following 9-11 and coordinated a northern youth conference. We are excited and pleased that Anneli has decided to lead MYVOP into its next phase. All the best to Anneli and to Lee as they both begin another exciting chapter in their lives.

Terry Hoover joins our group of facilitators and is ready to facilitate your next strategic planning session. Terry is here to help facilitate your planning sessions so that the group can concentrate on planning while Terry concentrates on the group dynamics and ensures everyone has input. He brings a wealth of experience in the non-profit sector, government programs, facilitation, and long-term planning.

New Places:
Volunteer Manitoba continues to reach to different communities across Manitoba.

Distance Education - We have created our first Distance Education course: Program Planning & Evaluation. This course is available to anyone with access to a mailbox and is completed in the comfort and convenience of your home. You communicated with the instructor either by mail, phone or email with no classroom participation required. This course can be transfered into Red River College's Volunteer Management Certificate Program.

Encouraging Community Involvement - our first of hopefully many "rural focused" workshops. This one-day workshop explores the recruitment, retention, recognition, and risk management issues of volunteers in smaller, more rural communities. So far we've delivered this workshop in Dauphin, The Pas, Morden, and Steinbach, with future workshops planned for Virden and Birtle. If you want this workshop delivered in your area, contact Denice Girdner, 1-204-477-5180 ext. 224, toll-free 1-888-922-4545 ext. 224, vmtraining@mts.net.

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RELATED RESOURCES

Support for Non-Profit Leaders

Here is a list of resources we have in our resource library:

Coping or Collapsing: Dealing with Stress - a booklet outlining the causes, consequences and cures of stress.

First Things First - a book by Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People) that goes beyond time management and connects the investment of time to our deeper priorities in life.

Recruiting, Encouraging and Evaluating the Chief Staff Officer - a booklet to prepare Boards when they must recruit and select an Executive Director.

The Not-For-Profit CEO: A Survivor's Manual - A succinct, ready to use book outlining six basic elements of management survival in the not-for-profit sector.

To borrow any of these resources, contact Jody, our Resource Coordinator, 477-5180 ext. 223 or e-mail vmresource@mts.net

Here are some web sites on this topic:

Daring to Lead 2006 Research Study - comprehensive national study of executive leadership at community-based non profits. Based on nearly 2,000 surveys from 8 metropolitan areas, the report provides current data on executive turnover, compensation, career plans, and retirement. It also explores leading causes of executive burnout. It identifies the skills that community-based executives most want and need to build along with the professional development strategies that they employ. The report concludes with recommendations to executives, boards, funders, and capacity builders. To download the report visit this web site: http://www.compasspoint.org/daringtolead2006

Preventing Burn-Out - a web article to help you determine if you are stressed or burned out plus strategies to avoid burn-out. http://www.helpguide.org/mental/burnout_signs_symptoms.htm

Delegating Effectively - a web article to help you determine which tasks can be delegated. A template is included. http://www.iedex.com.au/essentials/html/delegation.html

Executive Director Job Profile - a list of responsibilities and qualifications typically required by an Executive Director plus 2 sample job descriptions - one for a recreation/sports organization and one for a social service organization. http://www.hrcouncil.ca/staffing/pg003a_e.cfm

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TIPS & TOOLS

Characteristics of Less Effective and More Effective Approaches to Evaluation
excerpt from "Level Best: How Small and Grassroots Nonprofits Can Tackle Evaluation and Talk Results"

Less Effective	More Effective
Planning
Standing where you are and looking backward; evaluating your past work	Standing where you are and looking forward; evaluating your present work
Reconstructing from old records	Planning how you'll keep records from now on Incorporating an evaluation process into every new program that is launched - from the start
Seeing evaluation as a one-time "final report"	Seeing evaluation as an ongoing feedback mechanism
Asking only questions your funder wants answered	Determining the questions you want to answer with input from board, staff, constituents, and donors
Trying to evaluate everything; laying out too many questions	Choosing a few key questions or assumptions that you want to examine
Asking
Measuring something that isn't what your core work is all about	Identifying what you really want to know and what you want to see change over time
Asking how you did against a goal that was never your mission to reach	Setting goals that are specific, measurable, relevant, and time-limited
Only attempting to measure long-term outcomes that are out of your control	Setting goals that directly relate to your organization and its program work
Tracking
Describing activities conducted but never getting to the stage of drawing conclusions	Drawing conclusions and not being afraid to make adjustments in your program as a result
Using only the same people who are directly involved in running operations to evaluation operations	Being as objective as possible, drawing on outside perspectives, as well as insider knowledge
Developing a costly, complicated system for data collection	Looking at existing sources of information first: records, staff observations
Learning and Using
Involving staff and stakeholders only at the report stage to hear "conclusions"	Using staff and stakeholders in interpretive roles: asking what this means and what the implications may be
Assuming that just doing the evaluation is enough	Creating a process for incorporating evaluation learning into ongoing work Ensuring that you have dollars allocated to implement the findings
Only sharing the positive findings	Sharing sucesses and areas that need improvement so that everyone can learn from what you are doing

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SPECIAL EVENTS

Executive Director Leadership Group

Register now to participate in Volunteer Manitoba's Executive Director Leadership Group. The group meets 4 times over the course of 2 months beginning in March. Participants will hear presentations, participate in workshop activities, and share experiences and knowledge with their peers on the following topics:
- Defining the role of Executive Director
- Supervising Staff
- Supporting the Board
- Improving Time and Organization Management Skills

For more details visit our web site: http://www.volunteermanitoba.ca/newsite/executive_development.htm
To download the registration form click here...

Deadline for registration: January 30, 2008

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VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION

Recipient of the Royal Bank Local Hero Award (2007)

The following outstanding individual was this year's recipient of the Royal Bank Local Hero Award:

Marjorie LeBrun - Winnipeg
Nominated by: Kerrine Wilson

The value of music education and mentorship may not be measured easily, but the ‘Music-thon’ concept created by Marjorie LeBrun is certainly music to the ears of the Variety Club.

Created by Marge in 1990, the ‘Music-thon’ is a unique and creative fundraising concept, when each year, a 3-day continuous concert is coordinated where 300 music students as young as 4 years-old perform at the recital.

Students instructed by Manitoba Registered Music Teachers’ Association instructors collect pledges in support of the Variety Music in Daycares program. The fundraising drive benefits over 1,300 children in the inner city who participate in the program.

Overseeing teachers, performers, venue, sound systems and numerous other duties, Marge’s longstanding commitment, determination and passion for the event has raised over $145,000 in 18 years.

Another program which is funded as a result of Marge’s diligent work as a volunteer is the music therapy program for children with disabilities ranging from Retts Syndrome to autism. Using percussion instruments, movement and dance activities, the classes develop increased confidence and independent response to the musical material.

Thanks to Marjorie LeBrun’s vision, energy and dedication as a volunteer, thousands of young musicians and those in need benefit through the gift of music.

For more stories of the 2007 Volunteer Awards recipients...

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