EBulletin - February 2010

February 2010 E-bulletin

FEATURE ARTICLE
The 27th Annual Volunteer Manitoba Awards Dinner

RELATED RESOURCES
Screening Volunteers and Risk Management

Did You Know?
National Volunteer Week

SPECIAL EVENTS
Books for Lunch
Executive Director Leadership Group
The Art of Collaboration: Success through Synergy - IN BRANDON!
Winnipeg Foundation Grants 101

ANNOUNCEMENTS
CCEDNet Presents: Financial Records and Reporting for Charities
Get Involved with Winnipeg's Aboriginal Community
12th Annual Healthy Communities Conference
Catalyst 2010: Call for Workshop Topics
Survey on mbvolunteer.ca

FEATURE ARTICLE

The 27th Annual Volunteer Manitoba Awards Dinner
Written by Erik Butenschon, Manager, Training Services

Volunteer Manitoba proudly presents its 27th Annual Awards Dinner, Tuesday, April 20th at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. The annual awards are to recognize the remarkable contributions individuals, community groups, businesses, and labour organizations make to enrich the lives of Manitobans. It is the strength, dedication, and compassion of more than 300,000 volunteers that truly make Manitoba one of the greatest places to live.

More than 30 awards are presented in the following categories (click the links for nomination forms):

Lieutenant Governer's Make a Difference Community Awards
Premier's Volunteer Service Awards, (en Francaise)
Mayor's Volunteer Service Awards
Golden Hand Award
HSBC Bank Canada Business Awards
Investors Group Arts and Culture Award for Volunteer Excellence
Manitoba Lotteries Family Volunteer Award (en Francaise)
RBC Royal Bank Local Hero Award
Volunteer Manitoba Award for Outstanding Community Leadership (no nominatin form)

Award recipients, whether groups or individuals, can parlay an award into things like increased credibility and notoriety, media coverage, improved motivation, enhanced funding prospects, and community support in general. Winning an award, or even being nominated, can also increase awareness about a person or program within an organization. Other workers or volunteers in the organization become more aware of what volunteers are actually doing, and thus become more appreciative.

Winning an award can also improve volunteer recruitment potential. When people notice a program winning an award, they are attracted to it and want to become involved.

To view the Information Package for Volunteer Manitoba's 27th Annual Volunteer Awards Dinner click here.

To purchase dinner ticket order forms click here

For more information on our awards dinner click here.

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RELATED RESOURCES

Resources Related to Screening Volunteers and Risk Management

All Resources Available at the Volunteer Manitoba Resource Room

Best practice guidelines for screening volunteers : finding the right match
http://volunteer.ca/sites/volunteercanada/files/PS_08-026_VolunteerScreening_lowres_E.PDF
A comprehensive publication that includes information about Police Record Checks.

Safe enough? Reviewing your screening practices http://www.volunteeralberta.ab.ca/uploaded_files/SafeEnoughScreeningdoc.pdf
A Volunteer Canada publication that is a voluntary, self-administered checklist developed for groups and organizations to assist them with a screening performance review.

Volunteer Alberta – The Basics of Risk Management for Volunteer Programs : Getting Started http://www.volunteeralberta.ab.ca/uploaded_files/documents/217_risk%20management.pdf
This resource is intended to provide a brief overview of risk and risk management and how these realities fit into the cycle of engaging volunteers.

Volunteer Alberta - Screening Process
http://www.volunteeralberta.ab.ca/screening/
The purpose, definition and goals of screening.

Volunteer Canada
http://volunteer.ca/en/volcan/screening2
The basics of screening, including The 10 Steps of Screening.

To register for Volunteer Manitoba's "Volunteer Program Risk Management and Liability" on March 12th, click here.

- For membership details and other information regarding our Resource Centre follow this link... To borrow any of our resources, contact our Resource Coordinator at 477-5180 ext. 223, or Toll-free at 1-888-922-4545 ext. 223, or via e-mail vmresource@mts.net

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DID YOU KNOW?
National Volunteer Week

National Volunteer Week was first proclaimed in 1943. Women's Voluntary Services in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver organized events to draw the public's attention to the vital contributions women made to the war effort on the home front. In late 1960, the idea of a designated week to honour volunteers was revived, and included all volunteers. In 1990, the 3rd week in April was proclaimed National Volunteer Week across the country.

During National Volunteer Week, Volunteer Manitoba presents its annual Awards Dinner. Last year, as our dinner coincided with Earth Day, we proudly announced that, through sponsorship from Manitoba Lotteries, we had 80 kg's of organics collected from the dinner and composted. In addition, the event had Carbon Netural Event Status, as 214 trees were planted to offset the emissions associated with the event.

For more information on this years 27th Annual Awards Dinner, click here.

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SPECIAL EVENTS

Books for Lunch

Volunteer Manitoba is pleased to announce the latest installment in our exciting new workshop series titled “Books for Lunch”. This session will take place in the Millenium Library's Buchwald Room on February 18th, from 11:30am to 1:00pm, and will be facilitated by Sue Hemphill, who will review "Experience the Message: How Experiential Marketing is Changing the Brand World" by Max Lenderman. This will lead to a follow up discussion about the book. No reading required! This series provides a fun and entertaining way for not-for-profit based individuals to keep up to date with the latest literature regarding the sector. The series is based on the successful “Books for Breakfast” series by Volunteer Vancouver and Executive Consulting Canada. For registration information click here.

Executive Director Leadership Group

Volunteer Manitoba provides senior leaders the opportunity to participate in an Executive Director Leadership Group. The group meets 4 times over the course of 2 months beginning in April. Topics include; Defining the Role of the Executive Director, Supervising Staff, Supporting the Board, and Improving Time and Organization Management Skills. For more information and to register, click here.

The Art of Collaboration: Success through Synergy - IN BRANDON!

Volunteer Manitoba, together with course creator and facilitator Sue Hemphill, will be hosting “The Art of Collaboration: Success Through Synergy” in Brandon! The workshop focuses on building partnerships and collaborations, and runs April 13th, 14th, and 15th. We are excited to offer this three day course intended to increase individual and organizational capacity to proactively build and maintain collaborative projects and relationships. The course has been developed by Sue Hemphill, and discounted registration fees were made possible through genorous help from Manitoba Community Services Council. To register, and for more information, click here.

Winnipeg Foundation Grants 101

Join us March 30th for the latest installment in our Brown Bag style workshops. Jennifer Partridge, Community Grants Coordinator with The Winnipeg Foundation will present "Winnipeg Foundation Grants 101", which will include an overview of Winnipeg Foundation grants and their application process, general grant information, helpful, practical information on how to use their online grant application tool, and Q & A. Our Brown Bag Series workshops allow for an informal and quick overview of pertinant topics. They run from 12:00pm to 1:00pm, with registration beginning at 11:30am. For more information and to register, click here.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CCEDNet Presents: Financial Records and Reporting for Charities

Due to overwhelming response from previous workshops, CCEDNet presents "Financial Records and Reporting for Charities". This session will include:

kkliewer@ccednet-rcdec.ca

Get Involved with Winnipeg's Aboriginal Community

If you are interested in Aboriginal economic development, training, education and employment challenges and are concerned about the health, quality of life and social development for Winnipeg’s Aboriginal people, this is your opportunity to:

Participate in a Selection Committee to choose the people who will represent Winnipeg’s Aboriginal community on a Community/Government Committee that will direct input for government activities related to urban Aboriginal people. Or;

Apply to be a representative on the Community/Government Committee. Ten (10) Aboriginal community members are needed to help guide future direction and make recommendations on activities and program investments related to Aboriginal people in the City of Winnipeg.

For more information please contact:
Brenda Mazur
983-0722
Brenda.mazur@ainc-inac.gc.ca
For an application please contact:
Celeste McKay by email at celestemckay@me.com.
The deadline for applications is February 12, 2010.

12th Annual Healthy Communities Conference

Join Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives for “Mentoring Works: A Strategy to Help Youth Succeed in Life!” at the Healthy Communities Conference 2010.

For further information, check out the web page http://www.rha-entral.mb.ca/news.php?id=75 and look under the April Events Calendar. For more information please contact Laura Matychuk at (204) 325-9707 or laurambbbsmw@mts.net.

Call for ideas: Catalyst 2010
Join Volunteer Manitoba for Catalyst, a half-day networking conference in September. But, before you do, we need your input on potential topics. What sector issues are most relevant to you? Do you struggle to find information about a specific subject? Do you have a burning questions to ask an expert? We welcome your input! Send your ideas to vmtraining@mts.net.
Survey on mbvolunteer.ca

Have you used mbvolunteer.ca to recruit volunteers? If so, we’d love to hear your feedback about the effectiveness of the websites. Please take 5 minutes to complete our feedback survey.

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