January
2008 E-bulletin
FEATURE
ARTICLE
Volunteer
Manitoba - New Faces, New Places
RELATED
RESOURCES
Evaluation and
Assessment
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 HSBC Business Awards (2007)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Nomination
Forms now available for Volunteer Manitoba's 25th
Annual Volunteer Awards
Dinner
Linda Graff, International Volunteer Management Expert,
coming to Wpg
Toolkit:
Creating Opportunities for Homeless Youth
FEATURE
ARTICLE
Volunteer
Manitoba - New Faces, New Places
by:
Tracy Douglass, Community Outreach Coordinator, Volunteer
Manitoba
Here
are highlights of what's new at Volunteer Manitoba
for 2008!
New Faces:
Volunteer
Manitoba welcomes Anneli Rosteski
as the new MYVOP Coordinator. Staff, volunteers,
and partners of Volunteer Manitoba and MYVOP wish
Lee Anderson
all the best as she leaves MYVOP and 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 will lead MYVOP into its next phase. Congratulations
to Lee for working tirelessly to create and develop
MYVOP into the high-quality web site and program that
it is today. All the best to Anneli and to Lee as
they both begin another exciting chapter in their
lives.
To learn more about MYVOP visit their web site: www.myvop.ca
Terry Hoover
joins our group of facilitators and is ready to facilitate
your next strategic planning session. With Terry facilitating
your planning sessions, you and your 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 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 communicate with the instructor either by mail,
phone or email with no classroom attendance required.
This course can be transferred into Red River College's
Volunteer Management Certificate Program. For more
information visit
our web site...
Encouraging Community Involvement
- our first "rural focused" workshop. 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 scheduled 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
Evaluation
and Assessment
Here is a list of resources we have in our resource
library:
The Complete Guide to Assessing and Improving
Your Volunteer Program - this workbook is designed
as an assessment and planning tool to allow volunteer
programs, from the rudimentary to the very sophisticated,
to be examined.
Field
Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation
- provides clear, comprehensive, and integrated guidelines
for all of the most important aspects of designing,
marketing and evaluating a program. This is the text
for Volunteer Manitoba's Program Planning and Evaluation
course.
Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation -
a comprehensive resource on evaluation, covering both
in-depth program evaluations and performance monitoring.
It presents evaluation methods that will be useful
at all levels of government and in nonprofit organizations.
A
Hands-On Guide to Planning and Evaluation: How to
Plan and Evaluate Programs in Community-Based Organizations
- warmly praised for its "user-friendliness"
and applicability to a wide variety of programs, this
resource provides information plus many samples and
templates.
Level Best: How Small and Grassroots Nonprofits
Can Tackle Evaluation and Talk Results - offers
guidance that demystifies evaluation and takes into
account the unique challenges and realities of grassroots
nonprofit organizations by providing tools for measuring
and sharing results in ways that are practical, efficient
and meaningful.
Measuring
Program Outcomes - provides a step-by-step approach
to developing a system for measuring program outcomes
and using the results.
To borrow any of these resources, contact Jody, our
Resource Coordinator, 477-5180 ext. 223, Toll-free
1-888-922-4545 ext. 223, or e-mail vmresource@mts.net
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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 the
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 successes and areas that
need improvement so that everyone can learn from
what you are doing |
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SPECIAL
EVENTS
7
Measures of Success: The Path to Greatness
Participate in this special opportunity to learn about
the latest research and it's application to take your
association from good to great to exceptional and
the steps require to maintain that momentum. Hear
from the chair of the research project, plus first-hand
stories from organizations that are on the path to
greatness and learn how to chart your own course!
Monday, January 14, 8:30am - 12:00pm (Continental
Breakfast served)
Registration Fee: $85
Registration plus the book "7 Measures of Success:
What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don't":
$115
For more details and to download the registration
form click
here...
* Payment must accompany registration
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VOLUNTEER
APPRECIATION
Recipient
of the HSBC Business Awards
(2007)
The
following outstanding individual was this year's recipient
of the HSBC Business Awards:
Peak
of the Market (Larry McIntosh) - Winnipeg
Nominated by: Grant Hackman, Hackman
Associates
CEO
Larry MacIntosh and his Peak of the Market staff have
worked tirelessly planning numerous fundraising drives
every year and staff often volunteer their time at
Winnipeg Goldeyes and Manitoba Moose games, collecting
cash and food donations on behalf of Winnipeg Harvest.
Over the years, millions of pounds of fresh vegetables
have been donated and matched pound for pound, thanks
to Peak of the Market’s coordinated efforts. Peak
of the Market also developed a recipe CD as a fundraising
tool. Thanks to their longstanding commitment to numerous
causes, Peak of the Market’s strong sense of values
and support for the community are a model for other
businesses to follow.
Sears
Canada Polo Park (Frank Rossi) - Winnipeg
Nominated by: Heather Popoff, Director
of Volunteer Services and Events, Boys and Girls Club
of Winnipeg
A
major supporter of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada
for 40 years, 2005 marked the third consecutive year
Sears Canada donated over $1 million to the organization.
On an annual basis, Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg
receive an average of $25,000 to enhance their programming
and services in addition to gifts-in-kind and volunteer
contributions from store associates. The 2006 grant
from Sears helped fund an after school program for
elementary-aged children at Noquay School including
arts, sports and family-oriented programming. Staff
also volunteer at the annual Tree of Wishes gift wrapping
service at Sears locations, collecting over 400 gifts
for children in need, and at a Christmas dinner for
over 200 people at one of the Boys and Girls Clubs
locations. Thanks to their longstanding commitment
to the non-profit organization, they have assisted
to fund club programs, open new locations and create
opportunities for youth to fundraise at various Sears
locations.
Heartland
Credit Union Plum Coulee Branch (Brad Penner) - Plum
Coulee
Nominated by: Heather Unger & Dorothy
Unrau, Plum Coulee Community Foundation
The
Credit Union has been a shining example of community
spirit through their generous donations over $75,000
to local events and causes including the Heartland
Trail, Heartland Diamonds in the Park, Plum Coulee
Plum Fest, community enhancement projects and numerous
sports organizations. Staff has also volunteered at
the Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Unit, Chamber
of Commerce, an annual curling Bonspiel, Plum Fest
and many other community events. An essential partner
in helping build the community, the Plum Coulee Heartland
Credit Union clearly exemplifies a strong community
spirit and have been instrumental in revitalizing
Plum Coulee and providing a sense of optimism and
growth for the future.
For
more stories of the 2007 Volunteer Awards recipients...
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