Monthly Networking Events for Volunteer Managers
The Centre for Volunteering's Networking Events for volunteer managers and their peers are held on the third Tuesday of the month, 2–4pm from March to November.
This is a great opportunity for people in the not-for-profit sector to meet each other, network and share their experiences, knowledge and learnings. Attendees can suggest topics for discussion, guests or issues. All volunteer managers and coordinators are very welcome to these events. Numbers are limited. Email The Centre for Volunteering.
Suggest a topic or issue for a future Networking Event: Suggest an issue or topic for an upcoming Networking Event. Email The Centre for Volunteering.2010 Networking Events Calendar: Update your diary
- Tuesday, 17 August, 2–4pm CANCELLED
- Tuesday, 21 September, 2–4pm, Time to go? Exiting volunteers appropriately
Lynne Dalton, The Centre for Volunteering - Tuesday, 19 October, 2–4pm, What makes a good website?
Kristin Romanis, The Centre for Volunteering - Tuesday, 16 November, 2–4pm
Review past Networking Events
2010 Networking Event topics and reviews
- Tuesday, 16 March, 2–4pm: National Standards
- Tuesday, 20 April, 2–4pm: Not-for-profit fundraising
- Friday, 21 May 2010, 9am–5pm: 2010 Ignite Volunteering Conference
- Tuesday, 15 June, 2–4pm: TARS Aged-care Rights Service
Tuesday, 16 March 2010, 2pm–4pm
The National Standards for Involving Volunteers in Not-For-Profit Organisations represent Volunteering Australia's benchmark for "best practice" in the management of volunteers. Participants will be able to make an informed decision regarding the implementation of the National Standards within their own organisations. Download:
- National Standards – Key headings (MS Word)
- National Standards – Policy and Procedure Checklist (MS Word)
- National Standards Networking Event presentation (PPT)
Tuesday, 20 April 2010, 2pm–4pm
Communities NSW and the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing's Richard Kerr, shared Not-for-profit fundraising – do's and don'ts. The session was focussed at not-for-profit organisations that plan to or are engaging in fundraising activities and need some assistance in making sure they are run correctly.
Richard led a very popular and successful fundraising Networking Event titled Involving young people: Fundraising and keeping kids safe in your organisation in October 2009. The Centre received a lot of fabulous feedback on the discussion and many requests for a more focused session on Fundraising and the legalities and regulations which need to be adhered to.
June 2010 Networking Event
TARS Aged-care Rights Service
Tuesday, 15 June 2010, 2pm–4pm
Level 2, 228 Pitt Street, Sydney 2000
TARS is the Aged-care Rights Service and includes The Older Persons Legal Service (OPLS) which provides legal advice, assistance and education for older people in the community as well as residents of aged care facilities and retirement villages throughout NSW including rural regional and remote areas of the state. As many volunteers and volunteer agencies work with older people this is an opportunity to learn about the issues and rights of older clients.
Numbers are limited, booking is essential. Email The Centre for Volunteering to RSVP
2009 Networking Event topics and reviews
Recruiting Volunteers via the Volunteer Referral Service (VRS): Making the VRS work for your organisation!
Tuesday, 17 February 2009, 3pm–5pm
Over the course of the financial year 2007/2008 the VRS conducted over 5,500 interviews of potential volunteers, making referrals to 482 member organisations that list their volunteer positions with the VRS. Member organisations of The Centre for Volunteering have over 600 active volunteer positions listed at any given time; not counting roles that require multiple volunteers. From Database Specialists to Community Visitors we have a volunteer role for everyone that has the time, energy and enthusiasm to volunteer.
The networking session revealed how the VRS process works, including questions asked by The Centre's Interviewers to determine the right referral, learn how to create effective job descriptions and recruit the right volunteer for the right volunteer role and also find out how Fido Skilled Volunteer Search connects skilled, experienced volunteers with not-for-profit organisations looking to recruit volunteers and its requirements.
Aboriginal cultural awareness
Tuesday, 17 March 2009, 1pm–3pm
Well-known and recognised expert on Aboriginal culture, Fay Nelson AM, discussed Aboriginal culture, histories and people, incorporating the Dreaming, Aboriginal spirituality, Kinship in this introductory presentation. It links together important aspects which create the Aboriginal way of thinking about family, religion and land. Aboriginal cultures are complex and the presentation is aimed at sensitising non-aboriginal people to these cultures and developing awareness and understanding of how they operate making it easy to work with Aboriginal people and manage cross-cultural situations. The information provided was accurate, up-to-date and appropriate for non-aboriginal people who are interested in working with Aboriginal people in a professional or volunteer capacity.
SCIP Networking Event for Teachers
Wednesday, 18 March 2009, 9am–11am
As part of supporting schools through the Student Community Involvement Program (SCIP), The Centre for Volunteering held its first SCIP Networking Event for Schools and teachers. This event was an opportunity for teachers to network and share experiences or questions relating to running a student volunteer program. Guest speakers to this event were Jess Bell from the Inspire Foundation's ActNow Program and Geoff Copeland, Manager of The Centre's School of Volunteer Management.
If you are a teacher interested in another event like this in the future please email The Centre for Volunteering or phone 02 9261 3600!
Time, Talents and Teamwork: How Invisible Children Inc. has created successful programs powered by youth volunteers
Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 9am–11am
The not-for-profit organisation Invisible Children Inc. has set about motivating a whole generation of young people to make a difference to the issue of child soldiers in Uganda. The organisation's website states: "By inspiring youth culture to value creativity, idealism, and sacrifice, the movement fuels the most effective, adaptable, and innovative programs in the world."
"Established in 2005, Invisible Children is a social, political, and global movement using the transformative power of a story to change lives. In the spring of 2003, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What started out as a filmmaking adventure transformed into much more when these boys from Southern California discovered a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them, a tragedy where children are both the weapons and the victims."
Participants learnt about creative and powerful ways in which Invisible Children have successfully engaged young people in their organisation and discovered the possibilities for their organisation to inspire and engage with the next generation!
Tuesday, 16 June 2009, 2pm–4pm
Michelle and Susana work with CALD volunteers on the Super V Multicultural Volunteer Program run by the City of Sydney. They presented the research and theories that informed the introduction and implementation of this successful Multicultural Volunteer Program and also present case studies about one of the volunteers and specific volunteer programs and the benefits of engaging with volunteers from a CALD background. The networking session also included a group discussion about the experiences and challenges of engaging CALD volunteers.
- Download the Working with CALD Volunteers Info Sheet
- Download the Working with CALD Volunteers PowerPoint Presentation
Simple Marketing principles: How to apply them for fundraising purposes
Tuesday, 21 July 2009, 2pm–4pm
This Networking Session helped identify the key areas to assist in development of a promotional/fundraising strategy and was be led by The Centre's new Manager: Marketing, Fundraising and Partnerships, Sam Naja. It covered:
- General business/Organisational development matters › Strategic thinking, acting and implementation
- Focused Marketing › Understanding segmentation, change your language, for example, "Customer is my boss"
- Who are my customers? › How well do you know your targets? The more you understanding your donors, the sharper your focus.
- Reasons people engage › Why and what people 'buy'?
Fundraising
There's one fact that holds true throughout the nonprofit community: your ability to achieve your mission is directly related to your ability to raise funds. In other words, regardless of who you help, you can’t do it without funding.
- Fundraising activities › Promotion versus advertising
- Increase activities › Increase revenue
- The power of your database › Fundraising activities for the sole purpose of increasing your database
- Incentives › Provide 'perceived value' to engage
Tuesday, 18 August 2009, 2pm–4pm
"Knowledge Management (KM) comprises a range of practices used in an organisation to identify, create, represent, distribute, access and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in individuals or embedded in organisational processes or practice." (Wikipedia)
How are you managing your intellectual knowledge or more importantly are you managing it? This event discussed the issue of gathering, recording, sharing and managing knowledge in the not-for-profit sector, the current business trends in knowledge management and how the sector can access that knowledge and expertise. People with experience in knowledge management or good ideas and examples, were invited to bring them along to share with their peers.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009, 2pm–4pm
Richard Kerr, Communities NSW and Myriam Bahari, NSW Commission for Children and Young People focused on:
- The rules and regulations around involving young people in fundraising activities for your organisation, including keeping appropriate records and safety issues.
- Keeping children and young people safe when involving them in your organisation.
Organisations will have an opportunity to discuss issues and brainstorm strategies.
Download Richard Kerr's presentation Children Participating in Fundraising Appeals or browse this selection of Child-Safe Child-Friendly Resources which includes the 'Checklist' which was the document Myriam went through at the start of her presentation.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009, 2pm–4pm
This networking session introduced participants to the National Standards for Involving Volunteers in Not-For-Profit Organisations. The National Standards represent Volunteering Australia's benchmark for "best practice" in the management of volunteers. Participants will be able to make an informed decision regarding the implementation of the National Standards within their own organisations. The topics covered are:
- The importance and intent of the National Standards
- Developing an implementation plan
- Key issues and critical success factors to implementation
- Minimising obstacles to implementation
Tuesday, 8 December 2009, 2pm–4pm
Social networking or Web 2.0 services like FaceBook, Myspace and You Tube are sweeping the world like nothing before it. In just 1000 days there are new one billion subscribers world wide. This makes this phenomenon hard to ignore for businesses and increasingly, volunteer organisations. However there are reefs in the water for the overly naive or optimistic. We talk about the great opportunities to catch a nice wave, without diving into the sandbar.
This networking event was delivered by www.VolunteerTeam.org.au, a new Australian Secure Social networking system. The presenter Dave Abrahams aka Digital Dave is ABC local radio technology commentator and offers a new insight into this paradigm changing technology service.