InformOntario Symposium
June 20, 2014
VISION
To create a dynamic online volunteering community
that will motivate, inspire and celebrate volunteering
in Ontario.
Volunteer Gateway
What is it?
The Volunteer Gateway will be:
 A tool for prospective volunteers to find available
volunteer positions in the province.
 An online library of resources for volunteers and
volunteer management professionals.
 A way to showcase volunteering in Ontario and to
engage the overflow of volunteer interest for the
Pan/Para Pan Games (100,000 anticipated
volunteers/20,000 volunteer positions)
Primary Objectives - MCI
1. Offer one-stop access volunteer matching services enhancing volunteer experience and organizational impact.
2. Provide the private sector with opportunities to access
corporate volunteer opportunities - strengthening the sector and
corporate interest in supporting it.
3. Facilitate access to volunteer resource materials - building
capacity by creating a one stop place to find much needed
resources.
4. Connect Pan/Parapan American Games volunteers and
overflow volunteer applicants with other volunteer opportunities leveraging this enthusiasm and opportunity to the benefit of
communities across Ontario.
Partnership Objectives
1. Foster coordination and collaboration within the not-for-profit
sector and beyond for public benefit;
2. Build not-for-profit sector capacity;
3. Support new ways to reinvigorate Ontario's tradition of
volunteering;
4. Leverage technology to breakdown silos, increase
transparency and share information/resources;
5. Leverage and build upon existing not-for-profit sector
strengths;
6. Building sustainable solutions within the not-for-profit sector.
Project Timeline
Our Partners
 5 of 7 - 211 Provincial Partners:
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Community Connection
Community Information Centre of Ottawa
Findhelp Information Services
Information Niagara
Lakehead Social Planning Council
 Ontario Volunteer Centre Network (OVCN)
 Ontario 211 Services
Our Partners
 Sport4Ontario
 York University & Ryerson University
 Collège Boréal
 Ontario Coalition of Agencies Serving Immigrants
(OCASI)
 Others Pending
Our Collective Strength
 211: network of 30 plus partners across Ontario & database of almost 60K
human and social services
 OVCN: network of 8,400 organizations; 2,500 member agencies through 24
OVCN members
 Sport4Ontario: membership of 50 plus sport networks and organizations
connecting to Ontario’s 6,500 plus sport groups
 OCASI: network of 230 organizations in Ontario reaching Ontario’s
newcomers
 Collège Boréal: network of 43 satellite offices, engaging Ontario’s
Francophone community
Who will do the work?
 Findhelp: Existing management team members to
ensure we meet timelines.
 Part-time secondment from OVCN through Liz Dennis,
Volunteer Centre of Guelph/Wellington
 Part-time consultant from the volunteer sector - Lianne
Picot
 Leadership from other partners on working groups
including Ontario 211 Services and York University
 Others to be determined
Partnership Principles
Commitment to:
 Leveraging existing skills in the sector and within our partner
organizations.
 Utilizing this initiative to further enhance partner and sector skills.
Partnership Agreement:
 A collaborative of partners with strong values and principles, that
participants are pleased to be a part of.
 A process that focuses on the value and assets of the participating
organizations based on open communication, mutual respect and
productivity.
 Commitment to effective communication, mutual respect and
productivity.
Why Now?
One of the key recommendations of a recent
pan-Canadian study on volunteering
recommended that greater online engagement
would help to improve the volunteer experience.
“…fostering meaningful volunteer engagement in Canada today
is not just a capacity issue, but also a strategic one that must
evolve with the trends to meet the needs of both organizations
and volunteers themselves.”
(Bridging the Gap, Volunteer Canada, 2010)
Why Now?
 The next step in the development of collaborative
partnership between 211 Centres and Volunteer
Centres
 Has potential to expand upon a previous
collaborative project: 211 and Volunteer Centre
Services Report and Tool Kit
 Gateway grew from consultations between Ministry
of Citizenship and Immigration and the volunteer
sector
211 and Volunteer Centre
Services Report and Tool Kit
Report Highlights:
 online volunteer opportunity databases and a
repository of information about volunteering would
support volunteering in locations without volunteer
centres
Project partners agreed that: those interested in
volunteering and organizations wanting to share
information about volunteer opportunities should be
provided with a pathway to do so
Findhelp & 211 Interest
 Leverages the skills and abilities of the sector and project
partners:
o Builds the technology capacity of the sector, leveraging Findhelp’s experience
and capacity supporting provincial initiatives
o Leverages the 211 provincial database of almost 60,000 programs and services
o Showcases and leverages the experience of OVCN and it members
(not intended to compete with this)
 Positive and proactive response to funder pressures to
collaborate (integrate, merge, amalgamate) in order to
achieve system “efficiencies”
 Aims to maximize the impact of the non-profit sector for
the benefit of Ontarians, building our sector’s reputation
as a solutions provider and building public benefit
OVCN Interest
 Two Pan-ParaPan Am Games and Legacy projects support
core aspects of the work of the OVCN and Volunteer Centres
o Recruiting and Retaining volunteers (Gateway)
o Recognizing volunteers (PREB Ontario)
 Offers an unprecedented opportunity to profile volunteering in
Ontario
 Leveraging Technology to provide support for volunteers,
particularly in regions not supported by a Volunteer Centre
Service
 Opportunity to demonstrate the value added by
systems/capacity supporting organizations to the nonprofit
sector.
Volunteer Gateway
Project – Next Steps
Engagement Activities:
• Blog to engage our stakeholders in the
development of the Gateway
• Recruit Community Champions
• Content strategy that will showcase volunteering in
a new way and market opportunities effectively
• Storytelling to share impact of volunteering
Questions/Comments?
Thank You!