2018 Volunteer Conference Information - Coming Soon!
2017 Conference Workshops
FRIDAY MORNING WORKSHOPS
Conversation on Diversity & Inclusion
Laughie Rutt & Huwaida Medani, Halifax Regional Municipality
Participants in this interactive workshop will come to understand and value diversity and inclusion. You will explore the challenges and opportunities to engaging volunteers and community members of diverse backgrounds, as well as gain tools to support diversity and inclusion as an individual or in your volunteer group. You will examine barriers to inclusion and how to eliminate them, improving your ability to be more welcoming and inclusive.
Effective Marketing on a Budget
Deanna Wilmshurst, Halifax Regional Municipality
This workshop will help participants to understand their target audience to improve communication by using the right marketing tools such as social media, websites, ads & earned media. Learn about some low-cost marketing approaches for those volunteer organizations on a shoe string budget and how to lay out a basic plan/calendar.
Board Basics - Tools for Success
Veronica McNeil, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Halifax
This interactive workshop will include discussion on what the board job is and the key responsibilities such as financial accountability, legal obligations and human resources, which will help participants understand various individual board roles and responsibilities, as well as those of committees. Participants will also gain an understanding of board documents and their purpose (by-laws, policies & the “Rules of Order”) and how to use them. The workshop also covers goal setting / action planning, tools and tips to move the board forward, good governance practices and board resources.
How Do You Know If Your Program Is Having an Impact?
Bonnie Conrad, IWK Health Centre
This interactive session will host a conversation about the basics of program evaluation (what is it, what to measure, how to measure it, what to do with the information collected). Tools and resources will also be shared to help participants take action to evaluate their own initiatives. It is ideal if participants come with a program/initiative they want to evaluate, including program goal, target audience, what is the program supposed to do (i.e. outcome objectives).
Corporate Support for Non-profits
Panel Discussion – To Be Announced
How do you tap into resources other than traditional grants? Have you considered engaging the corporate and small business sector? Did you know there is support for groups in the form of money, resources, networks and volunteers? Discover how to communicate your organizational value and build mutually beneficial relationships. Join this panel discussion of business and non-profit representatives, that have built these relationships, to discover more.
Team Building
Brooke Neily & Sarah Colley, Halifax Regional Municipality
Building strong, effective teams is an ongoing process and doesn’t always happen naturally. In this workshop, you will gain an understanding of group dynamics in a team and explore techniques for creating effective teams. Experience some team building activities that you can bring back to your own group, as well as tools for effective communication.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS
Fundraising in a Small Organization - THIS COURSE IS FULL
Lori Barker, Ronald McDonald House
One thing we all face as organizations is the on-going need to raise more funds so the worthy causes we champion will continue to thrive. Smaller organizations, however, have a unique challenge in that staff and volunteers need to be well versed in all facets of fundraising, from special events to major gifts, and everything in between. In addition, we must understand the budgeting and planning processes within our organizations, especially as they pertain to fundraising goals.
In this workshop, I will share some of the principles I consider when building a development portfolio. We will also spend time exploring how we inspire others to give of their resources, be it time or treasures.
Please bring your development plans (if you have one), annual budgets and last year’s financial results to reference during the session (you won’t be asked to share this information, but it might be useful for a couple of the activities).
Social Media Strategy: Day-to-Day & in a Crisis
Breton Murphy, Halifax Regional Municipality
Learn the fundamentals of developing a social media strategy and how it fits within an effective crisis communications plan. This workshop will provide insights into the key components of a social media strategy, basic do’s and don’ts for posting content, response workflows (i.e. assessing when and how to respond to negative and positive comments), considerations for how to properly resource social media engagement, as well as how to measure performance and build on success.
Introduction to Take Charge of Your Stress & Tai Chi
Angela Sarty, Community Health Team & Tai Chi Instructor - TBA
In the first hour of this workshop, develop an understanding of, and explore, a variety of stress management techniques and make a plan for how to make these strategies work in your life. In the second hour, learn some basics of Tai Chi practice as an experienced instructor takes you through a series of poses designed to improve overall health and fight the effects of stress through gentle physical activity.
Conflict Management - THIS COURSE IS FULL
Ishbel Munroe , Halifax Regional Municipality
Using Dialogue for Peaceful Change (DPC) mediation skills and methodology, we will be engaged in conversation and activities that will deepen our understanding of conflict and the various forms of how to deal with it. We will have an opportunity to explore how we deal with conflict ourselves, our conflict style, to give us more insight into how others may as well. We will briefly look at some of the important principles of managing conflict and be introduced to specific models of conflict analysis.
DPC is an international program that has brought together the best methodologies from around the world in community based conflict mediation, providing effective tools and strategies for analyzing and addressing conflicts. It moves beyond traditional mediative methods, focusing on conflict content, culture and spirituality. The experiential processes allow practice of the stages of conflict mediation and to apply the tools of “meditative behavior” in a realistic context. For more information about DPC go to www.dialogueforpeacefulchange.net
Budgeting Basics
Andy Conrad, Halifax Regional Municipality
This workshop will help you understand what a budget is and how it can be your most valuable management tool. Learn to use the budget to measure performance and your overall understanding of your risks and assumptions. Whether you are developing a budget for your organization or an event, you will go through the process of budget development.
Volunteers Leading Volunteers: Best Practices
Kylene Mellor, CVA, IWK Health Centre
You’ve been tasked/asked/invited to coordinate volunteers as a volunteer leader! Where should you start? What’s most important? How will you succeed? Come find out about tools, tips and resources to help you manage and juggle this role!
SATURDAY MORNING WORKSHOPS
Planning & Leading Effective Meetings
Lillian Ash, Halifax Regional Municipality
Tired of meeting for the sake of meeting? Tired of nothing getting accomplished? This interactive session will take you through the steps to develop a plan that will ensure an effective, energizing meeting. You will look at logistics, agendas, minute taking, participant roles and meeting evaluation.
How to Attract the Elusive “Youthus Volunteericus”
Shawna Shirley, Halifax Regional Municipality
Put on your favourite safari hat and join us on an expedition to locate the Youthus Volunteericus in their natural habitat. We’ll find out the best ways to attract them to your cause but use caution: they can be skittish so we’ll also cover how to avoid scaring them away! Once we’ve successfully lured these valuable creatures we’ll cover how to feed and nurture them to keep them happy and coming back. Bug spray not required.
Not Your Mothers/Fathers Board Secretary
Grant MacDonald, GoverningGood.ca
Drawing on questions from and the experience of participants the session will look at many of the following topics: role of the secretary inside and outside of meetings; the board chair-secretary partnership; great board minutes, including why taking minutes may be just as important that the minutes themselves; a little of "Roberts Rules" is all you need; pros and cons of rotating the taking of board minutes among directors; the importance of the secretary's voice in meetings; and should you combine secretary and treasurer roles? This workshop will be of value to board secretaries, board chairs and anyone else serving as a volunteer on a non-profit board.
Recruiting for a Diverse Board
Laurie Cook, Community Sector Council of NS & Sobaz Benjamin, iMove Arts Association
Greater diversity on non-profit boards leads to greater effectiveness. What recruitment strategies are you using to ensure diversity of geography, community representation, skillsets and experience in the volunteer sector? What does diversity mean to your board? This interactive workshop will explore the benefits of diversity and assessing your board to aid you in recruitment and succession planning.
Volunteering in the 21st Century
Darren Hirtle, Halifax Regional Municipality
This workshop will look at volunteer trends, how Canadians are volunteering and explore the gaps between what volunteers are looking for and how organizations are organized. How can we ensure that the quality of the volunteer experience keeps both volunteers and organizations satisfied? This interactive workshop will present strategies and tips to recruit new volunteers while exploring ways for organizations to better engage potential volunteers.
Big idea, small budget, no problem!
Leanne Tremblay, Fusion Halifax
All events start with big ideas, but most of us quickly feel overwhelmed. As volunteers, we face unique challenges, with small budgets and teams. Want to put the fun back in event planning and run events with less strain on your organization and yourself? We'll discuss tangible strategies, tactics and tools you can use to take your event from a great idea to an overwhelming success! If you want to transform how you promote, implement and evaluate your next event and walk away with useful templates and tip sheets, this workshop is for you.