Dear colleagues,

Bridging Volunteer Experience to Skills Development

New Employer-Supported Volunteer Research and Tool

In December 2010, Volunteer Canada and Manulife Financial unveiled Bridging the Gap, a pan-Canada research study identifying gaps between what Canadians look for when they consider volunteering and how organizations engage their volunteers. The research gathered practical information organizations can use to engage volunteers in four distinct demographic groups: youth, family, baby boomers, and employer-supported volunteers. Volunteer Canada and Manulife are currently focused on filling these gaps through their Building the Bridge campaign. As part of the ongoing multifaceted campaign, the partners are developing four cohort-specific factsheets that outline the characteristics of each cohort, as well as barriers and opportunities to their volunteer engagement.

The first fact sheet focused on employer-supported volunteers launches today. Click here to view it on getvolunteering.ca.

New Skills Plus Tool

Also released today is a new tool, titled Skills Plus. The tool is designed to capitalize on the skills-building potential of volunteering. It identifies hard skills required for certain occupations (e.g. creating financial statements or managing meetings), as well as the core competencies that enable people to be highly effective employees. Click here to access the new Skills Plus tool. 

Volunteer Canada is pleased to invite you to watch a free pre-recorded video seminar now, available for viewing online. Click here to view the video seminar.  The video session outlines the key components of the new Skills Plus tool.

The session is led by Paula Speevak-Sladowski, Director of Applied Research and Public Policy, Volunteer Canada.  It will be available on Volunteer Canada’s YouTube channel today at approximately 2 p.m. ET. You can view Volunteer Canada’s YouTube channel now by clicking here.

For your newsletters, websites, social media, and more

Attached to this e-mail, please find the new research fact sheet on employer-supported volunteerism.

Also included in this message is an advance confidential copy of Volunteer Canada’s media release announcing the new tool. This media release is slated to be issued Thursday, June 23 at 8 a.m. ET. You may wish to adapt the release and send it to local media if your organization is engaged in work related to skills-based or employer-supported volunteering. We have included space in the media release for you to include your own quote and contact information. At the same time, you may wish to integrate copy from this media release into your newsletters, websites, speeches, and for social media, as appropriate.

Volunteer Canada acknowledges the support of its leading corporate partner Manulife Financial, for their involvement in developing the research and tools presented in this workshop.

Please feel free to contact Paula Speevak-Sladowski at pspeevak-sladowski@volunteer.ca if you have any questions about the tool.


Fact Sheet

Skills Plus

ESV Release