In April of 2005, concerned that many skilled retirees weren't active in
the community, a retired senior executive of a large Calgary corporation
brought together a group of interested individuals to discuss how to
engage retirees in the voluntary sector. The group included United Way of Calgary and Area and Volunteer Calgary.
The conversation was not new to United Way and Volunteer Calgary.
In fact, informal research conducted throughout 2003/04 indicated that
the expertise of both baby boomers and early retirees would be lost to
the community if they did not become engaged in community work in new
and different ways.
The intent of this project is to gain insight into the role that
retirees could play in Calgary's volunteer community and broaden the
scope of understanding around the definition of a 'high skills'
volunteer.
The Pilot Project
We are looking for 6 tp 8 voluntary organizations interested in
exploring new methodologies to engage high skill volunteers in strategic
organizational work. In addition to advancing organizational
capacity, this project will leverage the skills and influence of
volunteers to advance the mission of the organizations involved.
Volunteer Calgary is managing the 12 month pilot project and has hired
an applied researcher and coach/consultant to support these
organizations and document the findings.
An Invitation
Working alongside your colleagues as well as
an applied researcher, you will be led through a process that will
identify ways in which high skilled volunteers can enhance your mission.
Throughout the twelve months, you will work with a coach/consultant who
will support and challenge you as you consider new ways to engage high
skill volunteers.
Depending on your organization’s needs, at the end of the project, you
may have:
- developed new strategies regarding an integrated human resources
approach that includes staff, board and volunteers
- initiated a process that engages high skills volunteers
- formed new thinking around volunteer involvement in your
organization and the role of volunteer managers.
Who are we looking for?
Specifically, we are in search of organizations that are:
- ready to examine their capacity to involve high-skills
volunteers
- ready for change and willing to implement new strategies
(particularly the concept of ‘contracting’ volunteers for projects
rather than the traditional position description favored for direct
service volunteers)
- interested in exploring the concept of integrated human resource
development (including paid staff, volunteers and members of the
board of directors) rather than an isolated volunteer program or a
targeted recruitment program
- supported by the direct involvement of their executive director
- willing to have their findings documented throughout the
project in order to develop case studies and other learning tools
that will capture the impact of the work and disseminated to the
community.
I’m interested, now what?
We invite you to contact Cindy Frank-Lewis at Volunteer Calgary at
231-1428 or by
email.
