Vanna White. Donny Osmond. Spike Lee. Fran Drescher. Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver.

What do all these have in common? They all came into being in 1957, which means that in 2007, all turn 50 years old. It’s not known how Vanna, Donny, Spike or Fran will celebrate but the Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver threw a big 1950s themed family event last month to celebrate their 50th. Held at the Nat Bailey Stadium, an old baseball stadium with lots of history itself, party-goers enjoyed the entertainment of a bunch of Elvis impersonators, watched “Grease” at a drive-in theatre and set a Guinness Book of World Record for the largest dance class (317 people all learned to hand jive).

The 2004 National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations found that the average age of Canadian organizations is 29 years so it is interesting to hear from an organization that has 50 years of history. “I’m not sure that we’ve figured out any silver bullets or great secrets along the way,” admits John Houck, manager of communications and client service. “But we have realized that what makes our success is our volunteers.”

Having said that, to make the most of what volunteers have to offer, Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver has had to adapt their program over the years. They’ve had to find ways to make volunteering fit with the busy lives of potential volunteers – while still benefiting the Little Brother. Traditionally, Big Brothers called for a weekly commitment of three to four hours at a time. That’s what most people still think when they hear about Big Brothers and that time commitment can be a barrier to volunteering. New programs like the in-school mentoring program match up a man or a woman with a Little Brother in a school setting where they spend one hour together maybe shooting baskets or doing arts and crafts.

Marketing done differently today

While different options were needed to fit with the time available from today’s Big Brothers, Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver also changed the way it marketed itself to potential volunteers. Explains Houck, “In the past, a lot of times the focus was on the ‘poor needy child’ that needed a Big Brother. What we realized was that marketing line tended to leave people thinking, ‘Wow what a great thing to do but I could never do that.’ People felt they needed to be a Mother Theresa to qualify.”

However, from the Little Brother’s point of view what is important is spending time together and sharing experiences. Most of the really good conversations aren’t the kind that hit between the eyes as a really significant conversation. The marketing line Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver uses now is “share a little magic” because it’s the little moments – going to a movie, throwing a football around, washing the car – that add up rather than Big Brothers being responsible for an incredible, significant big experience with a child every week.

Teen mentoring advantage

Another new non-traditional approach is the teen mentoring program initiative, which matches a Little Brother (aged six to 12) with a teen mentor. “What’s great is that it tends to benefit both. We find that the teens become more engaged in the community and see that they can have a positive impact.” What’s also great is that the teen mentoring program helps Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver reach out to the immigrant population in the city, which keeps growing.

“Our expertise tends to be in program delivery and so we don’t have contact with immigrant services but we now have the advantage of the teen mentoring program. We’re trying to take our teen mentoring program into areas with a high ratio of newcomers to Canada,” comments Houck. The teen mentors and the children tend to have either the same cultural mix or immigrant experiences. The teen has already gone through many of the integration challenges that the Little Brother now faces. From a volunteer development point of view the teen mentoring program makes sense as well and the goal is for the teen mentors to come back to volunteer as adults.

The result of the new program initiatives is growth in numbers. “Up until five or six years ago we were pretty stagnant. We provided a very good service but to a limited number of kids. We weren’t seeing growth in numbers. Part of that, I think was a bit of complacency but most agencies go through that. There wasn’t any particularly crisis or shock but there was a realization that we needed to do more.” In the last four years, Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver doubled the number of matches year over year and is up to about 750 matches currently. The goal is 1200 matches by 2010. The national benchmark is 100,000 matches by 2010 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the whole organization.

Huge priority on safety of children

Another area of change for the organization is the emphasis placed on screening. While Houck feels that child safety was always an important factor, it is more overt today and includes an extensive period of screening and training. While, in some ways the screening process may make it more difficult to get involved, Houck definitely finds that it makes for better matches because they get a better understanding of the person who is applying to volunteer.

Interestingly, as the organization became much more stringent in screening volunteers, they’ve actually became more efficient. According to Houck, four years ago it took about 120 days from the time a person applied to Big Brothers until they were matched. “It was incredibly long and demotivating for the volunteer. When we spent the time really looking at the process we realized that there was a lot of down time during the criminal checks, reference checks, etc. and we’ve been able to move people through the system more quickly,” remarks Houck. Today, the average time for screening and matching is 59 days.

In many ways, the mission of Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver is the same as it was 50 years ago. At the core level, Big Brothers was – and is – about building relationships between a mentor and a little brother. Over the years, they’ve found ways to remain relevant by adapting their programs and their messages. “We may deliver things in a different way and market in a different way,” concludes Houck, “But when it comes down to it, the mentoring relationship remains at the core.”

Louise Chatterton Luchuk is a freelance writer and consultant who combines her love of writing with experience at the local, provincial and national levels of volunteer-involving organizations. For more information, visit www.luchuk.com.