There almost wasn’t a story to tell about the future of the Volunteer Resource Centre for Durham Region (VRC). Early in 2006, the organization ran out of core funding. Although they had grant applications in process, there were no guarantees of funds and the volunteer centre set a shutdown date. This situation isn’t unique to the region of Durham either, yet the number of communities interested in starting volunteer centres outnumbers the ones where volunteer centres are closing their doors. The future of volunteer centres hinges on building awareness, being relevant, and successfully expanding traditional functions.

‘It was really odd,’ says Nancy Burke, executive director of the VRC, ‘but the Friday we were shutting down, the president of our board received a donation to keep us open for another month. Then the following Monday, I opened an envelope with confirmation of a significant 12-month grant. The doors opened up again and we were back in business, but we are not yet sustaining ourselves long term by any means.’ The volunteer centre continues to struggle and operates on a month to month basis but they are in deep brainstorming mode. ‘We have to get creative,’ remarks Burke. ‘What services are most valuable and how do we keep these services and for the most minimal cost possible?’

Expanding beyond the traditional recruitment and referral function

There is no question that the services offered by volunteer centres have changed. Nathalie Charette is Volunteer Canada‘s manager of voluntary sector relations and is the staff liaison between Volunteer Canada and volunteer centres across the country. Charette offers the big picture overview of where volunteer centres have come from and where they are headed.

In 2001, with input from volunteer centres, Volunteer Canada adopted an official definition of volunteer centres. They identified the four core functions of a volunteer centre. The most traditional function focuses on connecting people with volunteer opportunities – what volunteer centres would have been primarily known for 10 years ago. As volunteer centres evolve, however, there is a greater focus on the other three functions: promoting volunteerism; offering training and consulting; and, providing leadership in communities on matters of volunteerism. The future of volunteer centres will be more about enabling organizations to effectively involve volunteers.

“The network of volunteer centres is strengthening,” says Alison Stevens, chair of the Advisory Council of Volunteer Centres. “We learn from each other through the extranet, teleconferences and face-to-face meetings.” Recently, Volunteer Canada received a grant from the UPS Foundation to develop an electronic toolkit to help volunteer centres share resources with one another.

Stevens is also the coordinator of training and consultation with the Centre d’action bénévole de Montréal (CABM), the oldest volunteer centre in Canada. In 1937, the Junior League of Montreal started up the Central Volunteer Bureau. On Stevens’ office wall there is a photo of the founding volunteers that demonstrates to Stevens just how far her organization has evolved. The photo captures a group of English-speaking ladies of a certain social standing with their hats on. Fast forward 70 years and you’ll find a diverse office with a contingent of staff and volunteers conducting the majority of their work in French and working with more than 850 organizations.

Getting the message out

One of the biggest challenges Stevens observes for today’s volunteer centres has to do with getting their message out. Three years ago, CABM restructured and added a full-time communications officer. Says Stevens, ‘That position is very helpful because we’re not working with starving children or some disease. We don’t have a clientele. What we do is behind the scenes. Our mandate is to work with all these organizations. It’s difficult for people to see what we do and it is a challenge to get the message out.’

Several provinces away at Volunteer Cochrane, coordinator Kim Rowe agrees that raising public awareness is a challenge. Cochrane started as a ranching community and is one of the fastest growing populations in Canada. For Rowe, that means that a large section of the population is unknown to her and her to them.

Cochrane’s rural roots are still visible, though, explains Rowe. In a rural community there are many connotations to the word ‘volunteer’ and many don’t identify themselves as a volunteer even though they are heavily involved in the community through their church, sports, or helping out a neighbour. ‘If you’re a volunteer centre, they may not understand the need for [that]. We have to think about how we put ourselves out there. We focus on community involvement and being connected to community,’ says Rowe.

As Volunteer Cochrane reaches out to its community, it is more and more evident to Rowe that there is the need for someone to speak on behalf of the voluntary sector. ‘People in the sector don’t have time and resources to be able to say, ‘When this happens, I am affected in this way…,” she points out. ‘There are so many common issues and one of our functions as a volunteer centre is to show leadership.’

Charette is very hopeful for the future direction of volunteer centres in Canada. ‘Passion has always been at the foundation of volunteer centres. Now they are also collaborating and becoming more networked. They are identifying a better niche for themselves. They are looking at how they can be relevant and recognizing that supporting volunteerism can look different in different communities.’

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.