Professional Development

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1 Professional Development Compiled by the Engaging Organizations Department Volunteer Centre of Toronto 344 Bloor St. West, Suite 404 Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3A7 T F E info@volunteertoronto.ca volunteertoronto.ca

2 Using this Resource Guide & Workbook The Professional Development resource guide & workbook has been compiled by Volunteer Toronto to help managers of volunteers in community groups, non-profits and charitable organizations with the tools to expand their volunteer management skillset and reach professional goals. This guide contains information about different professional development offerings and career transition opportunities for those in the volunteer management profession.

Professional Development This resource guide & workbook will help you: 1. Learn about diploma, degree and certificate programs in volunteer management 2.

Establish potential career transitions from volunteer management 5.

3 Professional Development This resource guide & workbook will help you: 1. Learn about diploma, degree and certificate programs in volunteer management 2. Understand the different professional certifications and designations 3. Discover the various resources and training opportunities available to you to improve your work 4. Establish potential career transitions from volunteer management 5. Make the case for professional development as necessary for your role Contents College & University programs in Toronto Certifications Conferences Volunteer Toronto Training Resources for Volunteer Managers Career Transitions Making the Case for Professional Development Your Mission Whenever your organization is engaging volunteers, it s important to remember your organization s mission. It s your goal as a volunteer coordinator, manager, or supervisor to ensure that your volunteers contribute to the mission and goals of your organization in whatever role or capacity they hold. This will make it easier to justify further volunteer involvement and recruitment and to increase their impact across your organization. Page 1

College & University Programs There are a few options for post-secondary and post-graduate programs that can help you develop and improve skills specifically in volunteer management.

4 College & University Programs There are a few options for post-secondary and post-graduate programs that can help you develop and improve skills specifically in volunteer management. They range from full-time in-person programs to online courses on your own schedule. While these programs can be expensive, they provide valuable knowledge from professional educators. Humber College - Volunteer Management Leadership Certificate Updated and redeveloped from Humber s Management of Volunteers certificate, this certificate program is made up of 3 courses that can be taken during any seasonal session. Courses are offered on evenings once a week or online. Sir Sandford Fleming College - Volunteer Management Certificate This fully online course offers flexibility in taking lessons and completing projects it also includes a capstone component which will allow students to create a project or investigate a research topic to benefit an organization. The 3 courses plus applied project course are offered year round. Ryerson University - Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Management An interdisciplinary certificate program, Ryerson s courses cover a wide range of non-profit and voluntary sector management topics. This program does not focus on volunteer management but provides useful modules for the profession, including Leading through Change, Issues of Diversity and Program Evaluation. 4 required and 4 elective courses make up the program, which can be completed in-person, online or as a mix of both. Seneca College - Nonprofit Leadership & Management Seneca s program is a full-time, 8 month college certificate program that covers a number of non-profit leadership topics with specific courses on program evaluation, human resources and more. At the start of the program, candidates can choose a themed stream to focus on, such as working with volunteers. This program is only offered in-person and full-time but does include a field placement component. Choosing a Program When looking at the different college and university program options, think about what method (online or in-person) and how much time (short term or 8-month) best fits your schedule and learning style. Also consider tuition costs when making your decision! Page 2

5 Certifications Certifications provide a level of professional recognition for volunteer managers; in most cases, a certification allows you to add letters to the end of your professional title (an accreditation) and showcase your commitment to volunteers and professional behaviour as a person who engages volunteers. There are two certifications available for volunteer coordinators in Toronto. Certificate in Volunteer Resource Management - Ontario The CVRM certification, administered and accredited by the Professional Association of Volunteer Leaders-Ontario (PAVRO) is the only regional certificate of its kind in Canada. While it does not have an exam component, there are a number of practical requirements to achieve the certification, including: ongoing professional development, minimum experience in a volunteer engagement role, commitment to profession and leadership as well as written elements. PAVRO encourages certification to ensure a streamlined volunteer management profession and recipients must be re-certified every three years. Learn more about the CVRM certificate here. Certificate of Volunteer Administration - National The CVA certification is administered by the Council for Certification of Volunteer Administrators, an American organization that provides the credential to American and Canadian volunteer managers. The certification is officially supported by the Volunteer Management Professionals of Canada (VMPC) and replaces their previous certification process. VMPC members are given a discount on the certification process through the Council for Certification of Volunteer Administrators, and application requires three years full-time experience, a minimum of 30 percent focus on volunteer resource management and two letters of recommendation. The process to achieve the CVA certification includes an exam and portfolio components. Learn more about the CVA certification here. Page 3

Conferences Conferences provide a great opportunity to obtain a number of professional development opportunities and experiences in a short time from a variety of perspectives and facilitators.

VECTor Conference - Toronto Volunteer Toronto s own VECTor Conference takes place every March and welcomes volunteer coordinators and managers - along with senior leadership and Executive Directors

This annual conference is a single-day event and offers between 6 and 10 workshops, panels and keynotes for participants to choose from.

6 Conferences Conferences provide a great opportunity to obtain a number of professional development opportunities and experiences in a short time from a variety of perspectives and facilitators. There are a few offerings for Toronto area volunteer managers to make it easy to maximize learning in a shorter time frame. VECTor Conference - Toronto Volunteer Toronto s own VECTor Conference takes place every March and welcomes volunteer coordinators and managers - along with senior leadership and Executive Directors to connect about volunteering in Toronto and the unique trends and patterns that affect the thousands of organizations that maximize their impact with volunteers every year. This annual conference is a single-day event and offers between 6 and 10 workshops, panels and keynotes for participants to choose from. TAVA Conference - Toronto The Toronto Association for Volunteer Administration has a conference in the first quarter of each year. The event is a streamlined workshop and networking conference that has all participants attend the same sessions led by curated facilitators and trainers. As a smaller conference, space is limited so keep an eye out for registration and sign up early. This annual conference is a single-day event and offers 3-4 workshops and keynotes delivered back-to-back throughout the day. Leaders in Volunteer Engagement - Ontario The LIVE conference is PAVRO s annual conference for volunteer management professionals from across the province. The venue changes from year to year but it always occurs in May, bringing numerous volunteer administrators together for a variety of workshops and networking events. As a province-wide conference, the event attracts a mix of topics, facilitators and participants. This annual conference is a multi-day event and provides a wide range of workshop options for participants. Page 4

7 Volunteer Toronto Training There are three easy ways to receive training and professional development opportunities from Volunteer Toronto: Online The Online Learning Centre features a variety of pre-recorded online courses that can be completed on your own time, any time! Courses include Volunteer Management Basics courses that are free for all community group and full subscribers of Volunteer Toronto, as well as paid intermediate and advanced courses on a number of topics, including the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement, Police Reference Checks & the Ontario Human Rights Code and Volunteer Program Evaluation. All paid courses can be accessed for one full year after purchase and can be used by anyone in your organization making them a great deal and a fantastic way to refresh your learning throughout the year. New courses are added every regularly. On-Demand For years, Volunteer Toronto has been providing on-site training at organization facilities to volunteer managers and staff. Our on-demand training provides you with the same expertise as our in-person and online workshops at a great rate 1 hour of training for up to 20 participants for $200, or $120 if your organization is a full subscriber of Volunteer Toronto! You can even combine workshop topics, which you can check out here, to make a three hour workshop combination. In-Person Workshops Subscriber Circles Trailblazer Series Held monthly, workshops are in-person training sessions at our Spadina and Bloor office and can cover a range of topics from Technology for Volunteer Managers and Dealing with Difficult Volunteers to Police Reference Checks and Rethinking Recruitment. Subscriber Circles are monthly discussion groups only available to full subscribers of Volunteer Toronto and take place in the last or second-last week of each month. Every other month, they take place in a different part of Toronto to better reach our subscriber s communities. Topics for Subscriber Circles are designed to ignite discussion between participants and allow you to learn from your peers to solve problems in your volunteer program. The monthly Trailblazer Series workshops are a set of leadership talks for people who manage volunteer-run organizations and groups in Toronto. They take place in the evening and are free of charge, but are specifically for those from smaller, volunteer-run non-profits and charities. The talks provide an opportunity for local leaders to hear from peers and experts on how to overcome common challenges faced by organizations with no paid staff and limited resources. Page 5

8 Resources for Volunteer Managers Along with Volunteer Toronto s bountiful in-house resources, you can find a number of other resources to support volunteer managers from Toronto and across the country. Volunteer Toronto s Volunteer Management Resources The Management Resources page provides a trove of free and subscriber-only resources covering a wide range of topics for volunteer management. Free resources and workbooks cover the basics of volunteer management (like this workbook!) along with handy articles and information about the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement and accessibility. Our subscriber-only resources are available for community group and full subscribers and cover more intermediate and advanced topics, delving into detail on a number of issues and challenges for volunteer managers and providing handy templates, guides and tools for running a successful volunteer program. New resources are added regularly. Canadian Journal for Volunteer Resources Management Published 3 times a year, the Canadian Journal of Volunteer Resources Management (CJVRM) is the national nonprofit publication about the management of volunteers in Canada. With articles, editorials and essays on a variety of topics, the CJVRM is a useful resource for volunteer managers and coordinators to get a sense of volunteerism in Canada and new trends that affect many organizations. PAVR-O members receive the Journal for free, or alternatively your organization can subscribe directly with the CJVRM here. Volunteer Canada Volunteer Canada s website has a wealth of free resources on a variety of topics they also host full versions of the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement, the Canadian Code for Employer-Supported Volunteering and The Screening Handbook. Volunteer Canada works to support organizations that work with volunteers through a number of campaigns and resource projects head to their website here to see what they have to offer. AVA s - Toronto Association of Volunteer Administrators & Scarborough Association of Volunteer Administrators AVA s are prominent community organizations that help support volunteer managers through a variety of resources and events. TAVA serves Toronto, North York and Etobicoke and SAVA serves Scarborough. Membership in each AVA provides you with access to monthly meetings, sessions or round table events where volunteer managers can network, dialogue and provide support for each other. TAVA membership provides access to an online membership forum, the CJVRM and other resources. SAVA hosts monthly networking meetings and training events with a focus on volunteerism in Scarborough. Learn more about TAVA and SAVA by clicking on the appropriate link. Page 6

9 Career Transitions As a manager of volunteers, you have a number of transferable skills that can be useful for career growth and transition. An integral part of professional development is working toward improved skills, knowledge and capabilities in a variety of areas. Since managers of volunteers do so many different things and often have multiple projects on the go, take a look at the possible career transitions that these skills can help you achieve. Human Resources As a manager of volunteers, you are a human resources professional! The Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement advocates for a one workforce approach in organizations, where staff and volunteers work together as a single team. Your skills and experience in recruitment, selection, supervision, evaluation and retention of volunteers are valuable to the human resources profession to ensure staff teams grow and are maintained effectively. Logistics & Operations Scheduling your volunteers, especially when you have a lot of shifts, can be a logistical challenge. Your experience with scheduling and allocating resources is very useful to careers in logistics and operations management. As the goal of logistics planning is to effectively allocate resources of all kinds, your skills and experience with volunteer events, program planning and working with staff and community requests will be useful to this field. Community Relationship Management Project Management You may be handling ongoing volunteer recruitment as well as managing and monitoring many other volunteers at the same time. You may also have numerous projects for your volunteer program streams, and even other projects for different areas of your organization. As a volunteer manager, you ve developed transferable skills in managing and sometimes juggling multiple projects through to completion. Management & Leadership By managing dozens, or even hundreds, of volunteers, you re honing your skills as a people manager and leader. Volunteer managers can easily transition into staff and team management roles thanks to the variety of skills and tools needed to effectively manage your volunteer workforce. Consider the various needs of your volunteers and how you can adapt your management technique to staff teams and groups. As the leader of your volunteer community, it s important to keep open contact and communication between you and your volunteers. In fact, you re honing your skills in community and client relationship management, a career that makes use of interpersonal communications to ensure success in providing service and sales. Page 7

10 Making the Case for Professional Development As a manager of volunteers, you have a number of transferable skills that can be useful for career growth and transition. An integral part of professional development is working toward improved skills, knowledge and capabilities in a variety of areas. Since managers of volunteers do so many different things and often have multiple projects on the go, take a look at the possible career transitions that these skills can help you achieve. If you don t have the ability to attend or receive professional development opportunities, you should make the case to your management and senior leadership, if necessary about the necessity of professional development to your role. Showcase how an improved volunteer manager can also improve your volunteer program and engagement as well as your organization as a whole better volunteer recruitment, selection, retention and support Highlight the impact a volunteer program has on an organization s mission; effective volunteer engagement means value added for clients, support for staff, access to a wealth of knowledge and skills, and a strong relationship with the community Talk about the various college and university programs available to you that can increase your knowledge and skillset in the volunteer manager role, especially considering many courses are offered online Address the value of certification as a volunteer management professional showcase your commitment to your community and attract volunteers who know you are up to date on professional practice Ask for funding to attend one of the volunteer management conference options learn a lot of material in a short time frame while networking with others in the field to stay up to date on trends and changes If you re not a Subscriber to Volunteer Toronto, talk about the great value that subscription gives you along with the resources and numerous training opportunities available to volunteer managers, include online on-your-own-time training Subscribe to the Canadian Journal of Volunteer Resources Management or check out other online resources to help back up your case for professional development show how volunteering trends change quickly and that you need the right tools to recruit volunteers of all audiences Talk about the different ways your role can support other operations and roles in the organization thanks to the bountiful transferable skills you possess and how professional development can help expand this skillset to make you an even more valuable resource for your organization Page 8

11 Want to learn more? Professional Development Subscribe to Volunteer Toronto to access quality learning resources and tools to help you create the best possible volunteer program. Your subscription includes: New to Volunteer Management or would like a refresher? Get access to our in-depth e-learning courses on Volunteer Management Basics that cover numerous topics from planning for volunteer involvement to retaining great volunteers. Need some brilliant ideas or extra assistance? Our expanded Resource Guides & Workbooks will help you on your way to planning for volunteer involvement, recruiting volunteers, interviewing and selecting volunteers, and much more. Want the most bang for your buck? We are your one-stop shop for volunteer recruitment - for anything from events to your Board. Promoting your volunteer opportunities has never been easier; with over 3400 potential volunteers searching our website daily, your postings reach a wide audience. Full Subscribers can post an unlimited number of opportunities on our website - Community Subscribers get 6 free postings per year! Full subscribers can attend free discussion groups, get discounts on training, get exclusive partner discounts on useful products and services, and more! Visit volunteertoronto.ca to subscribe now! This has been compiled by the Engaging Organizations Department of Volunteer Toronto, Copyright 2015 Volunteer Centre of Toronto 344 Bloor St. West, Suite 404 Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3A7 T F E info@volunteertoronto.ca volunteertoronto.ca

What is SMPS? SMPS offers members professional development, leadership opportunities, and marketing resources to advance their careers.

What is SMPS? SMPS offers members professional development, leadership opportunities, and marketing resources to advance their careers. The Power of SMPS What is SMPS? SMPS is a community of marketing and business development professionals working to secure profitable business relationships for their A/E/C companies. Through networking,