Why Volunteer?

By: Volunteer Success

It’s really important to think about why you want to volunteer to find the right role. Are you simply doing it to graduate because community service hours are required for high school graduation in your province? Or are you looking for a meaningful experience?

  • There are great benefits to volunteering for both high school students and college/university students
  • Think about your specific why(s) for volunteering:
    • Use or develop skills: check out this skills self-assessment
    • Explore your interests and a career path. Get some great ideas here!
    • Develop your resume or application for post-secondary school
    • Give back to the community and contribute to something larger than yourself
    • Meet new people and develop your network

Once you can answer your why, go to: Where & Who to Volunteer With?

Also check out:

When can I volunteer?

How to Find the Right Volunteer Opportunity

How to Apply for Volunteer Roles

How-to Tips for Interviewing and Email Communications

How-to Tips for Applying for Unadvertised Volunteer Opportunities

How-to Tips for Working in the Volunteer Role

How to Troubleshoot Problems in Your Volunteer Role

How to Get a Reference and/or Paid Role!

Also read…

How to Accelerate Volunteering through Employee Volunteer Programmes

By: Benjamin J. Lough University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Yvonne Siu Turner Points of Light, USA

This research empirically investigates various company practices and policies associated with high rates of volunteer participation in employee volunteer programmes (EVPs). Data were taken from surveys conducted in 2014 and 2015 among companies in the United States with an annual revenue of $1 billion or more, with 166 companies included in the analysis.

What didn't work will make us stronger

By: Rob Jackson

This article talks about lessons learned through the pandemic about volunteers who signed up to help and the issues to connect with the organizations

Will Non-profit Volunteer Programs Survive Instability?

By: By Lori Gotlieb

After reading an article that was published by CBC about the decline of volunteering in Toronto, I decided to write an opinion piece. Volunteerism is at the core of community engagement and program delivery for many organizations and has been through the best of times and the worst of times but it is not immune to the social, economic and political factors that we all face. In fact, organizations should be factoring in the landscape of volunteer support in their short term and long term strategic planning.