Strengthening Communities
Through
Volunteer Program Development
Partnering with Leadership Volunteers - Manual
January 2017
Funded by:
Contents
Contents 2
Who is this manual for? 3
Acknowledgements 3
Definition of Leadership Volunteers 4
Value of Leadership Volunteers to CNIB 6
Recruiting Leadership Volunteers 7
The Recruitment Process 8
Where do we find leadership recruits? 9
How to make contact with a potential leadership volunteer 11
Recruiting Young Leadership Volunteers 11
The Interview and Screening Process for Leadership Volunteers 11
Establishing Expectations 12
Mentorship, Orientation and Training of Leadership Volunteers 13
Stewarding and Retention of Leadership Volunteers 14
The Role of Staff 16
Closing Thoughts 19
Appendix #1 – Spirit of partnership 21
Appendix #2 – CNIB's philosophy on volunteerism 22
Appendix #3 - CNIB Board Structure - Overview 24
Appendix #4 - CNIB National Board of Directors Terms of Reference 26
Appendix #5 - CNIB Ontario Division Board Terms of Reference 30
Appendix #6 - CNIB Ontario Regional Boards (Northern, Eastern, GTA, Western) Terms of Reference 33
Appendix #7 - CNIB's Philosophy of Fundraising and Philanthropy 36
Who is this manual for?
This document highlights best practices for partnering with leadership volunteers. It has been written for CNIB staff and volunteers, as well as colleagues in other not-for-profit organizations, who are new to partnering with leadership volunteers, or who wish to be more effective in developing partnerships with them. The intention is to provide insight into the roles and challenges faced by leadership volunteers and provide them with a welcoming, collaborative, open environment. This includes actively listening to volunteers, providing all required information to fulfill their roles, and in valuing and celebrating their contribution in meaningful ways. Only with this partnership can the organizational mission be achieved.
We have created this manual using Microsoft WORD in order to make it accessible to as many people as possible – and to allow people from different organizations to be able to adapt and tailor the manual for their needs. If you do so, please provide an acknowledgement that CNIB created the original document.
Acknowledgements
Providing input into this document was a Working Group of leadership volunteers and CNIB staff, including Cathie Mason, Regional Manager, CNIB; Dorothy Macnaughton, Chair of CNIB Ontario Divisional Board and Chair of CNIB Northern Ontario Region Board; Jane Beaumont, Past Chair, CNIB National Board of Directors; Jeannie Collins-Ardern, Past Member of CNIB Ontario Advisory Board; Monique Pilkington, Executive Director CNIB Ontario Northern Region; and Ruth Millard Coordinator of Volunteer Services, CNIB.
People who shared comments and stories with us included Christall Beaudry, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Division, CNIB; Jaclyn Lavigne, Manager Board Relations, CNIB; Ken Boshcoff, Past Member of CNIB Ontario Board and Vice-Chair of Northern Ontario Regional Board; and Len Baker, Regional Vice President, Ontario and Quebec Division, CNIB. Our sincere thanks go out to all of them.
Special thanks to Susan Ellis, founder of Energize, Inc. who provided valuable insights, and to the "Strengthening Communities Through Volunteer Program Development" Core Project Members – Jennifer Spencer, Kat Clarke, Marilyn McGale and Susan Cheeseman (all of CNIB).
Definition of Leadership Volunteers
In many respects, leadership volunteers are much like the majority of volunteers who assist in offering our services, but they differ in some key areas because of the roles they play and their responsibilities.
Leadership volunteers are the people who provide the insights, skills and relationships required at the highest levels to support the mission of CNIB. They spend their time with us looking to the future and focusing on improving the world and the lives of the people in it.
To better understand CNIB's philosophy of partnership with volunteers, please see Appendix #1 – Spirit of Partnership, and Appendix #2 – CNIB's Philosophy of Volunteerism.
Leadership Volunteer Roles at CNIB
· Board and Committee Members
· Philanthropy Volunteers
· Senior Advisors and Project Volunteers
Board and Committee Members
Leadership volunteers guide, inform and monitor the development and implementation of our strategic plans. They oversee the stewardship of the organization, ensuring its fiscal soundness. They facilitate, build and help to manage relationships with stakeholders and partners. They advocate on behalf of the organization and the people we serve. Leadership volunteers are essential to the organization's effectiveness and success – and therefore to the success of the people we serve.
Like other volunteers who donate their time to support our mission, board and committee members do not get paid (unlike private sector members who are paid). In fact, as in most non-profit organizations, there is an expectation that each leadership volunteer is not just a time donor, but a money donor as well.
For more information on Board and Committee members, please see the following documents:
· Appendix #3 - CNIB Board Structure – Overview
· Appendix #4 - CNIB National Board of Directors Terms of Reference
· Appendix #5 - CNIB Ontario Board Terms of Reference
· Appendix #6 - CNIB Ontario Regional Board Terms of Reference
Philanthropy Volunteers
In addition to board and committee members, CNIB also benefits from partnering with leadership volunteers who support our philanthropy efforts. In many ways, all leadership volunteers can be philanthropy volunteers, making contacts and connecting people who may become donors with staff. However, some people choose to make this their priority for the organization. (For a description of CNIB's Philosophy of Fundraising and Philanthropy, please see Appendix #7.)
Fundraising is the act of raising money, but philanthropy is the motivation that drives donors' decisions to invest. The leadership volunteers who support us in this area partner with our staff members who specialize in major gifts (over $5,000). They focus on the donor development process, introducing us to new prospective donors, identifying and developing programs that require funding, cultivating relationships with donors to help them realize their philanthropy objectives and closing deals. (For a description of the Major Gifts Donor Development Process, please see our "Partnering with Leadership Volunteers" Toolkit.)
Tip: Ask the philanthropy volunteer how they want to be involved in fundraising activities. If the volunteer is making an introduction of a staff member to a personal contact, they may expect to continue to be involved throughout the development process with that prospective donor. They can play a key role in developing and stewarding the relationship. Of course, there needs to be an agreement that relevant information is fed back to staff from the volunteer (and vice versa) after each contact or meeting with the prospect to ensure appropriate follow-up is done. The volunteer might be the best person to "make the ask". Or, if they are not making the ask, they can play an important support role by affirming the donor's choice and sharing with the prospect if they have also made a similar philanthropic commitment. Their story may be just what the prospect needs to hear.
Volunteer Comment
"I have personally identified with CNIB and am passionate about furthering CNIB's mission by being a Philanthropy Leadership Volunteer and by contributing financially through my monthly donations, annual gifts and through my estate. Through my volunteer role in fundraising, I have been able to widen CNIB’s circle of influence by introducing new prospects to CNIB from my personal network, and by meeting individually with CNIB's highest-level donors resulting in generating a ripple effect of goodwill, community education and making a difference in the lives of CNIB's clients."
- Ken Boshcoff, Past Member of CNIB Ontario Board and Vice-Chair of Northern Ontario Regional Board
Senior Advisors and Project Volunteers
People who have risen to the top of their profession often want to share their knowledge and experience with organizations they respect, but in an unstructured way. This might be a retired journalist who assists CNIB's communications team by interviewing the people we serve and writing their personal stories. It could be a senior executive from the technology industry who provides us with advice for our tech fairs or makes introductions for us to people in the technology community who can create new products for people with vision loss. It could be a well-known chef who comes in periodically to hold cooking lessons for our March Break kids' camps.
Stars in their own right, these leadership volunteers enrich our thinking and expand the kinds of services we can deliver, simply by sharing their knowledge, enthusiasm and encouragement.
Value of Leadership Volunteers to CNIB
Staff Comment
“Volunteers in leadership roles bring a wealth of experience and connections to CNIB.Whether it is to provide input into a strategic plan, mentor youth, provide guidance on an organizational challenge or put a staff member in contact with a new donor – these volunteers help CNIB deliver on our organizational goals.”
- Christall Beaudry, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Division, CNIB
Leadership volunteers come from all walks of life and from all corners of Canadian society. When they choose to partner with us, they bring their experience, skills and perspectives, enriching us and shaping our decisions for moving forward. Because they are not paid, they bring an energy and a determination to make a difference that is priceless.
Carol Weisman, board dynamics expert and consultant, explains that the people we seek to fill these leadership positions fall into two distinct types: Visionaries and Planners. Visionaries contribute the bold and innovative thinking that helps us continually improve and stay relevant. They are not afraid to dream big and challenge us to stretch ourselves. We balance the visionaries with planners who are skilled in bringing dreams to reality and covering the details that must not be overlooked or rushed. Both types are needed in any successful organization.
Bill Somervile (veteran foundation executive) and Fred Setterberg (writer and co-author with Bill Somerville of Grassroots Philanthropy: Field Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker) break leaders into three groups:
· Sparkers who generate ideas
· Igniters who turn ideas into programs
· Burners who keep programs percolating within an effective organization
Regardless of what we call them, we need leadership volunteers with diverse outlooks, working together; they are all equally valuable.
Staff Comment
“As we embarked upon our Path to Change strategy, our leadership volunteers helped guide our advocacy planning – forming a working group that met with staff on a regular basis to help review our objectives, contribute initiatives and act as a sounding board as we blue-skied ideas. These volunteers brought perspective and creativity to the process that fundamentally and meaningfully informed the plan we developed. Staff had thought leaders to tap into, who donated their time and talent. It was a rewarding experience for us all."
- Len Baker, Regional Vice President, Ontario and Quebec Division, CNIB
Recruiting Leadership Volunteers
The right leadership volunteers can shape the course of an organization. At CNIB, they help guide and monitor the organization's programs and services and our impact on people with sight loss. They assist by raising significant dollars, influencing political decision makers and promoting our mission. They open doors because they have influence and contacts that can further our cause. And, if they are blind or partially sighted, they help other leadership volunteers and senior staff better understand what it is like to live with vision loss. (To learn more about working with people who are blind or partially sighted, please refer to our Engaging Volunteers with Vision Loss manual and toolkit.)
If you have been tasked with helping to recruit leadership volunteers, you will quickly discover that it isn't easy. Why? One reason is because of the sheer number of non-profit organizations in Canada. (There are over 170,000 nonprofit organizations in Canada, including 85,000 registered charities that are recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency.) The competition is stiff.
21st Century Expectations
Societal changes have also made leadership volunteer recruitment more difficult. Young people may not have the experience needed to hold leadership volunteer positions. People who have the experience may be juggling their jobs with parenting their children and caring for their parents, making "extra" time scarce. Retirees are travelling and taking on personal activities – and some are raising grandchildren or caring for family members who are living at home longer.
But it isn't always about limited experience or time. Some people who have high profiles and great responsibilities at work want their free time to be less supervisory, preferring to work on the front line without the spotlight on them (President Jimmy Carter is a good example of this. He is said to love swinging a hammer to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity.) It is important that we direct such people to roles they would like – and we have lots of opportunities. A Vision Mate role might be perfect for such a person.
When we are recruiting for any type of volunteer role, we are looking for that sweet spot that exists between our needs and the volunteer's needs. Our leadership volunteers may come from our donor base; they could be a recipient of our services; they could already be volunteering alongside service staff; or they could be completely new to CNIB and vision loss. The bottom line is that the cause, the particular role we may have in mind for them, and our work environment fit with the particular volunteer.
The Recruitment Process
"If what we are doing is important, then it is important to find the right volunteer."
- Carol Weisman, board dynamics expert and consultant
At CNIB, the recruitment process varies, depending on the particular role being filled. For example, the national board has the most formal process for recruitment. The Nominating Committee (a sub-committee of the national board) maintains a competency matrix showing the skills, experiences, and particular demographic features (including whether or not the person has vision loss) of each member of the current board and its committees. By comparing this matrix with an assessment of the board's or committee's ideal composition, it is possible to identify gaps that should be filled when recruiting. Another critical recruiting factor is the expected fit of the candidate with the existing group. In order to maximize the effectiveness of the board, it is important to have diversity of views held by individuals who can work together toward a common goal. When positions are open on the national board or committees, a call goes out for nominations. Interested parties must fill out an Expression of Interest form and submit their CV to the Nominating Committee for evaluation. Those candidates deemed most suitable are interviewed by a subset of the Nominating Committee. Once the interviewing process is completed, the Nominating Committee must formulate a recommendation on which the entire board votes. Those who are being considered are contacted and asked to attend an interview with a selection of the committee members.