Remembering our Roots

I was listening to a long-term staff member the other day as he reflected on his first months here at the David Suzuki Foundation. He said the organizational culture was infused with a sense of working together for something important – and that volunteers could not be distinguished from full-time staff. As the Foundation’s new Manager of Volunteer Services, I was glad to hear that we had such a history and I have found that the same culture exists today.

Like many other not-for-profit organizations, a small group of concerned citizens started the David Suzuki Foundation. In 1989, David Suzuki, Tara Cullis and a dozen other top thinkers met to envision a solutions-based organization that would address the growing public concern for environmental issues. In a very real sense, volunteers built the Foundation.

Over the past two decades, the Foundation’s volunteer program has changed as the organization itself has expanded and evolved. In more recent years, as our staff numbers increased, volunteers, with some exceptions, took on the more traditional roles of providing administrative support. The Foundation recognized there was a growing need for environmental advocacy and that a small staff of 70 could not accomplish our goals. Given current volunteer trends and the incredible support we have in Canada, the Foundation has committed to expanding its volunteer program by engaging the “skilled volunteer”.

The David Suzuki Foundation’s mission is to achieve sustainability within a generation - a lofty goal to say the least. If we are to be successful, we need to engage every Canadian in the effort to build a sustainable world.  As with all Foundation programs, our mission must be the framework from which we build – and I strongly believe the same is true for the volunteer program. The primacy of our mission, however, is denied when we draw a sharp line between employees and volunteers. In operational terms, it is easy to point out the differences between paid and unpaid staff but if these administrative realities overshadow the work itself, I believe we lose something important. The differences between employees and volunteers vanish when we focus on what we’re trying to accomplish.

Here are some of the enriching ways that volunteers contribute to an organization’s mission:

Expanding the workforce
‘Limited resources’ is a fact of life for not-for-profit organizations. Because we rely on donations and grants to operate, a lack of funding often means that not-for-profits must say no to great ideas and programs. Volunteers allow an organization to expand its workforce and take on more projects that staff and financial resources would otherwise have disallowed. As an example here at the Foundation, our Communications team recently decided to poll business and academic leaders to get a handle on the current Canadian environmental perspective. We were able to engage 40 volunteers from across the country to research and compile a list of over 4000 names. The 300 hours our volunteers contributed to the project ensured its success and conserved the Foundation’s limited financial resources.

Diversifying the organizational knowledge and skill base
No staff team can include every required skill set or knowledge base. Volunteers can provide essential resources to an organization’s changing and unforeseen needs. The Foundation regularly engages skilled volunteers to provide us with research, graphic design and IT support. In recent months, we have also engaged volunteers in unique roles such as a French language tutor and a web analytics consultant.

Enriching the organizational culture
Despite working for a mission-based organization, there will undoubtedly be days when staff gets caught up in the minutiae of their day-to-day work – the looming deadlines, the endless meetings and the overflowing inbox. Volunteers infuse an organization with renewed energy and enthusiasm. Every time we connect with a volunteer, we are reminded that we are part of a larger community that shares our values, concerns and hopes. They help us remember why we’ve chosen a career in the not-for-profit sector in the first place.

Raising the organizational profile
Volunteerism is engaged citizenship and volunteers play a critical role in awareness-raising. The average Canadian volunteer is an educated, employed adult. Today’s volunteers are business professionals, public servants, recent university graduates and future leaders; they are the people our organizations are seeking to influence. Through our volunteers, we can connect with Canadians on a personal level and offer them an opportunity to be part of an inspiring vision for the future. Because the decisions volunteers make in their professional roles can have a potentially huge impact on our mission, providing volunteer opportunities helps move our goals forward.

Moreover, in our efforts to affect behavioural and value-based changes among consumers, business owners and government officials, we should remember that they are also human beings with families and lives separate from their functional roles. Every volunteer has the potential to become a leader in his or her community by being the voice of our mission and building support for the change we’re seeking.

Connecting with the people we serve
Not-for-profits are service organizations but when we position ourselves exclusively as ‘experts’, there is a danger of losing touch with the population we’re serving. Volunteers bring an important public perspective to our work and can help us become more effective in our program delivery. This past summer, the Foundation engaged volunteers from the student demographic to take part in focus groups. Their contributions were invaluable in helping us to understand how 17-30 year olds define current social and environmental issues and how we can engage them in the movement for change.  

Creating a sense of shared responsibility
No one organization can ‘own’ a social or environmental movement. If we are to meet our goals and be successful in our mission, we need to engage as many people as possible. It is difficult to convince anyone to take responsibility for something over which he or she has no ownership. Volunteering allows individuals to be part of a larger community of individuals linked by a shared set of values. At the Foundation, volunteers demonstrate through their volunteer hours and their lifestyle choices just how much we can accomplish collectively.

The contributions volunteers can make to an organization’s mission are immeasurable and cannot be encompassed by the hours marked in a log book. Without denying my idealistic slant, there is something very powerful about individuals working together for a common goal. Volunteers highlight the value of communities working together to affect positive change.

At the David Suzuki Foundation, we realize that every Canadian has a stake in our ability to meet the social and ecological challenges we face. The strategic engagement of volunteers harnesses this reality by offering individuals the opportunity to join us in the fight.

Aryne Sheppard joined the David Suzuki Foundation in May 2008 as the Manager of Volunteer Services. Her career in the public and non-profit sector has included work with the Jane Goodall Institute, Katimavik and most recently, the University of Calgary. Her own volunteer experience includes service in wild bird rehabilitation, counseling, homelessness organizations and university extension. After completing her honours degree in Biology, Aryne earned graduate degrees in Philosophy and Adult Education – both centering on environmental issues.

About Volunteer Vancouver

The mission of Volunteer Vancouver is to inspire & build leadership in the voluntary sector. This publication is intended to be a medium of communication and information for the many organizations active in the volunteer and not-for-profit sector. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect official policy of the Board of Directors of Volunteer Vancouver.

Volunteer Vancouver
1183 Melville, Vancouver, BC
V6E 2X5 Canada
t 604.875.9144
f 604.875.0710
www.volunteervancouver.ca

A United Way Member Organization and funded in part by the City of Vancouver.