Putting the ‘Change’ into

ChangeTheWorld

ChangeTheWorld - Ontario Youth Volunteer Challenge

Ontario Volunteer Centre Network

We are the voice for Volunteer Centres

and volunteerism in Ontario. Change

makers and leaders in support of

capacity building and sustainable

community engagement for the non-

profit / volunteer sector in Ontario!

The OVCN is an unincorporated

network of 24 Volunteer Centres in

Ontario, guided by a volunteer steering

committee.

Our mandate is to provide a provincial

network and voice to strengthen the

individual and collective ability of

Volunteer Centres in Ontario to

promote and develop volunteerism.

Key Learning & Action Plan Summary

Canadian youth are leaders in their own right; based on the 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP), the highest rates of Canadian volunteers are among youth between the ages of 15 to 24 (58%). Youth are one of Ontario’s greatest assets! Building a resilient Ontario Volunteer Centre Network (OVCN) to co-deliver the ChangeTheWorld - Ontario Youth Volunteer Challenge (CTW) demonstrates leadership by inspir-ing and sustaining meaningful youth volunteer engagement opportunities. It requires that every Volunteer Centre (VC), individual (staff / volunteer) and community service member organizations take collective action towards the planning, implementation and evaluation of targeted activities to support youth engagement. This document is based on the ‘unified voice of volun-teers and Volunteer Centres’ surveyed during the 2013 CTW Campaign, outlin-ing the purpose of the OVCN-CTW Action Plan for 2014. The following Action Steps and Activities were selected to encourage the development of a strate-gic alliance of all collaborators to ensure the success of CTW. By uniting to-gether, we can co-create pathways to encourage community engagement, accountability and team building to succeed in strengthening the far reaching social and economic impacts for youth.

WHY? The aim of the proposed ‘Putting the Change into

ChangeTheWorld: Action Plan’ is to summarize the identified next steps, based on VC recommendations, that relate and connect the CTW Campaign to the overall health / sustainability of the Network.

The key objectives are to; Build the capacity of Volunteer Centres via knowledge-transfer Inspire and support meaningful youth engagement opportunities Take collective action to inspire and strengthen leadership via communi-

ty service and volunteer engagement Develop an outcome-based evaluation model Leverage successful CTW events to sustain ongoing youth engagement

opportunities (for VCs and the OVCN)

HOW? Check out the ‘Legend’ on the next page and identify your ‘ICON’

to start taking steps on Activities listed with your ‘ICON’ to ensure we succeed in taking collective action! Be sure to communicate with your team, and member organizations to forge an alliance!

Photo (top) courtesy of United Way Kingston,

Frontenac, Lennox & Addington, CTW 2012.

Photo (bottom) courtesy of Information

Orillia, CTW 2013.

ACTION STEPS & ACTIVITIES:

LEGEND

OVCN

Lead Organization (Volunteer MBC)

Volunteer Centres

“Ontario youth volunteered above and beyond the minimum three-hour commitment and helped our network of

23 participating Volunteer Centres reach new heights.” Carine Strong, Chair, OVCN

www.ctw.ovcn.ca

ACTION STEP #1:

BUILDING COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS & STRATEGIC ALLIANCES

Community partnership development via Ministries, corporations, provincial/national organizations and youth based organizations.

Resource and fund development by soliciting provincial sponsors and providing VCs with templates to request sponsorship on a local level.

Implement a strategy to build media relationships/partnerships.

ACTION STEP #2:

SUPPORTING PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLANNING & EVALUATION

Develop and recruit CTW Consultant:

Develop a CTW Provincial Strategic Plan.

Create and deliver a detailed CTW Project Plan.

Deliver ‘Terms of Reference’ between MCI and OVCN/Volunteer MBC.

Develop CTW Human Resource plans for VCs.

Support VCs to implement a strong resilient youth engagement plan.

Outcome-based measurement and evaluation to capture social and economic impact.

ACTION STEP #3:

SHARING/MARKETING SUCCESSFUL EVENTS &

OUTREACH STRATEGIES

Toolkit for a viable CTW fundraising event based on the ‘Tables By Teens’ Case-Study.

Share best practices amongst VCs (what works / what doesn’t).

Branding and marketing strategy / resources (campaign videos, social media strategy, etc.).

Implement a volunteer hour tracking App pilot with Charity Republic.

ACTION STEP #4:

TRAINING, SKILLS-BUILDING & COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP

Storytelling workshop to capture the value / social return on invest-ment of youth engagement.

Webinars/Workshops on social media, event management planning, effective marketing and communications.

Co-creation of ‘The OVCN Space’ community animators to encourage peer to peer collaboration / collective knowledge-sharing.

OVCN: ChangeTheWorld

c/o Volunteer MBC

7700 Hurontario Street

Brampton, ON L6Y 4M3

Phone: 905-238-2622 ext. 228

E-mail: ctw@ovcn.ca

www.ctw.ovcn.ca

@OVCNyouth #CTWyouth

www.facebook.com/OVCNetwork

The ChangeTheWorld - Ontario

Youth Volunteer Challenge is a call to

action for youth aged 14 to 18 years

to volunteer through a wide variety

of exciting community initiatives.

ChangeTheWorld has one goal: get

high school students to volunteer in

their community.

Photo image courtesy of

Pillar Nonprofit Network, CTW 2013