With Cross-Cultural Solutions, you’ll volunteer side-by-side with local people and experience another culture like never before. The CCS experience also includes cultural activities and learning experiences, so that you can learn about the local culture. These include an in-depth orientation, language training, guest speakers and more. There is also plenty of free time to relax, reflect, or explore the community.

The Experience:

Volunteer Abroad is available in 12 countries – Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Morocco, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania and Thailand.

You can pick to stay anywhere between 1 week and 12 weeks.

CCS volunteers work in orphanages and child care centers, schools, health clinics and hospitals, homes for the elderly, centers for the disabled, and other communityorganizations.

We believe that free time is important so you can get to know the community and people in your own way. That’s why you’ll always have some afternoons, most evenings, and every weekend all to yourself. Whether alone or with fellow volunteers, this is your chance to visit local attractions, take the path less traveled, or simply take time to rest and reflect.

There is also a great opportunity for teens 15 to 17 – Teen Volunteer Abroad. The teen program runs much like their other programs, however their is 24 hour security, supervision and protection, so you know your teen is safe!

Head to their website and learn everything you need to know to get you started on a life changing trip!

Related posts:

1. Volunteer Postings from Across Canada
2. Engage Micro-Volunteers
3. Tropical Adventures

Related posts:

1. Molson Coors in the Community
2. Great Turnout for Power of the Hour Launch!
3. CFRA Radio Interview on Power of the Hour

Mike Tierney, President of UPS Canada and Chair of the Corporate Council on Volunteering and 12 year-old volunteer dynamo and Power of the Hour Ambassador Amanda Belzowski hit the streets, with a “guerilla celebration” to promote volunteering. With balloons in hand, and chocolate to give out to hungry Bay Street lunchers; volunteers from Canadian Blood Services, CARD, UPS Canada, Investors Group, Amanda’s Lemonade Stand, Habitat for Humanity Toronto and Volunteer Canada came together to celebrate National Volunteer Week and ask the public “How do you volunteer?”

AND it worked! The volunteer team received 25,000 pledged volunteer hours from the public!

“Having Amanda alongside powerful CEOs is a great way to drive home the important role that we all play in community building. I encourage the rest of Canada to pledge and track their hours 24-7 online at www.getinvolved.ca/power,” said Dorothy Engelman, Founder, Power of the Hour.

Join us and celebrate National Volunteer Week (April 19th-25th), by pledging your volunteer hours with Power of the Hour!

“Over 46 percent of Canadians volunteer for not-for-profit organizations in their communities and across the country,” said Ruth MacKenzie, President and CEO, Volunteer Canada. “National Volunteer Week, this country’s largest celebration of volunteers, is a time to recognize their tremendous contribution.  The week-long event also prompts Canadians to think about how they can roll up their sleeves, share their skills, and better their communities and the lives of others.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Related posts:

1. Microsoft Says: Volunteer During Office Hours
2. Santa Needs a Little Help this Year
3. Molson Coors in the Community

The volunteering experience at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games is certainly a great and life-changing one. Over 30,000 volunteers are needed to help run the Olympic games. Among the hundreds of different jobs as an Olympic volunteer are community relations, food & beverage (which frequently includes meeting the athletes!), assisting with the events (including performer support, costumes, flowers and props) and even helping with the medal ceremonies! All these exciting opportunities were certainly enough to get 77,000 people to apply for these Vancouver Games. Most of these volunteers have paid for their transportation and accommodations – the compensation is the thrill of being there.

Read one volunteer’s journey through her fantastic blog the 2010 Winter Olympic Games: A Volunteer’s Olympic Odyssey: http://olympicvolunteer.wordpress.com/

The London Games in 2012 will need up to 70,000 volunteers to help run the Olympic and Paralympic Games. With even more opportunities available there will be lots to do! Apply to be a volunteer in 2012 now!

Related posts:

1. Micro-Volunteering
2. Deloitte & Touche: Learning Business Skills Volunteering Abroad
3. One Gold Medal and Two Heroes

Click here to view the embedded video.

And Elephant Thoughts’ doesn’t just focus on international development. Since inception, Elephant Thoughts has become Canada’s largest science outreach program o Northern Schools – visiting over 70 communities a year, and even developing full-time staff in a number of

communities. In addition, Elephant Thoughts provides terrific curriculum based programming for public school teachers throughout Canada.

How You Can Get Involved: Volunteering opportunities at Elephant Thoughts are extremely unique. They are always looking forstudents, interns, University Grads and teachers alike to assist with a number of different positions. Here are just a few of their “one-of-a-kind” opportunities:

The “Community Action Team” – based in Collingwood, is the event and fundraising team for Elephant Thoughts. Through birthday parties, events and fundraising – volunteers work with the animals, run hands-on science experiments, working with children, and providing information about the various programs.

Teaching in Northern Canada during the year or throughout the summer is a great way to volunteer and travel across Canada. While working with First Nations communities, you may be doing anything from running fun science experiments, programs and camps to

organizing evening programs like laser tag and rocket engineering!

Not only are the volunteer experiences great, but Elephant Thoughts’ “Volunteer Recognition Program” enables all volunteers to collect points for their various work. These points all accumulate towards trips to Elephant Thoughts’ international development building projects

LEARN MORE about volunteering with Elephant Thoughts.

Related posts:

1. Funding Opportunity for Small Charities
2. Business gives back
3. Great Inspiration in the face of Adversary

One of the most satisfying ways for employees to volunteer is to bring their unique skills to an organization in desperate need of help. That’s what HR consultants Stéphanie Boucher and Christine Bertrand did when they headed to West Africa for Uniterra’s Leave for Change Program. Based in Montreal at Samson Bélair/Deloitte & Touche, the duo headed to Africa – Boucher to Bamako, Mali, Bertrand to Kougoudou in Burkina Faso – with two different, challenging, assignments.

As a human resources consultant Boucher ran HR training courses for directors of community health centres and helped develop an action plan. Once the two-week stint was over she left behind reference tools for them to continue using. But they also gave her something – a sense of satisfaction that she’d made a difference.

Bertrand, a consultant in Samson Bélair/Deloitte & Touche’s commercial risk division, was placed with ADIP/S, which fights poverty and HIV/AIDS. Her task: help support the organization’s staff in producing financial reports for funding agencies. Finding it to be more than volunteer work, Bertrand believes the cultural immersion experience gave her a sense of the possibilities of international cooperation.

Building Skills Through Volunteerism In Canada, and internationally, Deloitte is committed to volunteer programs that not only benefit the organizations and communities they’re helping, but also help employees to grow and develop their own personal goals. In the UK the consulting firm developed a matrix that helps employees identify volunteer opportunities that match their personal skill-building goals. According to an interview in The Globe & Mail Leila Fenc, director of community investment for the Deloitte Foundation helping employees build new skills through volunteering can often replace training programs that Deloitte would otherwise finance.

Keeping Employees Happy But it’s not just about building skills – which benefits employees and employers, it’s also about keeping employees happy. According to a 2009 report from Junior Achievement on the benefits of employee volunteerism, 62 per cent of workers 18 to 26-years old prefer working for a company that provides opportunities for them to apply their skills to help nonprofits. Employee volunteerism has also been known to boost job satisfaction and increase retention rates. This is likely the inspiration behind Deloitte’s Impact Day. Each year about 50,000 Deloitte people across 60 countries contribute their time and skills throughout the year to serve their communities. Individual offices arrange the events which range from working at a food bank, fixing up communities, building a skating rink or helping new immigrants with their resumes.

Read more at:

Leave for Change with  Samson Bélair/Deloitte & Touche

Deloitte Canada boosts employees’ skills through volunteer opportunities

Deloitte Impact Day

Related posts:

1. Business gives back
2. Olympic Volunteering
3. Manulife’s Sarah Saso Speaks out in the National Post

While the recession has meant Canadians have less money to give to good causes they are expecting companies and brands to increase their support for social causes. And many consumers are saying they’re more likely to buy a brand for that very reason – 51 per cent said they have purchased a brand supporting a good cause even though it wasn’t the cheapest. The impact of cause-related marketing on consumer attitudes and buying patterns was highlighted in the third annual Edelman Goodpurpose™ Consumer Study released in October.

Businesses should do more than give away money. The global study surveyed 6,000 people in 10 countries, including over 500 Canadian consumers, aged 18-64. While it found 46 per cent of Canadians were giving less money to community causes, 29 per cent were more involved than in previous years. This approach seems to be carrying over to their expectations for business. The study found 68 per cent thought it wasn’t enough for companies to give money away; they also wanted to see them involved with good causes year-round.

Supporting good causes opens wallets.

Other findings include:

• 89% willing to change consumption habits if it helps make the world a better place
• 49% believe a company or brand has earned their business because it has been supporting good causes
• 58% believe the interests of both society and business should have equal weight in business decisions
• 62% looking to brands and companies to make it easier for them to make a difference
• 59% would recommend a brand that supports a good cause (up from 47 percent in 2008)
• 62% say they would switch brands if another brand of similar quality supported a good cause
• 58% expect brands today to support a good cause
• 69% are fine with brands that support good causes and make money too

For more information on the Edelman Goodpurpose™ Study click here or check them out on Twitter and Facebook.

Related posts:

1. Pepsi Refresh Project – Giving Away Millions to Canadians!
2. Deloitte & Touche: Learning Business Skills Volunteering Abroad
3. Mitch Joel’s Tips on Managing Social Media

At Get Involved there are tons of volunteer opportunities that are constantly being posted. Here are some highlights of great opportunities posted this week:

The Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rain forest Conservation (COTERC) is looking for volunteers at their Costa Rica Biological Research Station to assist in Marine Turtle Monitoring and Community Conservation Program.

Hope Air has a position available for individuals who have strong communications and service skills to work with clients – taking flight requests and providing support to Hope Air clients.

Chris G is starting a green non-profit and needs assistance and guidance.

Check out over 1000 more opportunities here! Also, let us know how you Get Involved through Twitter or by joining our Facebook Group.

Related posts:

1. What’s New at Get Involved!
2. What’s New at Get Involved!
3. What’s New at Get Involved!

TVO Parents: Engaged Philanthropy and Power of the Hour.

Need extra help getting your family inspired? Check out this great video on Ryan Hreljac, the seventeen year old creator of the Ryan’s Well Foundation – which has provided clean water to over 580 000 people around the world.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out our other videos on superstar volunteer teens: Quinn Runkle, Bilaal Rajan, Amanda Belzowski and Abbey Simbrow.

Related posts:

1. Micro-Volunteering
2. What’s New at Get Involved!
3. Olympic Volunteering

Volunteers are the backbone of almost every organization and are frequently the ones that plan, carry out and run the immense fundraising events that provide organizations with their annual funding. But volunteers management can be a difficult task and when done incorrectly can cause organizations to crumble.

Recruiting volunteers is stressful, hard work, but it is necessary. Even if you are recruiting volunteers for an event in the distance future, you have to start creating a circle of volunteers to rely on. You DO NOT want to be making desperate phone calls to your friends and neighbors the night before a fundraiser!

A three-pronged approach on recruiting volunteers

Now that you have volunteers, the next step is to look at your volunteer program. Are volunteers coming back? Do they enjoy working for your organization? Are they having a valuable experience? It is so important to remember that volunteer are NOT paid. They are helping you on their own time, on their own dollar. And the majority of volunteers are helping out for a reason. These are not selfish reasons; sometimes they are to fulfill volunteer hours before graduation, build a resume/reference, acquire a new skill, attend your event for free, or even just get some plain old good karma. Your job is to make sure those needs are fulfilled. Make sure your volunteer is working in an area they wanted to gain skills in, or make sure they get your contact information for a reference.

What Do Your Volunteers Want? is a great blog about how to keep your volunteers happy and coming back. It’s very honest and stresses that the key is to be prepared and organized for your volunteer, so you are not only welcoming but also providing a great mentoring relationship.

Lastly, make sure you have the right supervisor in place. A supervisor is there to act like a mentor for you volunteers, and this job should not be taken lightly. A supervisor must make sure volunteers are comfortable and getting what they need from the experience too. Remember volunteers are NOT free – think of hidden costs beforehand – ie you can’t have volunteers working hard at a 7 hour event and not offer them lunch/dinner – A Down to Earth Guide to Supervising Volunteers

Related posts:

1. Engage Micro-Volunteers
2. Little Ideas become a BIG Inspiration at Elephant Thoughts
3. 12 year old Fundraiser Extraordinare & CEO hit up Bay Street for Volunteer Hours