Introduction
Ontario’s nonprofits are the critical frontline of community support, and communities need more support than ever. Integral to the success of the entire nonprofit sector are leaders of volunteers, individuals tasked with ensuring that citizens who wish to volunteer connect the organizations who need them. The Provincial Association of Volunteer Leaders-Ontario (PAVRO) promotes the profession of Volunteer Administration by advocating for understanding of its value to civic engagement, its requirements for success, and appropriate recognition (including compensation) for the individual professional.
For over 25 years, PAVRO members have been on the frontlines of the nonprofit sector, using their unique skill set to bring together the expertise of millions of volunteers and employee building strong social capital to develop and deliver innovative solutions for the public good. Leaders of volunteers are leaving the profession, driven by a lack of sustainable funding that is impacting the retention and recruitment of staff across the sector. Our ability and capacity to serve communities is tied to our resources (both finances and people). If one or both are not healthy, we cannot support communities. The nonprofit sector is at a tipping point, and it is time to invest in Ontario’s social infrastructure with investments that reflect the actual cost of service delivery that includes appropriate wages and benefits for current and future sector employees.
Summary
Ontario’s voluntary sector is:
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An economic driver, contributing to 8% of the provincial GDP.
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Provides over 50% of the human resources for the nonprofit sector or the work contribution equivalent to 2.6% of the provincial GDP.
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A relied upon system for essential program delivery, meeting the needs of community, and providing millions of dollars in labour alleviation for frontline services.
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An access point to increased opportunity and skills for youth, newcomers, jobseekers, and other vulnerable positions.
The PAVRO is:
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An established association of volunteer engagement professionals with decades of experience and presence across the province.
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A ready ally to the government on the ground, supporting leaders of volunteers and their nonprofit organizations who steward millions of volunteers annually·
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Subject matter experts with ability to consult, deliver, and drive impact that achieves the province’s goals.
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Ready for government investments to directly strengthen leaders of volunteers, the communities they serve, and address pandemic-drive disruption to the voluntary sector.
In advance of the 2024 Provincial budget, the PAVRO would like to support the Ontario Nonprofit Network’spre-budget submissions and expand on their recommendations to reinforce the role of volunteerism in our Province. We urge you to:
1. Fund a Provincial Action Strategy for Volunteerism led by Volunteer Canada
2. Address the nonprofit human resource crisis.
3. Future-proof Ontarians’ social infrastructure with investments that reflect the true costs of service delivery.
4. Enable a whole-of-government approach for Ontario’s 58,000 nonprofits and charities by creating a “home in government” for the sector including a secretariate for volunteerism.
Context
Pre-pandemic, leaders of volunteers engaged with and empowered Ontario citizens to volunteer with the nonprofit sector, supplying just over 50% of the sector’s human resources. Recent numbers out of the Ontario Nonprofit Network report that a quarter of nonprofits in Ontario have multiple concerns related to volunteer engagement, including safety, and just over a third report concerns with loss of volunteers and recruitment new volunteers. Many nonprofits are expressing the need for volunteerism modernization where a strategy would reflect the way people of all ages and communities connect to causes and volunteerism.
Non-profit across Ontario face a loss of volunteer program infrastructure due to mass layoffs of volunteer engagement professionals. PAVRO membership is down 36% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Organizations continue to experience challenges in recruiting volunteers while at the same time experiencing hiring challenges to bring qualified volunteer engagement professional back into their programs.
In 2024, more than at any other time in the recent past, investment in the nonprofit sector and in volunteerism in particular is paramount.
Detailed Recommendations
1. Fund a Provincial Action Strategy for Volunteerism led by Volunteer Centres
Pandemic-related restrictions have severely disrupted the system of volunteer engagement, leaving many volunteers hesitant to return to their roles, and, as a result, nonprofits representing both urban and rural areas are reporting volunteer shortages. This means programs are shutting down/scaling back programs delivered by volunteers, despite increased needs or readiness to ramp up programming.
To address this disruption, PAVRO recommends investment in a Provincial Action Strategy for Volunteerism which should include: 1). Delivering capacity building for nonprofits and new volunteer leaders aligned with the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement and the Ontario Human Right Code in partnership with the Ontario Volunteer Centre Network (OVCN), and 2). Intensifying public engagement to ensure older adults, employee-groups, newcomers, and other key demographics have increased access points to re-engage in volunteer services with less barriers.
We call on the Government of Ontario to:
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Rehabilitate the systems of volunteerism through a Provincial Action Strategy for Volunteerism delivering capacity building for nonprofits and leaders of volunteers in alignment with the Canadian Code of Volunteer Involvement and the Ontario Human Rights code in partnership with PAVRO and the Ontario Volunteer Centre Network (OVCN).
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Build on the recent removal of fees for Criminal Records Check and Judicial Matters Check by removing fees for vulnerable sector police records checks to expedite volunteer deployment.
2. Address the nonprofit human resource crisis
We cannot keep doing more with less. Future forecasting reveals the collapse of the sector is looming. As a sector, nonprofits receive less than half of their revenue from government, which we leverage with private grants and donations, the sale of goods and services, and volunteer efforts to create additional value for the communities we serve.
We call on the Government of Ontario to:
- Allocate funds to support the development of a sector-wide labour force strategy and workforce development plan. The strategy would include promoting careers in nonprofits and creating opportunities for workers to attain in-demand skills, like volunteer management.
- Provide core-funding for nonprofit organizations to support the re-engagement of dedicated volunteer leaders who were dismissed during the pandemic.
3. Future-proof Ontarians’ social infrastructure with investments that reflect the true costs of service delivery
The nonprofit sector contributes $65 billion to our province’s GDP, employing 844,000 people. With $1.00 of investment, nonprofits generate up to $2.18 in GDP impact, $1.76 in employment income impact, and create 1.5 jobs with every million dollars in output. And it does all this with unstable, and inadequate funding, often obtained in competitive ‘contests’ with funders.
We call on the Government of Ontario to:
- Transition to stable, adequate, long-term, and flexible operational funding for nonprofits that reflects the true cost of delivering services and programs, keeps paces with inflation, responds to emerging needs, is on par with the public sector delivering similar services, and reduces administrative burden. This is particularly important for transfer payment agreements involving nonprofits serving equity-deserving groups, including Black and other racialized communities; First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and urban Indigenous communities and organizations; and person with disabilities, women, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, youth, newcomers, and low-income individuals and households.
4. Enable a whole-of-government approach for Ontario’s 58,000 nonprofits and charities by creating a “home in government” for the sector including a Secretariate for Volunteerism
Mandates for volunteerism are held by multiple ministries, including Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Ontario Health, Emergency Management Ontario, Seniors and Accessibility, Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, and Children, Community and Social Services.
Even as government after government relies on the sector to deliver critical services, no entity exists to ensure the health of charities and nonprofits as a sector, and many measures in the last few years initially did not include the nonprofit sector or consider their unique characteristics and revenue models. A host of other issues, ranging from inefficient and ineffective funding practices to a lack of access to support for social enterprise activities, also continue to impact the sector in chronic ways, with no end in sight. While individual mandates have enabled targeted voluntary sector programming, the siloed approach to volunteerism means the sector is underappreciated for the potential it has to impact all Ontarians and nonprofit groups serving diverse community needs.
We call on the Government of Ontario to:
- Create a home in government for nonprofits, and more specifically, a secretariate for volunteerism that will leverage the potential for engaging, recognizing, and mobilizing volunteers for cross- ministerial functions.
Conclusion
The nonprofit sector, and specifically, volunteer engagement professionals, are vital partners for the province during these turbulent times. It is essential and urgent that the government made the investments needed to shore up our vibrant nonprofit sector so every Ontario can access the critical programs and services they need now, and in the future. The nonprofit sector and the voluntary sector stand ready to partner with the province as we move towards progress. We look forward to building Ontario’s future together.
About PAVRO
The Provincial Association of Volunteer Leaders-Ontario (PAVRO) is an association of leaders of volunteers – paid and unpaid – which builds individual, organizational, and community capacity to effectively engage volunteers through the professional management of volunteer resources. Guided by the core competencies of volunteer engagement, PAVRO empowers our members to employ the best practices in the management of volunteer resources. We promote the profession of Volunteer Administration by advocating for understanding of its value to civic engagement, its requirements for success, and appropriate recognition (including compensation) for the individual professional.
For more information:
Heather Johnson, President
Tel: 416-258-5495 Email: president@pavro.on.ca
