Volunteer Yukon

What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?

Corporate Social Responsibility is when a company monitors its own actions to ensure a positive impact—and to prevent deleterious impacts—on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, and all other members of the public sphere.

Corporate sponsorship and corporate volunteering are means by which a company can develop and expand its social responsibility.

What is the Corporate Social Responsibility Challenge?

The Corporate Social Responsibility Challenge is an initiative launched by Volunteer Yukon in partnership with local business Outside the Cube to formally recognize businesses in the territory that support non-profit organizations and that encourage their employees to volunteer in the community. Our goal is to foster social responsibility throughout Yukon’s private sector by inviting companies to assist Yukon non-profits and to promote the importance of volunteerism.

“Volunteers are vital in each and every Yukon community,” says VY Board President Noreen McGowan. “Business operators in Yukon support a number of events and activities each year; their support can be in the form of donations, in-kind contributions, and in encouraging their staff to volunteer and to get involved in community activities. We want to recognize and encourage that support. ”

“Social responsibility has always been important to Outside the Cube,” said President and CEO Dee Enright. “Whether it’s an in-kind or cash donation to a non-profit organization or spending the weekend volunteering at a local festival, I believe in giving back to the community that I live and work in and I encourage all of my employees to do the same.”

Volunteer Yukon’s CSR Listing

Businesses who register with Volunteer Yukon for the CSR Challenge will be recognized with a listing on VY’s website, will be mentioned in the Yukon Chamber of Commerce newsletter, and will be acknowledged through traditional and social media outlets.

Eligibility Criteria for the CSR Listing

1. “Our company provided in-kind products or services to. . .” (please list the non-profit organizations that you have helped since January 2012) and/or;
2. “Our company sponsored an event organized by a non-profit organization” (please list the events that you have sponsored since January 2012) and/or;
3. “Our company allowed our staff to volunteer for a non-profit organization during their regularly scheduled work hours” (please provide the approximate number of hours allocated since January 2012).

Lastly, companies must also become members of Volunteer Yukon ($50), in order to be considered for the CSR listing. To become a member, please click on: http://volunteeryukon.ca/spip.php?article57.

How your listing will be displayed

The listing will:

• Feature the name of your company and its purpose/mission (max 2 lines)
• Include your company’s contact information
• Indicate which criteria your company fulfilled

The listing will be featured on Volunteer Yukon’s website, on the CSR webpage.

Your company will be acknowledged every three months on the NonProfitNet listserv (306 NGO subscribers), on the ArtsNet listserv (more than 1,000 Yukon subscribers), and once a year, in April, in VY’s e-newsletter (221 NGO subscribers). Your company will also be featured in a yearly ad in Yukon News.

CSR Policy Template

A CSR Policy template to help you implement a policy in your company

CSR Policy Template

CSR Clock Volunteer Yukon suggests a “clock” for every employee who is volunteering their time for the challenge.

Volunteer Yukon Clock

For more information, or to participate in the Corporate Social Responsibility Challenge, please contact Bruno Bourdache at (867)456-4304 or executivedirector@volunteeryukon.ca.

The Volunteer Experience Recognition Program (VERP) was developed by the Centre d’Action Bénévole de Québec (CABQ) in 2002. In 2011, Volunteer Canada entered into a partnership with CABQ to allow Canadian volunteer centres to use the program.

As of April 2013, Volunteer Yukon is one of 18 volunteer centres across Canada test-driving the program.

What is the Volunteer Experience Recognition Program (VERP)? (http://preb.cabquebec.org/index_en.php):

• VERP is a free software program that helps non-profit organizations to officially acknowledge and affirm their volunteers’ contributions by providing each volunteer with an individualized certificate that lists the knowledge and skills acquired and/or demonstrated during the course of their volunteerism.

• At their most ambitious, VERP certificates function as a kind of labour market currency, ideally helping unemployed or under-employed individuals to negotiate for paid work or for a better job.

• The software will allow you to create a detailed certificate of achievement for your volunteers, highlighting the skills they have developed and shared as well as the experience gained through the volunteer placement, using terminology that employers will be able to apply to the hiring process.

Who can benefit from a VERP certificate?

Volunteers

Youth or student volunteers:

• Enhances college admission/scholarship applications
• Can document a volunteer’s interest in and commitment to a particular academic/career path, confirming motivation and initiative

Newcomers to Yukon:

• A VERP certificate may help to compensate for the lack of work experience in Canada or Yukon
• As a written reference, it can greatly facilitate insertion into the job market

Volunteers seeking first time employment or re-entering the workforce:

• Identfies the skills and knowledge acquired/demonstrated though volunteering
• Improves volunteers’ chances of getting a job that better suits their interests and abilities
• Demonstrates social involvement and is evidence of positive character attributes

Experienced volunteers:

• Recognizes the value and impact of their voluntary actions and of their skills and expertise

Employers

• Helps to assess a candidate’s personal qualities (e.g., leadership, teamwork, commitment, passion, etc.)
• Helps to assess the value and transferability of knowledge and skills acquired through a candidate’s voluntary work

Non-Profit Organizations

• Helps to attract new volunteers
• Helps to retain older volunteers by recognizing the true value of their involvement
• Helps to identify volunteer positions and describe them clearly
• Facilitates the recruitment and selection of volunteers, by letting them know precisely what skills/abilities are required
• Helps to identify volunteers’ training needs
• Certificates can be provided in both French and English

Yukon Chamber of Commerce, YuWin, Employment Central and Yukon Council on Disability all believe that VERP will benefit the organizations using volunteers, the volunteers themselves, and employers seeking to hire personnel with enhanced skills.

A VERP certificate highlights the:

• Skills developed by the volunteer
• Experiences gained by the volunteer
• Tasks and activities the volunteer was responsible for

The description of "skills" and "experiences" is based on guidelines and terminology used by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

VERP certificate samples

Short Certificate: 1 page, includes Tasks/Activities and Skills/Competencies items

Short Certificate

Long Certificate: 2 pages, includes Tasks/Activities, Skills/Competencies, Trainings/Achievements/Awards, and Comments items

Long Certificate

Highlights of the certification program

For Volunteers:

• Provides a certificate recognized by employers, which describes the volunteer service undertaken
• Identifies the specific skills and compentencies acquired/ demonstrated during volunteer activities in a way that is applicable to the workforce
• Demonstrates social engagement
• Supports applications for scholarships
• Ensures that the value and impact of the volunteer work is recognized, along with the volunteers’ expertise and personal qualities
• Identifies any training received while volunteering
• Uses terminology that is recognized by employers in the non-profit, government, and private sectors

For Non-Profit Organizations:

• Easy-to-use database
• Free access; no software to download or install
• Recognizes and affirms the value of your volunteers’ contributions
• Helps with volunteer recruitment and selection, identification of training needs, and performance assessment
• Contains excellent data which can be used by funders to measure outcomes/impact of your volunteer program
• Provides volunteers with an incentive to stay with the organization (i.e., to continue developing their resume/references)

To be able to issue VERP certificates, you need to participate in a one-on-one presentation from VY and sign an agreement.

A one-hour presentation will equip you with:

• The ability to support volunteers looking to gain experience through volunteering in order to find paid work or to fulfill academic requirements
• Access to free on-line software
• Training in the use of the software
• Certification, which will allow you to print certificates for your volunteers

Fees for a one-on-one information session:

• $25 for VY members
• $50 for non-members

Check membership status: http://volunteeryukon.ca/spip.php?article79

If you are interested in participating in VERP, please contact Bruno at (867)456-4304 or at executivedirector@volunteeryukon.ca.