Events

Governance Bites: Getting the Right People on Board and the Wrong People Overboard

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

All you need to know about recruiting non-profit and community board members. What makes a good board member, where do you find them, and how do you get them interested in your organisation? What are the three biggest traps in recruitment? And how do you get the most of new board members after they are on-board? And then … this is the tough stuff … despite our best intentions and event efforts, we can still end up with the wrong people on board for various reasons. How do you tackle the difficult tasks of ‘sacking’ board member? After all, board members are ‘just volunteers’. How do you actually get the result you need, but also still act with some grace? How can succession planning actually happen in practice in small organisations, and how do you deal with ‘founder syndrome’ when founders have out-lasted their value for the organisation and may even be holding it back? Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Grand Day Out Expo

Facilitator: Christchurch City Libraries
Venue: Tautoru / TSB Space, Hapori l Community, Level 1, Tūranga
Cost: Free event

Explore local services, organisations, and support networks who specialise in older adult wellbeing. Volunteering Canterbury will be there to talk about the ways in which volunteering can help you keep active, socially connected and engaged in meaningful activity.

Coffee & Chats Peer Support

Host: Delta Community Support Trust
Venue: North Avon Community Centre, 101 North Avon Road, Richmond
Cost: Free event

On the second Thursday of each month, we hold a Coffee & Chats peer support session for those who manage or coordinate a volunteer team, hosted each time by a different community organisation. This is an occasion to network with others from local not-for-profit groups and talk all things volunteering, and includes the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences and support each other as we navigate the ever-changing community sector.

RSVP: Via email - it is essential that you RSVP for these events, please.

Governance Bites: Not-for-Profits Getting Real about Strategy

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

Everyone wants to be strategic these days. It is used to refer to deceit and trickery in reality TV shows. As an adjective it makes any object or activity sound very important. But does it actually have any practical meaning left? What is a strategy and how is it different from a plan? Where does mot strategy come from, and what is a realistic approach to developing a strategy for your organisation? And what really is the Board’s role in strategy (especially where there also is staff)? Participation in non-profit boards provides individuals with an opportunity to influence impact in our city. This workshop offers practical tools and approaches to help a board lead organisation strategy. Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

Tautoko Workshop: Storytelling

Facilitator: Sharon Moreham
Venue: St Albans Community Centre, Colombo Street (on-site parking accessed via Caledonian Road)
Cost: Free event

Learn how to tell a compelling story about what your organisation does, and the difference it makes.

RSVP: Via email

International Volunteer Managers' Day Workshop: Best Practice Guidelines

Facilitator: Alison Marshall, Volunteering New Zealand (VNZ)
Venue: To be confirmed
Cost: $25 pp

This interactive session will be packed with tricks and tips to help you effectively manage volunteers at your organisation, and is aimed at novices right through to experts in volunteer management. Specifically, we will explore what others are doing in the areas of: Recruiting and engaging volunteers; Welcoming and onboarding volunteers; Volunteer support, leadership, and management; Train and grow volunteers; Feedback and recognition; Celebrate volunteer impact; and Exiting Volunteers. We will be learning from everyone in the room, including you!

The workshop will be based on the Volunteering New Zealand's 'Best Practice Guidelines.' You can access these on the VNZ website (or ask the team at Volunteering Canterbury for a 'hard' copy!) Lunch is provided, please provide any dietary requirements upon registration.

RSVP: Online via Humanitix

Governance Bites: Keeping Board Members Engaged and the Role of the Chair

Facilitator: Garth Nowland-Foreman, from LEAD Centre for Not for Profit Governance and Leadership
Venue: Aldersgate Centre, 309 Durham Street North, Christchurch Central (Please enter the Aldersgate Centre from the rear door, via the car park. This can be accessed from Chester Street West. Spaces within the carpark are available to Governance Bites attendees from 5pm onwards.)
Cost: Free event

Chairs have one of the most demanding jobs in a non-profit. What is realistic and what are the essentials? Can we look again at sharing roles around the board table? One of the key roles of a chair is to facilitate the board as a group – especially in its core role as group decision-makers. And given participation is the purpose if you are going to bother calling a meeting, how can a chair best facilitate real participation that will energise and enthuse board members, and get the best possible decisions from a diverse group? We will look at some practical tools and frameworks to help make this happen in real world non-profit boards. Sessions will run from 5.30pm to 7.00pm. However, doors open and pizza bites are available from 5.00pm!

RSVP: Registrations essential, via email

International Volunteer Day 2025

International Volunteer Day (IVD) is an international event run by UN Volunteers and celebrated every year on 5 December. The purpose of IVD is to recognize and support the spirit of volunteerism to help create a better future. It champions the impact volunteers have in communities, nationally and globally.