1. 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.

2. 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