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Karen Knight

Karen Knight

Castanet

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Reducing volunteer turnover

Reducing volunteer turnover

You spend a ton of time recruiting, training, and building relationships with a volunteer, only to have them disappear. Sound familiar? While a...

previous day 2

Castanet

Karen Knight

Solving problems, tensions

Solving problems, tensions

A few weeks ago, I attended a local gathering of the BC Non-profit Network. One of the presenters, JP Baker, spoke about “solving problems vs...

25.07.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight

High performing volunteers

As a leader of volunteers, creating and leading a high-performing team is perhaps the most important thing you do. Just as every leader is different,...

18.07.2025 1

Castanet

Karen Knight

Volunteer challenges

A new Statistics Canada study shows a significant dip in volunteering participation from 2018 to 2023. Since it was released, I’ve seen a number of...

11.07.2025 5

Castanet

Karen Knight

Hard-to-find volunteers

Let’s face it, if your cause doesn’t involve children or animals, you will have a harder time recruiting volunteers. But what happens if your...

04.07.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight

Volunteer wellbeing

When we talk about volunteer safety, most people picture things like lifting heavy boxes or navigating a slippery walkway. Physical safety is...

27.06.2025 2

Castanet

Karen Knight

Help with volunteers

You will not have heard the term, “fractional leader of volunteers.” That’s because I made it up. If yours is a smaller social impact...

20.06.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight

Long-time volunteers

The conversation goes something like this: “She’s an amazing volunteer. She’s so passionate, and puts so much time and effort into the cause. In...

30.05.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight

Improving volunteer plans

You know as well as I do volunteer programs are never “one-and-done”. As your program grows and evolves, so must the systems and processes that...

23.05.2025 2

Castanet

Karen Knight

Better volunteer training

Refresher training is an often forgotten part of keeping volunteers happy and productive. That was driven home to me when I was on a call the other...

16.05.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight

Successful grant proposals

Volunteer program budgets are small and too few leaders even try writing grants to supplement them. Whether they need money to improve technology,...

09.05.2025 7

Castanet

Karen Knight

You are making a difference

Have you ever wondered if you’re really making a difference? Day after day, you do everything you can to support those who support your cause. But...

02.05.2025 5

Castanet

Karen Knight

A culture of excellence

From program delivery to community outreach, from communications to advocacy, volunteers are responsible for so much in the running of our...

25.04.2025 4

Castanet

Karen Knight

Volunteers of all ages

How age diverse is your volunteer program? I have often written about the value of having a team that brings a wide range of differing world views....

18.04.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight

Volunteers who feel trapped

Has this ever happened to you? You volunteer for a small role with an organization. You do a few shifts, then the leader asks if you can take on a few...

11.04.2025 4

Castanet

Karen Knight

Volunteer fulfillment

What keeps volunteers coming back? What makes them feel invested, dedicated and eager to contribute? I believe the key lies in the power of volunteer...

04.04.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight

Families volunteer together

Last week I watched a recording of a keynote speech by the late Susan J. Ellis, volunteer advocate extraordinaire, pulled from the Susan J. Ellis...

28.03.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight

Benefit of senior volunteers

Supporting senior volunteers is both a responsibility and an opportunity for organizations that engage volunteers. As the workforce sees an increasing...

21.03.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight

Helping volunteers succeed

I just finished watching a TED talk called “The Seven Pillars of Unlocking Potential” by Anirudh Krishna. It was fantastic, and I felt the...

14.03.2025 4

Castanet

Karen Knight

Sleep and leadership

There is a frightening correlation between sleep deprivation and ethical issues. Among the risks to good ethical behaviour—greed or fear, for...

07.03.2025 3

Castanet

Karen Knight