Join Aditi Basdeo, founder of multiple youth-empowered organizations and a leader in youth engagement, along with a dynamic panel of young volunteers, for an insightful and inspiring session!
Nonprofit organizations across the country continue to grapple with volunteer shortages, with many forced to scale back services or adapt their operations. Generational shifts, evolving social and economic dynamics, and changing expectations around volunteerism have made it increasingly challenging to attract and retain committed volunteers. Meanwhile, 58% of charities (and many other nonprofits) still rely entirely on volunteers, with no paid staff at all, amplifying the urgency of rethinking volunteer engagement strategies.
In today’s fast-changing landscape, it’s more important than ever to embrace innovative approaches to connecting with a new generation of volunteers. As Volunteer Canada CEO Megan Conway highlights, “At our core, we are a nation of givers who will get creative when more traditional paths are not available.” This workshop will help nonprofits reimagine their volunteer programs by tapping into the unique strengths, values, and motivations of younger generations.
Through this session, you’ll gain:
- Insights from Aditi Basdeo’s extensive experience in youth engagement.
- Practical strategies for attracting and retaining young volunteers in 2025 and beyond.
- Firsthand perspectives from a diverse panel of engaged young volunteers.
Let’s build a future where youth are empowered to lead, and nonprofits thrive with their energy and ideas
Why should this matter to you and your organization?
- Volunteers are increasingly harder to engage
- Knowing that many long-term volunteers are not returning, attracting and maintaining youth volunteers has never been more important
- Young people have been under-engaged in volunteerism, and possess an enormous potential that has yet to be fully realized
- Young people bring energy, wisdom, and innovation if we know how to engage them
Now is the time to be thinking about and acting on youth engagement!
How can you engage youth when there isn’t much recent data or research regarding volunteer engagement with youth? You start by learning how to best engage youth volunteers by hearing directly from young people.
At this workshop, you will learn more about:
- Current volunteerism landscape and some specific challenges in London
- Trends and issues and how understanding trends can help us make informed choices about volunteer program innovations and opportunities
- Tips on engaging, retaining, and working with youth volunteers by hearing directly from a panel of youth
This is a great opportunity to learn from youth about the types of volunteer opportunities they are interested in and how to best engage them!
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Anyone who engages and supports volunteers and also individuals who want how to better engage young people, this could include volunteer managersmanageers, individuals planning events, and/or fundraising professionals.
INVESTMENT INFORMATION:
ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
Aditi Basdeo: Echo Impact Consulting
Aditi leads with her heart, from her very first step into the social innovation sector she has pulled on her personal story and challenges as motivators to move beyond the status quo. In 2018, Aditi founded Champions of Change Canada; a nonprofit that focuses on raising awareness for gender equality by empowering youth to lead community-centric fundraisers and campaigns. At Champions Aditi held many roles, from resourcing to marketing but closest to her heart is the role she held as a mentor for young people in her community. Through founding Champions, Aditi realized her passion for designing and building solutions.
