Without volunteers Multiple Births Canada would simply not exist! Every day across Canada there are hundreds of volunteers working tirelessly in their communities to improve the lives of families with multiples. Whether as a family support volunteer, a Clothing Sale Coordinator, a link to MBC, or a Chapter Executive member, these volunteers are making a difference in the lives of others.

At the national level there is also a need for volunteers to assist in the fulfillment of MBC’s mission and to assist the National Board of Directors in completing work that benefits all families in Canada. 

How can you help?

Are you looking to make a difference? Do you have an interest in multiple-birth issues or the passion to improve the lives of multiples and their families? If you have answered yes to either of these questions, then we need you!

Multiple Births Canada is looking for:  

• Dedicated volunteers to assist and support MBC, its Chapters and its membership.
• Volunteers who can commit to a task and see it through; who are also comfortable to working on their own (seeking assistance when needed) and taking initiative where necessary.
• Volunteers with a passion for multiple-birth issues who want to make a difference.
• Individuals who are a member of Multiple Births Canada (either as a Chapter Member or a Direct Member)
• Individuals with Internet access, email and willingness to meet (via electronic methods) on a fairly regular basis.
• Individuals interested in taking on a leadership role: positions such as those of the National Board of Directors require (where possible) experience working with a Chapter Executive. 

Benefits of Volunteering

The benefits are endless for you, for your chapter, for multiple-birth families and for your community. Some of these benefits include:

• Spending time with others who have or who are having similar life experiences
• Meeting new people, developing networks and making lasting friendships
• Learning new skills with the potential to transfer them to the workplace
• Enhancing your self-confidence, self-worth and sense of accomplishment
• Teaching your family about the importance of sharing with others and giving of one’s time to a worthy cause
• Helping both your family and others in your community by contributing to a better quality of life
• Helping a cause that you believe in…making a difference for future generations
• Having fun!

Open Volunteer Board of Directors Positions

The following are Board of Directors positions currently available. However, please note if you are interested in holding a Board position and these are not areas of interest to you, a Director at Large position is an option to consider. The MBC Board is always seeking new Board Members. Ideal candidates are past MBC Chapter Executives, who have held the position of President/Vice President and who are now ready to make the move from their local Chapter Executives/Board to the National Board. However, if you have not held these positions in the past and are interested in learning more, please do not let this requirement stop you from contacting MBC.

Director of Information Management - MBC is looking for a Director to oversee the areas of publications, Multiple Moments and website content.

Director of Support Services - MBC is looking for a Director to oversee its Support Networks and other support services.

Director of Research - MBC is looking for a Director to assist with multiple-birth research related projects and the dissemination of multiple-birth research studies to MBC members and partners.

Director at Large Positions - MBC is looking for Directors to serve on the Board who may not hold specific portfolios but who are willing to work with a team of fellow Board members. 

If you have any questions about the work carried out by the Board of Directors, the portfolios of any Board positions, the Board’s composition, the nature of the time commitment involved, or Board operations, please do not hesitate to contact the MBC Chair  at any time.

Additional Volunteer Positions Available

There is much work to be done by MBC, and it can’t be done with only the handful of National Volunteers we have now. We desperately need further help to move MBC toward its goals!

If you are interested in volunteering at the national level but don’t feel that membership on the Board is for you, there is a wide variety of positions and responsibilities that require dedicated volunteers with a passion for multiple births and Multiple Births Canada. All areas of MBC need volunteers to work on committees or on specific projects—either as a leader or as a member. Please note that the average time commitment allotted is an estimate and that these hours could change based on opportunities that present themselves for that position, time available by the volunteer, and timing of specific events or activities directly related to that position.

Due to space limitations, advertisements for positions with job descriptions have been removed. If any of the positions interest you please contact the Director of Volunteer Management to get more information and where available a more detailed job description.

The Health & Education Committee is seeking 2 or more volunteers interested in joining their Committee. The Health & Education Committee is a standing committee working in the following areas:

• Health issues related to the health and well-being of multiple-birth individuals and their families from preconception to adulthood
• Education issues related to meeting the educational needs of multiple-birth children during the early years to university age

The Health & Education Committee reports to the MBC Board of Directors:

• Assessing the needs and prioritizing requests for health and education information
• Promoting and generating interest in specific health and education issues affecting multiple-birth individuals and families (i.e. research, formulating position papers)
• Identifying gaps in knowledge and information, finding ways to close these gaps
• Updating current and developing new publications related to health and education (i.e. fact sheets, booklets)

The "ideal" volunteer will have a background in the health or education fields, have a passion for multiple-birth related topics in (but not limited to) these areas, and a willingness to work with other dedicated volunteers to keep Multiple Births Canada current in its knowledge, support and resources. The time commitment for this volunteer position will vary depending on the needs of the committee; however one can expect to spend a minimum of 2-4 hours a week at their convenience.

Independent Accountant: Performs the independent annual financial review of the MBC financial statements, on the basis of information provided by the Director of Finance. This person is a CA or CGA. Contact Melanie Dugard at financial@multiplebirthscanada.org for further information. This review is estimated to take about 20-25 hours of volunteer time per year.

Fund Development Volunteers: MBC is seeking experienced Fund Development Volunteers to assist with developing and implementing strategies to raise funds for new program initiatives, specific needs of MBC, as well as to increase opportunities for sustained operational funding.

Reporting to the MBC Past Chair (Acting Director of Fund Development—recruiting for this position will follow next year) and in collaboration with MBC Board of Directors, volunteers, and MBC participants, the Fund Development Volunteers will assist in the following areas:

• help create and implement an overall annual fund raising strategy for annual solicitation
• assist with the writing of grant proposals – as well as seeking out new opportunities
• engage in fundraising activities to meet financial goals set out by the MBC Board of Directors
• develop and implement capital campaigns were needed
  

The key roles of Fund Development Volunteers are to improve the revenue of MBC and associated programs by expanding the funder base, and implementing formal fundraising efforts. This includes forming and affirming existing ties within the community to build on the existing funding base. The candidates will engage in a team approach and thereby strengthen our organization’s capacity as a whole.

The ideal candidates will have a minimum of 3-5 years experience; a proven record of success in raising funds for non-profit organizations from government and non-government sources; recognized post secondary education in fundraising; demonstrated abilities to meet deadlines; have an understanding and experience in budgeting and financial reporting; possess strong writing, presentation and networking skills; and be willing to commit at least 4 hours a week for a minimum of 6 months.

Advocacy Committee Chair/Coordinator: Develops partnerships and re-establishes partnerships with other like-minded organizations doing similar advocacy work. In addition, there is a need for advocacy committee members—preferably volunteers from each province—to track and respond to provincial/territorial issues. Average monthly commitment is 5-8 hours.

Volunteer Coordinator: MBC Volunteers are an integral part of our organization; without them, we would not be able to provide support and services to our Chapters, members and to the multiple-birth community as a whole. As such, the role of Volunteer Coordinator is an essential one for our national organization to support volunteers across the country who work independently and remotely from each other. MBC is looking for someone who has experience working with volunteers in a coordination role to oversee the recruitment, ongoing orientation and training, creation of appropriate position descriptions and tracking national volunteers’ progress, as well as providing ongoing and annual recognition. The responsibilities of this position could be shared by more than one person. Average time commitment is 6-10 hours a month.

Volunteer Newsletter Editor: Keeps MBC national volunteers connected and informed by producing a digital newsletter for distribution on a bi-monthly or quarterly basis. Average monthly commitment is 4-8 hours.

French Translation Committee: This committee will translate MBC resources for our francophone community.  Average monthly commitment is 5 hours.

National Multiple Births Awareness Day Coordinator: With direction from the Director of Communications and the MBC Board of Directors, this person will lead and deliver this important national awareness event. MBC is looking for someone who has experience in media relations and strong writing skills. The responsibilities of this position could be shared by more than one person and includes developing a communications plan, producing the media kit and distributing it to the media, evaluating media coverage and measuring results. This is a time-specific position from January to June each year. Average time commitment is 6-10 hours a month.

Adult Multiples Support Network Chair: Oversees the Adult Multiples Support Network. An adult multiple as Chair would be ideal to work with other adult multiples to initiate and conduct discussions and sharing of common interests. Average monthly commitment is 4-8 hours.

Potential New MBC Support Network
Young Parents Support Network Chair: MBC is looking for a volunteer to Chair a new support network for those who became parents of multiples at a young age. Ideally, the Chair will have had experienced being a young parent with multiples them self and can share their knowledge, understanding and MBC resources. The network Chair is responsible for linking members with peers in similar circumstances and being a conduit for mutual support in addition to guiding members to appropriate MBC resources. The network Chair would also be responsible for producing a short monthly newsletter keeping members connected to each other and MBC, provide submissions to Multiple Moments magazine, and liaising with the Board of Directors on the specific needs of members within this network.

Publications Coordinator: Oversees the area of publications by assisting with updating current publications and creating new publications as the need arises. It is essential that this volunteer be proficient in word processing software, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, Adobe Pagemaker, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop or similar graphics software. Average monthly commitment is 10 hours.

Marketing Volunteer: Promotes Multiple Moments and MBC through the use of print and electronic media. This person will be self-driven and has marketing skills or would like to further develop them through a volunteer position. Average monthly commitment is 8 hours.

Research Coordinator: Monitors recent research, updates statistical information and monitors requests from outside sources interested in making research-related contact with multiple-birth individuals or parents. Average monthly commitment is 5-8 hours.

All MBC volunteers are a true asset to the organization and carry out work that would not be possible without their generosity and support. Thank you!

NEW Tasks... New Volunteers Needed!

After recently reviewing our 2009-2012 Strategic Plan the Board listed a few new tasks that need to be accomplished over the next couple of years. If you have considered volunteering and have the time, passion and interest to take on some smaller tasks—the following may be for you, someone you know, or even you and a committee!

We are looking for volunteers:

Experienced individual(s) with a back ground in Human Resources or Volunteer Coordination to:

• accept volunteer applications and match with positions/ tasks
• create and maintain a database of current, past and future volunteers at the national level
• create and update job descriptions (JD) for the national organization and assist Chapters where needed with their JD needs
• coordinate a quarterly volunteer newsletter
• create a volunteer handbook for the national organization that can be adapted for Chapters

 Skilled in website programming to:

• add items like You Tube Videos and Blogs to our MBC home page
• create a private and secure discussion forum
• create a Photo Gallery

Experience with current social networking applications to:

• connect website links from other websites to MBC; develop policy; reciprocal agreements with other websites
• connect with other discussion forums to communicate the existence and resources of MBC
• facilitate an MBC Blog to keep people up-to-date with MBC and multiple-birth related news

Skilled in Marketing/public relations/communications to:

• update database of media contacts
• encourage magazine and other publication coverage, arrange interviews and the distribution of Public Service Announcements
• develop a contact list of multiple-birth community members and key messages for responding to media requests
• develop a list of cities/regions and the media contacts in those cities to develop an outreach campaign in areas where Chapters are needed

Politically minded to:

• create and maintain a list of Ministers of multiple-birth impacted portfolios, ensuring they are aware of MBC and our advocacy issues, as well as other general awareness

Interested in the development of publications and resources to:

• identify gaps in publications and resources and assist (where applicable) in the development of such resources
• establish needs, develop and provide new resources to fill gaps beyond the infant/toddler stage
• assist the Health and Education Committee

Experienced in working with databases to:

• to link membership database technology to highlight expiry dates and similar type functions

Experienced in health or education related fields to:

• help develop new and update existing fact sheets and resources as part of the Health and Education Committee

If any of these tasks sound appealing to you and you have some extra time to dedicate to seeing them through to completion, please contact Kim Weatherall at volunteers@multiplebirthscanada.org.

Are you ready to Volunteer?

Please contact Kim Weatherall, Director of Volunteer Management at volunteers@multiplebirthscanada.org to discuss where your experience, interests and passion are best suited in volunteering with MBC.

Volunteer Application Form - Word file