For a long time, Volunteering Northern Rivers, formerly known as Lismore Volunteer Referral Centre, which operates under the auspices of the Lismore Neighbourhood Centre Inc. has been involved in matching the skills of volunteers with the needs in the not-for-profit sector.
Now, it has engaged volunteer Andre Othenin-Girard to develop a promotion and facilitation programme for commercial enterprises that contribute to their community by encouraging volunteering amongst their staff.

“Where there are problems, there are opportunities,” Andre said, “Most not-for-profit organisations are under-resourced and lack specific skills, yet their needs keep on growing. Also, due to busier lifestyles, the number of volunteers has declined throughout Australia. Corporate Volunteering offers great potential to address these deficits and turn them around.”

Many businesses have traditionally contributed to their community on an ad-hoc basis but there is a trend towards a more structured approach delivering better outcomes for themselves, their employees and their community.  There is value in embracing social responsibility and involvement must be managed like any other asset to maximise its impact.

Andre approached the Office of Regional Engagement at Southern Cross University to unveil his plan and seek a partnership. It was quickly established that the partnership could be of benefit to both partners in terns of implementing Neighbourhood Centre projects through student’s learning outcomes. A few projects were initiated which tapped into university resources and course requirements for students to work on practical real life assignments. Andre and the lecturers shared responsibility for supervision.

This is how Claire Morana, a 2nd year Tourism and Hospitality student at SCU came to volunteer her learned skills and help Andre with the staging of the Northern Rivers Corporate Volunteering launch, as part of her Events Management Unit.

After a comprehensive briefing, Claire was made responsible for the development of some creative elements of the programme launch, including banners, pamphlets, display material and a power point presentation that Claire will co-present.

Events student Claire Morana & Andre Othenin-Girard discuss launch details at SCU’s Campus Central Auditorium.

Claire said: “Volunteering has provided me with a chance to practice what I have learned and to further my skills in the areas of corporate event management, marketing, promotions, budget costs, sponsorship, personal communication, team work, hospitality service management and event staging – It’s given me an edge for my future career.”

Well aware of the mutually rewarding engagement opportunities a partnership with Volunteering Northern Rivers represents, Southern Cross University, through its Office of Regional Engagement also made available a venue for the launch of Volunteering Northern Rivers Corporate Volunteering Programme on the 12th of May 2008.

Andre said: “This arrangement is a perfect example of win-win all around. Cross matching of skills and needs between the corporate and not-for-profit sectors in a context of mutuality can deliver the desirable outcomes for both partners. This is exactly what Volunteering Northern Rivers is trying to promote and facilitate. I am proud of Southern Cross University for demonstrating its commitment to social cohesion in such a way."

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