Get Involved : The social network for the socially conscious

Want to make an impact in your community?

Then GET Involved and make a commitment to making a difference in 2010.

Set a goal. Track your progress. Count your hours, or the hours of all the volunteers in your organization or group. Engage, motivate and inform your volunteers, staff, friends and family about all the ways you make a difference. Encourage others to add their hours by sharing your actions and progress with our community.

Power of the Hour is a fun, engaging tool for:

* Individuals & Families
* Businesses
* Charities and Non-profits
* Schools
* Community Groups

Create a Get Involved profile to find like-minded, passionate people & organizations that are changing the world.

Watch and hear about some some inspiring stories. Get acquainted with the organization and then make an offer or volunteer your time to the benefit of some amazing organizations like these listed below (and many more featured non profit organizations) who are committed to making a difference in the lives of others.

Inner City Angels artists in schools

Founded in 1969 by a group of educators and artists responding to a need for arts resource for inner city children, Inner City Angels is an arts education charity that engages Toronto's inner city and priority neighbourhood children in innovative and affordable creative arts experience guided by professional artists. We are inspired by the belief that the arts play an integral role in our personal growth and creative potential and that we all share in the responsibility of ensuring arts and learning for all children.

Kids Up Front Foundation
Kids Up Front is a Toronto-based organization that provides at-risk children and youth with access to sports, entertainment and cultural events through the distribution of unused tickets.

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a not-for-profit, professional theatre company dedicated to the promotion of Queer Canadian Culture. We are dedicated to producing, developing, and supporting queer theatrical works.

Manifesto Community Projects
Manifesto Community Projects is a youth-led organization devoted to fostering collaboration in Toronto's artist community in order to provide powerful platforms and resources for growth and exposure. The focal point of its activities is the annual city-wide Manifesto Festival of Urban Music & Art, in addition to a variety of community initiatives including workshop programs, art exhibitions, and fundraising events.

Go ahead, Make a difference this year. GET Involved!

Time Raiser: A revolutionary way to have fun, get engaged, and make a difference in your community

Timeraiser-2010-Toronto-Richelle-Forsey

Without a lot of cash in their coffers, Volunteers are one of the most important resources that local community service agencies, non profit organizations and NGO's can tap into to deliver their vital programs services. By donating their time and getting involved, volunteers can make a huge difference in the lives of people both in their local communities and on the other side of the globe. Anyone who has volunteered can tell you, that volunteering in your community has to be one of the most profoundly rewarding experiences anyone can have.

If volunteering is so important, and so helpful and so rewarding then why don't more people do it?

• We aren't asked
• We feel like we don't have the time
• We don't know where to find meaningful opportunities

Introducing Timeraiser: 
The single most innovative social purpose venture we have seen in a while.

Concept: 
Attend a lively and entertaining event, socialize with your friends, bid on original art—and if you win, you pay with your time. The struggling artist gets paid real money and you, commit to spend a little quality time with a local community support organization. Everyone wins.

After the Timeraiser:
Create a plan and track hours at civicfootprint.ca.

The Timeraiser supports emerging and mid-career artists like few other community events do: artists are paid fair market value for their work instead of being asked to donate their creativity. The art is then auctioned off at the Timeraiser to raise volunteer hours for the community. To date, the Timeraiser has invested over $310,000 in the careers of more than 450 artists across the country.

Timeraiser was conceptualized in 2002 in response to a group of friends wondering how it could be easier to find meaningful, relevant volunteer opportunities.  Now, 7 years and 10 Timeraisers later, it is amazing that this grass-roots initiative has flourished into a well-known, annual event that operates in 6 cities across Canada.

The Timeraiser helps nonprofit and voluntary organizations, large and small, connect with potential volunteers. Canadians in their 20s and 30s are one of the hardest demographics to reach. Timeraiser is an easy way to connect these organizations with skilled and energetic volunteers. Check out the timeraiser video:



The three main objectives of the Timeraiser are to:

•   Connect your organization to skilled and energetic volunteers
•   Raise awareness about your organization in the community
•   Bring together the arts and not-for-profit sectors to create community connections

To date the Timeraiser has worked with over 250 charitable organizations.

By the end of 2009 the Timeraiser will have:

1. Generated over 51,000 volunteer hours
2. Invested $300,000 in the careers of emerging artists
3. Engaged 5,000 Canadians to pick up a cause
4. Worked with 250+ charitable organizations.

Taking the total financial and social community impact into account, the program’s return on investment is estimated to approach 220%, generating nearly $2.20 in ‘social good’ for each dollar invested in programming.

Check out this brief Timeraiser agency workshop video to understand what is involved in becoming a Timeraiser agency. If you depend on volunteers to deliver your programs and services, maybe you should consider giving them a call.

If you have thought about or always wanted to volunteer some of your time to a worthy cause in your community, but were not sure how or where to begin, maybe you should check out the Timeraiser website: Find relevant and meaningful volunteer opportunities with Timeraiser, the single most innovative social purpose propagation idea we have seen in a while. Better still, attend a Timeraiser event near you.

Heartbeats for Africa - How two local community organizers in Toronto are working to raise much needed awareness and capital for the Stephen Lewis Foundation

"The AIDS virus has done terrible damage to entire communities and families. It continues to take a dreadful toll. But with Heartbeats for Africa you bring hope to scores of young children, women, and families - and hope is everything. What a wonderful contribution. We thank you a thousand fold!"

- Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, Executive Director, Stephen Lewis Foundation

Sisters, Alison and Kate Lawler-Dean, both work in the fashion PR and art consulting scene in Toronto. They were first inspired and motivated to fundraise for the Stephen Lewis Foundation after hearing about their grassroots approach to raising awareness and fighting for the cause of women and children living with Aids and HIV in Africa.

The sisters realized that every little bit we as individuals can do to help the people suffering in Africa can make an important difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS. After reading Stephanie Nolan’s book 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa, they were motivated to kick into gear and join the cause. Alison and Kate took on this challenge with energy and enthusiasm and in 2008 created Heartbeats for Africa to raise awareness and money for the women and children of Africa whose lives have been devastated by HIV/AIDS.

The first Heartbeats for Africa Art Show and Party was held in Toronto on a chilly evening in early February. Hundreds of guests packed a small gallery in Toronto’s Queen West West art district and playfully outbid each other on over 100 original paintings, photographs and sculptures while sipping on cocktails and dancing to two of Toronto’s hottest DJs. The party was a huge success and raised over $13,000 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Now, a second fundraising event is being held in Toronto on February 13, 2010.

If you can go, please do. Buy your tickets today.

If you can't make it, donate to the cause, buy a T-shirt, get involved with or donate directly to the Stephen Lewis Foundation or help Alison and Kate with their efforts to promote this outstanding event and most worthy cause.

All proceeds are donated to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Don't just sit there, buy a ticket, and a shirt, then spread the word throughout your network, by phone, SMS message, with Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin—with everything you've got!