Member Spotlight: Meet Jill Howey, the Heart of the Metro Vancouver User Group

Some people join a community. Others keep it alive.

This month, we're shining a spotlight on Jill Howey, Volunteer Coordinator with the City of New Westminster in British Columbia, Canada, and the longtime leader of the Metro Vancouver User Group. Through COVID, when connection mattered more than ever, Jill kept her group going, and it became a lifeline for volunteer leaders across the region and beyond. Today she also helps lead our Municipal User Group, and she's known across the community for one thing above all: she's always happy to help.

After just a few minutes of conversation with Jill, it's easy to see why so many volunteer leaders have found their footing with her help.

From recreation therapy to volunteer coordination

Jill's career started in healthcare, where she trained as a Recreation Therapist. In many organizations, Recreation Therapists and activity coordinators look after their own volunteers, so when a volunteer coordinator position came up between jobs, it felt like a natural next step.

That path eventually led her to BC Children's and BC Women's Hospital, where she met Better Impact for the first time. The hospital had purchased the software but hadn't been able to get it off the ground. "They said, we don't know how to make it work," Jill recalls.

She even asked Better Impact whether the hospital should hire someone more technical to set it up. The answer stuck with her: the person who knows volunteers, and knows what the program needs, is the right person to design it.

Where the user group story begins

Before she'd even started setting up the system, Jill's supervisor connected her with other local organizations using Better Impact. They pointed her to an in-person Metro Vancouver User Group meeting.

"I hadn't even started making changes in Better Impact yet. I was just getting people's advice on how to set it up and how to get it going," she says. "They were so valuable, and people took the time to show me their accounts and how they were doing it."

With that advice and a few training sessions with the Better Impact team, Jill built her vision for the program, matching every volunteer role with the right qualifications, and got the ball rolling. That was roughly 13 years ago, and she's been a Better Impact user ever since.

One front door for a whole city

About five and a half years ago, Jill joined the City of New Westminster and set up Better Impact for the second time, bringing her lessons learned from the hospital with her. She arrived during COVID, which had an unexpected upside: as programs reopened, volunteers could be brought on gradually.

She still remembers the first New Westminster volunteer to apply through Better Impact. "I asked, can you apply using this link? And then can we talk about it and see if there were any challenges?" she says.

Before Jill arrived, there was no centralized volunteer program. "It used to be everybody using their own Excel spreadsheet," she explains. After bringing in Better Impact and holding a focus group with program areas, it became clear that a single, centralized process was the way forward.

Today, every volunteer comes through one portal. Applicants choose the programs they're interested in, and Jill hosts monthly information sessions, one for youth and one for adults. "I'm kind of like the triage nurse," she says. She introduces volunteers to their options, and some roles then include a second interview with program staff.

Because New Westminster is a smaller city, the one-account approach works beautifully. Volunteers aren't limited to a single role. Someone might support Emergency Support Services, Century House, community events, and children's programs, all without filling out separate applications.

A day in the life

"I start my day by turning on my computer, and I turn on Better Impact first thing, because all day, every day, I'm in the database and I'm answering emails," Jill says.

Apart from a part-time coordinator in Emergency Support Services, Jill is the City's only full-time Volunteer Coordinator. She works alongside about 30 administrators who manage volunteers in their own program areas, from animal services and arenas to arts programming.

The largest group is community events. When Jill sends out a call for help with events like Remembrance Day or a Halloween party, it reaches about 500 qualified volunteers, who can then schedule themselves.

Two very different worlds

Moving from healthcare to municipal government meant rethinking how volunteering works. "In healthcare, volunteerism is very well established," Jill explains. "There have been hospital auxiliary volunteers for maybe 100 years."

In municipalities, it varies much more. Some roles, like those at seniors' centres, are well established, while others are brand new. When Jill arrived, for example, the City's community recreation day camps didn't have a volunteer program at all.

That variety is part of why she values connecting with peers. Jill is also part of a network of about 15 volunteer coordinators from municipalities across the Lower Mainland. "We all are coordinating volunteers in a different way," she says. "We're in different departments, we're responsible for different parts of programs, and we all have our setup differently. So it's really interesting."

Having set up Better Impact twice, Jill has learned a few things about migrating to a new system. Her top tip is to skip transferring old records. Instead, she treats the move as a chance to clean up the database and get everyone's contact information current.

Keeping the Metro Vancouver User Group alive

The Metro Vancouver User Group that helped Jill get started 13 years ago is the same one she's helped keep going ever since. It began as in-person meetings, moved online during COVID, and stayed online because the need to connect was so strong.

As word spread, volunteer leaders from well beyond Metro Vancouver started joining too. "People wanted to connect," she says.

With so many industry-specific User Groups now available, Jill and the team asked whether a regional group was still needed. The answer was a clear yes. "You can learn something from people that are in a different industry and how they use it so differently from yourself," she says.

Inside a meeting

Some sessions cover new Better Impact features, or tips and tricks. But most of the time, the agenda comes from the members themselves.

Jill often opens with two simple questions: What's something you've learned Better Impact can do? And what's something that's driving you crazy that you wonder if there's a better way to do? "Just when we go around and answer those two questions, that can take up the whole meeting sometimes," she says.

She also looks for topics the group hasn't covered in a while, like pinned searches, surveys, or e-learning.

And one thing Jill wants every reader to know: the conversation isn't limited to software. "It's not just Better Impact. I want to make that clear," she says. "We talk about all things volunteer related, whether it's related to Better Impact or not."

Each group sets a schedule that works for its members. Jill's groups meet anywhere from every other month to three times a year, and for one group she rotates the meeting day each time so part-time staff and people with standing meetings can still join.

Paying it forward

For Jill, the user groups are personal. "I love people. I'm an extrovert. I love talking to people," she says. "I want to interact with people, so the user groups are a great way for me to stay connected."

They're also her way of giving back. "People really, really helped me 13 years ago when I was getting Better Impact going, and I want to be able to help other people," she says. "Email me. I'm happy to look at what you've got, I'm happy to show you what I have, and I'm happy to talk about how to get going."

Jill's advice: Don't reinvent the wheel

Asked what she'd tell someone new to the field, or moving into a new sector, Jill doesn't hesitate.

"Don't reinvent the wheel. Reach out to colleagues, find out what they're doing, find out what works, and steal ideas," she says. "Don't be afraid to reach out to somebody in a similar role and just say, hey, can I pick your brain? Volunteer coordinators are people people, and we want to help others."

It's the same spirit that brought Jill to her first user group meeting 13 years ago, and the same spirit she's passed on to every volunteer leader who's joined since. Thank you, Jill, for keeping the Metro Vancouver User Group going and for always making time to help others find their way.

About Better Impact User Groups

Better Impact User Groups are member-led communities where more than 1,000 volunteer leaders connect by industry or region to share best practices, swap ideas, and get an early look at what's coming in the software.