Give of yourself

Illustration: Seth

It's the giving time of year, and CAs can donate their time and special skills. A common vol-unteer activity for CAs is serving on the board of a charitable organization. "There are close to one million people on boards and committees of the 78,000 charities in Canada, and there's a turnover of at least 250,000 a year. The need for charitable board directors is gigantic," says Lee Giles, executive director of Altruvest Charitable Services, which specializes in governance solutions for charities.

Through a Web-based service called BoardMatch (www.boardmatch.org), Altruvest finds highly skilled professionals who are interested in joining a board, trains them and  matches them up with a participating charity of their choice. The free online matchup currently operates in the Toronto area only but will expand across the country starting next year. So far, BoardMatch has filled 250 board positions and has nearly 200 registered charities participating in the program.

"For CAs, there are very few places where they can learn about governance," says Giles, who is also on the board of Ontario Special Olympics. "I think it makes them better leaders and managers in their regular jobs. Even better, charitable board service is an opportunity to feel good about making a difference in the community."

Of course, there are many other ways CAs can use their skills to make a difference: lending time to a tax clinic, participating in a child's career day at school or joining a mentor program. And don't forget the many opportunities to serve on CICA and provincial institute boards, committees task forces and advisory groups. To find out more, contact your local institute or fill out the Volunteer Information Form on the CICA website.