Government, Non-Profit, and Volunteer Secretariat

The Government, Non-Profit, and Volunteer Secretariat is a new division under the Deputy Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Housing and Social Development.

The Secretariat was formed on September 1, 2008 to foster the ongoing relationship between the B.C. Government and the non-profit and volunteer sector.

Working with a broad spectrum of Ministries and non-profit foundations, associations and service agencies, the Government, Non-Profit and Volunteer Secretariat develops and implements strategies to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and sustainability of the government, non-profit, and volunteer sector alliance in achieving strong and positive service and policy outcomes for the people and communities of British Columbia. The Secretariat is a centre of excellence for non-profit relations, and will be a repository and distributor of best practices.

The overarching objectives of the Secretariat are to:

• Build government and non-profit relationships through activities that the two parties can engage in such as goal setting, medium and short term priority setting and service design.
• Identify barriers, opportunities and best practices to maximize alignment of non-profit and government strategic direction.
• Improve linkages and relationships among non-profit and volunteer agencies and government.
• Identify improvements to government’s procurement, funding and performance measurement processes that better serve the non-profit and volunteer community.
• Build government, non-profit, and voluntary internal capacity: the knowledge, abilities, structures and processes that enable the sectors to meet joint goals in a sustainable and efficient way.

Many of the objectives will be realized through the work of the Government/Non-Profit Initiative. The Secretariat plays a key support role in the coordination and development of this Initiative.