Reflections on a Budget
The Alberta Nonprofit Network (ABNN) brings together organizations from across the province that exist to strengthen and support Alberta’s nonprofit sector. One of ABNN’s greatest assets is the diversity of thought within its leadership group - the Network Stewards. Each Steward organization comes with a distinct mandate, history, geography, and worldview, and it is this plurality of perspectives that gives ABNN its depth and resilience. Our work is grounded in a simple truth: none of us is as smart as all of us.
From that foundation, ABNN offers this collection of brief reflections on the Government of Alberta’s recent budget. As with any sensemaking exercise, interpretation depends on where you sit. These insights are not intended to provide a comprehensive budget analysis, but rather a series of snapshots of how several Network Stewards see the budget affecting the communities they serve and the sector as a whole.
We hope these perspectives spark your own reflection. We invite you to share them with us.
Reflection: Volunteerism as a Foundation for Strong Communities
By Miki Stricker-Talbot
Executive Director, Volunteer Alberta and ABNN Network Steward
The Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Status of Women 2026 business plan identifies a vision that resonates across Alberta’s nonprofit ecosystem: “Alberta’s culture is built on strong communities and a shared and celebrated history.”
Its commitment to “work with community partners to develop a plan to increase volunteerism across the province” opens an important and timely conversation about what conditions actually support volunteerism and contribution today.
Our research into volunteerism through (Re)Engaged: Volunteerism from the Ground Up has shown that across Alberta, people want to contribute. They want connection, meaning, and a sense of shared purpose. But many are navigating a complex mix of pressures – feeling stretched thin by competing priorities, socially out of practice after the years of the pandemic or feeling stuck about where to begin. People aren’t avoiding community but are looking for ways back into it that feel welcoming, low- pressure, and genuinely meaningful. And it’s here that the deeper role of volunteerism comes into focus. Volunteerism is far more than a mechanism that keeps nonprofits operating, rather, it is one of the most accessible ways people find belonging, meaning, purpose, and connection: it is a public health benefit.
Ccontribution is rarely sparked by information alone. It grows in relationship, through small invitations, moments of ease, and roles people “bump into” rather than hunt for. It grows when commitment feels joyful rather than obligatory, and when people can build their own capacity while contributing to something larger than themselves. And it grows when we make it easier for people to try things – even imperfectly – instead of overthinking their way out of participating.
When we understand this, we begin to see that the future of volunteerism in Alberta depends on the infrastructure of relationships that help people reconnect with one another. Volunteer Centres, community hubs, and local service organizations can play an essential role in creating these points of entry for places where people feel invited, supported, and confident stepping into community life.
The Ministry’s business plan’s performance indicator which tracks levels of formal volunteering captures just one dimension of how Albertans contribute. A stronger provincial approach will recognize the full spectrum of contribution – formal and informal, structured and spontaneous, organizational and personal – that strengthens our communities every day.
As an ABNN Network Steward, I see an exciting opportunity in the government’s call to create a provincial volunteer plan. Together with community partners, we can shape an approach that reflects how people actually connect, learn, grow, and contribute today, and that nurtures readiness, strengthens relationships, and supports the shared social infrastructure communities rely on.
Alberta is full of people who want to do good together. With thoughtful investment in the systems that help them find their way in, we can strengthen the collective capacity at the heart of our province’s culture and community life.
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