'We need to be realistic': Guelph PIN volunteer network to cease operations in March

The People and Information Network logo. (PIN)

After more than two decades of serving the community, Guelph’s People and Information Network (PIN) will be asking members to approve its dissolution, citing a shortfall in funding and volunteers.

On Monday, PIN said it will ask to dissolve the organization at a special members’ meeting scheduled for Feb. 23.

Effective March 31, PIN will cease normal operations.

“Formal dissolution will take place by July 31, 2023, once funding and sponsorship commitments have been met,” the organization said in a news release.

“Like many non-profit organizations in Canada, PIN has faced a funding shortfall over the past several years,” PIN Board Chair Janet Kaufman said in the release. “Volunteering has also changed dramatically over the past two decades, with more companies hiring volunteer managers and more prospective volunteers using the internet to directly find opportunities to serve. More recently, the COVID pandemic has discouraged many people from volunteering because of the perceived health risks and the consequent social changes of the past two years.”

Official notice of the meeting is being sent out to all eligible members Tuesday, PIN said.

PIN was created in 2001, drawing inspiration from the United Nations International Year of the Volunteer in 2001.

Kaufman said PIN’s board and staff remain passionate about the value of volunteering, but “we need to be realistic about our prospects.”

“This is a tough time for non-profit organizations," said Kaufman.