Timeraiser is a Canadian non-profit event supporting artists and non-profit agencies in 15 communities across Canada. The Timeraiser is described as "part volunteer fair, part silent art auction, and part night on the town". Throughout the evening participants meet with different agencies and match their skills to the agencies' need. Once they have made their match, participants are then eligible to bid on artwork. Rather than bid money for artwork, participants bid volunteer hours to charitable organizations and charities. The event is a way for people to find causes and for agencies to connect with skilled volunteers. Timeraiser's mission is to "bring people to causes and causes to people".
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The Timeraiser event is one of two core programs developed by Framework Foundation, located in Toronto, Ontario. The second program is Techraiser, which works with small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations to raise their baseline of technical literacy.
History
Timeraiser was conceptualized in 2002 in response "to a group of friends wondering how it could be easier to find meaningful, relevant volunteer opportunities". The program expanded in 2006 to Calgary.
The first Timeraiser event was held in Toronto, Ontario in 2004. To date, there have been 76 Timeraiser events. The Timeraiser program has successfully expanded to 15 cities across Canada (Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Hamilton, London, Winnipeg, Halifax, Montreal, Regina, St. John’s, Chatham-Kent, Fredericton, Kamloops) and has to date:
Community Partners
One of the Timeraiser mandates is to work collaboratively and efficiently within the existing community infrastructure.
This allows Timeraiser organizers to draw on the collective wisdom about high quality engagement from community leaders. Organizers in each Timeraiser city work collaboratively with community partners such as United Ways, volunteer centres, and community foundations.