Connect & Act 2027: Early bird for the National Volunteering Congress

On Tuesday 16 March 2027, the entire volunteering sector will gather for the fourth time at Connect & Act, the National Volunteering Congress in Brussels. Non-profits, local authorities and companies will learn from each other for a whole day: about finding and retaining volunteers, leadership, the volunteer law, local policy and collaboration. The early bird runs from 26 October to 5 December 2026: the first 200 tickets cost €109. Order your early bird ticket.

Who is it for and when?

• When: Tuesday 16 March 2027

• Where: BNP Paribas Fortis head office, Warandeberg 3, 1000 Brussels. A 5-minute walk from Brussels-Central.

• Who it's for: local authorities, volunteer organisations and companies

• Languages: Dutch, French and English

• Early bird: €109 including VAT. 200 tickets, until 5 December 2026. When they're gone, they're gone.

• Late bird: €159 including VAT

• Organisation: Give a Day and Hitch, made possible by BNP Paribas Fortis

Connect & Act 2027 is the fourth edition. The congress grew from 450 participants in 2024 to more than 600 in 2025, from the social sector, companies and local authorities.

Why attend Connect & Act 2027?

People still want to get involved. Just no longer within the old frameworks, roles and meeting routines.

You notice this as a volunteer coordinator, as a municipality's volunteer service and as a company that wants its employees to participate. That question runs like a common thread through the programme: how do you find volunteers where they are searching today, how do you retain them, and how do you collaborate across the boundaries of non-profits, municipalities and companies?

You will go home with practical tools. And with new contacts from across the sector.

What's on the programme?

Give a Day and Hitch are putting together the programme and each bringing their own speakers. In addition, local authorities, organisations and researchers will have their say.

The keynote speaker is Griet Van Vaerenbergh, spokesperson for non-profit Positivologie and lecturer in social and positive psychology at Thomas More. She talks about positive activism: how do you stay engaged with what is happening in the world without losing yourself? Or as Loesje puts it: “You should do caring, not worrying.”

Afterwards, you can choose from sessions on these themes:

• Finding volunteers where they search. Prospective volunteers search via Google, ChatGPT and their feeds. Bart Wolput shows how to write a strong vacancy, make your website discoverable for search engines and AI assistants, and set up a social megaphone without spending hours on it every day. You'll get a checklist to get started right away.

• Retaining volunteers. A volunteer who comes once is not yet a volunteer who stays. Freya Schreurs, educational expert on volunteering at Give a Day, shares tips: from a warm welcome and a clear role to appreciation that truly hits home. The conversation with those who might drop out will also be covered.

• Leadership and collaboration. Hitch brings along six trainers to cover leadership, meetings with enthusiasm, difficult conversations and volunteers who are happy to return.

• The volunteer law quiz is back. Following the success of 2025, Bart will test your knowledge with new questions about the latest legislative changes. How can you reimburse expenses to a volunteer in 2027? Can someone who is unemployed volunteer without reporting it? Who is liable if things go wrong? You play individually or in a team and get an explanation for every question. Everyone goes home with a prize.

• Local authorities learning from each other. One service pays a flat rate, another treats to a dinner, a third gives nothing. Hamme, Aalst and Londerzeel share how they arrived at a single vision on expense reimbursement and appreciation. Bruges and Antwerp show what they built with their external volunteer policy and what they had to scale back. Jo Steyaert (Bpact and Indiville) adds the figures from the national DOE-meter. Hasselt, Kortrijk and the Steunpunt Vrijwilligerswerk Brussel share how they encourage citizens to volunteer, for example with “Volunteering on prescription”, where GPs and healthcare professionals refer people.

• Surviving without subsidies. David Nielsen (GAIA) explains how your organisation can stay afloat without subsidies.

• Also in French. Manon Jacob, project manager at Give a Day, leads a workshop on the entire volunteer journey, with case studies from the Aidants Bénévoles Scolaires and the Fedasil centre Bordet. Leslie Rijmenams, journalist at Nostalgie and creator of the segment “Y’a de l’idée”, shares how to present your initiative in a way that gets people moving.

• And more. There will also be sessions on corporate volunteering and AI.

In the coming weeks, we will introduce the speakers one by one. Check out the full programme here: https://connectandact.be/planning/

How do you order your ticket?

You order via connectandact.be/tickets-bestellen. You fill in your invoicing details and the number of tickets. You don't choose sessions yet.

Do you need a purchase order number for the invoice? You can provide that later. Anyone ordering now is guaranteed a spot.

Don't wait too long. Last year, the congress was fully booked after 50 days. And if the 200 early bird tickets are sold out before 5 December, the early bird will end sooner.

See you on 16 March in Brussels

One day to learn, listen and meet people struggling with the same questions as you. Order your early bird ticket now for €109.

See you then!