Research to Practice seeks to identify, review and interpret academic and other research important to the volunteer engagement field. Because the various reports and studies are discussed in terms of their major relevance to practitioners, each of the articles is also listed in the Engage Library by subject covered.
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Research to Practice
In recent years, democracy around the world has been declining. According to one report, the “global index score is at just 5.17 out of 10, its lowest point in the history of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual Democracy Index.” Understanding why and where democracy is…
January 2026
In Part 2 of Ethics, co-section Editor Erin R. Spink continues to explore how to build an Ethical Volunteering Policy in the workplace. After writing in Part 1 about the considerations and questions that surface when creating such a policy, Spink now presents…
July 2025
What if every volunteer-involving organization had, as part of its mission, a mandate to involve community members as volunteers – a mandate that is fundamentally tied to why the organization exists and not simply how it achieves its goals? In fact, should volunteer-involving…
April 2025
In this two-part series, Ethics co-section editor Erin R. Spink explores how to build an Ethical Volunteering Policy in the workplace. In Part 1, Spink shares conversations, considerations and questions to reflect on as she explores the importance of such a policy and why to…
January 2025
In this Points of View, editors Erin R. Spink and Rob Jackson try something new. Instead of presenting their personal musings on topics, trends and issues that they see as relevant to the Volunteer Engagement profession, they turn their gaze inwards and examine an article…
January 2025
One of the most recognizable basics of Volunteer Engagement practice is the “3 Rs:” Recruit, Retain and Recognize. The 3 Rs are in most Volunteer Engagement job descriptions and Volunteer Management 101 texts and blogs, and remain a constant and ongoing topic of conversation…
April 2024
What common challenges do leaders of Volunteer Engagement face when they approach ethical issues? What common mistakes do they make? In this Ethics column, Editor Erin Spink interviews volunteerism expert SarahJane Rehnborg to discuss these and many more issues that…
April 2021
Susan J. Ellis may be best remembered for her prolific writing and famous "Hot Topics," her personal musings on important issues in the volunteer engagement field. But for many people, their fondest memories and biggest 'aha' moments came from Ellis’ work as a trainer. This…
July 2020
Leaders of volunteers around the world now face the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts, far and wide. At e-Volunteerism, we wanted to try and address this sobering issue and offer some help. From our robust Archives, we bring you the following stories and pearls of wisdom on how…
January 2020
We’re all looking to improve our recruitment skills and to take advantage of new technologies and tools. This Training Designs presents a step-by-step guide on how to use the search function within LinkedIn to do targeted searches. In these three steps, you and your…
July 2019
In this Points of View, Erin R. Spink and Rob Jackson share their thoughts on the words and phrases that no longer serve the volunteer engagement profession – and, they argue, could actually hurt us. They also present and review new ways to communicate about the…
April 2019
Humor is personal, but so is learning. And humor can be a welcomed training tool when it comes to training.
In this Training Designs, Erin R. Spink interviews Tane Danger from the Theater of Public Policy (known as T2P2), an innovative group that seeks to enhance learning…
October 2018
The majority of e-Volunteerism readers are leaders of volunteers and many of us play a significant role in training volunteers. But should that be the case? In this Training Designs, editor Erin R. Spink asks some tough questions about the role that leaders of volunteers play…
July 2018
Volunteer recruitment messaging is long overdue for an overhaul. But what wording works best? This Training Designs article will walk you through the technique of “testing” messages to determine which are most effective with different audiences. You’ll learn …
October 2017
We're all trying to up our training game and learn best practices from those with demonstrated experience and excellence as trainers. Who better to learn from than e-Volunteerism’s very own Betty Stallings? The journal’s first editor of the Training Designs section, Stallings…
January 2017
Have you ever wanted to learn some tips that enhance how you relate to an audience when presenting? Or have you ever wanted some methods or tricks to put together a training session that helps people retain more afterwards?
In this Training Designs article, Erin R. Spink…
October 2016
Having access to professional e-learning and course-creation software — such as Adobe Captivate©, Camtasia®, and Snagit® — can be a great asset to anyone's training program. But have you ever considered using such software for multiple purposes? Did you know, for instance,…
July 2016
Here's an important addition to your advocacy toolbox. This Training Designs presents training resources to help you describe and demonstrate the power of volunteer engagement to peers and senior managers through the lens of “transformational leadership.” Newly-appointed…
July 2015
e-Volunteerism readers raved about Part 1 of Erin R. Spink’s presentation on "Volunteer Engagement: Defining the Future of the Profession." Posted in the last issue, one reader called it "a brilliant, educational and provocative article,” while another noted that it “…
April 2011
Consider the term that has become popular in recent years in English-speaking countries: “volunteer engagement.” Do you really know what it means? Surprisingly, despite its widespread use, there was no research on volunteer engagement until 2008. In this two-part e-…
January 2011