Volunteers can make the world a better place - but it behoves us to ask the question, "Better for whom?" In this Points of View, Rob Jackson and Erin R. Spink put this question front and center by challenging leaders of volunteer engagement to look at volunteering in real…
In this Voices, co-editor Tracey O’Neill talks with leaders of volunteers about the value of podcasts, those video/audio presentations that now cover every topic around the world and can be accessed via computers, cell phones, and tablets. Through her interviews with…
Now more than ever, technology is playing an all-encompassing role in keeping nonprofits and volunteer programs going. While volunteer-matching apps and social media platforms have been around for a while, social distancing takes us to a whole other level in terms of technology…
When faced with challenging world problems, volunteers’ resilience and resourcefulness have historically come to the fore. Consider the volunteer response to global heating and the damaging effects of climate change, which can seem overwhelming. Since scientists reported in…
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…
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Diwali, Chanukah. Holidays and festivals like these can create even busier times for organisations that run fundraising drives or develop special projects tied to these events in an attempt to reach more of the communities they serve.
As evidenced…
At a recent Points of Light conference, a plenary session included short videos from volunteer programs around the world that showcased innovation in volunteer programs. Voices co-editor Allyson Drinnon found the videos inspiring, and gained permission to present a sampling…
Do you ever feel like you’re treading water in this vast volunteer management ocean? Struggling against perceptions of what you do that simply don’t match the reality? As Meridian Swift writes, “I know I did. It took getting out and drying off to uncover what was missing in…
Much that’s been said about the motivations and outcomes of skills based volunteering (SBV) has been written from the corporation’s perspective. We know less about what motivates or what it takes to engage a SBV program from a nonprofit point of view.
In this e-Volunteerism…
In this Research to Practice, Laurie Mook reviews two articles that bring together issues related to measuring the impact of volunteering, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a set of 17 goals that address social, economic, and…
With a nod to e-Volunteerism’s co-founder and volunteer management expert, the late Susan J. Ellis, Rob Jackson and Erin R. Spink use this Points of View to present a provocative and much-debated topic: What really makes someone a skilled and effective volunteer engagement…
Adults 65 and older are an increasing demographic, with many retired from work and reinvesting some of their time into volunteering. A new challenge for volunteer administrators is managing these older adults and, eventually, managing their decisions to withdraw or retire…
Along the Web has previously highlighted volunteering in health care, human services, and in very emotionally challenging settings or situations. But in this new article, the focus turns for the first time to volunteering in hospice care, with a special look at how and why…
Working with and through volunteer teams presents as many opportunities as it does challenges. In this Training Design, Nancy Shelford of the Canadian Cancer Society presents a Skills Mapping Workshop designed specifically to successfully empower volunteer groups to identify…
In this e-Volunteerism feature, the story of volunteers at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo shows how and why your organization can empower volunteers to help tell your story. As writer Karie Hajek explains, volunteers are often referred to as the “heart” of an organization and…
Although hundreds of thousands of people volunteer with the National Park Service each year, the agency has been slow to engage volunteers in emergency management. In this feature story by Francis Shawn Bawden, who worked for the NPS for nine years, the lessons learned at…
