Engage Library

One of Ivan Scheier’s unique contributions to the volunteer field was his multi-day retreats for experienced practitioners, which he called “Challenge Think Tanks.” He hosted these retreats in various places across America during the 1980s and 1990s, whenever he could find a…

One of the most fascinating things about volunteerism throughout history is that it represents the basic human response to "can you help?" It also reflects the culture, values and state of the times in which it occurs. What kinds of things are people willing to do to meet needs…

Imagine that some catastrophic event hits your community, and residents are unable to use telephones, the Internet, or other communication tools we take for granted. Did you know that there is a vast global network of volunteers ready to get help to you quickly and efficiently?…

Research for the report, Flying Under the Radar: The Significant Work of All-Volunteer Organizations, was conducted in 1999 in the San Francisco service area of CompassPoint by Cristina Chan, M.P.P., and Sonali Rammohan, C.P.A. Leadership for the study was provided by Jan…

Recent events have made the public more aware of the role of volunteers in protecting lives and property during fires and emergencies. Throughout the U.S. and many other countries around the world, communities (particularly small, rural ones) depend on citizens to assume those…

There are many words to describe volunteering and voluntary action, reflecting the many forms of people helping each other survive and prosper over the challenges of their time and place. Whether it is trabalho voluntario in Brazil, benevolat and volontariat in France, gotong…

One of the top ongoing issues of most of the all-volunteer groups in the CompassPoint Nonprofit Services’ study featured in the Winter issue of e-Volunteerism was “reaching new members and keeping them involved.” In the world of volunteer management, that translates to “…