Engage Library

This issue of Along the Web highlights various volunteer recruitment campaigns utilizing print, radio, and television public service announcements (PSAs). We thought you’d like to see what your competition is doing and plan accordingly. The examples here are mainly from the US…

In this issue of “Along the Web” we’ll look at Internet resources for volunteers in arts, culture, museums, and heritage programs. This is all part of an effort to lend a bit of class to our otherwise pedestrian existence. Items are grouped into sections: articles and technical…

One of the fastest growing areas of volunteer involvement is that of the participation of youth.  This area, however, has its differences from traditional management of adults.  In this issue of Along the Web we'll look at studies on what motivates youth to volunteer, how to…

Just when you think you've seen everything in volunteerism, somebody comes along with something totally new. And then you discover that other people are thinking about it as well. Steve was sitting in the Washington Dulles airport over the holidays, engaging in the popular…

Lightbulb jokes aside, one of the eternal questions which shows up on a regular basis in online discussions, training sessions and inquisitive e-mails is usually framed quite simply: "What's the recommended ratio of supervisory staff to volunteers?" Susan greets this question…

This issue of Along the Web deals with a phenomenon that has gained much more attention in the past two years - volunteers who respond during disasters. As publicity about this surge of what has been called "spontaneous volunteering" grows, we can expect the phenomenon to…

One of the hottest and most complex topics in volunteer management is the screening of volunteers. The amazing thing is that making comprehensive background checks of volunteers is a relatively new practice, almost unknown twenty years ago. It is now, however, a requirement in…

Victoria is a fascinating city nestled in the westernmost portion of British Columbia. It is a city which is known for being “more English than the English” and a great place to have afternoon tea in the old style. You wouldn’t think they’d be producing material on the cutting…

Excerpt from "Steve Says…" The strangeness began about 20 minutes into the meeting when a number of the assembled academics launched an all-out orchestrated attack on the survey [entitled “A Measure of Commitment – Volunteering for Serious Social Problems.”], contending…

Right now in volunteer management we are facing a rising tide: the increasing preference among potential volunteers for short-term, episodic volunteering. By all guesses, in practically all countries, the number of volunteers preferring a shorter term commitment is rising and…

The emergence of employee volunteer programs has been one of the most significant developments in volunteerism in the past 20 years. In this issue of “Along the Web,” we look at 42 resources from six countries with solid information to help both businesses and charities make use…

One of the truly neat things about volunteering is that is allows people to make a contribution to the world in which they live. With formal volunteering this is only true, of course, to the extent that organizations allow people to volunteer, thus recognizing that ability to…

Every once in a while we run into someone from Corporate America who, upon learning that we work primarily with nonprofits, proceeds to talk about how charities should be run more like businesses. We also occasionally find the Nonprofit Executive who is certain that social…

One of the least-researched areas of volunteer involvement in the United States is that of ethnic volunteering. Hispanic volunteering, in particular, has received much less attention than it deserves considering the vast increase in size and importance of the Hispanic population…

Volunteers have always been the backbone of sports, leisure and recreation programs, so we decided to do a quick round-up of Web resources in this area. What follows is a mix of things: research studies and articles forms and policies workbooks and manuals And just for fun we…

Time (or lack of it) is always the bane of the existence of most volunteer managers. This is especially true when you're attempting to relate with and keep track of dozens or hundreds of volunteers - a supervisory ratio far beyond the bounds of rationality. The computer offers…

Steven Farmer and Donald Fedor have taken a look at factors which make volunteers decide to continue and increase their contribution of volunteer time and effort to a particular organization. This issue is a serious one to effective involvement of volunteers, since the…

The Internal Battle by Steve McCurley Niccolo Machiavelli is famous for writing a book entitled The Prince, which is about gaining and exercising Power. "Power" is something that you don't hear discussed much among volunteer managers, since most of them don't have it. In fact,…

The growth of volunteering around the world has also led to the growth of organizations whose purpose is to support volunteering. What follows is a list of such organizations. It is vaguely organized by geographic territory - sometimes by country or sub-territory, sometimes by…

Volunteering involves political, cultural and philosophical aspects, all of which are worthy of discussion for the ways in which volunteering interacts with other aspects of society. Much of this discussion is about how government and other institutions can work cooperatively to…