Keeping a volunteer program responsive to today's volunteers involves leading a periodic environmental scan to determine what trends are factors in attracting and retaining volunteers. It is important that all staff and leadership volunteers understand these trends. They have…
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 “…
Modern technology makes it easy for anyone with a computer and an Internet connection to access training on virtually any subject. With the click of a mouse, you can learn how to arrange flowers or earn a degree without leaving the comfort of your home. You can log in to join a…
It is almost preordained that keynote speakers and casual essayists, when asked to address the topic of volunteering in the United States, will eventually quote Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous Frenchman who keenly observed American life and then wrote Democracy in America,…
The future of volunteer management as a profession is a hot topic on both sides of the Atlantic, if not in other parts of the world. As evidence, consider the fact that the inaugural issue (Fall 2000) of e-Volunteerism featured several articles dealing with this subject.
If our…
Listen to the conference steering committee develop its strategy: "We simply have to offer workshops that will appeal to people who've been in the field a long time and are past the basics. Let's develop an 'advanced' track." This makes sense, but what exactly does everyone mean…
Research years ago showed a very high turnover rate among Coordinators of Volunteers -- the figure I remember is one out of three leaving the field every two or three years (though often staying in the same organization). It was a substantial percentage, anyhow, and I expect it…
As the Internet continues its pervasive growth through global society, attempts to utilize it in volunteer involvement also continue. This article will review efforts to use the Internet to address one of the basic questions in volunteering-- how can volunteers and volunteer…
The growing trend called "volunteer vacationing" reflects the increase in short-term and family volunteerism reported in national surveys in the United States. An increasing number of organizations, public and private, cater to these volunteers with packaged service trips.…
One of the most frequent questions on listservs for volunteer program managers is: "What is the value of volunteer time?"
Since we're really tired of reading both the question and the responses, we decided to provide the definitive list of places to learn far, far more than you…
The people who must raise funds often have little idea about the volunteer management aspect of their own agencies. Development staff and Coordinators of Volunteers frequently know little about the financial assets of volunteers active with the organization and rarely ask these…
Retaining volunteers is both an indicator of and a key to success in volunteer management. When volunteers keep coming back, it is a sign that the program is being managed in a reasonable way. The return of trained and seasoned volunteers gives the volunteer program manager more…
Why did we choose "Should Volunteer Administration Be a 'Profession'?" as our inaugural topic for "Points of View?" Quite simply, it is because the jury is still out on whether or not it is a profession. This is not a debate over the need for professional skills and attitudes.…
One of our most significant problems as a profession is that we cannot find each other. It is difficult to speak to or for a constituency we can't always find. We don't always know where to throw our pearls of wisdom and we don't usually have the kind of numbers (of…
Until recently there was no agency within the UK focusing specifically on volunteering research and its connection to policy and practice. Volunteering sometimes appeared on the curricula of the various organisational-focused voluntary sector courses. But it was very much a…
Volunteering and volunteer work have changed dramatically in the last few years. So too have management practices in the not-for-profit sector as shrinking resources combined with increasing demands for service press administrators to search for new ways of doing business. One…
Getting your workshop off on the right foot is essential. Like the appetizers to the full meal, icebreakers allow participants to get a taste of what is to follow. As with every other part of effective training successful icebreakers result from proper planning and interactive,…
Harriet Naylor, always known familiarly as "Hat," was one of the true pioneers in the development of volunteer program management as an acknowledged field in the United States. In her role as national director of the Office of Volunteer Development at what was then the…
