This much is clear: Volunteer Centres are vital to build and sustain local and regional volunteer ecosystems. Often seen as the “one-stop” help for individuals looking to get involved in the community, Volunteer Centres are not only remarkable at surviving funding and policy…
It’s not very likely that the barrista serving your morning latte, the receptionist checking you into your vacation hotel, or the bank manager deciding whether to approve your home renovation loan are thinking about volunteering as they go about their daily work. But their…
In 1984, a very important article about funding volunteer efforts was published in the Spring issue of Voluntary Action Leadership: “The No-Apologies Budget: How to Justify the Financial Support a Volunteer Program Deserves.” Written by Neil Karn, then director of the Virginia…
Connecting with colleagues in volunteer management is essential for the profession and for each of us as individuals. No one argues this point. But are we as a field effectively networking and collaborating with the tools available to us today?
Despite enormous technological…
The Volunteer Program Assessment (VPA) provides consulting services to nonprofit volunteer programs across the United States and Canada. VPA consultants are graduate students and faculty from five universities who volunteer their time to work one-on-one with leaders of…
Do we take ourselves too seriously? Volunteering plays a critical role in so many organizations, in so many countries across the world. And these days, being in the volunteer management business isn't easy. It’s no surprise that many of us are stressed. What we need, says John…
The debate continues over whether or not students in service-learning placements should be considered volunteers, and this type of unpaid labor often falls under the purview of a volunteer resource manager. Indeed, engaging service-learners is one strategy that can be used to…
Do church volunteers ever experience conflict? Of course they do. Conflict is unavoidable and, when handled in a healthy way, can even result in benefits. Identifying strategies for building unity and minimizing unhealthy conflict among church volunteers are crucial steps in a…
It would come as no surprise if this Along the Web started with the statement: “Pets are an integral part of our lives.” Animal lovers have always known about the bonds between humans and pets (although many suspect that beloved pets knew this well before anyone else). What may…
Local volunteer centers exist in many countries around the world. Granted, they operate under different names and reflect regional differences in the specific things they do, but all volunteer centers have a surprising number of things in common, such as matching volunteers with…
For nearly a decade, Susan J. Ellis, the publishing editor of e-Volunteerism, has been encouraging (read: nagging) Andy Fryar, the journal’s manuscript developer, to write about an innovative volunteer program that he oversees in Adelaide, South Australia. After nearly 10 years…
Is an attitude shift in order as we consider the value and individuality of Volunteers?
While intentionally spelling Volunteer with a capital “V,” Marlene Beitz poses this question and raises many others in Voices, asking readers to think about the conscious and subconscious…
In the last quarter century, nonprofits have increasingly been held accountable for the resources that have been entrusted to them. For some organizations, accountability mechanisms have been imposed left, right, and center, as funders and donors seek to monitor the use of the…
Volunteers increasingly come to organizations with expectations that their involvement will be supported by the smart use of new technologies – during recruitment, induction, and in their actual volunteering. As shown in previous Training Designs, the Internet and video have the…
In 2009, Jeffrey L. Brudney and Lucas C.P.M. Meijs proposed a new way of thinking about volunteer resources: as a natural resource which must be managed sustainably or it will be exhausted. In their article, "It Ain’t Natural: Toward a New (Natural) Resource Conceptualization…
Many of us, especially readers of this journal, have long defied the skeptics and believed that volunteering has multiple benefits. Now there is growing research to prove that volunteering is good for society as a whole and that it needs to be nurtured and fostered.
In this…
There was a time when the word “intern” was used mainly for doctors-in-training. Over the last 50 years, however, the concept has widened to include many different experiences in nonprofit, government and for-profit settings. Some internships are formal requirements through…
Do you have a fresh concept for building your volunteer program, and you wonder if anyone has ever tried it before? Or perhaps you need someone with formal skills in scientific methods to help you design a plan for implementation? When you need answers to both of these issues,…
