Profession/Field of Volunteer Administration

Developing a Rational National Approach to Issues Affecting Volunteers

We have been privileged to travel internationally during the past few years, which gives us a very different perspective on volunteerism than anyone working only in their home country. Unfortunately, we admit to being close to despair about what is - or, rather, isn't - happening in the United States right now, particularly in comparison to other countries. The total lack of interest by the American federal government in the International Year of Volunteers is only one indicator of the problem, but before we simply complain, we need to determine exactly what we need and want from government to assist in our efforts to promote volunteering.

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What Are Your Hopes for the Impact of the IYV in Your Country?

e-Volunteerism Publishing Editor, Susan Ellis, recorded answers to this question from attendees at the IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Amsterdam this year. You'll be amazed at how much we are in agreement!

Responses come from Venezuela, Nigeria, Spain, Netherlands, Mexico, Korea, Latvia, France, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.

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Advanced Training: What Do We Mean?

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 by "advanced"? The truth is that few people can articulate a definition or make a list of topics that everyone would acknowledge as beyond the basics. Mainly it's "we'll know it when we see it." The thesaurus in my word processing program gives me three synonym category choices for "advanced": "highly evolved," "old," and "futuristic." No wonder we're confused!

"Advanced" means different things to different people. Susan takes a look at this topic from the perspective of the learner and content. Steve looks at how an advanced topic could be structured.

Susan's Point of View....
Is it the learner or the content?

Sometimes we bypass the choice of subject to concentrate on the expertise of the learner. This is what we do when we have a prerequisite to register for a program, requiring a certain number of years of experience to participate in the sessions. Of course, there is no magic number of years. We arbitrarily draw a line of demarcation.

 

  

Steve's Point of View ...
Is it how the training is structured?

Sometimes "advanced" training is indicated by the shape or structure of the training, defined by the way in which the training is conducted or the length of time given to a particular topic or focus. This results in an equally arbitrary method of "cutting up" a topic to best match the needs of the audience.

 

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Finding Our Profession

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 professionals, that is) that impress politicians, funding sources, the media, or others we need to educate or to whom we need to advocate. Finally there are a lot more professionals out there to whom leadership could be listening or from whom leadership could be learning. So how do we find ourselves and then mobilize our forces?

My experience in organized volunteerism is mainly in North America and that is what this article is about. I believe this is an important segment of organized volunteerism but am fully aware the experience of other nations is equally important and I'd like to hear about that in order to learn from both the similarities and the differences.

 

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Should Volunteer Administration Be a "Profession"?

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. We have written reams of material urging the acquisition of both. Rather, we are considering the validity of formalizing our work into something recognized by others as not simply a highly-skilled job, but instead as a "profession." Note, too, that someone can make a career out of volunteer administration, whether or not it is considered a "profession." 

Yes...Susan Ellis

Let's start by discarding the issue of pay as irrelevant. While it is true that the practice of any profession most often allows members to earn a living (and usually, but not always, a better wage than someone outside of a profession), being on the payroll is not, in itself, a criterion for recognition as a profession. It is possible to work in the field of volunteer administration both as a paid employee and as a volunteer. This scenario is not different from that of doctors or architects who choose to volunteer their services to causes that matter to them. The expertise of those in the medical and design fields are not questioned when no paycheck is evident. 
 

No...Steve McCurley

The first AVA business meeting I ever attended (roughly 25 years ago) featured a rousing argument over whether membership in AVA should be restricted to "paid" managers of volunteers. Those speaking in favor of this proposition cited the need to demonstrate the "professional" nature of the field, something that would lead to increased respect and greater pay. 
 
I was so baffled that it took five years of coaxing to get me to go back to my second meeting.
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Who Is Harriet Naylor Anyway?

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 Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) in the 1970s, Hat used her visibility to be an advocate for volunteers and for leaders of volunteers.

This "Voices from the Past" features excerpts from a number of published and unpublished pieces written by Hat, including a remarkable speech she gave in 1974 to what is now the Association for Volunteer Administration. For today's practitioner, Harriet Naylor's vision continues to provide a motivating beacon. We have not yet achieved universal acceptance of the power of volunteer involvement to make a difference in the quality of service provision (particularly that of the government), nor is the inextricable link between volunteering and citizenship understood enough. Hat was consistently focused on why volunteers are vital to a democracy, what is necessary to create an infrastructure that enables volunteers to do their best work, and how critical it is to strengthen the emerging profession of volunteer administration. And she was saying these things before anyone else.

Read what Hat was saying almost thirty years ago and decide if you think it still resonates today.

 

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