Trends and Issues

2005 in the UK was the Year of the Volunteer, with a programme of events designed to increase the profile of volunteering. To build on its legacy, the England Volunteering Development Council, a high-level representative mechanism of volunteering, established The Commission for the Future of Volunteering to develop a long-term vision for volunteering in England. To inform this, a literature review was undertaken which aimed to look at what is going on in the world of volunteering, particularly examining societal changes and the impact these may have on volunteering.

 

The resulting report by Colin Rochester was published in December 2006 and is the focus of this Research to Practice review.

This “Along the Web” feature explores one of the most rapidly developing subcultures in volunteering – combining travel with service. Originally called ecotourism, it is now referred to as vacation volunteering or voluntourism -- a word which has even made its way to the Macmillan English Dictionary Word of the Week.
 
Why help out in your own neighborhood when you can save the world, literally? 

 

The real question is whether this will become a source of competition for local volunteer activities.  After all, when faced with an alternative like “Help Save a Penguin on Your Next Vacation,” what chance does a child at risk really have at attracting volunteers?
 
See Steve’s annotated list of resources in these three categories:

• Research and scholarly articles
• Examples of volunteer vacations
• Web sites assisting in scheduling volunteer vacations

The nonprofit sector has long been the domain of organizations and individuals interested in philanthropic activities and charitable work.  However, this is changing, as Corporate America discovers that nonprofits and employee-volunteering programs can be legitimate and useful business tools to promote their brand value.

The latest trend for companies is to create corporate nonprofit foundations and employee-volunteer programs to demonstrate corporate social responsibility (CSR).  Although having noble missions, the real intention of these corporate nonprofit foundations and inspired employee-volunteer efforts is to enhance brand value, increase overall company profitability, grow customer loyalty, and reflect company values in tangible ways. 

Two for-profit corporations, Bank of America and Toyota, are both enhancing their brand name through their respective nonprofit foundations and employee-volunteer programs, each of which helps Bank of America and Toyota to build stronger relations with their communities and stakeholders.

In this article, Kevin Kalra, himself a 2004 Toyota “Community Scholar,” explores what “brand value” is and how CSR furthers it.

Debbie Usiskin, an experienced volunteer programme manager in London, shares her personal exploration of how government requirements to ‘check’ (screen) volunteers provide contradictory and conflicting responsibilities and messages.  She raises important questions about finding the right balance between protecting those who are served while supporting the widest range of volunteers.

Usiskin also introduces a provocative analysis of volunteer-involving organisations by influential business guru Charles Handy and applies his thinking to volunteer management.  

In the post-Enron (or Tyco, WorldCom, IGA, etc) accounting-scandal era, corporate citizenship has taken on new meaning and relevance.  Boards of directors are suddenly on the hook as much for their company’s ethical performance as their financial results (as well they should be). Shareowners and regulators are newly vigilant.  And companies large and small are looking to polish the good-guy gloss on their activities in the marketplace.

Among the weapons at hand for many corporations is an expanding emphasis on workplace volunteering – the direct support of their employees’ community activity.  The workplace volunteer movement isn’t new.  Some large companies have been in the game for twenty years or more.  But with companies wanting to do more in the community, many nonprofits – the vehicle through which companies reach out to those in need – may be wary, concerned that the taint of profit-making motives could rub off on their mission-focused endeavors.

It needn’t be so. Nonprofits and companies can work (indeed, are working) productively together to the betterment of our communities.  All it takes is some understanding, and maybe even some TLC.  It also takes context.  What is motivating companies to enter the community arena? How might corporate citizenship imperatives help nonprofits gain from the resources available in the business sector?

David Warshaw, who toiled close to 30 years in the public relations/corporate citizenship arena for a huge company, has some decided opinions to share.

We commonly do “Along the Web” by subject categories, but in the past issue I thought I’d just list a variety of interesting reports that have shown up recently that either don’t fit neatly into categories or are within subject areas that we have already covered. This continues the listings from the last issue because I seem to have a very large number of these things that are too good to just ignore.

In March 2005, a pioneering 48-hour event was held in Canberra, Australia: The 1st Annual Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management . The 50 participants came from all of the Australian states and territories, plus representatives from New Zealand, Singapore, and the US. The intense but relationship-building retreat exceeded all expectations, with prospective outcomes that will strengthen volunteerism in the Pacific region in many ways.

The co-producers of the event explain how it evolved, the goals of the program, how the facilitation model was designed, and participant reactions. They also reflect on what the retreat meant to the emerging national professional associations of Australasia and plans for making the opportunity an annual one. They also explain the provocative slogan “Not just 50, not just 3” to which the retreat “alumni” committed in the last session.

The article is accompanied by audio “sound bites” recorded on site, in which participants explain what made the two days an “advanced” experience for them.