Americorps Funding Under Threat

The Corporation for National and Community Service, the umbrella organization that funds Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), Americorps, Teach for America, Senior Corps, Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), City Year and many others programs, is under serious threat of being defunded in next year’s federal budget. This cut would be catastrophic to the national service movement and comes only 2 years after Congress passed the Serve America Act, which recognized the essential role of national service and civic engagement in our democracy.

Service Nation is spearheading advocacy efforts to help save the Corporation for National and Community Service and all Americorps programs. If you would like to help save national service, please call your senator today!

Call Instructions

•Call 1-855-US-SERVE (1-855-877-3783).
•Enter your zip code and listen to brief instructions and talking points.
•Press 1 to be connected to your senior Senator or press 2 for your junior Senator.
•You’ll be directly connected to your Senator's office.
•After calling your first Senator, call again to connect with the other one. Both need to hear from us.
•If you get a busy signal, please call back! You will be able to skip instructions and talking points after you enter zip code.

Can you volunteer your way to Harvard?

A recent article in the “Education Life” section of the New York Times asks whether participating in community service really gives students an advantage during the college application process. The answer shouldn’t come as a shock— it’s both a yes and a no. Students that are passionate about their volunteer work—and can demonstrate a long-term commitment to the community—may have something of value to add to their application, but a laundry-list of surface-level volunteer work isn’t going to hold much sway with admissions counselors. An expensive volunteer trip abroad may provide students with an exotic experience, but it probably won’t have the same transformative impact as years of committed local volunteer work, like regular friendly visits to an elderly neighbor or weekends spent tutoring low-income elementary school students. It’s especially important for students to demonstrate that they have thought about social issues on both a micro and a macro level, and that they understand whether or not their work is having an impact on structural inequalities.

Of course, it’s not all about college admissions. The most important thing is that young people participate in impactful activities that engage them with both their immediate community and the wider world. With the rise of the service-learnin g movement, educators are doing a better job connecting academics to community participation and good citizenship, but there’s still much work to be done. The goal of all youth service programs should be to propel young people on a path of meaningful service and community involvement that will continue long after the fat envelope arrives.

Here are links to the New York Times article and to the DoSomething.org survey on which the article was based. DoSomething.org is a national nonprofit focused on youth volunteerism:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/09communityservic e-t.html?ref=edlife

http://www.dosomething.org/survey-2008

The New York Times published an article last week titled, “Frazzled Moms Push Back Against Volunteering.” The article obviously hit a nerve, remaining on the most e-mailed list for much of the week.

The article describes volunteer burn-out on a massive scale: frazzled, crazed parents (ok, mostly Moms), from Maine to California, driving themselves crazy by over-committing to school volunteer work. The article paints a bleak picture of parent volunteers in total retreat as teachers and school administrators lean too heavily on them to offset school budget cuts. Frazzled parent volunteers may seem like a distant problem for volunteer managers at NYC nonprofits, but they may tell us something about the problem of volunteer burn-out.

There are many reasons why a volunteer might leave their volunteer position, but burn-out is unique because it’s usually the most committed volunteers, the ones who spend the most time and energy with our organizations, who ultimately burn-out. I know because I’ve been that volunteer! I know how hard it is to recapture the energy and passion you have for a volunteer position when your reserves have been drained. As the director of a large volunteer program, I also know how much nonprofits rely on volunteers to do important and essential work both within the organization and out in the community, but sometimes we also lean too heavily on our best volunteers and risk losing them.

There isn’t a silver-bullet solution to volunteer burn-out, but there are certainly some preventive measures that volunteer managers can take to keep their best and most energetic volunteers. Here’s a top four:

1. Provide a strong training program. Well-prepared volunteers will be less likely to feel overwhelmed when confronted with difficult situations. This is particularly important if volunteers are working with a difficult client population or in a harried office environment. Make sure they know what to expect and who they can turn to if they need help and support.

2. Create a community within the volunteer corps. Creating opportunities for volunteers to make connections with each other helps build friendships and a sense of community that will sustain them when their work becomes challenging.

3. Understand that sometimes volunteers outgrow a position. If you sense a volunteer may be burning out, it might be because they are bored in their current role. Have a conversation about other opportunities within the organization.

4. Recognize and appreciate your volunteers. Everyone wants to be recognized for the good work they do. Volunteers don’t have a paycheck to incentivize them, so they need to feel inspired by the work and appreciated for their efforts.

Please share your thoughts on volunteer burn-out?

Happy International Volunteer Managers Day!

November 5th is International Volunteer Managers Day. IVM Day started in 1999 to recognize the work of Volunteer Managers all over the world.

As resources continue to be scarce at many nonprofits, it’s increasingly important to recognize the capacity and resource building work that effective volunteer managers provide.

Here’s to all those hard-working Volunteer Managers out there. Happy IVM Day!

For more Information about International Volunteer Managers Day visit www.volunteermanage rsday.org.

Scoop it Forward

Looks like Ben & Jerry’s is the latest company to support community volunteerism. Their two newest flavors are “Berry Voluntary” and “Brownie ChewGooder.”

Through a partnership with Target and VolunteerMatch it looks like active volunteers can get a coupon to try out the new flavors for free.

Here is the link for more information:

http://www.volunteermatch.org/scoopitforward/index.jsp?_sid=target-sif

Cities of Service

NYC Service—Mayor Boomberg’s initiative to expand volunteerism in New York City—recently celebrated its first anniversary. By all accounts the first year of NYC Service was a resounding success.

New York City is lucky to have such a comprehensive volunteer program come out of City Hall and now 10 more cities across the country have received grants to replicate the program in their own communities, to build their own “City of Service.” The 10 cities selected last January are Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville-David son, TN; Newark, NJ; Omaha, NE; Philadelphia, PA; Sacramento, CA; Savannah, GA; Seattle, WA. The funding from the Rockefeller Foundation will allow these 10 cities to hire a Chief Service Officer to develop and implement a plan to increase volunteerism in their city and engage volunteers in high-impact volunteer work to meet crucial needs. Apparently the response to the first “Cities of Service Leadership Grants” was so great that there will be another competition for funding and an additional 10 cities will receive funding.

Congratulations to our neighbors in Newark, NJ for receiving this grant. Newark will focus its efforts on youth and public safety programs.

I’m looking forward to seeing what kinds of innovative volunteer programs come out of these 10 cities.

If you would like to read more about NYC Service’s inaugural year, their annual report is available on their website:

www.nycservice.org

Volunteerism in the Spotlight at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in NYC

I just returned from 3 weeks in Europe where I was participating in a nonprofit exchange program in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which is in the former East Germany. It was an incredibly rewarding experience and I’ll write more about it in my next post. Of course, while I was learning about volunteer and nonprofit management in Germany the largest conference in the country on volunteerism and service was taking place right in my own backyard.

While I was not able to be at this year’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service in NYC from June 28-30, from all accounts in was a resounding success with over 5,000 professionals and volunteers in attendance. The conference featured plenary sessions with well-known speakers, hands-on service projects, and over 175 workshops.

You can read all about the conference and review the outcomes here:
http://www.volunteeringand service.org/downloads/2010/Highlights.pdf

If you were able to attend the conference and would like to share your experiences I encourage you to leave thoughts or reflections in the comments section.

Mark your calendars because the 2011 National Conference on Volunteering and Service will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana from June 6-8.

National Volunteer Week 2010

In honor of National Volunteer Week (April19-23, 2010) I asked my volunteer management colleagues for guest posts on volunteer recognition, or any other volunteer management topic that was of interest to them.

This first guest post is from Jennifer Flowers, MBA. Jennifer has 15 years experience directing both non-profit and for-profit organizations and she was most recently Director of Volunteer Services & Accreditation Commission at Council on Accreditation (COA) in NYC. She presently provides management and accreditation consulting services to non-profits across the country.

"National Volunteer Week 2010 is here! This is a wonderful opportunity to show our appreciation to the volunteers whose dedication and hard work allow our organizations to fulfill their missions. While luncheons, gifts and awards are wonderful, what is a Volunteer Manager to do if they are on a very limited budget?

The first step is to spread the word…ensure that every person throughout your organization is reminded of the vital role performed by volunteers and inform them that this week is National Volunteer Week. Whenever a staff member comes in contact with a volunteer either face-to-face or via email/phone they can perform the simple act of saying “Thank you!”

Next, the auto-reply email signature of every employee in your organization could easily be adjusted to include a short message such as, “April 18-24 is National Volunteer Week. __(company name)__ greatly appreciates all of our enthusiastic and talented volunteers!” From the CEO to frontline staff this message will be included in every outgoing email. Imagine the numbers! This also might spark an email recipient to inquire about volunteer opportunities within your organization.

Finally, ask your CEO to send out a letter of appreciation to all active volunteers (email or hardcopy). Such an activity does not take much time and you could even offer to write the letter for him/her. Volunteers perform critical roles and it is effective for the CEO to acknowledge this directly.

Hope you have a wonderful National Volunteer Week! If you have other low-cost or no-cost ways to show appreciation to your volunteers, please post here to share with others."

Social Media for Volunteer Managers

In a previous blog post I discussed social media and how technology can be used to enhance your volunteer program. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and all the other social media tools that are now available can help you reach new volunteers and donors. Innovative use of social media can certainly help you attract young volunteers, but don’t forget that the over 50s are one of the fastest-growing demographics on Facebook.

New York Association for Volunteer Administration is offering a workshop on social media on Wednesday, April 28th especially designed for Volunteer Managers entitled “Volunteer Request Accepted: Social Media as the Fastest-Growing Tool for Volunteer Management.” Melea Seward, a technologist, writer, speaker, teacher, and internet marketer will be leading the workshop at New York Cares headquarters in West Midtown. This is a great opportunity to learn how to use social media specifically for volunteer management.

Please visit www.nyava.org for more information or to register.

National Conference on Volunteering and Service Comes to NYC!

New York City will host the National Conference on Volunteering and Service from June 28-20, 2010. The conference is the largest gathering of its kind in the country for those interested in community service and volunteer management. The conference is co-convened by Points of Light Institute and the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The year’s conference will be jam-packed with special guest speakers, workshops, panels and hands-on service opportunities. There will also be an Advanced Institute for Volunteer Management held in NYC the weekend prior to the start of the conference.

This is an exciting cap to a year that saw the launch of NYC Service, Mayor Bloomberg’s initiative to expand volunteerism in NYC through increased opportunities and better volunteer management.

Scholarships to cover the costs of conference registration are available for up to 100 attendees.

For more information about the National Conference on Volunteer and Service and available scholarship opportunities, please visit www.volunteeringand service.org.

Volunteer Rewards

American Express just announced that it will offer rewards points to cardholders who volunteer their time at a registered charity. Volunteers can earn 500 points for every hour of volunteer work, up to 10,000 points per year.

American Express is not the only company that has begun offering rewards for customers who volunteer in their communities. Disney launched their “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” campaign in late 2009, offering volunteers a free pass to Disney theme parks for completed volunteer work. Sage Hospitality, which operates hotels across the country, has a “Give a Day, Get a Night” campaign offering 50% discounts on hotel rooms.

Publicizing volunteer rewards may be uncomfortable to some nonprofits. Volunteer Managers should be careful not to endorse a particular business but to simply pass along useful information, providing an extra incentive and significant savings to your dedicated volunteer corps.

I’m not convinced that these rewards programs are useful in recruiting volunteers (it would be interesting to see some data on that), but I do think they can a useful supplement to your own volunteer recognition program.

What are your thoughts on corporate volunteer rewards programs?

A Salary Survey for Volunteer Managers

The beginning of the year is traditionally a time to take stock of personal and professional goals, to evaluate the past and make plans for the future. In the New Year you may be thinking about a new position or re-positioning yourself for greater responsibility in your current organization and a good salary survey can certainly give you the information you need to negotiate effectively.

Unfortunately, there have been few surveys that deal specifically with the nonprofit job market in New York City, where a high cost of living and a diverse and highly-educated workforce mean that salaries are generally higher than in the rest of the country.

While Volunteer Managers are often included in nonprofit salary surveys, it is difficult to get information about Volunteer Management salaries that are specific for NYC and that look at variables like education level, years of experience, and organization size and budget. The New York Association for Volunteer Administration (NYAVA) recently published a professional profile and salary survey for Volunteer Managers in the New York Metropolitan area. NYAVA’s survey finding provide a useful snapshot of the Volunteer Management field in NYC, providing concrete information for Volunteer Management professionals and Nonprofit Executive Directors.

Survey findings show that Volunteer Management salaries in the New York Metro area are concentrated in the 40,000-60,000 range. There is some correlation between salary and title, with Directors and Managers earning more. Volunteer Coordinators generally had salaries in the 20,000-40,000 range. A sign of the times, 15% of respondents reported being restructured or laid-off in the past year. NYAVA also surveyed respondents on retirement benefits, paid vacation, sick day policies, and additional workplace benefits.

For more information on the NYC Volunteer Management salary survey, visit NYAVA at www. nyava.org, or contact NYAVA President, Diana Kyrwood, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

If You’re Going to San Francisco…

The 2009 National Conference on Volunteering & Service is kicking-off today in San Francisco, CA. NCVS is the largest conference on volunteerism in the country and brings together volunteers, volunteer managers, government representatives, and those involved in the national service movement. Despite the poor economy the conference will apparently have a record-breaking number of attendees this year, clearly a reflection of all the attention that volunteerism and national service have received over the past few months. I know that some of the new initiatives in the Serve America Act will have an official launch at the conference, which is very exciting.

Travel to San Francisco for NCVS may be out of reach for many volunteer managers in New York, but luckily this year’s NCVS is making good use of social media technologies. Visit the conference website at www.volunteeringand service.org and follow the action on the Facebook, Twitter, and on the conference blog.

In my last blog post I explored NYC Service, the exciting new service program that will be rolled out across NYC in the coming months. The day after Mayor Bloomberg launched NYC Service in Washington Heights, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act was signed into law by President Obama in Washington, DC. The Serve America Act is ambitious in scope and unprecedented in the breadth and depth of its provisions for expanding and strengthening a culture of service in the United States. This is an exciting time for both volunteers and volunteer managers. There is a dazzling array of interesting and useful opportunities for prospective volunteers, and volunteer managers have new opportunities for professional development and funding. While new service programs--both nationally and locally-- should be celebrated, the volunteer management community needs to remain proactive and engaged in conversations about how these new programs will be implemented. Experienced volunteer managers are our resident experts in volunteer program development, volunteer relations, volunteer recruitment, and volunteer integration. We need to make sure that the collective knowledge and experience of volunteer management professionals is utilized by government to ensure that these new publicly-funded programs are a success.

On that note, here are some highlights of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act:

Americorps

-Americorps will expand to 250,000 members by 2017.
-Education award will increase to the maximum Pell Grant level, currently ,350.

Youth and Service Learning

-Establishes a Summer of Service program tied to an education award for 6th-12th graders.
-Establishes a Semester of Service program for high school students.
-Authorizes a 10-year longitudinal study on the impact of service-learnin g programs.

Older Adults

-Expands age and income eligibility for Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions.
-Permits individuals over age 55 to transfer their education award to a child or grandchild.
-Provides a ,000 transferable education award to older adults who perform 350 hours of service.
-Establishes an Encore Fellows program to place individuals over age 55 in one-year management and leadership positions in public and nonprofit organizations.

Nonprofits

-Creates a Social Innovation Fund to fund experimental initiatives.
-Establishes a Volunteer Generation Fund to provide funding for states and nonprofits strengthen their volunteer management infrastructure.
-Provides funding for organizational development assistance to small and mid-size nonprofit organizations.

NYC Service

This has been a big week for the civic engagement community. Not only is it National Volunteer Week, but President Obama has signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act into law, New York City has unveiled a comprehensive and far-reaching plan for service and civic engagement—and it’s only Tuesday!

On Monday, I traveled to Washington Heights for the launch of NYC Service—Mayor Bloomberg’s new plan for civic engagement in NYC. The mayor announced his plan at the Fort Washington Armory surrounded by representatives from dozens of nonprofit and service organizations, City Year and Americorps members, members of the Police Auxiliary Unit, school children, college students, and local luminaries like Caroline Kennedy, Silda Wall Spitzer and Joel Klein. The plan does not disappoint, and if it is implemented correctly, it will be a tremendous resource to the city’s nonprofit community. It is an ambitious plan with five measurable goals including: helping more New Yorkers connect to service opportunities more easily; creating or elevating volunteer opportunities that address the City’s most urgent needs; and supporting nonprofit and public agencies to use more volunteers and to do so more effectively and strategically.

The impact of NYC Service will be felt throughout the city. Starting in the fall, all NYC public schools will be required to incorporate service and service-learnin g in their curriculums, and both the Summer Youth Employment Program and the City’s internship programs will include service components. The City has also launched a NYC Service website which will provide an easy and efficient way for New Yorkers to find service opportunities in their communities.

The exciting news for nonprofits is that the plan includes several capacity-buildi ng initiatives, which will be transformative for many organizations. The new “Go Pass” volunteer-scree ning program will provide centralized, city-funded background checks and screening to prospective volunteers. Nonprofits will no longer have to pay for background checks, freeing up resources and improving efficiency. The new NYC Civic Corps will provide full-time capacity-buildi ng volunteers to nonprofit organizations to help build, manage and sustain strong volunteer programs. The program looks a lot like Americorps*VISTA but is focused entirely on capacity-buildi ng for volunteer programs. Through a partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service, NYC Civic Corps will provide stipends and educational awards to New Yorkers who want to commit to a year of service. Other important initiatives include getting more New Yorker’s involved with nonprofit board service and providing a corps of professional volunteers to assist nonprofits with budgeting, accounting, IT, legal services and other business functions.

Anyone interested in learning more about NYC Service can visit the City’s new website and download the report: “NYC Service: A Blueprint to Increase Civic Engagement” at http://www.nycservice.org/.

Recognizing Our Volunteers Every Day

Once April 1st rolls around, I know that National Volunteer Week can’t be far behind. I’m glad that President Nixon signed that first executive order back in 1974 designating the week-long celebration of volunteerism—because it reminds me how important volunteer recognition is to building and maintaining a successful volunteer program.

Every organization should recognize and thank their volunteers, but recognition programs will differ across organizations. Some organizations have gala events, others have smaller parties, and many more volunteer programs send a simple thank-you card or small gift as a way to recognize volunteers during National Volunteer Week. The kind of recognition you choose should make sense for your organization and the volunteers you are working with. Think about the type of resources you have available and the kind of recognition that your unique volunteers will find most valuable. Do you have the kind of volunteer corps that enjoys volunteer events, or do you find that many of your volunteers are juggling multiple responsibilitie s and that a volunteer party or event would be burdensome? Can you offer services to volunteers at your organization, like a free class or gym session, resume-writing help, or social work services? Can you develop relationships with neighborhood businesses for volunteer discounts? Whatever you decide to do for National Volunteer Week, the vast majority of your volunteer recognition program should be focused on everyday ways you can recognize volunteers with simple and thoughtful gestures that make them feel welcomed and valued.

Here are a few thoughts for National Volunteer Week and beyond:

Volunteer Recognition Events

I know many volunteer managers feel that they have to hold an event every year—that a volunteer recognition party is an essential ingredient for a good volunteer program. Parties are wonderful, but think about the kind of event your budget and facilities will allow you to have and whether your volunteers are interested in this kind of program. Volunteer recognition events can be expensive and time-consuming, and they are not always necessary. On the other hand, if you have a great space or an outdoor area that you can utilize for an event, it may be worth it to allocate resources for an annual volunteer recognition bash. Another possibility is to host a biennial party and have smaller volunteer events throughout the year with an educational or networking component. Your volunteers may not care about a party, but they may very well appreciate the opportunity to meet other volunteers or to hear from a speaker in a field of interest. These smaller events can have a larger impact and be held more often, reminding volunteers that they are appreciated all year long.

Utilize Your Resources

Many of us don’t think about the kinds of resources and services our organizations offer and whether these services would be appealing to our volunteers. Think about what you have to offer and how it can be turned into an incentive for your volunteers. Whether you offer language assistance, career counseling, education and enrichment programs, gym or pool facilities, or any other unique or useful service, think about extending an invitation to your volunteers to utilize all your organization has to offer. One community center I know of had the great idea of creating a “coffee card” for volunteers. The card was stamped after each volunteer event and once a volunteer had accrued 10 stamps they received a free pass to the center’s gym. What a creative way to recognize volunteers and incentivize them to volunteer again!

Recognize Volunteers All Year Long

Volunteer recognition shouldn’t be something that only happens during National Volunteer Week. There are lots of ways we can recognize volunteers all year long. Consider sending birthday and holiday cards to your volunteers, creating a volunteer department recipe book, and passing along invitations to agency events or discounts to performances or other special programs. Of course, one of the best ways to show you appreciate your volunteers is to communicate with them regularly. Send out regular emails and newsletters and use volunteer department communications as a way to highlight extraordinary volunteers.

Volunteers Are Members of the Team

The simplest and surest way to recognize volunteers is to show that you appreciate what they do every time they volunteer. This means taking the time to speak to volunteers and answer their questions, making sure they have an appropriate place to work and that they feel comfortable, and introducing them to staff, volunteers, clients. Some programs are now recognizing the hard work of volunteers by treating them more like paid staff. If it’s appropriate for your program, you might consider including volunteers in staff meetings, providing long-term volunteers with business cards or an email address, or sending a volunteer to a conference or other professional development opportunity. As unemployment rises, these types of opportunities may be even more appealing to volunteers.

Please share your plans for National Volunteer Week 2009 or your everyday strategies for recognizing volunteers.

Professional Development in Tough Times

The financial crisis and its impact on volunteer managers have been consistent themes of my blog. How could they not be? We have all been impacted—whether we are dealing with shrinking budgets, or managing an onslaught of newly-unemploye d prospective volunteers with limited staff and resources.

Over the past few years, I have consistently turned to professional development organizations to connect with colleagues, keep up-to-date on trends, and develop new skills. One of these organizations, the New York Association for Volunteer Administration (NYAVA), has been an invaluable resource for me. I now serve as Chair of the NYAVA’s Professional Development Committee where I, along with a group of dedicated and talented volunteer management colleagues from a variety of organizations, develop workshops and programs designed to meet the needs of volunteer management professionals. These programs often focus on how volunteer managers can do their job better, add value to their organizations, recruit, train and retain volunteers, and procure funding for volunteer programs. But they also aim to nurture volunteer managers as nonprofit sector professionals—wherever they may be in their careers. In these days of uncertainty, it’s nice to know that most volunteer managers have developed on-the- job skills that are transferrable to a wide variety of programs both within and outside of the nonprofit world. We’re human resource professionals, budget analysts, grant writers, program managers, event planners, and customer service specialists—all rolled into one.

In planning NYAVA’s spring series of professional development workshops, our committee thought long and hard about the kind of programs that would be most useful to volunteer managers at this time. The result of our conversations is a three-part series, entitled "Strengthening Your Volunteer Program and Your Career in Challenging Times". In March, April and June, we will present workshops exploring the ways that this recession has impacted our programs and our careers, and how volunteer managers can ensure that we—and our programs—emerge out of this period stronger than ever. The first of these workshops, "Tools and Tips for Creating a Recession-Proof Volunteer Program", will be held this Friday, March 13th at University Settlement in downtown Manhattan. The subsequent two workshops, to be held on April 17th and June 5th, will explore attracting and utilizing job seekers for short-term volunteer projects and crafting a career in volunteer and nonprofit management.

For more information about these workshops, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Uncertain Future of Corporate Philanthropy

International Corporate Philanthropy Day (ICP) is less than two weeks away. According to the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), which sponsors ICP Day, this year’s Day is going to be a big event. On February 23rd, the United Nations will host a special program that will highlight corporate philanthropy’s role in advancing the Millennium Development Goals. The Empire State Building will be lit in the colors of ICP Day. And representatives from CECP will even ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. I haven’t decided yet how I’m going to mark the occasion, but it has already made me think about the future of corporate philanthropy and how it may look very different in the wake of our current financial crisis.

Like many other volunteer management professionals in New York City, I have spent a lot of time devising ways to get corporate groups involved with my organization. Last September, I even helped coordinate a workshop for the New York Association for Volunteer Administrators (NYAVA) on how to create volunteer programs for corporate volunteers. It was a well-attended workshop, filled with volunteer managers who wanted to learn how they could get corporations interested in and involved with their organizations. The workshop was scheduled for September 23rd, and it was to feature representatives from several corporations with large philanthropy divisions, including Lehman Brothers. I could never have imagined when I was planning the workshop that when the date arrived Lehman Brothers would be bankrupt and our panelist newly unemployed.

All volunteer managers involved with corporate programs work hard to ensure that corporate staffers have a meaningful experience—whether they paint a mural, weed a garden, or sponsor a carnival or senior prom. There’s always the hope that these events will lead to deeper relationships, such as regular volunteering, donations, advocacy or board involvement. While these partnerships may occasionally fall short, many do lead to meaningful partnerships between corporate groups and nonprofits. They allow clients to enjoy special events and activities that would be unthinkable without corporate sponsorship, and they provide funding and volunteers for many worthy long-term programs. Volunteer managers should also know that corporate philanthropy has helped to advance our field through sponsorship of research on volunteerism and volunteer management. We can thank organizations such as the UPS Foundation and MetLife Foundation for their support in this area.

As we approach ICP Day 2009, in the midst of one of history’s worst corporate meltdowns, it’s hard not to wonder if we’re facing the end of large corporate philanthropy programs. Maybe we are—at least in the short-term—but there are reasons to be optimistic. Most corporations now know that sustaining good community relations can have a powerful impact on business. “Doing good” is good for business. Also, many of corporate America’s young employees have a very strong commitment to volunteerism and philanthropy. Many have been volunteering all their lives. A 2007 Deloitte & Touche USA study found that 97% of the survey’s Gen Y respondents believed that their workplace should provide opportunities for them to volunteer. The Deloitte survey also highlighted the role that strong employee volunteer and philanthropy programs can play in recruiting younger talent. While corporate philanthropy programs will most certainly contract in the short-term, it’s reassuring to know that our future workforce leaders have a strong commitment to civic engagement.

On that note, let’s hope that there’s more to celebrate on International Corporate Philanthropy Day 2010.

Keeping the Volunteer Department Afloat in Challenging Times

The economic crisis has led many of us to take inventory of what we do and how we add value to our organizations. Good volunteer managers and the programs they administer can add a tremendous amount of value to organizations, particularly in tough economic times. In times like these, it’s essential for managers to make the case that their programs are contributing to the bottom line.

Here are four tips for keeping your program indispensible.

Calculate the Dollar Value of Your Volunteer Force

It is important to quantify the monetary value that the volunteer program brings to your organization. Our volunteers may provide their services free of charge, but they are not “free.” A good volunteer program has costs associated with it, and organizations need to be ready and willing to provide resources for volunteer department staff and for recruiting, training, retaining and recognizing volunteers. Quantifying the value of volunteers is an excellent way to show a return on investment. There is more than one “right way” to quantify the dollar value of your volunteer force, but once you choose a method, stay consistent. Independent Sector, a leadership forum for charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs, estimates that the current dollar value of a volunteer hour is ninteen dollars and fifty-one cents. Volunteer managers should also quantify the in-kind donations and services they receive. Volunteer groups from schools and corporations often sponsor supplies or food for projects, and the work that they do— whether it is putting on a talent show for clients, painting a mural, or working in a community garden—has a dollar value.

Partner with the Development Department

More and more volunteer departments are aligning themselves with the development department. In a growing number of organizations, the volunteer department is actually housed within the development department. This alliance is a natural one because volunteer relations and development actually share a similar function—to develop resources to support the organization and allow it to more successfully fulfill its mission. If you do not already have a strong relationship with the development department in your organization, consider approaching them about how they can best use the volunteer department. Possible areas of synergy include: working together on a joint appeal targeting current volunteers; planning a volunteer event for the board; and outreaching to corporations and connecting them to the organization through volunteer events. There are many possibilities for working effectively with development, so I will explore them in more detail in a future post.

Develop a Needs Assessment with Staff

Few organizations have been left untouched by this economy, and many have begun cutting budgets and staff and turning to volunteers to fill service gaps. Volunteer managers need to be proactive about working with staff to determine how volunteers can best be utilized to keep services running smoothly. Consider scheduling meetings with department heads, site directors, and service providers to determine how your department can be most useful, and plan on developing more training opportunities for staff so they are better equipped to deal with a new influx of volunteers. Volunteers are not going to replace laid-off staff, but they can add a different kind of value to an organization. It’s your job to identify where volunteers can be most useful and to counsel staff on how they can identify shorter-term opportunities that would be attractive to volunteers who may be between jobs.

Promote the Volunteer Department Internally

Volunteer departments that do not publicize their accomplishments will never be recognized for the good work they do and the value they add to their organizations. So go ahead—blow your own horn, and let your colleagues know what you do. If you don’t already produce a volunteer department newsletter, create one. And if you do have one, make sure that it’s sent to staff as well as volunteers. Also consider creating an annual report, regardless of whether you are required to do so by your organization, and send regular email updates to staff about volunteer department initiatives.

Please share your strategies for keeping your program strong and relevant.

Something’s in the Air…

I wrote my last post on national service before President Barack Obama was inaugurated. Technical difficulties kept the post from being published earlier and in the intervening week something quite extraordinary has happened—extraordinary at least for those of us who have always been excited about the national service movement and its possibilities. Suddenly—but not inexplicably—national service has moved to the center of the national conversation. It’s been heralded as the new call to action, and maybe even the perfect prescription for our ailing economy (more on that later). Since the inauguration, there have been three prominent articles and opinion pieces in the New York Times about volunteerism and national service. This morning, there was an editorial in the Times, echoing much of what I expressed in my last blog post about the necessity of strengthening and adequately funding national service.

For those of us who work with volunteers and with national service programs like Americorps*VISTA, SeniorCorps, and Teach for America, this new publicity is a both a gift and an opportunity. We’re finally at the center of the conversation about the direction and future of this country. This new focus on national service couldn’t come at a better time for the nonprofit community or the country.

I will continue exploring this important development in future blog posts. If you would like to read what the New York Times had to say about volunteerism and national service over the past week, please click on the following links:

New York Times editorial
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/opinion/26mon2.html?th&emc=th

Bruce Reed and John Bridgeland’s op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/opinion/23reed.html?ref=opinion

Kelley Holland’s article about unemployed volunteers and nonprofits
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/jobs/25mgmt.html?ref=jobs

National Service—A Change We All Need

With Barack Obama in the Oval Office we once again have a president with a firm commitment to volunteerism and national service. He isn’t the first president in recent memory to bolster national service - after all, the Peace Corps was founded during President Kennedy’s administration, VISTA was launched on President Johnson’s watch, and President Clinton launched Americorps during his administration.

Already, President Obama has started to think about the transformative power of service. On Martin Luther King Day, the Obama family participated in a volunteer event in Washington, DC, and they actively encouraged the rest of the country to participate in “Day of Service” events in their own communities.

President Obama has made it clear that bolstering and expanding the national service program will be an integral part of his agenda and legacy. This couldn’t come at a better time for those of us interested in national service. The Americorps programs - including VISTA, National Direct, and Senior Corps - are a shell of their former selves. Budget cuts have drastically decreased the number of Americorps slots at a time when the country’s need for dedicated volunteers has grown and the number of able and willing volunteers is at an all-time high. No qualified and willing volunteer should be turned away from national service because of a lack of funds.

Barack Obama’s platform for national service is exciting. He plans to expand the number of available Americorps slots to 250,000 from 75,000 and establish a Classroom Corps, Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, Veterans Corps, and Homeland Security Corps. Additionally, Obama plans to double the number of Peace Corps volunteers working overseas and expand the number of retired Americans and baby boomers who are engaged in service. Expanding and strengthening service-learnin g programs and YouthBuild programs are also part of the agenda. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Obama national service plan is his proposed initiative to strengthen the nonprofit sector through capacity-buildi ng programs and social investment. I encourage everyone to read more about Barack Obama’s national service plans at http://www.barackobama.com/issues/service/.

The new President will face unprecedented challenges as he begins his tenure, and there is a real danger that national service reform will end up on the back burner. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. National service can and should be an integral part of an economic recovery plan. We should expand Americorps and tap into the tremendous experience that exists within the ranks of the newly unemployed, utilizing their diverse skills to strengthen the voluntary sector. Let’s make sure that every qualified recent college graduate who wants to participate in a national service program can find a place with VISTA, Teach for America, City Year, or other national service programs, and let’s work together to make sure that national service programs remain strong regardless of who is in office. That would be a change we can all believe in.

What are your thoughts on the future of national service?

Tech Savvy Volunteers

It’s no secret that prospective volunteers are increasingly finding and researching their volunteer opportunities online. The success of volunteer recruitment websites like Volunteermatch.org and Volunteernyc.org and the popularity of Idealist.org and Craigslist have made matchmaking between volunteers and organizations easier than ever. Organizations can outreach to a seemingly unlimited pool of potential volunteers, and volunteers can search for opportunities whenever and wherever inspiration and motivation strike.

There are many more ways that volunteer managers and organizations can strengthen their volunteer departments through technology. Here are several strategies to get you started:

Volunteer Recruitment Websites

These days most volunteers look for opportunities online, and having a strong presence on the major volunteer recruitment sites is essential. All of the major sites provide posting services to nonprofits for free, and all nonprofits with volunteer programs should take advantage of this tool. It is important to keep your organization’s postings as informative and up-to-date as possible.
Remember to include specifics about the opportunity, a volunteer job description, time commitment required, information about the organization and its mission, and contact information for the staff liaison. Most websites require similar information, so I recommend creating an internal database of opportunities, so that information can easily be cut-and-pasted to different websites. Postings on volunteer recruitment sites need to be updated often. Even if none of the information has changed, be sure to log in once or twice a week and change the start dates; doing so will ensure that your opportunities always end up at the top of a search. Some of the best volunteer recruitment sites are Volunteermatch.org, Idealist.org, and Volunteernyc.org.

Organization Websites

While volunteer recruitment sites provide an essential tool for volunteer managers, don’t underestimate the power of your own organization’s website. Organizational websites can be a powerful asset or a real liability to volunteer managers, depending on the quality, look, and navigational capability of the site. Volunteers may find your organization on a volunteer recruitment site, but their next step will most certainly be to visit your organization’s site. The best organizational websites are professional, visual, and easy to navigate. They clearly state the mission and tell the story of the organization. The website should also have an easy to spot link that directs visitors to more information about the volunteer program. An excellent volunteer portal will include up-to-date information about volunteer opportunities, information on how to volunteer, a link to the volunteer application or an online version of the application, and contact information for the volunteer program staff. Managers might also consider including information targeted specifically at different interest groups, including corporate groups, families, school groups, young professionals, and older adult volunteers. Finally, depending on your organizational capacity, consider putting your volunteer newsletter online, rotating profiles of excellent volunteers, and posting up-to-date photos of volunteer events. The volunteer department web space can be a great way to recognize and support current volunteers as well as to recruit new ones.

Social Networking

Social networking sites are the next frontier for volunteer managers and many professionals are already taking advantage of the opportunities that sites like Facebook and Meetup provide. If your organization has yet to take advantage of social networking, now might be the time to explore the possibilities, particularly if you are interested in recruiting young adults. Nonprofits can easily set up pages on Facebook, raising their online profile and providing a space for volunteers and supporters to communicate with each other through an alternative medium. Events can be advertised, photos displayed, and volunteer information disseminated at no cost to the organization. Special interest e-mail lists (i.e., listservs) can also be useful tools for recruiting new volunteers in a targeted way. Conduct a Google search of groups and lists that attract people interested in the issues facing the population you serve. Contact the moderator or join the group to advertise your volunteer opportunities.

Blogs

Consider starting a blog for your volunteer department. Prospective bloggers can sign-up for webspace through sites like Wordpress, Eblogger, and Blogspot. A blog can be an easy way to share information about your organization’s volunteer activities with a wide audience and to facilitate communication with your volunteer corps. Post articles about volunteer events, share information about upcoming activities, post new volunteer opportunities, and keep readers updated about the work of your organization.

Online Databases

We’re lucky that the days of struggling to build a volunteer database on Excel or Access are over. Thankfully, many of the new web-based database programs offer volunteer managers versatility and the ability to easily update records and communicate with volunteers. Volgistics and VolunteerHub are two web-based programs, but there are many more. I encourage you to do your research and find the program that best meets the needs of your organization. Web-based programs are relatively inexpensive, and offer users the ability to track hours, send emails to volunteers through the database system, print labels, and much more!

Listservs and Professional Development

The internet provides wonderful opportunities for volunteer managers to network with each other, learn about professional development opportunities, and participate in continuing education. There are now many listservs for volunteer managers. CyberVPM, ServeNet Discussion Forum, and VRM-Roundtable are among the most prominent, but a quick online search will point you in the direction of other professional groups. Volunteer Management consultants also have an increasingly visible presence in cyberspace. Susan Ellis’s Energize, inc. site (www.energizeinc.com) has a wealth of information and resources available to volunteer managers. Finally, more and more universities are offering volunteer management courses as a distance learning option. The University of San Francisco and Washington State University have two such programs. Many regional volunteer management associations are also offering online education options.

Virtual Volunteering

Technology provides us with many opportunities for volunteer recruitment, management, recognition and the opportunity to network and learn from colleagues. Technology also provides us with the tools to re-imagine the volunteer opportunities we are creating and engage potential volunteers who for whatever reason can’t be with us on-site. There are many roles that “virtual volunteers” can play to support the work of our organizations, including writing press releases, editing, event-planning, developing manuals, conducting outreach, being cyber pen-pals, offering online homework help—the possibilities are endless! Think about the population you serve and how virtual volunteers could best be utilized to serve your clients.

What are your ideas and best practices for using technology to support your volunteer program?

Welcome to the NYNP blog on Volunteer Management and Administration!

I hope this blog will be an engaging and informative forum, not just for professional volunteer administrators, but for all nonprofit professionals who depend on their “volunteer force” to maintain services to constituents and clients.

There is so much to be excited about in the field of volunteer administration. Professional Volunteer Administrators are becoming increasingly better credentialed and prepared for the demanding work they perform within nonprofit organizations, and an increasing number of agency heads are beginning to understand the importance of a strong volunteer department within their agencies, and are including the Director of Volunteers on the management team.

Volunteer Managers at organizations large and small wear a number of different hats including development, human resources, and publicity and public relations. Luckily, there are many organizations and resources out there designed to help professionals navigate the complexity of their role within organizations and to encourage networking and idea-exchange among volunteer managers and administrators. In this blog, I hope to highlight many of the opportunities available to professionals in the field.

Happily, one of the premier organizations providing support to volunteer management professionals is right in our own backyard. The New York Association for Volunteer Administration (NYAVA), on whose board I serve, is a membership organization dedicated to promoting professionalism and strengthening leadership in volunteerism in the New York City area. NYAVA provides a forum for continuing education on volunteer management and valuable opportunities to network with colleagues from a wide range of organizations. NYAVA promotes mentoring amongst volunteer managers and organizes a series of workshops each year that focus on various aspects of volunteer management. Topics over the past year have included creating programs for capacity-buildi ng volunteers, stipendiary volunteer programs, building relationships with corporate volunteer programs, and aligning volunteer departments with development goals. NYAVA also sponsors the Principles and Practices volunteer management course twice a year for professionals new to the field. If you are interested in learning more about NYAVA and how to get involved, please visit www.nyava.org.

Here’s to a peaceful and productive 2009!