It’s good to have a plan. In this issue of Along the Web, author Steve McCurley presents a wide range of global, national and local strategies for improving volunteer involvement – covering pretty much everything from the grand scheme to the minor details.
This quarter’s Research to Practice approaches the issue of credentialing in volunteer management by looking at one possible framework for evaluating the effects of credentialing or not credentialing. For this review, writer Laurie Mook turns to David Suárez, Ph.D., a well-known researcher in nonprofit management who developed a typology of nonprofit sector leaders for his article, “Street Credentials and Management Backgrounds: Careers of Nonprofit Executives in an Evolving Sector,” published in the journal Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly in 2010.
As Mook points out, Suárez, assistant professor at the University of Southern California’s School of Policy, Planning and Development, frames his work in a typology of four 'ideal' types of nonprofit leaders. Suárez bases these types on two factors: the degree of nonprofit experience, and the extent of management background and credentials. In this Research to Practice, Mook switches the focus from the nonprofit as a whole to the volunteer management function. In doing so, Mook is able to ponder some important research questions of her own. For instance, is volunteer retention more likely to be higher in a volunteer program directed by someone with lots of nonprofit experience but no credentials? Or is volunteer retention higher in a program directed by someone with little nonprofit experience but with credentials? Mook’s review of Suárez’ work and her valuable insights provide an important addition to e-Volunteerism’s special issue on credentialing
In keeping with the theme of this issue, author Steve McCurley presents an Along the Web about accreditation and credentialing of volunteer program managers. McCurley provides a diverse range of resources – including articles by individuals with personal perspectives on the subject; web sites of professional associations and volunteer peak bodies that offer credentialing; and certification programs offered by educational institutions.
For nearly two decades,the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies research group has conducted comparative research on volunteer work and the nonprofit sector. This year, in conjunction with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and in collaboration with the United Nations Volunteers and an international Technical Experts Group, the Johns Hopkins Center has published a Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work. The Manual was developed “to help statistical agencies around the world track the amount, type and value of volunteer work in their countries” in a systematic, regular and comparative fashion. Although national statistical agencies are its primary focus, the influential document also provides food for thought for measuring volunteer work at the organization level. This quarter’s Research to Practice presents highlights from this work.
The last decade has witnessed an incredible growth in volunteering by youth, with several countries operating intense schemes to generate and foster youth volunteering efforts. We first looked at volunteering by youth in the January 2004 edition of Along the Web. In this issue, we’ll update that subject with a quick tour through eight countries, including Bulgaria, Tasmania, the UK and Ireland.
The volunteer base has changed over time. It has moved from volunteers with long-term commitments to welcoming the diversity of youth, families, baby boomers and employer-supported volunteers – and required us all to adapt our volunteer management practices. In this Research to Practice, Laurie Mook presents "Bridging the Gap," a new research study out of Canada that describes the many volunteer changes of the last decade or more. Mook's review highlights some important ideas from this research study that you can put into practice today.
This report examines the civic and volunteering behavior of young adults age 15-25 following September 11th. There are surprising findings, some of which we don't quite understand, so you'll have a chance to join in the analysis as we're trying to figure out what's going on.
This edition of “Along the Web” is designed to complement our Keyboard Roundtable discussion topic for this issue. What follows is a listing of a variety of discussion papers regarding current status, future trends and emerging developments. While most of these are relatively recent, we’ve also thrown in two of Susan’s articles from the more distant past, just to show you how much – and how little – things have progressed.
In the spring of 2001, Canadian Blood Services (CBS) contracted the services of an external consulting firm to conduct a review of its volunteer program. The research had two key purposes. The first was to explore how CBS might improve both the involvement, and the management, of volunteer resources. The second was to summarize current and anticipated issues and trends in volunteerism and volunteer program management both in North America in general, and in other large Canadian health sector organizations. This article reports on the results of this review.