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International scope - mentioning several countries
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The Volunteer Engagement Cha-Cha
Two steps forward, one step back. . . In this Points of View article called "The Volunteer Engagement Cha-Cha," Erin R. Spink and Rob Jackson ask some questions that every volunteer engagement professional will want answered about professional associations. Namely, what is the current and future state of our various professional associations? Why should we care? And what should we do about it?
To Blog or Not to Blog: Making the Case for Writing
Should volunteer professionals expect to be paid for publishing and presenting? Or is there value in blogging and writing about volunteer management in order to share knowledge with peers in the field?
In this Voices, co-editor Allyson Drinnon explores these questions. She taps into the expertise of e-Volunteerism’s own Rob Jackson, a steadfast proponent of writing to expand the profession who shares they four key reasons he writes and why other volunteer professionals should, too. Drinnon also includes her own thoughts on the subject, with additional comments and insights from volunteer management expert Meridian Swift.
Mental Health Matters: My Experience With Postnatal Anxiety and Depression
In this powerful first-person story, volunteer manager Megan Cassar reveals her traumatic experience with postnatal anxiety and depression following the birth of her first child, an illness that went undiagnosed for 18 months. Her struggle to successfully recover led Cassar to not only work as a volunteer to help break down the stigma of postnatal depression but to also rethink her role as a leader of volunteers who confront mental illness in the workplace. Cassar’s poignant insights into why and how volunteer managers can support those who are suffering will help all volunteer leaders set an example in the workplace.
“As leaders of volunteers, we have a duty of care to a diverse range of people,” Cassar writes. “We may not directly manage every volunteer in our organisation but, as the leader of those volunteers, we have a responsibility for them. We are their advocates. We want to ensure that our volunteers feel supported to be open and honest about their volunteer experience as well as any other experiences outside of the workplace.”
The Wisdom of Seth
Why did the Volunteer Manager and Marketer walk into a bar together? To discuss Seth Godin's blogs of course!
In this Points of View, Rob Jackson and Erin R. Spink consider the “wisdom of Seth” – namely, Seth Godin, a Hall of Fame marketer, author of several best-selling books, and a hugely popular daily blog writer about marketing who also happens to be one of Jackson’s and Spink’s favourite thinkers and sources of inspiration. As they dissect a few of this internationally famous marketing blog posts, Jackson and Spink identify different perspectives, thoughts, and ideas that Volunteer Engagement professionals should consider, and explore those unexpected pearls of wisdom gained by reading the work of thought leaders from totally different fields. Granted, not all of Godin’s blog posts can be applied to Volunteer Engagement work, but many of them highlight core truths that speak broadly to working with people, understanding them and their motivations, and striving towards simple and effective ways of working. And as Jackson and Spink remind us, these are things that all professionals can aspire to and be inspired by.
Virtual Volunteer Recruitment Teams: Considerations, Tools, and Training for Success
Recruitment is an integral part of the success of volunteer engagement departments in almost every organization. But when this task is being coordinated by one person sitting in an office space, it can sometimes feel like an impossible job. In a perfect world, that person might be able to find a volunteer with the right skills to support recruitment and screening in local proximity to our organization, with availability that aligns perfectly with the free work station in our office. Alas, we all know this can be far from reality.
In this Training Designs, writer Erin McLean explores how to build a virtual volunteer recruitment team that supports organizational goals and fulfills the multiple tasks associated with successful volunteer engagement. She presents the tools required for operational success and reviews the nuances of training volunteer recruiters who work together remotely. Through this Training Designs, volunteer engagement coordinators can provide effective recruitment and screening support to virtual volunteer recruitment team members that will contribute to the success of an entire organization.
The Disruptive Volunteer Manager by Meridian Swift
In this Voices, co-editor Tracey O’Neill reviews a new book called The Disruptive Volunteer Manager by well-known volunteer manager Meridian Swift. As O’Neill explains, the new book lays out six steps to increase awareness of volunteers and to try and elevate volunteerism by disrupting the volunteer management norm in a forward-moving way. Swift, who has more than two decades of volunteer management experience, calls it a “step by step journey to setting a new normal, one in which leaders of volunteers unleash the potential that awaits.” And O’Neill provides an assessment of Swift’s new book that promises to “reframe, redefine, reshape, and re-imagine” volunteer management.
S#%& Words We Need To Stop Saying: Words and Phrases to Erase from the Lexicon of Volunteer Management
In this Points of View, Erin R. Spink and Rob Jackson share their thoughts on the words and phrases that no longer serve the volunteer engagement profession – and, they argue, could actually hurt us. They also present and review new ways to communicate about the volunteer management field. Beyond the simplistic and basic, they argue that a committed and consistent change in the language used by leaders of volunteers could be transformative for us all.
A Review: The Changing Face of Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care
The voices of international hospice and palliative care volunteers come through clearly in a new book, The Changing Face of Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care. Published in mid-2018 by Oxford University Press and edited by Ros Scott and Steven Howlett, it presents an international perspective, history, and information on hospice and palliative care through the eyes of different country experts. And it also includes insightful volunteer narratives to illustrate and aid the reader in understanding the volunteers’ perspectives.
In this Voices, co-editor Allyson Drinnon reviews this valuable resource, with a special emphasis on the voices and stories of hospice volunteers that unfold in this publication.
Unleashing the Untapped Power of Volunteers as Advocates
The last few years have been challenging for non-profits. Fundraising and safeguarding scandals, accusations of excessive executive pay, concerns over political bias – the list of controversies has grown, negatively impacting the public’s trust and confidence in good causes. Solutions and responses have been proposed, most geared at educating the public and media about the modern realities of running nonprofits. But almost none of these responses and solutions have involved volunteers. Why is that? Are we failing to make the most of what should be some of our most passionate advocates?
In this Points of View, Rob Jackson and Erin R. Spink debate this issue and review how this untapped power of volunteers as advocates can be realized. It’s not rocket science, they conclude, and the benefits definitely outweigh the drawbacks.