United States

Inquiry-based interpretation is a growing educational trend in zoos across the country.  But training zoo docents to become familiar and comfortable with this practice can prove challenging. It is critical to use existing research to develop an inquiry-focused training module that is fun, educational, and easily understood by the trainee.   

In this e-Volunteerism feature, Amy Yambor, the Coordinator of Volunteers at New York City’s famed Central Park Zoo, describes a new training module that focuses on inquiry-based interpretation. Introduced to Central Park Zoo volunteer trainees and active docents, the concept places them out in the zoo, participating specifically in group inquiry projects. Yambor explains that by having trainees participate in their own inquiry-based activities throughout their training, the volunteers begin to understand the value of this communication style. As volunteer management professionals, Yambor argues that the field must make every effort to be more effective when it comes to teaching inquiry as a communication tool.

Volunteer recognition is one of the few aspects of volunteer involvement about which we actually have quite a bit of reliable information. Mostly this is because volunteer recognition is simple to evaluate since recognition is, after all, in the eye of the receiver: “Does the volunteer feel appropriately recognized or not?” You can therefore evaluate recognition techniques through straightforward opinion studies, unlike other aspects of volunteer management that have seen far too many opinion-based surveys that reveal not much more than the ignorance of those responding to the questionnaire.

There are a number of interesting and useful studies about the most effective ways to recognize volunteers. In this issue of Research to Practice, Publishing Editor Emeritus Steve McCurley discusses one such study from Volunteer Canada. 

Someone once asked me how I hold my head up so high after all I have been through. I said it's because no matter what, I am a survivor, NOT a victim.          - Patricia Buckley

Volunteering with victims of crimes can be a somber experience, yet many find this area of human services to be intrinsically rewarding and psychologically satisfying. This edition of Along the Web explores formal volunteering that aids and addresses victims of crime. Author Erick Lear will review a diverse group of websites, including: direct services provided to victims; services for the victims’ loved ones; self-help groups; and online services. Lear also includes websites that provide relevant information for volunteer administrators, with a focus on tips, resources, and tools to assist with volunteer management in crisis-oriented settings.

Today’s workplaces may have as many as five generations of workers, each raised in different times with different influences affecting their work styles. The same is true of volunteer programs. Organizations are now experiencing many different generations of volunteers working together, making for a very interesting and complex environment for volunteer management.

In this quarter’s Research to Practice, reviewer Laurie Mook looks at a study by Walden University’s Dr. Tonya Renee’ Howard, who interviewed five generations of volunteers (including Generation Z) and asked about their volunteer experiences with recruitment, recognition, and retention. Based on these in-depth interviews, Dr. Howard proposes generation-based volunteer management practices that all leaders of volunteers will find useful.

Volunteers are the backbone of our communities, a fact that we all appreciate every day on the job while coordinating and managing volunteer programs. This article is about one volunteer manager’s successful experience helping a valued community member with special needs connect with a volunteer role that would suit her. Author Kayla Young explains that she decided to share her experience to provide encouragement to all leaders of volunteers who work with people who may need a bit of extra initial training and support. “With our busy schedules, a common reaction to special needs may be, ‘I’m sorry but I don’t have time for that,’” writes Young. “But as you’ll see from this story, a tiny investment in standing up for the potential of others can often yield big results for your organization.”

What do cats have to do with training?

As a trainer, it is often easier to facilitate sessions when the group has similar experiences and similar levels of expertise or starting points. Yet there is a richness of knowledge and experience that diversity can yield. Cats are not naturally herding animals, and to get them to come together as a group can be challenging. In this Training Designs, author Reva Cooper shares what she has learned about training groups when participants are at very different starting points. Her experiences and insights will no doubt stimulate your own thoughts about facilitating and “herding cats” so that differences are honored and everyone learns and grows through the training experience. 

What does it mean to move beyond volunteers as a “program” and, instead, embrace engagement as a strategy to fulfill your mission? The shift starts by understanding the benefits of developing a strategic plan for volunteer engagement. In this article, writer Beth Steinhorn highlights some of the research behind volunteer engagement strategies and shares a step-by-step process for developing a volunteer engagement strategic plan. She traces how one regional humane society developed such a plan and, as a result, is now lightening its staff’s heavy workload, bringing more skills into the organization, gaining more advocates, increasing resources, and ultimately helping more animals. 

 

Retiring Baby Boomers, life-long tech users, and skilled professionals! Oh, my! What’s a volunteer administrator to do? It may seem overwhelming to keep up with all the recent trends in volunteering – especially when trends force us to change or adapt how we recruit and work with volunteers.

But fear not: the basic components of volunteer management don’t go out of date. We can meet the unique needs and preferences of these so-called “newer” volunteers with some tweaks to our traditional methods. This edition of Along the Web explores Web resources that describe the characteristics of evolving categories of potential volunteers, with a focus on their motivations, preferences, and needs. Here, you'll also find tips and strategies for effectively engaging and retaining such newer volunteers. 

On June 6, 1939, youngsters who loved to hit a ball and run some bases played the first Little League baseball game at Park Point in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Today, what began as a three-team organization has grown into Little League^® International (LLI) – spreading across the United States and into 100 countries, involving nearly 1.5 million adult volunteers committed to helping young Little League players develop athletic skills alongside concepts of character and loyalty.

Despite its world-famous work and engagement of volunteers, there has been little exchange between LLI and the volunteer management field. In this Voices, Lori Renner Larsson sets out to fill this void with her review of Little League volunteers, answering questions about their structure and how they are coordinated while sharing insights about the lasting appeal of volunteering around children and baseball.