All-Volunteer Group Leadership

Editor-in-Chief Susan J. Ellis met “DR CurlyBubbe” a year ago in the parking garage at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) as Ellis arrived for one of her weekly chemotherapy visits. DR CurlyBubbe, a/k/a Esther Gushner, was hard to miss, what with her bright yellow knee socks, hat with a red rose, and doctor’s coat covered with smiley faces and various badges. As Ellis took in her whole outfit, including a badge saying, “Eat a prune – start a movement,” she realized she was watching a volunteer “clown doctor” report for duty at the hospital! And naturally, they started talking.

This special feature by Ellis tells the story of Esther Gushner, who nearly 18 years ago became a clown doctor and founding member of Bumper “T” Caring Clowns. Readers will soon discover why Caring Clowns prefer to be described as “Hospital Visitors with Red Noses;” why Gushner doesn’t really like the word “clown;” and how these “faux doctors” focus on one-to-one conversations (most often with adults) instead of trying to be funny with patients in critical and often frightening situations.

With 120 trained Caring Clowns in 27 hospitals in six states, Ellis and Gushner explain how the Bumper “T” Caring Clown volunteers mesh with each hospital’s existing Volunteer Services department, a part of the story that sends a strong message about how volunteer resources managers can successfully collaborate with community organizations. And by the end of this story, it will be perfectly clear why each Caring Clown’s signature red nose is the passport to people’s hearts - including Ellis’ own.

One of the most powerful things a volunteer can do is see a need and start trying to meet it. With enough passion and hard work, that initial maverick will attract other volunteers to the cause and a worthy organization will emerge and grow. That evolution might expand over time to raising money, hiring staff, and moving volunteers to governing boards and service-assisting positions. That’s the history of most of the institutions and organizations we take for granted today.

In this article, we introduce Stephanie Myers, a recent MPA (Masters in Public Administration) graduate at Villanova University in Villanova, PA. As readers soon learn, Myers is a decidedly determined young woman who is taking steps to try and change the world through her role as a volunteer and her dedication to a cause: the unrecognized – and therefore untreated – mental health issues among student athletes. To address these issues, Myers founded Mind4Athletes, Inc. (M4A), an organization so new that it doesn’t even have a Web site yet. In this article, we get to know Myers and her work, and discuss why and how she decided to form M4A.

In future stories published over the next months and years, we’ll revisit Myers and M4A to see how things are going. We hope this shared journey will give our volunteer management readers insight into how to support mavericks, Millennials, and dreamers like Myers.   

In 1954, the Seventh International Conference of Social Work convened in Toronto, Canada, with the theme of “Self-Help in Social Welfare.” While self-help is an important component of effective social work, it can also be seen as a challenge to the formal social work profession. The multi-day event in Toronto presented many speakers and panels in an effort to examine self-help organizations from many different perspectives, and resulted in a 342-page book known as the Proceedings of the event. In this historical Voices, we select key points made by authorities from various countries at this conference, key points that have stood the test of time.

 

Founded in 1901, the Junior League rapidly became the most influential women’s organization in the United States. Today there are also chapters in Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Its mission statement puts volunteering and women front and center:

The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. (AJLI) is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.

Local Junior Leagues made many significant contributions to their communities, but also developed an elitist public image of wealth, social standing, and exclusion. The list of famous women who were members of the League is very long. When the feminist movement affected every women’s organization, the Junior League found itself challenged to retain its position while changing with the times.

This Voices from the Past story explores the history of the Junior League and how it evolved in the face of modern life, still keeping its mission rooted in the power of volunteers.

Do church volunteers ever experience conflict? Of course they do. Conflict is unavoidable and, when handled in a healthy way, can even result in benefits. Identifying strategies for building unity and minimizing unhealthy conflict among church volunteers are crucial steps in a ministry’s success.

In his doctoral dissertation, Shan Caldwell explored whether applying the recognized secular principles of conflict management and volunteer management would succeed in dealing with disputes among church volunteers. In this feature article, Caldwell shares a set of simple concepts with implications for any faith-based organization. By putting these concepts into action, Caldwell examines how the possibility for healthy, productive, and successful volunteer teams in any setting grows exponentially. 

Soroptimist International of the Americas is an international volunteer organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls, in local communities and throughout the world. Bucking the trend of other large service clubs, Soroptimist is, in fact, asking its members to revamp the traditional club in order to grow its membership numbers. Find out how from excerpts of materials published in Soroptimist's Best for Women magazine and an interview with Executive Director, Leigh Wintz.

On behalf of Osteoporosis Canada, volunteerism consultant Suzanne Lawson recently convened a telephone conference call that included Linda Graff, Marilyn MacKenzie, Susan J. Ellis and representatives of Osteoporosis Canada. These accomplished volunteer management experts proceeded to discuss how multi-level organizations are adapting to current trends in volunteer engagement and how the local level of "action" can best be structured. The call was recorded. This Keyboard Roundtable offers a lively exchange of that conversation, which covered such questions as:

• How are local chapters (or whatever people call them these days) succeeding or failing to bring new volunteers to a national cause?
• Do chapters tend to support established volunteers in their work - but not newcomers?
• Are there any new models for connecting volunteers at the local level to the activities of the organization - doing the work with engaged volunteers "around" a chapter structure or "instead" of it?
  To read the full article

  BECOME A MEMBER

  LOG IN
  • Read more about The Dynamics of Multi-Level Organizations
  • 1 comment

During the 1980s, Ivan Scheier started a small publishing operation in Boulder, Colorado called Yellowfire Press. At Yellowfire, he produced a range of monographs and small booklets on subjects that interested him. In 1984, he wrote Meanwhile…Back at the Neighborhood, in which he considered one of his favorite topics: developing real “community” at the most local level and in the best, informal ways.  In this excerpt from the opening sections, Ivan defines “neighborhood,” the role of a “neighborhood enabler,” and ways to cultivate common ground.