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The beginning of a new year . . . A blank slate and a golden opportunity to start fresh and embrace big shifts and new perspectives . . . The chance to dig deep and create real changes, in ourselves and throughout our profession . . .
So what’s stopping us? Well, to be blunt, we are. No, not Erin and Rob! But all of us as Volunteer Engagement professionals.
From the outside, the large agency looks like a model nonprofit when it comes to involving volunteers. It hosts a significant volunteer and paid staff team. There are volunteer applications, legal waivers and comprehensive training. The team is guided by operational plans based on lessons learned from the corporate world and nonprofit consultants. The leadership heeds and hones best practices for volunteer management; it collects and makes decisions using many, many data points. It has come a long way from its humble all-volunteer roots.
I recently noted to our 20-something Volunteer Coordinator that she might have to explain what she meant by “cassette tape” after she sent out an email to some of our student volunteers. The Volunteer Coordinator remarked at how quickly the world was changing.
At a recent Points of Light conference, a plenary session included short videos from volunteer programs around the world that showcased innovation in volunteer programs. Voices co-editor Allyson Drinnon found the videos inspiring, and gained permission to present a sampling of three videos for e-Volunteerism. These videos, along with Drinnon’s insightful narrative, clearly reveal why the terms “innovation” and “inspiring” are connected with these works.
Do you ever feel like you’re treading water in this vast volunteer management ocean? Struggling against perceptions of what you do that simply don’t match the reality? As Meridian Swift writes, “I know I did. It took getting out and drying off to uncover what was missing in my volunteer management career.”
In this e-Volunteerism feature, well-known volunteer expert Swift reviews how leaving the profession helped her gain new perspectives and insights into volunteer management, and helped Swift see that what she really needed, metaphorically speaking, was a “boat. . . a sturdy foundation that would keep me from treading water.” As Swift writes:
“I began to look at it in a different light. What could have made volunteer management more respected? I dove into researching everything from HR trends, to systems and project management, to ecological symbiosis. Research made me realize that it is we, the volunteer managers, who must control the perception of volunteer management. . . So let’s pull ourselves out of the water and build a boat that lifts high the volunteerism sail.”
Much that’s been said about the motivations and outcomes of skills based volunteering (SBV) has been written from the corporation’s perspective. We know less about what motivates or what it takes to engage a SBV program from a nonprofit point of view.
In this e-Volunteerism feature, authors from NC State University and the Southeastern Council of Foundations examine the experience of one nonprofit as they expand their already robust volunteer program to incorporate skills based volunteerism. Their findings examine how SBV is perceived from different organizational levels, and the benefits and pitfalls of engaging such initiatives. Using a case study with 20 interviews from multiple stakeholder groups, the authors also discuss the coordination and resources it takes to implement a successful SBV program. This important feature provides insight into capacity considerations for any organization interested in implementing a SBV program.
In this Research to Practice, Laurie Mook reviews two articles that bring together issues related to measuring the impact of volunteering, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a set of 17 goals that address social, economic, and environmental challenges at the global and local levels, and are gaining currency across the public, private, and social economy sectors. Volunteer resources managers are well-positioned to embed the SDGs into impact measurement, with the potential benefits of increased volunteer engagement and retention, as well as increased funding. Strategically, reporting on performance related to the SDGs can also be used to influence local and national policy agendas.