In its final appearance, Along the Web presents "Impact Susan," a collection of articles about Susan J. Ellis and her lasting impact on the volunteer management profession that appeared around the country following her death in February 2019. Descriptions and links to these publications, online exchanges, and group chats are provided here as Along the Web, which Ellis created, bids farewell.
This special issue devoted to e-Volunteerism’s Co-Founder Susan J. Ellis begins with a feature by Rob Jackson, the Journal’s new Editor-in-Chief. In this article, Jackson reflects on the legacy of Ellis and her life’s work, including how and why she started the profession’s first online journal 20 years ago. He also shares reflections on Ellis’ work that has emerged in the last 17 months since her passing. And he looks ahead to the future of e-Volunteerism by sharing, he writes, some “exciting news and plans about the future for the Journal.”
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.”
“After 12 years at the helm of a leading faith-based volunteering charity, I have decided to retire.” So writes Leonie Lewis, MBE, who has been Director of the Jewish Volunteering Network (JVN) since its inception in the UK in 2007. Having recently chosen to retire from her role, she reflects in this personal e-Volunteerism essay on the changing trends she has seen in volunteering over the last decade and on how the community can adapt to maximize the impact that volunteers make.
“I leave with many questions that still need to be asked and many that I’ve hopefully answered through my time with the organization. Do I leave the charity in a good place? Have I made a difference? And what is my legacy?” In this poignant reflection, Lewis tries to answer her own questions. In the process, she reveals some changes, challenges, and insights into volunteering that will no doubt resonate with the entire profession.
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.
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.
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.
Points of View authors Rob Jackson and Erin R. Spink were recently inspired by a Canadian article that highlighted the coming funding shortfalls due to an escalating reliance on the services non-profits offer. In this Points of View, they take a page from this article to discuss the equally concerning risk of volunteerism shortfalls. They debate the reasons behind these shortfalls while reviewing some steps we can all take to prepare for such a change.
Managing volunteer programs can be a whirlwind of risk management, policies, and procedures, with mounds of credentialing and more red tape than we’d like to admit. Jumping through hoops can become a necessary skill for volunteers to meet all of the criteria required to donate their time, particularly in large organisations or regulated sectors.
In this article, author Tracey O’Neill reflects on her own experiences as a volunteer in three organisations where she also managed volunteer services and programs. She explores what these experiences taught her when it comes to ensuring that “my volunteer programs remain relevant and appealing to our community and supporters.” O’Neill’s ideas will challenge you to reflect on ways you can make volunteering more accessible and appealing in your organisation, while working to retain the best volunteers in today’s volunteering climate.