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Policy Development
The Dangers of Too Much Enthusiasm
Many volunteer program managers bemoan the fact that they receive little support from top management. In this issue’s Points of View we consider the consequences of having entirely too enthusiastic backing from executive decision-makers – whether politicians or agency administrators – especially in the early stages of developing a volunteer effort.
There are two levels of possible over-enthusiasm. The first is the growing tendency of national governments to voice advocacy for volunteerism, whether through proclamations of country-wide recruitment campaigns, actual legislation channeling funding for various projects, or just loud speechifying on how important volunteering is to the social good and civil society. The second is at the individual organization level, in which the attitudes and actions of top managers lead to increased volunteer involvement (maybe).
Questions of Public Policy
Volunteering is intricately intertwined with many areas of society and public life, some obvious and some that should be better recognized. In this issue of “Points of View” we discuss public policy arenas that relate to volunteering. For each arena, we pose some philosophic and practical questions designed to provoke deeper thought.
You’ll note there are no answers here, since our goal was to brainstorm the issues. However, any question below could – and probably should – become the focus of academic or government research, or the subject of an article in e-Volunteerism.
Linda Graff started this conversation via e-mail and the rest of us just decided to pile on our opinions and questions. Feel free to join in with us….
How Many Supervisors Does It Take to Screw in a Volunteer?
Lightbulb jokes aside, one of the eternal questions which shows up on a regular basis in online discussions, training sessions and inquisitive e-mails is usually framed quite simply:
"What's the recommended ratio of supervisory staff to volunteers?"
Susan greets this question with a quiet sigh; Steve tends to jump up and down and scream.
'O Canada' - The Listening Behind the Canada Volunteerism Initiative
At the recent Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City many non-Canadians would have heard our national anthem, "O Canada," for the first time. Of course, it is a young anthem, adopted only 35 years ago. Canada is a young country but we have a long history of volunteerism. During 2001, the International Year of Volunteers, I had the privilege of co-chairing what was called the National Volunteerism Initiative Table. This gave me the opportunity to examine volunteerism, to take flight and travel this young and beautiful country from coast to coast. The flight had its spells of turbulence along with periods of very smooth skies. It was really a privilege to be able to view volunteers in Canada from a position way up in the clouds. I listened to volunteers and those who work with volunteers. I had a most unique opportunity to learn about this country and its volunteers. They have many differences and much that is incredibly the same.