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Energize February 2011 Susan J. Ellis	Real Professions Have Strong Associations Ever since I've been in volunteerism, and that's almost four decades now, periodically someone raises the question: "Is volunteer management a profession or a skilled job?"
Energize March 2006 Susan J. Ellis	A Call to Action on Behalf of Our Profession The Association for Volunteer Administration (AVA) has been dissolved after missing money, executive falsehoods, board mismanagement and member complacency. The good news is that there is now opportunity to create a better association.
Energize November 2013 Susan J. Ellis	Education through Celebration on International Volunteer Managers Day It is important to let professional volunteer managers know that the spirit of volunteerism is enhanced and enabled by them -- and it is important to thank them.
Energize January 2007 Susan J. Ellis	Should Volunteer Program Managers Be Volunteers, Too? There's never been a better time to volunteer for a volunteer management network - and that's true in a range of countries around the world, many of whom are nurturing embryo associations right now.
Energize July 2011 Susan J. Ellis	Needed: A Multi-level Approach to Credentialing Volunteer Management Volunteer management has been an "emerging profession" ever since I've been in the field -- which is now 40 years.
Energize April 2005 Susan J. Ellis	We Can Model True Collaboration Volunteer programs ought to be able to overcome the barriers faced by their sponsoring organizations and find ways to work together.
Energize December 2004 Susan J. Ellis	Chicken or Egg: Why Are Our Professional Associations Weak? This issue, which obviously starts at the local level on up (or perhaps on the national level on down), is integrally related with the recurring question of "is volunteer management a profession?"
Energize September 2006 Susan J. Ellis	What’s in a Name…or a Title? What's the best title for the person who is designated as the leader of volunteers?
Energize March 2012 Susan J. Ellis	How Serving the Volunteer Field Has Changed after 35 Years -- Or Not? Associations and infrastructure organizations can come and go, but the real action is on the ground, in each and every action volunteers take to improve the world.
Energize April 2007 Susan J. Ellis	I'll Help with That, But Don't Ask me to Lead it! Have you found that it is easier to recruit a volunteer to do frontline, hands-on work than to accept a leadership position on a board of directors, advisory council, or key committee? This is becoming a universal concern, including for professional associations of volunteer program managers.
Energize October 2011 Susan J. Ellis	What Leaders of Volunteers Can Do To Gain Executive Attention This month, I am turning the spotlight 180 degrees to examine how leaders of volunteers contribute to the problem of not getting enough attention from higher-ups.
Energize February 2011	Real Professions Have Strong Associations - Responses A reader offers comments on the common problems and goals of volunteer management associations
Energize May 2008 Susan J. Ellis	It's Volunteers and Money We need to see the issue of resource allocation for volunteers as integral to our work and develop the skills to "make the case" for spending money on volunteers.
Energize June 2010 Susan J. Ellis	Reimagining Service: Is Corporate HR Management What We See? If you see volunteer management as just HR management, then you will love Reimagining Service, which promotes the idea of applying private sector human resources practices to nonprofit organizations.
Energize December 2006 Susan J. Ellis	Together We Stand: Volunteers and Volunteer Resource Managers Connected Frontline volunteers and boardroom volunteers are more alike than different, and the principles of effective volunteer administration apply to each group.
Energize October 2012 Susan J. Ellis	Practicing What We Preach: Volunteers Helping Us, Too One of the enduring mysteries of the volunteer management field is how often those who lead volunteer efforts do not build a team of volunteers to help them in their important work.
Energize November 2011 Susan J. Ellis	Part-time Volunteer Management Means Equally Limited Volunteer Involvement, It is hardly news that the majority of people who lead volunteer involvement are expected to do so part-time.
Energize November 2007 Susan J. Ellis	Boards of Directors: Governing at a Distance? What began as a legitimate concern to avoid micro-managing in favor of long-range planning has instead served to distance board members from first-hand understanding of the organizations they lead.
Energize August 2004 Susan J. Ellis	Applied Futurism: Putting Trends to Work Today You can strengthen your volunteer program by becoming an effective forecaster, making sure you seize great trends while sidestepping the bad.
Energize March 2010 Susan J. Ellis	AmeriCorps and Senior Corps Targeting Volunteer Management The most popular capacity building option among both charities and congregations with social service outreach activities is the addition of a one-year, full-time volunteer with a living stipend (like an AmeriCorps member), with responsibility for volunteer recruitment and management.
Energize April 2008 Susan Ellis	Volunteering is Bigger than the Nonprofit Sector The practice of volunteering for government agencies is contrasted with non-profit volunteering programs and a case is made for volunteers in government.
Energize April 2010 Susan J. Ellis	"You Get What You Pay For" Society holds contradictory attitudes about money that affect volunteering in many ways. It's worth exploring some of the most common notions.
Energize May 2014 Susan J. Ellis	Branding National Volunteer Week: Who Wins and Who Loses? National Volunteer Week last month was its usual non-event in the United States -- despite its 40 th anniversary -- with precious little media attention. This year, however, that might well have been a good thing.
Energize December 2014 Susan J. Ellis	What Did You and Volunteers Do Well this Year? 2014 is rapidly coming to an end. Before you consider making any resolutions for the new year, use December as an opportunity to reflect on the past 12 months.
Energize May 2009 Paula J. Beugen	The Role of Volunteer Resources Managers in the Serve America Act: Stay Up-to-Date and Lead There is now a new law that authorizes great expansion of Federally-supported service programs, notably AmeriCorps and several new special Corps and initiatives. The Serve America Act is over 100 pages in length and funds still need to be appropriated.
Energize December 2011 Susan J. Ellis	My Personal "State of the World's Volunteering" Report On December 5th, International Volunteer Day, United Nations Volunteers is set to issue its State of the World's Volunteering Report, officially bringing to a close the 2011 International Year of Volunteers + 10.
Energize May 2007 Susan J. Ellis	Make New Friends, but Keep the Old... For volunteer organizations, it is important to find ways to revitalize the involvement of inactive members.
Energize August 1, 2007 Susan J. Ellis	The Big Merger: Many Unanswered Questions The merger between the Points of Light Foundation and Hands On Network has the potential for a positive impact on volunteerism. But, there are more questions than answers about the new entity.
Energize July 2014 Susan J. Ellis	I Really Want to Know: What's Going on Out There? Here are a few of the ideas from the past few years that I really love as concepts. Have you (or someone you know) tried any of them?
Energize June 2006 Susan J. Ellis	Wouldn't It Be Nice to Really Know.... Trends in volunteering are reported largely based on observation and anecdotes rather than on hard data.
Energize June 2005 Susan J. Ellis	Mobile Volunteers - `Tis the Season In the past, one simply wished vacationing volunteers a good time and hoped they'd return in a few months. But if the person is going to have access to a computer and the Internet while away, consider a virtual assignment.
Energize Susan J. Ellis	What's Ahead for 2009 in the Volunteerism Community? Here are several ways that the Obama Administration may impact volunteering in the United States, along with some of my own editorial comments.
Energize April 2013 Susan J. Ellis	Revisiting the Seven Deadly Sins of Directing Volunteers In the early 1980s, Energize produced a mini-poster with the dramatic title of "The Seven Deadly Sins of Directing Volunteers," which proved extremely popular. We are reappraising them for 2013.
Energize May 2005 Susan J. Ellis	Why Be Boring When You Can Celebrate in So Many Ways? It's your chance to enlighten, amaze, surprise, and educate everyone. Remember that only the volunteer program manager sees the full cumulative effect of volunteer involvement for the past year. Paid staff, volunteers, and administrators only see their small part of the larger picture.
Energize November 2005 Susan J. Ellis	Strength in Numbers: Engaging Volunteers as Partners in Program Development There is a specific form of volunteer involvement that has great potential as a tool for internal advocacy: activating a visible team of volunteer representatives.
Energize December 2009 Susan J. Ellis	When the Ax Falls: Budget Cutting and Volunteers Can an organization turn to volunteers to fill gaps when budgets are cut and employees laid off?
Energize	Common Sense and Volunteer Involvement - Responses Readers respond to a recent article about the management of volunteers.
Energize June 2011 Paula J. Beugen	Is the Corporation for National and Community Service on the Right Track for Volunteerism? After energetically working alongside many others to advance the concepts for what became the National and Community Service Act of 1990, I am stunned by the current state of what is now the Corporation for National and Community Service
Energize Susan J. Ellis	Should We Cap the Number of Hours a Volunteer May Serve Each Week? New volunteers may start off gung-ho and promise many hours before they know what they will experience. So I like the practice of setting an initial limit of maximum time until the situation evolves and looks to be successful.
Energize April 2011 Susan J. Ellis	Celebrate Collective Accomplishments, Not Volunteered Time Volunteer recognition is a powerful tool for leaders of volunteers that remains largely underutilized.
Energize August 2005 Susan J. Ellis	Still Tilting at Windmills While there have been huge and exciting developments in volunteerism in the past 30 years, many of the challenges are still looming windmills to fight. Also, the most stimulating activities right now are occurring far outside the United States, while here it is harder to find innovators or leaders.
Energize February 2009 Susan J. Ellis	"A New Era of Responsibility": An Open Letter to President Obama A call for the President to remember the professional field of volunteer resource management during his presidency.
Searcher June 2010 Cecilia Hogan	For Our Next (Charitable) Trick, We'll Need a Volunteer The author explores the ins and outs of the volunteer experience and offers suggestions on where to find the ideal volunteer position.
Energize September 2013 Susan J. Ellis	What Volunteer Resources Managers Can Teach Human Resources Managers Volunteer resources managers are constantly being told what we can learn from professionals in personnel or human resources. Maybe it's time we tell HR what they can learn from us.
Energize February 2014 Susan J. Ellis	It's Time to Discuss the Complex Relationship of Volunteering and Money We constantly fight the attitude that "volunteers are free," but money is connected to volunteering in complex ways.
Energize July 2007 Susan J. Ellis	The More We're Different, the More We're the Same The word "volunteer" -- if it exists at all -- seems burdened with the same stereotypes in every language.
Energize September 2011 Susan J. Ellis	Addressing Volunteerism Issues in the Blogosphere The following blogs are listed randomly with no particular hierarchy, but they are all written by authors who are willing -- in fact, determined -- to address philosophy, ethics, and the "big questions" facing the volunteer field.
Energize Susan J. Ellis	Prospective Volunteers Are Closer than You Think Ask yourself what you have done in the last year to make sure that you are really issuing an invitation to become a volunteer to the people in greatest proximity to you.
Energize May 2006 Susan J. Ellis	Online Spying Can Improve Your Volunteer Management Skills Use the Internet to be a quiet explorer, observing carefully what other non-profit organizations are doing. Educate yourself about approaches and models that you might follow, adapt, or even avoid.
Energize August 2012 Susan J. Ellis	Let's Be Honest about Nonprofit Boards of Directors (or, Lessons to Be Learned from Penn State) The scandal at Penn State may have begun as a horrifying case of unstopped pedophilia, but ultimately it has become an example of very poor governance.