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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 August 2014 Susan J. Ellis |
Identifying Who Is and Is Not a "Volunteer" Here are ten time-tested volunteer recruitment tips that still work. |
Energize July 2010 Susan J. Ellis |
The Correlation between Time Donors and Money Donors All research shows that people who volunteer tend to give more money to charity than people who do not. This often-quoted finding only tells part of the philanthropy story. |
Energize February 2010 Susan J. Ellis |
Both Receiving and Giving Conspicuous by their absence, particularly in human service agencies, are volunteers with a direct, personal connection to the work of the organization |
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 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 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 February 2008 Susan J. Ellis |
The Power of Difference For best success, look for volunteers that offer a different skill set than the paid staff. |
Energize August 2011 Susan J. Ellis |
I'll Never Understand Why Executives Still Don't Understand Here is the most succinct set of arguments for not ignoring volunteer involvement. |
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 February 2013 Susan J. Ellis |
The Treasure Trove of Knowledge Philanthropists This month our colleagues at Vantage Point in Vancouver, BC, Canada are releasing a new book, The Abundant Not-for-Profit by Colleen Kelly and Lynda Gerty. Inspirational and practical, the book argues for a transformation in thinking about volunteers. |
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 June 2013 Susan J. Ellis |
Stop Volunteers from Being Their Own Worst Enemies Maybe we need to educate volunteers about who they are and how they fit into our organizations. If we wrongly assume that volunteers "get it," we open ourselves to potential problems of various sorts. |
Energize January 2012 Susan J. Ellis |
What Would the Perfect Volunteer Involving Organization Look Like? Here is what I think an organization would look like if it practiced everything we preach about creative, welcoming, and effective volunteer management, led by a skilled director of volunteer involvement. |
Energize August 2014 Susan J. Ellis |
Identifying Who Is and Is Not a "Volunteer" I suspect that every reader has engaged in this sort of discussion/debate/argument more than once. |
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 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 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 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 November 2008 Susan J. Ellis |
How Will the Economic Crisis Affect Volunteering? Will volunteering increase, decrease, or change in some way as the financial situation becomes more dire? |
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 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 October 2007 Susan J. Ellis |
The Moral Obligation of Volunteer Recruitment Promises Recruiting volunteers to contribute their time and effort to your organization puts you in the middle of an implied promise. |
Energize November 2006 Susan J. Ellis |
Encouraging Entrepreneurial Volunteering Whether we are dealing in social entrepreneurship, civic engagement, donated professional services, pro bono work, or volunteering, our mission is to mobilize as wide a spectrum of community members as possible to meet real needs. |
Energize July 2009 Susan J. Ellis |
The Drive towards "Highly-skilled" and "Pro Bono" Volunteering Skilled or skills-based volunteering is the practice of using work-related knowledge and expertise in a volunteer opportunity |
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. |
Energize February 2006 Susan J. Ellis |
The Fair Labor Standards Act and Other Obstacles to Progress As advocates for volunteer engagement, we need to approach specialized counselors as equal team members, remembering that we, too, have expertise to offer. |
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. |
AFP eWire January 25, 2011 Brydon M. DeWitt |
The Power of the Volunteer Working with volunteers is not easy. With the right support, however, volunteers can do more than any number of staff can do -- it's just a matter of harnessing their potential. |
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 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 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 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. |
HBS Working Knowledge October 18, 2004 Manda Salls |
The Nonprofit Boon from Boomers A new study by the Harvard School of Public Health identifies baby boomers as a great potential source of volunteers in the future. But nonprofits better start making their pitch now. |
Energize July 2013 Susan J. Ellis |
Breaking through the Glass Ceiling for Volunteers Fully capable people may already be serving in your existing volunteer corps and ready to be promoted to a higher level of volunteering for the organization (only if they want to). |
Energize Susan J. Ellis |
Volunteering and Employability: Cause or Effect? Most of us in volunteer management support the observation that volunteering builds resumes, provides career exploration, and demonstrates each volunteer's abilities, but can we make the case that volunteering directly affects employability? And is that the point? |
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. |
Energize March 2005 Susan J. Ellis |
Recruitment Maxims Volunteer recruitment does not mean wheedling, arm twisting, or asking for a favor. The best approach is that you are sharing an opportunity with prospective volunteers that you don't want them to miss! |
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 September 2005 Susan J. Ellis |
Volunteers Just Want to Have Fun It is common to cast volunteering in a solemn, even spiritual light. In fact, we could do with more humor in our field. |
Energize Susan J. Ellis |
Volunteers and the Quest for Innovation Are we inventing bigger and better Band-Aids for the symptoms rather than eliminating the root causes of seemingly intractable problems? |
Energize December 2012 Susan J. Ellis |
End-of-Year Reports Can Illuminate Volunteer Achievements The invisibility of volunteers in many agency reports is matched only by the presentation of generally useless information about volunteers in other reports. |
Energize March 2009 Susan J. Ellis |
The Difference between Needing and Wanting Volunteers A few measures of true willingness to find the full range of resources to help meet your organization's mission and serve the most people in the best ways. |
Energize June 2012 Susan J. Ellis |
Why Do We Love Volunteer Satisfaction Surveys? How did we arrive at this particular method of assessing success with volunteers? Do such surveys reveal anything meaningful about the value of volunteer contributions? |
Energize May 2013 Susan J. Ellis |
Strategic Volunteer Management: Expanding Your Organization's Brain The problem in volunteer management is not that our organizations are without strategies of various sorts; it's that volunteers are not naturally integrated into those strategies even as an operational tactic. |
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 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 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. |
AFP eWire August 4, 2008 |
Volunteering Up, Dropout Rate Still High Retaining donors is not the only challenge nonprofits face. A recent study shows that retention rates for volunteers are nearly as daunting. |
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. |