Similar Articles |
|
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 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). |
Fast Company November 2010 Jeninne Lee St. John |
The 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps The FIRST group of volunteers, 51 strong, arrived in Ghana on August 30, 1961. Since 1961, more than 200,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps. |
AFP eWire August 16, 2011 |
Orienting and Training Volunteers for Success All volunteers should go through orientation to the organization and at least some training for their roles as volunteers. |
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. |
Geotimes April 2004 David Hastings |
Geoscientists in the Peace Corps: A Strategic Revisit Do geoscientists fit with the current Peace Corps? |
AFP eWire July 31, 2006 |
Online Volunteering: Factors for Success A new study examines the potential benefits of cultivating online volunteers and the necessary infrastructure and capacity organizations need to effectively employ these volunteers. |
Energize January 2010 Susan J. Ellis |
Differentiating Volunteering and Working for Pay The distinctions between the two groups are vital because we need both for different reasons. |
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 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? |
AFP eWire March 1, 2004 |
Many Nonprofits Using Volunteers Ineffectively A joint study by the UPS Foundation, the Corporation for National and Community Service and the USA Freedom Corps has revealed that 80 percent of nonprofits rely on volunteers for critical activities, but admit they do not have the resources or knowledge to manage them as they might like. |
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 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 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 2012 Susan J. Ellis |
Common Sense and Volunteer Involvement I am very interested in what you have to share as your examples of lack of common sense when it comes to decisions affecting volunteers. |
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 November 2010 Susan J. Ellis |
When Volunteers Resist Change Always remember that volunteers bring their own perspectives and stereotypes about volunteerism to their service. Here are some ways of thinking that reflect a lack of training or understanding. |
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. |
AFP eWire May 4, 2006 |
Volunteers Still Not Being Used for Maximum Impact A new survey shows that a vast majority of nonprofit organizations are not taking full advantage of the professional skills and knowledge possessed by their volunteers. |
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. |
AFP eWire May 30, 2006 |
New Website Registers Volunteers for Future Disasters The Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network have created a new website to help prepare for future disasters by linking charities with volunteers. |
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 November 2004 Susan J. Ellis |
Interns: The "Acceptable" Volunteers? All too often interns are elevated above mere volunteers unjustifiably and/or the "internship program" is separated administratively from the volunteer resources office, to the detriment of both groups. |
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. |
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 September 2008 Susan J. Ellis |
Replacing Volunteers with Paid Staff When and how is it legitimate to place employees into roles traditionally held by volunteers? This is an emerging trend that deserves attention. |
Energize May 2012 |
Three Things Volunteer Managers Can Learn from the Social Media Revolution Quick Tip: Recruit what Susan Ellis calls `cyber deputies.' These are volunteers who perhaps have more knowledge or comfort with social media than you. |
Energize November 2012 Susan J. Ellis |
The Perfect Volunteer Storm What can we observe in all of this outpouring of time and effort for the presidential election and for Hurricane Sandy and what implications can we see for calmer times? Let's do some analysis from our volunteer leadership perspective. |
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 October 2006 Susan J. Ellis |
The Middle Management Barrier Middle managers are vital to how effective the organization's volunteer engagement will be. |
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 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 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 November 2014 Susan J. Ellis |
Pulling the Rug Out from Under Volunteer Involvement: Sudden Staff Changes How are major changes communicated to volunteers in your organization? Is there a plan in place for continuity should you leave your job, whether by choice or not? |
Energize July 2006 Susan J. Ellis |
"I Don't Have Time" It's still possible to engage people in more intensive volunteer service, if we pay attention to their needs. |
AFP eWire May 1, 2012 |
Creating Volunteer Opportunities -- The New Role of Fundraisers Think your organization's volunteers and its development office are two separate worlds? Think again, says Emily Davis, author of Fundraising and the Next Generation, new from the AFP Fund Development Series. |
Energize January 2006 Susan J. Ellis |
The Implications of History Volunteering lessons gleaned from the newest edition of By the People: A History of Americans as Volunteers. |
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 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 October 2014 Susan J. Ellis |
Whom Don't We Ask to Volunteer? Consider where you recruit and what your expectations are of what applicants will look like. Don't limit your outreach and you'll be rewarded. |
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 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 August 2014 Susan J. Ellis |
Identifying Who Is and Is Not a "Volunteer" Here are ten time-tested volunteer recruitment tips that still work. |
AFP eWire October 29, 2007 |
Older Volunteers Now Looking for Payments Retirees and older volunteers are now looking to be paid, even just a small sum, for their charitable work. |