Time (or lack of it) is always the bane of the existence of most volunteer managers. This is especially true when you're attempting to relate with and keep track of dozens or hundreds of volunteers - a supervisory ratio far beyond the bounds of rationality.
The computer offers…
Research for the report, Flying Under the Radar: The Significant Work of All-Volunteer Organizations, was conducted in 1999 in the San Francisco service area of CompassPoint by Cristina Chan, M.P.P., and Sonali Rammohan, C.P.A. Leadership for the study was provided by Jan…
This training design offers a complete strategy for fostering organizational commitment to the volunteer program. The following training sections are available in PDFSection I - The In Depth ViewIs My Organization Commmitted to the Volunteer Program?Assessment of Volunteer…
David Brettell was the Manager of Venue Staffing and Volunteers for the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games ('SOCOG"). Susan Ellis interviewed David while she was in Australia and taped the interview for e-Volunteerism.
Questions Asked in Audio Interview:
What -…
David Brettell was the Manager of Venue Staffing and Volunteers for the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games ('SOCOG"). This article includes excerpts from keynote speeches David Brettell gave at three volunteerism conferences in July and August 2001, in Singapore…
With this issue of e-Volunteerism we start our second year of publication. It was our intent - from the beginning - to publish something of value to colleagues anywhere in the world. We wanted to engage contributors and readers from as many countries as possible, representing a…
In the mid-1970s, the Association for Volunteer Administration embarked on a revision of its professional credentialing program. AVA selected a performance-based system, based on a core group of competencies deemed essential for the effective administration of volunteer programs…
Is there a big blind spot in volunteer management? Consider:
the elderly gentleman in the park, feeding pigeons or even squirrels
a woman regularly looking in on a sick neighbor
a teenager teaching other young people how to skateboard
the police officer (definitely not as…
It is difficult to isolate the topic of recruitment because its ultimate success is intertwined with the development of good volunteer assignments (the product you are selling in recruitment) and with having an organization prepared to utilize volunteers' time and talents…
Eva Schindler-Rainman was one of the few volunteerism pioneers to gain popularity both within and outside of our field. An organizational consultant, social worker with a PhD, and behavioral scientist, she was known for her advocacy of effective human resource development -…
The growth of volunteering around the world has also led to the growth of organizations whose purpose is to support volunteering. What follows is a list of such organizations. It is vaguely organized by geographic territory - sometimes by country or sub-territory, sometimes by…
Recent events have made the public more aware of the role of volunteers in protecting lives and property during fires and emergencies. Throughout the U.S. and many other countries around the world, communities (particularly small, rural ones) depend on citizens to assume those…
e-Volunteerism is always on the lookout for new innovative programs, practices and initiatives to share with our readers. When we learnt recently of two international work exchanges among volunteer management practitioners, we were quick to speak to those involved.
In this issue…
As the gap widens between young and old America, we will find ourselves contending with either generational conflict or reaping the benefits of intergenerational communion. Volunteer program managers who creatively address this looming social challenge will help make the 21st…
Volunteering involves political, cultural and philosophical aspects, all of which are worthy of discussion for the ways in which volunteering interacts with other aspects of society. Much of this discussion is about how government and other institutions can work cooperatively to…
Marc Musick and John Wilson are doing some of the most interesting and useful studies of volunteer behavior today, and this current article, co-written with William Bynum, is no exception. In what is both a review of available literature and new research of their own, the…
This article outlines several volunteer-related research projects currently underway in the United Kingdom, initiated and funded by the government. There are as yet no findings to report, but e-Volunteerism feels the article will be useful to our readers as a model for how…
In the training of volunteers who provide direct services to clients, it is critical that volunteers have a basic understanding of the psychosocial issues faced by those they will serve. Having this knowledge prepares volunteers for successful short-term interactions, such as…
With volunteering by youth at an all-time high in the United States, it is important to examine the continuum of civic action to ensure that we are creating pathways that allow more volunteers to facilitate more sustainable community change. We must recognize that each level of…
We have been privileged to travel internationally during the past few years, which gives us a very different perspective on volunteerism than anyone working only in their home country. Unfortunately, we admit to being close to despair about what is - or, rather, isn't -…