Archive for the ‘Impact’ Category

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10 Ways to Serve on Dr. King’s National Day of Service

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

It’s a new year! While this means countless resolutions and packed gyms for many people, it also means that the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service is quickly approaching. On this day millions of people will answer one of Dr. King’s most important questions: “What are you doing for others?” by volunteering in their local neighborhoods and communities. Need community service ideas to do on this national day of service? We have 10 opportunities for you, your family, and neighbors!

  1.  Volunteer to do landscaping, walkway repairs or painting at your local public school. This will surely help to brighten a child’s spirit when they see the improvements to their school. 
  2. Are you an architect? Architects and landscape architects can provide neighborhood businesses and home owners with pro bono advice on how to improve their storefront facades, home exteriors, or front yards.
  3. Participate in fire Safety Canvassing!! Volunteer with Fire Fighters and
    other community partners to distribute door hangers to area residents. Anyone age 12 and up can participate!
  4. Get out and restore your local park! Whether it’s removing trash, debris, or those intrusive plants that could potentially harm park wildlife, volunteering at your local park will allow you to appreciate and preserve your local park.
  5. Gather to assemble goodie bags to be distributed to the homeless and less fortunate. Bags can be filled with non-perishable snacks, a warm blanket and a pair of socks.
  6. Help Clean up your local animal Shelter!
  7. Donate Blood! January is National Blood Donor month, what better way to start your year, then giving blood. Blood is traditionally in short supply in the winter due to holiday traveling, inclement weather and illness. January in particular is a difficult month for blood donations, yet the need for blood never ceases.
  8. Prepare for a disaster. Create and distribute fire safety information  You can also check homes for working smoke detectors!
  9. Be green.  Replace regular light bulbs with energy efficient ones.  Go door to door and help seniors in your neighborhood do the same.
  10. Hold a resume building workshop.  Look for free space with computers, such as a library, school, or community center to bring together interested participants to review resumes and give feedback.

Throughout your service activity, have fun and reflect on the legacy of Dr. King. Comment and tell us what you are doing on this national day of service!

 

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Posted in Disaster Relief, Emergency Preparedness, Environment, Events, Get HandsOn, Impact, Inspire, Service, Social Justice, Volunteer Reflection, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 3 Comments »

How Much Are Your Volunteers Worth?

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

We all know volunteers are valuable, but now you can calculate exactly how much!

Although it is difficult to put a dollar amount on volunteer time, as they provide many intangible benefits; this may be as close as we get. This value is only one way to show the benefits volunteers bring to an organization.

Independent Sector estimated dollar value of volunteer time for 2010 is $21.36 per hour. The value does vary by state, as you can see below.

State Values for Volunteer Time Map

From Independent Sector

Note that 2009 is the last year for which state-by-state numbers are available. State volunteering values are one year behind the national value due to a lag in the government’s release of state level data.

Volunteering in America provides some context to these numbers with detailed information about the number of volunteers and volunteer hours per resident in the United States.Number of Volunteers Chart

As you can tell, volunteering in America has reached the level of a full-time job for many!

Volunteer Hours Per Resident

According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, about 63.4 million Americans, or 26.8 percent of the adult population, gave 8.1 billion hours of volunteer service worth $169 billion in 2009.

Let your volunteers know just how priceless they are to you during this holiday season. To find ways to thank them, check out our previous articles on that very subject!

Six Tips for Recognizing Volunteers

Eight Tips for Writing the Perfect Thank You Note

Nine Basic Rules for Volunteer Recognition

UPDATE: Today’s post has been updated since it was published. Some information was incorrectly cited.
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Posted in Economy, Impact, Volunteerism | No Comments »

AmeriCorps Week Showcases the Impact of National Service

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

This year’s National AmeriCorps Week, May 14 – 21, is a particularly important opportunity to elevate the value and importance of AmeriCorps and national service. In light of recent budget debates in Congress and the threatened elimination of funds for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) in 2012, AmeriCorps Week showcases the extraordinary impact of national service members every day across our nation.

AmeriCorps Week shines a light on the more than 80,000 members currently serving in communities across the country – individuals who are effectively serving and meeting critical needs in our country’s communities. We see this impact front and center in our HandsOn Network where, over the last 12 months, HandsOn Networks’ AmeriCorps members have recruited and mobilized more than 53,900 volunteers in more than 1,200 service projects impacting more than 70,000 citizens.

In addition to 80,000 current members, more than 600,000 have joined AmeriCorps Alums, a division of Points of Light Institute, and have given more than 860 million hours in service since 1994.

We believe in the leadership potential of these individuals and have supported them both as an organization and a strategy to continue to create change. We have 26 chapters of AmeriCorps Alums throughout the country actively engaging thousands during AmeriCorps Week in service projects, networking events and thought leadership with elected officials.

The value of AmeriCorps service has been felt in communities both large and small – at Points of Light Institute affiliates, managing volunteers in disaster relief efforts and at the countless organizations that we partner with.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has said he believes the future of his city depends on citizens rolling up their sleeves and working together to tackle complicated challenges – and AmeriCorps Alums have played a major role.

“AmeriCorps Alums working in city government and nonprofit organizations throughout Philadelphia bring a level of experience and commitment to service that directly impacts our collective capacity to engage every day citizens in solving problems and strengthening their communities,” said Mayor Nutter.

The National League of Cities highlighted the impact of AmeriCorps volunteers in an editorial by AmeriCorps Alums Executive Director Ben Duda this week. The article reaches 30,000 mayors, city council members, city managers, police and fire chiefs, public works directors and others who make decisions about local operations. It is important that these individuals understand the valuable impact of service and how they can engage both current AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Alums to address local challenges and create change.

To share best practices, AmeriCorps Alums has convened a national training and professional development webinar called “How to Translate Your AmeriCorps Experience into Future Leadership Opportunities” on May 18 at 12 p.m. EST. This session will showcase the transformational force of service and how it can make an impact in solving our country’s challenging issues.

To register for the webinar or get engaged with your local AmeriCorps Alums, please visit www.AmeriCorpsAlums.org.

National service has a critical role to play in our country as we face tough challenges and restricted funds. At Points of Light Institute, we look forward to celebrating AmeriCorps Week with our service partners and colleagues and lifting up currently serving members and the hundreds of thousands of Alums – they are at the forefront of possibility for community change.

Yours in Service,

CEO, Points of Light Institute
Co-Founder, HandsOn Network
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2011 National Conference on Volunteering and Service

Monday, May 9th, 2011

This year’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service is being held in New Orleans; a city that understands the effect that volunteers can have on a city. After hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill, thousands of volunteers from all across the country came to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast to help rebuild and recover. These volunteers have given of their money and time to help rebuild, but there’s still a lot of work done to bring the Gulf Coast back to the way it was before the recent disasters.

While, overall, the conference helps people who work with volunteers in the nonprofit and for profit sector, there are three program tracts that will help attendees to tailor their experience to be the most useful for them. The tracts look at the impact that volunteers can have on their community, the strength that volunteers bring to bear when they serve, and how volunteers help to build and support communities.

volunteer, volunteering, volunteerismLooking at the impact of volunteers highlights the individual, institutional, and community change that volunteers can bring about through their service. Sessions in the impact track focus on specific solutions that volunteers can bring to economic, environmental, and health problems, disaster management, and veterans’ and education issues that our communities face.

The strength of volunteers is highlighted in sessions that help volunteer managers to more efficiently direct that strength. These sessions will help to harness the innovative ideas, partnerships, and passion that volunteers bring to the organizations that they serve with. Proven methods and emerging trends in volunteer management will be shared in sessions that can help volunteer programs to adapt to the ever changing social and socio-economic realities of society and the volunteering sector.

These sessions will help you to learn how to more effectively manage volunteers and manage for results, how to bring the power of technology and media to bear to support your programs, how to leverage partnerships for results, and how to work with businesses to build successful employee volunteer programs.

Sessions that focus on community not only look at the places where live, but the groups that people belong to and build themselves. These communities can be harnessed to create massive change, and are already primed for volunteering, leadership, and service.

Boomers and youth have a lot to contribute to their communities. There are Cities of Service across the country that are using volunteers to address some of those cities’ most pressing issues. Faith-based and neighborhood organizations are stepping up to fill in where services are lacking in communities. Service is being reimagined across the country, especially service in rural areas.

This year’s Conference is taking shape to be the largest Conference to date. There will be knowledge shared and connections made here that couldn’t happen anywhere else. And, among all of the learning and networking, we’ll be sure to take some time to celebrate everyone that is working so hard to improve their world through service.

To find out how to register for the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, click here. To find out more about what will be happening at the Conference, follow @NCVS and like the Conference Facebook page.

You can find out more about the National Conference on Volunteering and Service on the Points of Light Blog, which looks at what the Conference offers the volunteering sector, and a video from New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu.

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Posted in Education, Environment, Equip, Events, Faith, Impact | 3 Comments »

Longitude Volunteers Have an Impact Across the World

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Shawn Rubin, AmeriCorps Alum and founder of Longitude, which connects visionary leaders with the resources that they need to affect change in their communities.

Human rights, healthcare and education…three pillars of society that allow an individual to live, learn and grow openly and without fear.

As countries with dictatorships and high levels of poverty continue to crumble around the world, a picture begins to form of a world, in the not too distant future, in which these inalienable rights are more available than ever before.

When the dust settles, and the Khadafi’s and Mubarak’s are finally sent packing, who will be the leaders who take up in their stead? The uprisings were led by educated and sometimes organized groups, but for the most part the throngs of people we see cheering on our TV screens at night are the under-privileged who have no access to any of the aforementioned rights.

Who will the undereducated follow? Who will they promote in the wake of these corrupt dictators?

When you look at countries like Ghana or India, who are steps ahead of Libya and Egypt, in terms of democracy and peace, you find that too many people still have no access to human rights, health care or education. The corruption reigns supreme and the people on the bottom suffer.

As the president of Longitude, I have had the privilege of working alongside grassroots leaders who are pushing for and building the very programs that will ultimately flip the disparity that plagues the developing world.

In countries where politicians are openly allowed to flaunt their excess, we believe the empowerment of local leadership is the most efficient and enduring way to decrease the gap between the haves and the have nots.

Using small amounts of money and large quantities of volunteer energy Longitude has been able to equip talented community leaders, in Ghana and India, with the tools and skills they need to increase their impact and efficacy among their people. In just five years Longitude’s partner organizations have grown from small one-man shows funded through meager personal salaries into accountable, locally-run, NGO’s serving hundreds who would otherwise have no options.

Longitude volunteers come from all corners of the world. They are talented individuals interested in using their skills and resources to better the lives of those who don’t have access to education, health care or human rights. Longitude partners these volunteers with leaders who can most benefit from their abilities. We create a win-win situation whereby the volunteer feels positive about their experience and the local NGO is moved further in its mission and outreach.

We are excited about the work we have accomplished, but we understand that in order to truly impact more people we must find more dynamic leaders and more talented volunteers. If you are a skilled individual looking to connect with new cultures , you could be a Longitude volunteer. If you believe that the empowerment of local leaders is the way to combat the corrupt politicians who are holding the developing world hostage, please contact us, so we can work together to connect cultures and change lives.

Shawn Rubin founded Longitude with his wife Laura Westberg in 2006. In addition to running Longitude, Shawn teaches kindergarten at an urban, public charter school. Shawn lives in Providence, RI with his wife, two sons under four, and his dog named Cuddles.


 

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Posted in Impact, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

Seven Tips for Helping Youth to Make an Impact

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Have you ever seen a child go down to a pond and throw rocks into it? They can do that for hours, partly because the big splashes are a sign of their impact. It’s easy to see that they’re the ones having an effect on their world, and it’s fun!

Youth volunteering can be the same way. If it’s easy to see the impact of their actions and there is fun built into the project, children and youth will want to volunteer.

Here are some tips for planning projects with youth that can have an impact:

  • Let the youth be active in planning their project.
  • Make sure the project relates to their talents.
  • Plan the project so that the children work with people they care about.
  • Be sure to point out how the project relates to community needs.
  • If you’re a teacher planning a project, make sure the project relates to what is being taught in class.
  • When you’re planning a project, make sure it’s easy to see how the children are working to solve a problem.
  • Be sure to include a reflection piece after the project so the children can relate their work to the problem they’ve been addressing.

There are a lot of great resources for planning projects with youth and children at generationOn. Children and teens can get ideas for volunteer projects, share their stories of service, and let people know that they can make their mark on the world. Parents can get tips for volunteering as a family, teachers can get lesson plans to bring big and small volunteering projects into their classroom, and organizations can help youth to change the world through service.

Do you plan volunteer projects with students or youth? What have you found makes a volunteer project successful? Let us know in the comments!

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Impact Now: Engaging Volunteer Leaders at HandsOn Twin Cities

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

This post originally appeared on HandsOn Corps on February 4, 2010. It was written by Angela Carlson, an AmeriCorps VISTA serving at HandsOn Twin Cities.

As much as we all enjoy a well-earned vacation or even a sick day so we can sleep in, an overabundance of free time can be panic-inducing.  While unemployment has hit all-time highs around the nation, there is a group of people who are using their unwanted wealth of free time to their advantage as volunteer leaders.  Communities around the world and indeed, throughout history, have benefitted greatly from the unpaid efforts of people who have stepped up to lead groups, projects, and movements.  Jane Addams didn’t set out to get rich quick when she started the modern social work movement in Chicago in the late nineteenth century; Gandhi wasn’t looking for a pension fund when he led the movement against British imperialism in India in the early twentieth century; and Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi isn’t fighting for her right to PTO.

When people put their passions to work with the resources they have the world changes.

volunteer, volunteering, volunteerismPeople with a passion for service and the resource of time in the Twin Cities can put those things to work at HandsOn Twin Cities in many ways, one of which is to be a project coordinator for the Impact Now program.  This is a great way to answer Governor Dayton’s call to everyone in Minnesota to volunteer a part of one day, every month in order to create a better Minnesota.  By leading an Impact Now project, volunteers not only contribute to that initiative, but also network, learn new skills, get to know their community, do something good, and take action to Be the Change.

I’ve had a great time coordinating the Impact Now program at HandsOn Twin Cities and have had the privilege of meeting some fantastic people.  I hope to create ten sustainable projects that benefit the communities they’re in, the nonprofits they support, and the folks who participate as volunteers.  I also hope that I have some success channeling my passions with my resources.  It’s been a neat year so far and I look forward to see what else we can make happen in the Twin Cities.

Angela Carlson graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Social Work with an MSW in May 2010 and entered into a VISTA position with HandsOn Twin Cities as Project Development Coordinator for the Impact Now program in August 2010.  When not encouraging others to “Be the Change” in their communities, Angela likes to read, compost, run, and enjoys Nordic skiing during the excellent Minnesota winter.

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9 Quick Tips for Successful Group Projects

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

Planning a volunteer project for a group of people can be difficult.  There are a lot of things to consider; from what the project should accomplish to how to ensure the project has a lasting impact.  Here are some quick tips for planning successful group project:

1. Define Your Goals

Develop a set of expected outcomes for your volunteer project. These form the base of your planning. For example, if your goal is to help improve youth literacy in a local school, your plan is going to develop differently than if your goal is to help your community plan and prepare for a disaster.

2. Create a Project Team

Gather together a group of people to help get the project off to a good start.  Inclusive projects start at the planning stage, so create a team that is made up of people with a wide range of abilities and experience.

3. Select a Project

Good group project ideas match real community needs with the skill level of volunteers.  With a little bit of forethought, you can find a partner organization and project that could not be done without the added energy and dedication of volunteers.

4. Plan the Project

The planning process can help bring members of your project team together and create a sense of ownership of the project.  Be sure to think about who will handle what tasks and the logistics involved in executing the project and getting volunteers to the project site.

5. Recruit Volunteers.

Volunteers help people change their lives and transform communities.  Group projects give citizens a special opportunity to demonstrate caring and sharing, and encourage more people to give their time and skills to the issues of their choice.

6. Resource Development

What resources are in place to support the project, and what will you have to get to support your project?  What type of equipment is needed to support the project?  Will it need to be purchased or can you partner with an organization that already has equipment that you need?  Don’t forget to think about what will be needed after the project day – thank you notes and follow ups with your project volunteers.

7. Engage the Media

Get the word out.  Group projects can make a big difference in your community and can be a powerful signal for positive change.  The good news is that publicity for your project is often free.  Making an investment of time in publicity and working with the media can help to spread the word that volunteering helps solve serious social problems and helps to build communities.

8. Implementing the Big Day

The key to success on the project day is good management and planning.  The more that people know about what is going on, the more likely it is that things will go well.  Make sure that the project organizers and leaders are easily identifiable and have some way to communicate with each other.

9. Sustaining Service

Just because the project is complete, doesn’t mean that it’s all over.  You may find that you and your team want to continue planning projects in the community.  Take some time to reflect on what you’ve learned through the process and start planning another project.  If the team doesn’t want to plan another project, encourage everyone to continue volunteering as individuals to help support the work that was accomplished on your project day.

SUPER BONUS TIP

Don’t forget to have fun. Planning a group volunteer project is a lot of work, but there’s a lot of opportunities in the process to make it a great experience for everyone that’s involved from the project planning team to community partners to the volunteers.

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Posted in Impact, Mobilize, Volunteer Project Development | 1 Comment »

Volunteerism Breaks Out in Egypt

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Something amazing is going on in Egypt.

People are spontaneously coming together and providing and supporting state services.  People are escorting ambulances, cleaning streets, and maintaining security – all as spontaneous volunteers.

Yesterday’s New York Times ran an article about that started a group to protect utilities and help alleviate traffic problems.

The Atlantic ran the video above about people coming together to clean streets in the wake of protests.

People are organizing to protect cultural institutions from looting.

What lessons can be learned from this?  How can a group of people coming together spontaneously help to make their community – and their country – better? Does large-scale spontaneous volunteering require some kind of civic upheaval? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Related Posts:

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Posted in Impact, Mobilize, News & Links, Volunteerism | 2 Comments »

Can One Person Really Make A Difference?

Monday, October 25th, 2010

This post originally appeared on Service is Power, Megan Hill’s website dedicated to her business as a nonprofit grant writer and her life as an AmeriCorps alumna. It appeared on May 11, 2010.

Ever since my gig with AmeriCorps NCCC, I’ve pondered: Can one person make a significant difference? Because if not, I knew there was very little point to my often menial work in the corps–the tiny shards of hurricane debris we removed from the south Louisiana swamp come to mind. At a certain point, I was so frustrated with the apparent lack of real change happening, with the lack of visible momentum as a result of those long hours I toiled, that I wanted to quit.

It’s a topic I’ve revisited many times, and one I’m largely at peace with for myself. But I wanted to bring it up here and get some feedback from you, readers.

It came up again for me recently, during a viewing of the documentary No Impact Man. It’s the story of one man’s attempt to, well, change the world. Colin Beavan lives in a New York City apartment with his wife and young daughter, and together they embark on a year-long project: live with zero environmental impact. They turn off the lights, unplug everything, eat locally, stop flying, etc. I’m probably not doing it justice here, but just imagine heating your bath water on the stove and using homemade shampoo and eating by candlelight and buying only what you can get at the farmer’s market without using any plastic wrapping. Things got pretty rough for those folks.

At one point, Colin starts to question himself and the legitimacy of his project. What is it that I am doing here, really? What does it all mean? Am I making a difference? It’s the same crisis of conscience I had in NCCC. Colin is well-spoken on the topic in the movie:

The fact of the matter is that if only I change, it’s not going to make a difference, but the hope is that if each of us as individuals change, it’s going to inspire everybody to change. So I believe the most radical political act there is, is to be an optimist. The most radical political act there is, is to believe that if I change, other people will follow suit.

I have no doubt that Colin’s project, at the very least, got a lot of people thinking about the impact of their habits and activities. But what about those of us who don’t make a movie that is then viewed by thousands (millions?) of people? What about those of us whose good deeds really do go unrecognized? Is there value in that kind of work?

It can be hard to see it at the time, but I think there is. If you make a small difference in one person’s life, you’ve helped heal one of the world’s many wounds. What more can we reasonably expect of ourselves, than to begin every day with the knowledge that even our smallest actions have power?

I disagree with Colin slightly: if I am the best person I can possibly be, I’ve already made the world a better place, even if I haven’t inspired others. Although I think that other people will naturally follow suit, because good deeds are naturally infectious.

Megan Hill is a New Orleans native and a frequent volunteer. She is a certified nonprofit grant writer and a freelance journalist covering travel, sustainable food, and the environment. Megan is a two-term AmeriCorps alumna and she is writing a memoir about her time in AmeriCorps NCCC.

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