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Celebrate the Movers and the Shakers

Monday, May 14th, 2012

“Through their guiding wisdom, enduring love of family, and inspiring commitment to country, older Americans continue to steer and enhance our national life.”- President Barack Obama

On May 1, 2012, President Barack Obama declared May: National Older Americans Month. The president stated that May should be a time for celebrating those who have contributed so much to our nation over their lifetime.

The Corporation for National and Community Service reports that older Americans have contributed 3 billion hours of service from 2008-2010. Although there are service groups that directly engage older Americans such as RSVP, Senior Corps, and AARP, how will your organization better engage this sector?

43% of Americans from age 55-64 engage in volunteering. Check out our tips below to learn how you can boost this statistic and embrace the skills and expertise that older Americans can offer to the service sector.

 

  • Activists: Many baby boomers come from a generation of activism. They desire a way to take a hold of this passion. Volunteer opportunities should be developed with this idea in mind. Whether your program is designed for neighborhood, community, or world activism, it is important to provide them a sense of fulfillment through service. Make sure that your organization’s mission is clear, so that baby boomers know they are volunteering for a specific cause. Allow older volunteers to form relationships through volunteering, it will make them feel more connected to the project.
  • Consumers: Older volunteers are sophisticated consumers who expect variety when making choices. Your organization should try to offer a variety of opportunities that will fulfill different interests and passions, so that older volunteers can find their niche. It is important that your organization offer a variety of short-term opportunities; to introduce beginners to volunteerism. Design projects to target specific groups to yield better results. Projects should also include skills that these specific audiences have developed over the years.
  • Workers: Many baby boomers are overworked in their professional jobs. When older American retire, their biggest complaint tends to be loneliness and lack of relationships that they once had in their jobs. It is important to understand that fact when recruiting older volunteers. Service should be designed to offer meaningful relationships to volunteers, while employing their skills, as well. Projects should allow the baby boomer to feel a new sense of fulfillment that they once felt in their profession. Allow volunteers to play an active role in planning volunteer projects, to rid the stereotype of older volunteers. Offer incentives and chances for advancement to volunteers, as well. 54% of volunteers state that they would offer more time, if they received incentives to work.

It is important to engage this sector of adult volunteers when planning your next service project. Older volunteers have a great deal of information, skills, and commitment that they can give your organization. Celebrate older Americans this month by giving them a new fulfillment through volunteerism!

Does your organization engage older volunteers? We would love to hear your suggestions in the comments section below!

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4 Ideas to Help Mobilize Volunteers

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Today’s post comes from Gregg Michaelsen, Fundraising Consultant at Simple Fundraising Ideas. Gregg specializes in providing unique fundraising ideas for non-profit organizations.  Check out his site at http://simple-fundraising-ideas.com/ to get ideas on how you can raise funds for your organization.

I love setting up fundraisers.  There’s something fulfilling about them especially if the fundraiser is for a great cause.  If you have the right fundraising ideas, setting up a fundraiser is actually very easy.  After all, you just need to let people know that you need help for your cause.

Do you want to know the hard part?  It’s finding volunteers.  I’ve long faced the fact that people are busy.  They have their own responsibilities.  We can’t blame them if they’d rather perform their responsibilities that spend some time volunteering.

You don’t have to worry because there are still a lot of people who will be more than willing to help.  These are the people that have set aside time and resources just so they can help out your cause.  Needless to say, you have to make it worth their time and effort.

This is a common scenario.  The volunteers can’t perform their tasks because your organization wasn’t able to come up with the funds needed.  It’s really unfortunate to see volunteers that have nothing to eat or drink.  It’s unfortunate when they have to cough up their own money so in addition to donating their time and effort, they’re also donating money.  There’s nothing wrong with this if it’s their choice.  But if they’re forced to pay for their own transportation to and from different venues, that’s something that should be addressed.

This is why I came up with ideas that can help mobilize volunteers.

1. Team up with a local restaurant for the meals of your volunteers.

A lot of restaurants are more than willing to help in their own special way.  What better way to do it than to provide for the meals of the volunteers?  Approach the restaurants in the area and tell them that you’re offering them a unique opportunity to help out.  I personally like approaching pizzerias and a lot of them are more than willing to donate several boxes of pizza.  In return of the free meals, you can place a small banner in the fundraiser’s venue with the restaurant’s information on it.

2. Donate a van.

Look for someone who’s willing to lend his or her own van.  This is to make sure that the volunteers can go anywhere as needed without worrying about their transportation.

3. Use discount cards.

This is another favorite of mine.  Team up with a supermarket and hand out discount cards to your volunteers.  They’ll get discounts when they use the card for their purchases and the supermarket gets additional businesses.  In addition, the cards should accumulate points that you can later on convert to cash for additional funds for your organization.

4. Give volunteers allowance.

Now, this is not in any way payment for their services.  That will defeat the whole purpose of volunteerism.  This is just a small amount of “pocket money” just in case they need to buy something related to the fundraiser.  This way, they don’t need to spend their own money.

With these tips, you can easily mobilize volunteers and they’ll actually enjoy volunteering.  This is very important so they will volunteer again for your next fundraiser.

Check out these fundraising ideas to raise a lot of funds so you’ll have the funds needed to mobilize your volunteers.  Remember, their success is your success.

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Make it Work! Skills Based Volunteer Management Strategies

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

With the jobless rate still hovering around 9 percent, larger numbers of laid-off business executives are turning to volunteering as a way to make a difference to society­—and to retool their skills and perhaps change career paths. This is a godsend for the overburdened charities that need this help now more than ever. Nonprofit managers need to take full advantage of this opportunity, making the most of the legions of skilled volunteers to help strengthen the capacity and financial health of their organizations.

A Billion + Change speakerFortunately, there is now a big push to help communities across the country tap the incredible skills so many volunteers have to offer. In 2008 the Corporation for National Service kicked off “A Billion + Change” a national campaign to generate $2-billion worth of skilled expertise to help nonprofit groups meet community needs by 2013.

You might imagine that many professionals are not able to volunteer because they have full-time jobs. As long as an organization uses its creativity and resources to recruit and manage volunteers well, it is not a major barrier.

Not all charities use skilled volunteers well. A 2006 study conducted by Deloitte LLP and the Points of Light Foundation reports that neither businesses nor nonprofit groups have been able to create effective programs to recruit and manage skilled volunteers.

The benefits of making the most of skilled volunteers are clearly profound, but recruiting, retaining, and managing all of them can still be a headache. So how can a charity be sure it is getting the most out of the amazing resources and opportunities available today without going crazy or offending the volunteers or the employees?

Define each individual role that needs filling. Don’t just aimlessly recruit as many people as possible. What skills are the organization’s staff members lacking? Which projects are not started because the organization doesn’t have the employees to do them? Advertise specialized opportunities on Web sites that list nonprofit jobs and volunteer needs, listing each position’s responsibilities and requirements.

Don’t waste time on potential volunteers who don’t seem like a good fit. Be upfront about what the organization wants the volunteer to do. Ask what the volunteer is looking for. If, for example, the charity’s needs call for an independent worker who can sit at the computer and send out e-mail blasts all day, don’t offer the work to someone who is looking to volunteer as a way to be active and socialize.

Keep volunteers motivated. Since money is obviously not the incentive here, volunteers will do their best work when they feel inspired by the end result. Before they even get started, show them firsthand what the organization can accomplish. Incentives are also important. Can you offer experience, recommendations, professional contacts, and a fun time?

skilled volunteersBe flexible and show respect. It would be great if people with needed skills were willing to devote themselves to one charity, or solely to volunteerism, but they probably need to spend the majority of their time working on paid projects or looking for work. Give the volunteers specific tasks and short-term projects that require only a few hours per day or a few months of their time and make sure their important contribution is recognized. The obvious way to do this would be individual praise, but write-ups on the charity’s Web site or Facebook page or in an electronic newsletter to supporters can show appreciation. Let volunteers see how their work helps move the organization forward. Those “rewards” aid in continued motivation and retention.

Above all, don’t undermine the morale of staff members and consultants. Make sure you use volunteers in a way that complements the work of the people who are paid to keep the charity running. Make it clear that volunteering is support for the essential work of your organization. Your sponsors want to know that their donations are being put to good use, after all.

Do you manage skilled volunteers? What are some effective tactics you’ve put to use? Let us know in the comments below!

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Why Slacktivism is a Key Engagement Strategy for Nonprofits

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Today’s guest post originally appeared on VolunteerMatch’s Engaging Volunteers blog site on January 11, 2012. The original post was written  by Shari Ilsen is the Online Communications Manager at VolunteerMatch.

Slacktivism used to be a dirty word. It used to stand for actions people take when they don’t really care, when they don’t plan on giving money, when they are just taking a break from watching Hulu and stalking their exes on Facebook.

Nowadays slacktivism often plays a key role in outreach campaigns that nonprofits run to raise awareness and support for causes (think “Like this page and Corporation A will donate a dollar” type of campaigns).

This link between slacktivism and nonprofits is a good thing! As it turns out, slacktivism is an important step in engaging people more deeply in a cause.

In her article “Why Slacktivism is Underrated,” Katya Andresen of Network for Good presents the findings of the Dynamics of Cause Engagement study by Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication and Ogilvy Worldwide. The study shows that slacktivists are in fact more likely to take meaningful actions in support of a cause.

They are just as likely to donate, twice as likely to volunteer, and twice as likely to participate in offline events like charity walks. Slacktivists are also three times as likely to solicit others for donations on behalf of a cause, and more than four times as likely to encourage others to sign petitions and contact political representatives.

Clearly, engagement is a ladder, and slacktivism is the first rung. It’s a way to start people off with small actions, eventually leading them up the ladder to greater involvement with your organization. With proper guidance, slacktivists can become donors, volunteers, and even leaders of organizations and initiatives.

Here are some examples of common slacktivist actions for social good:

So you’ve engaged all these consumers with your cause. Great job! Now what?

You can really amplify the impact of your campaign by bringing these newfound slacktivists to the next level of engagement.

For people who liked you on Facebook, engage them in running their own mini campaign using Causes or some other application. They can involve their network of friends and family in collecting donations and raising awareness. And people who Twibboned their avatar are probably Twitter junkies, so invite them to participate in a Tweetup event that you’re hosting, or ask them to donate their tweets using a service like Help Attack.

Without the all-seeing eyes of the Internet, it’s much harder to track people who wear your ribbons and pins or buy cause-related products. But if you are able to reach out to those people who engaged offline, this is an important time to educate them further about the cause.

Let people know how they can become more involved by living greener, eating healthier, contacting your organization, volunteering, donating, spreading the word… After all, if you don’t teach them how to help, they never will.

So when you reach out to people, whether online or off, recognize the value of what you’re doing and be proud of engaging so many slacktivists – and potential future activists – in your important issue.

But don’t forget to ask yourself: Now what?

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6 Tips for Recruiting Boomer Volunteers

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

Boomer volunteersWhy are boomers the future of volunteering? First, because of their sheer size: boomers represent about 77 million potential volunteers. They also have longevity on their side; this group has an average life expectancy of 83 years. That, coupled with higher levels of income and savings than earlier waves of retirees, suggest they have both the time and resources for volunteering.

Could you benefit from boomer volunteers? Here are some tips to help recruit them:

  • Boomers may be highly resistant to a group that includes the previous generation. They may be highly resistant to words like “senior”, “older adult”, “golden years”, “mature adult”, etc. Be creative – anecdotal evidence shows that “experienced” may appeal to this demographic. “Experienced” avoids negative connotations associated with aging and highlights the fact that you value their experience and skills.
  • Boomer volunteersBe highly aware of the images used in materials targeted towards boomers. According to the Boomer Project national survey, boomers see themselves as being at least 12 years younger than their chronological age. Images of individuals they perceive as “elderly” may be unappealing to boomers – they want to see people who reflect their own self-image.
  • Consider using words other than “volunteer” which is often associated with negative images of PTA lunches or menial tasks unappealing to boomers. The Montgomery County Volunteer Center came up with the name “Pro-Bono Consultants” after several volunteers felt as if they were continuing their professional work – but in an unpaid capacity.
  • According to the Harvard study, Reinventing Aging, boomers are less likely to volunteer out of a response to civic duty or obligation. For goal-oriented boomers, a message shows how they can make a difference in their community is more effective.
  • Boomers may need to have a sense of “what’s in it for me?” Recent studies have shown the health benefits of volunteering, as well as the social benefits that may be important as boomers leave the workplace.
  • Bear in mind that boomers may never fully “retire” – they express a strong interest in continuing part-time work or self-employment. Even a boomer who works a few hours a year may not consider themselves “retired” – tailor you messages, as well as your opportunities, accordingly.

Do you work with boomer volunteers? Share your experience and tips in the comments!

 

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3 Steps to a Successful Volunteer Project!

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Are you looking for a new way to volunteer? Have you thought about planning your own volunteer project? Volunteering in a group project brings highly motivated people together for a common mission. Here are three steps that can make your volunteer project a success.

Establish Goals, Plan, and Budget: 

Establishing goals at the onset of your group project, allows for you to measure the outcomes of your project. Consider these questions: Is there a current event that has emotionally affected you or might have emotionally affected others around you? What change would you like to see in your community?

Once you’ve established goals, accomplish them! Will you need any supplies, transportation, volunteers, etc? How much money will you need? Contact foundations, private businesses corporate donors and local merchants for funding and in-kind donations. Consider these expense categories: postage, printing/copying, telephone/fax, space rentals, refreshments during your volunteer project, and planning meetings.

Recruiting Volunteers

Find volunteers or contact other local nonprofits that can help provide volunteers. If your project is important to the community, you will find many people eager to be involved. Place flyers at your local post office, park, grocery store, school, community bulletin boards. Volunteer recruitment will also help make people aware of your group project. Social media outlets will also help with volunteer recruitment. Websites such as facebook, twitter, tumblr, and a personal blog can easily reach a wide range of people.

Here are some more tips for finding and recruiting volunteers:

Thank You!

Remember to thank your volunteers! Thank your volunteers so that they can feel appreciated and want to volunteer for future projects. Whether it’s a hand-written note filled with a simple message and encouraging words or talking to your volunteers individually-thank them! If you’re not quite sure how, we have a few tips for saying thank you.

Have you planned your own volunteer project? What did you learn from it? Tell us about it in the comments!

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10 Ideas for Identifying Community Needs

Friday, October 7th, 2011

There is more than one method to identify community needs. Remember to involve residents from the community in the selection and planning of a group project. You may also decide to build upon and help improve ongoing community projects. Some methods to identify your community’s needs include:

Brainstorming

  • Call an easily accessible town meeting of community members and project team members. Brainstorm challenges facing the community and select one as the top priority.
  • Explore the root causes of the problem identified in the brainstorming session. Investigate the effects on individuals and the community.

Use Surveys

  • Contact a local Volunteer Center for information on community needs.
  • Contact the government or public policy program at a local university or college. Ask students to survey the local residents about their concerns.
  • Check with the local Chamber of Commerce or City Planner’s office for a community needs assessment survey.
  • Conduct your own small survey of your partner organization’s members.

Watch the News

  • Bring a week’s worth of local newspapers to a team meeting and discuss the impact of community events.
  • Pay close attention to your local news and think about ways to make negative stories into positive ones.
  • Cut out articles in the newspaper that create feelings of sadness, anger, or that inspire a need for change.
  • Have team leaders make a similar list of stories from television news.

When you’re finally ready to select a project, be flexible and choose a project that can easily be scaled up or down, depending on the number of volunteers you are able to attract. Be sure to have a contingency plan for a low volunteer turnout, and one for excess volunteers.

Set your goals and be realistic, but plan to accomplish something tangible. Volunteers feel good about giving time and resources when they see results. Finally, remember that quality counts more than quantity. An effective small service project that gets things done, and is a joy to its volunteers, is more powerful than a poorly run, large-scale project.

Have you planned your own volunteer projects? What were your first steps? Let us know in the comments!

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7 Tips for Writing a Volunteer Position Description

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Is your nonprofit ready for volunteers?

Great! Volunteers can bring a lot to a nonprofit, and can help to increase a nonprofit’s capacity.

volunteer, volunteering, volunteerismDo you know how to let volunteers know that you’re ready for their help? Do you know what kind of help you need? Do you know how to let volunteers know the kind of help you’re looking for?

One of the first things a a nonprofit that’s looking for volunteers should do is look at how volunteers can help them. Once a you figure out where volunteers can help, a volunteer position description should be written so both staff and volunteers know how volunteers will be helping out.

Every volunteer position description should have a few things:

Position Title: A position title helps volunteers and staff to understand the role of the volunteer in the organization. Try to avoid simply using “Volunteer” as the position title. It’s okay to be creative here.

Work Location: Let volunteers know where they’ll be working. Will the volunteer be doing their work from home or in the office? If volunteers are working in your office, make sure there is space specifically for them where they can work.

Position Description: Describe the work the volunteer will be doing and how it will affect the overall work of your organization. Don’t forget to include the impact the volunteer’s work will have on the organization, whether the volunteer is working directly with clients, supporting projects, or doing administrative work.

Duties and Responsibilities: Here is where you identify the volunteer’s duties. Laying out the responsibilities lets you and the volunteer know exactly what will be expected from the volunteer.

Qualifications: What does the volunteer need to know before they start volunteering? Do they need to be a high school or college graduate? Do they need a specific degree? Do they need to be first aid and CPR trained? Do they need to be able to do certain physical tasks? Being specific about what your volunteer can do will help you to find the best volunteers for your organization.

Commitment Expected: Are you looking for a volunteer for a single event? How about to help out on a specific project? Be sure to include how long you would like the volunteer to serve with your organization in the position description. If you’re looking for a long-term volunteer, be sure to include how many hours or days per week you’re looking for them to serve. Don’t forget to include any trainings the volunteer would be required to attend, too.

Training:  What kind of training will the volunteer receive? Include general training that every volunteer gets, and any specific training for the volunteer’s position.

 

Do you write volunteer position descriptions for your organization? Do you include something that we didn’t list? Tell us about it in the comments!

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5 More Tips for Writing an Awesome Volunteer Position Description

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Writing exciting volunteer position descriptions can be hard, but there are a lot of ways you can make your volunteer positions more exciting. Here are a few more tips to make some awesome (and fun) position descriptions.

Highlight the benefits.

Volunteering has a lot of benefits. Of course there’s the great feeling you get while you’re volunteering, but there are a lot of other benefits people get from volunteering.

Volunteering can give you an opportunity to build a network, learn new skills, it can help give your resume a boost. You can meet new people and make a difference in someone’s life.

Try highlighting these things in your volunteer position description. Take a few minutes to think about what else your organization offers volunteers.

Make the position description fun.

How many volunteer position descriptions have you seen that have the word “volunteer” in them? While “Office Volunteer” might give someone a fairly good idea about what they’ll be doing, think about being a bit more creative with the title.

Don’t stop at the title, though. Do you need a crew of construction volunteers that have four arms so they can get all of the work done in half the time? Why not ask for it? What about someone to help socialize dogs that can be stretched in two different directions when one dog gets really interested in a rock, and another gets interested in a squirrel.

Don’t forget to revise them!

Your volunteer needs may change over time, and you want to make sure that your position descriptions reflect those changing needs. You don’t want your position descriptions to attract the perfect volunteer only to have them find out that they won’t be doing the kind of work they thought they’d be doing.

At least once a quarter take some time to look at your volunteer position descriptions to check that they’re still asking for the things that you need.

Take just a little bit of time to be serious.

Sure, one of the tips was to have fun with the position descriptions, but it’s important to take a moment to be serious, too. Make sure to include a list of the types of skills you want a volunteer to have, or that you can teach a volunteer, so they can be great volunteers for your organization. Don’t forget to include specific information about how to contact your organization (like a contact person’s name) so they can volunteer.

Include a call to action!

Volunteering is a pretty big action, but if a prospectve volunteer is looking to give their time, why not ask them to engage in another way? Do you have a Facebook page? How about a Twitter account? Do you have microvolunteer projects available? What about a donation page? Include a link to these at the end of the listing for the volunteer opportunity.

How do you make your volunteer position descriptions aweseome? Let us know in the comments!

 

 

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