Archive for March, 2011

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Points of Light Tribute Event

Monday, March 21st, 2011

“I remain optimistic about America precisely because of the countless Points of Light who give so freely of themselves and claim one of society’s problems as their own, helping make life better for those around them in the process. The true strength of America has always been, and always will be, our people, and today we can take heart that more Americans of all ages are rolling up their sleeves and joining this movement to serve others.” President George H.W. Bush

Tonight at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Points of Light Institute is paying tribute to President George H.W. Bush for his leadership in the American service movement. The event will highlight President Bush’s legacy and the role that voluntary service plays in overcoming the challenges that our families, communities, and the nation face in the 21st century.

In addition to the tribute to President George H.W. Bush, Points of Light Institute is calling on individuals to write their own tributes to the points of light in their community here. Right now, you can see nearly two hundred tributes to people whose volunteering has inspired friends, neighbors, senators and celebrities, and you can add your own!

Tonight’s event is a star-studded celebration of President Bush’s commitment to service. President William Jefferson Clinton will be the honorary co-chair of the event and will be joined by former President and Mrs. George W. Bush and President Jimmy and Mrs. Carter. This is the first time that all of the living former presidents have come together since President Barack Obama took office.

Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Cee Lo Green, Reba McEntire, Sam Moore, Brad Paisley, Kid Rock, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood and many more will be performing at the event honoring President George H.W. Bush. The event will also be recorded for broadcast on NBC on Monday, March 28 at 8pm Eastern.

 

Posted in Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

HandsOn Network’s Response to the Disaster in Japan

Monday, March 21st, 2011

HandsOn Network, the volunteer engagement arm of the Points of Light Institute, is activating its response to the devastating disaster in Japan. Through our local action center Hands On Tokyo, we will be managing and supporting volunteer engagement and long term recovery across the region. Mission Fish, the division of Points of Light that allows people to use their purchasing power to direct contributions to their favorite charities, has raised over $1 million to date to support these on the ground efforts.

You can help HandsOn Network respond to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. We are working with our Hands On Tokyo affiliate in Japan and we are communicating with our international partners to determine support needed on the local level. We have set-up an account with MissionFish/Ebay and Paypal to collect donations to assist HandsOn Tokyo with relief efforts. Over the next few days we’ll continue to update you on current activities and ways you can help.

Until then, here’s what you can do right now:

1.       Volunteer: Our HandsOn Tokyo affiliate is continuing to monitor the situation and will be identifying volunteer appropriate activities. For now, you can register your interest to volunteer for potential upcoming volunteer opportunities related to the relief and recovery of earthquake and tsunami impacted communities by registering with HandsOn Tokyo.

  • If you are local to Tokyo volunteer opportunities may become available more quickly.
  • If you live outside of Japan, volunteer opportunities may take longer due to need to find proper accommodations and support for international volunteers.
  • If you register your interest to volunteer, as soon as volunteer opportunities become available Hands On Tokyo will send you an email updating you on those opportunities. Until then please do not call as Hands On Tokyo’s offices as they are temporarily closed.

2.       Donate: Right now, monetary support is needed more than anything else.  To donate resources to support recovery efforts Visit your Hands On Tokyo homepage on eBay or through Paypal. Please do not send goods, monetary resources are most useful until on the ground needs are fully assessed.

3.       Teach: Resources at generationOn can help children and young adults better understand what their role in disaster relief, even when the disaster is far away, through lessons of philanthropy. Lessons and other resources can be found here. 

4.      Follow: Up to date information related to the disaster will be posted on .

Thank you for your support of recovery efforts in Japan. There is still a lot of work to do, but together we can achieve great things.

 

Tags: , donate, earthquake, Hands On Toko, Japan, tusnami
Posted in Disaster Relief | 5 Comments »

Is The Changing Definition of Family Changing The Face of Family Volunteering?

Friday, March 18th, 2011

Last November, the Pew Research Center released a report titled The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families that detailed how the public’s idea of what is considered a family is changing. Marriage is no longer the only way to have a family.

family volunteering, volunteerMore than 85% of respondents said that a single parent and child are a family, and 80% said that an unmarried couple that lives together with a child is a family. Sixty-three percent of respondents said a gay or lesbian couple raising a child is a family.

Marriage and children still play a major role in how the public views family. If a couple that lives together has no children, a majority of the public says that they are not a family. If a married couple does not have children, 88% considered the couple to be a family.

Does the changing nature of what it means to be a family have an effect on what it means to have a family volunteering event?

From a volunteer manager’s standpoint, the changing definition doesn’t have a fundamental change on what it means to host a family volunteer event.

Volunteer tasks that adult and youth volunteers can do together are still an important part of the day. It’s important to plan tasks that youth volunteers can do with little supervision so they can gain a sense of accomplishment along side their parents.

Being able to explain the importance of the volunteers’ work to both children and adults is important, too. Children who made sandwiches all day at a food bank might not realize that they’re making sandwiches for people who might not have anything to else to eat. Taking time at the end of the volunteer day to explain the importance of the work that everyone did is still an important part of any volunteer event, especially family volunteer events.

How do you see the changing face of the family having an effect on family volunteering events? Should volunteer managers planning family volunteer events change how they approach the event because of how families are changing? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Related Posts:

Family Volunteer Ideas

8 Tips for a Successful Family Volunteer Day

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Posted in Volunteering, Volunteerism | No Comments »

One Step At A Time

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Today’s guest post comes from Ashley Cannady, an AmeriCorps National Direct Member serving with HandsOn Network.

What’s the first word that comes to mind when you think of the homeless in your community? For me that word was ‘helpless’. Helpless was a word that reflected the mentality towards my capabilities to rupture any kind of negative cycles in their lives.

I recently got the opportunity to organize a volunteer project where my fellow staff members and I volunteered for an organization that helps the homeless become self-sufficient.

We used the mock interview toolkit from the gethandson.com site to conduct practice interviews as well as provide resume advice. It was amazing how simple the toolkit made what would appear to be a more complex task at first glance. It made me feel more equipped to do the mission at hand.

I got to talk to a lot of interesting people with amazing stories. I was so impressed by them, it was an encouraging experience!

Often times we see issues around us that we would like to address but they look so huge before us that we don’t move or respond at all. It’s refreshing to see how the Get Hands On Campaign makes it easy to take the first steps to tackling the big issues in our communities.

No longer do I feel ‘helpless’ in the issue of poverty in my community. I have a real place in this issue and the best thing about it is that you can too!

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Posted in Volunteering, Volunteerism | No Comments »

Tips for Recruiting Volunteers Outside of Traditional Groups

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Think of a volunteer.

Who did you think of? Was the person younger than 18? Were they older than 65? According to Volunteering in the United States, the largest percent of adults who volunteer are between the ages of thirty-five and forty-four. Sixteen to twenty-four year olds have the lowest reported rate of volunteering (21.9%) and only 23.6% of adults age 65 or older volunteer—although they have the highest average hours volunteered per year of any age group.

How can nonprofits more effectively recruit from these populations? Here are some tips for recruiting volunteers from these groups.

youth volunteers, volunteer, volunteeringIdentify the barriers to volunteering for these groups.

Address the cultural myths that say youth and older adults can’t make meaningful contributions to their communities. Both of these age groups have skills and knowledge that are meaningful and should be shared.

Think about what motivates these groups to volunteer.

Build volunteer experiences that increase a sense of connectedness to community and give volunteers an opportunity to meet new friends through volunteering. Make sure your volunteer tasks have an impact that is easy to see.

Think about timing.

If you’re looking to recruit younger volunteers, think about the events that might be going on in their life that could serve as a barrier to volunteering. Of course school commitments, both classes and extracurricular activities, can make volunteering harder during the school year. Family vacations and summer camps can make summer-time volunteering a challenge, too. What types of weekend or after-school opportunities does your organization have?

Older volunteers may have less timing restrictions to volunteering than other volunteer groups. Think about the volunteer opportunities that you have during the traditional work day.

Make sure your recruitment message sells your program.

Crafting a detailed recruitment message is important to recruit any volunteers. It’s okay to have more than one message that targets different kinds of volunteers. A message that appeals to a younger volunteer may not be as appealing to an older volunteer.

Don’t restrict your recruitment message to one medium, either. Traditionally older volunteers are targeted through community centers and newspapers.     On Facebook, the fastest growing group of users is women over 55. Facebook could be a great tool for recruiting both older and younger volunteers.

 

Tags: older volunteers, , Youth Volunteers
Posted in Volunteer Recruitment, Volunteering | No Comments »

9 Reasons to Volunteer as a Family

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

According to The Civic and Political Health of the Nation: A Generational Portrait, young people who are raised in homes that family members who volunteer are involved in civic and political activity from volunteering to campaigning for a cause. Adult volunteers in a home can inspire young people to volunteer either on their own or as part of group.

Volunteering as a family can show the younger members of the family the importance of being engaged in the community, and can have a number of benefits for the family.

  • volunteer, volunteering, family volunteeringFamily volunteering can bring the family closer together. Family volunteering provides a shared experience that can help to build and strengthen family bonds.
  • Values are strengthened by volunteering. Family volunteering gives parents the opportunity to model behavior that they are trying to instill in their children.
  • Volunteering as a family can provide self-satisfaction. When everyone in the family is working towards a common goal at their volunteer event, it can provide a sense of self–satisfaction to everyone involved.
  • Strength in numbers. When a family volunteers together, even the littlest hands can make big tasks easier. Families that volunteer together can get more done together than an individual working alone.
  • Benefits to youth. Youth who volunteer frequently can benefit from their family volunteer experiences when applying for jobs or college.
  • Children see another side of life. Children that volunteer outside of their home and neighborhood get to see a different part of life than they normally see.
  • Having a positive impact. Families that volunteer together get to see the positive impact that they have by volunteering when they reflect on their volunteer experience together.
  • Family volunteering is fun! Volunteering as a family can be a social experience and give everyone an experience that is outside of their day-to-day life of work and school.

There are a host of benefits that families who volunteer together gain from the experience. There are some costs to family, such as adding stress to family life, but in Family Volunteering: An Exploratory Study on the Impact of Families, only about 25% of families that volunteer agreed that volunteering makes their life more hectic. The benefits of volunteering as a family seem to outweigh the potential costs.

What is your favorite thing about volunteering as a family? How often does your family volunteer? What types of volunteer activities does your family like to do best? Let us know in the comments!

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Posted in Volunteering | 2 Comments »

Responding to the Earthquake in Japan

Monday, March 14th, 2011

By now you know about the devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck off of the coast of northern Japan on March 11. At least 1,300 people are thought to have died, but police have warned that the death toll in tsunami-hit Miyagi prefecture alone could exceed 10,000. Nationwide, more than 300,000 people have been evacuated.

Infrastructure is massively damaged. Costal roads are clogged with debris and rolling power cuts are affecting normal, every-day life, water and gas supplies, and some medical facilities.

We’ve been truly touched by the number of people who have gotten in touch with us about wanting to volunteer for rescue and recovery efforts in Japan. It is truly inspiring to know that there are people who would fly half way around the world to help people put their lives back together in the wake of the massive destruction that has occurred.

You can help HandsOn Network respond to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. In these first few days since the earthquake, we have connected with our Hands On Tokyo affiliate in Japan and we are working with our international partners to determine support needed on the local level. We have set-up an account with MissionFish/Ebay and Paypal to collect donations to assist Hands On Tokyo with relief efforts. Over the next few days we’ll continue to update you on current activities and ways you can help.

Here’s what you can do now to help with relief efforts in Japan:

  • Donate. Right now, monetary support is needed more than anything else. You can donate directly or place items up for bid on Ebay and a percentage of the selling price will go to Hands On Tokyo. You can also donate directly to Hands On Tokyo through PayPal.
  • Teach. The massive amount of media coverage around this disaster has brought it into everyone’s lives. Resources at generationOn can help children and young adults better understand what their role in disaster relief, even when the disaster is half way around the world, through lessons about philanthropy.
  • . HandsOn Network’s disaster response Twitter account that will be updated with information about how you can assist recovery efforts as it becomes available.
  • Volunteer. Crisis Commons is seeking volunteers to help gather data and identify needs of local agencies and humanitarian aid organizations that can be addressed through collaborative software development.

You can connect with other US agencies that are providing relief at Network for Good.

We know a lot of people are eager to help, but as with any disaster, we ask that you do not self deploy but become affiliated with an organization who is responding and wait until an opportunity has been identified.

Tags: , eBay Giving Works, , Japan
Posted in Disaster Relief | 1 Comment »

The HUGS Project

Friday, March 11th, 2011

Karen and Ray Stark were looking for a way to support U.S. troops and improve their quality of life as they complete their important mission of freedom.  They found their own mission when they created The HUGS Project in May 2004.

Ray nominated Karen in the Points of Light Institute , and they were selected to go to Washington D.C. for the Tribute event on Monday, March 21. You can read the story of The HUGS Project in today’s Points of Light Blog post.

Congratulations, Karen and Ray!

To find out more about the Points of Light Tribute event, click here.

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Posted in Events | No Comments »

8 Tips for Building Lasting Partnerships

Friday, March 11th, 2011

Today, the Points of Light blog asks whether partnering with a faith-based organization can help a secular nonprofit to attract older volunteers.

Certainly, partnering with a church or faith-based organization can add to the pool of older volunteers that you can attract. Faith-based volunteering has been a strong component of community service. Places of worship in your community may be open to exploring new avenues for members to engage in community service.

Exploring ways of building community connectedness and celebrating diversity through outreach to diverse faith and spiritual traditions, especially through interfaith service opportunities, can help to increase your pool of volunteers.

Places of worship can offer volunteers the opportunity to create shared meaning and experience through family-focused programs that strengthen generational connectedness. If your organization is looking to partner with a faith group, be sure to offer both volunteer opportunities as well as opportunities to reflect on the spiritual dimension of action.

When you’re looking to build a partnership with another organization, there are some things that you ought to think about before diving in head first.

  • When planning the partnership, plan together, plan early, and include volunteers in the planning sessions
  • There will be conflicts. The important thing is to keep channels of communication open so that they can be addressed.
  • Reach agreements on the logistics of the partnership: frequency & location of meetings, the preparation of meeting agendas, recording and distribution of minutes, etc.
  • It’s ok to agree to disagree on non-critical issues.
  • Have an agreement on the partnership’s work—specifically what is wanted and how the results are measured. Having an agreed upon definition of “success” is critical.
  • Reach an agreement on the role of volunteers as planners, implementers, resource developers
  • Be aware of different cultures and working styles and decide how to bridge the divide
  • Consider the ethical implications of the partnership—is there comfort with the reputation of the potential parent organizations? Is the branding appropriate for all of the partners? Will the volunteers be engaged ethically?

Has your organization partnered with another organization for a project or on a long-term basis? How did it change the makeup of your volunteer pool? Was the partnership successful? Let us know in the comments!

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Posted in Faith, Volunteerism | No Comments »

Standing for AmeriCorps

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Whitney Soenksen, External Relations Manager for AmeriCorps Alums

Thousands showed up in response to the proposal in the US House of Representatives to eliminate the Corporation for National and Community Service, AmeriCorps Alums rallied the troops across the country on Friday, Feb. 25. Through their partnership with Voices for National Service, ServiceNation and America Forward, AmeriCorps Alums across the country went into action.

Over 200,000 Alums and supporters shared the message to Save Service. Petitions were signed, the cause was shared with friends on Facebook and the call to action was tweeted and retweeted; alerting friends, family and co-workers that AmeriCorps was threatened.

Then people took to the streets. District Day visits brought supporters of national service out across the country as they led groups of up to 65 people into our elected officials offices and made clear the value of the AmeriCorps program to this nation’s health and strength.

Alums participated in Congressional office visits in Boston, Dallas, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Portland, Topeka and many other cities.  They showed up as ordinary Americans who cared deeply about the impact of national service with over 2,600 individuals participating across the country.

, an AmeriCorps Alums Chapter Leader in North Texas, took a Stand for AmeriCorps with a visit to four offices in Dallas, including Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison — joining hundreds of other passionate alums across the state.

Dominique Marsalek, an AmeriCorps Alum living in Frederick, MD, wrote an impassioned editorial that was published by the Baltimore Sun just last week. Dominique reflected on her AmeriCorps experience where she traveled to some of the poorest counties in the United States, working with programs like Habitat for Humanity and helping to build vocational programs for at-risk youth, and how it opened up opportunities for her.

And finally, Caleb Jonas, an active AmeriCorps Alum, started an online petition that has garnered over 112,000 signatures to date!

The latest federal budget agreement does not include cuts to AmeriCorps but we must remain vigilant and be ready to take up the cause as Congress tackles deficit spending.

We need to mobilize more alumni and supporters of national service to ensure that AmeriCorps and national service programs are funded for years to come. But we can’t continue the fight without you.

 

  • Call your Representatives & Senators and tell them to Save Service

Your support and leadership in this important fight keeps us working hard to make sure that Americans will always be given opportunities to serve and to give back to this great nation.



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Posted in Service | No Comments »

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