Archive for August, 2011

« Older Entries

Getting A Global Perspective with Ashoka’s Youth Venture

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Today’s post comes from Spectra Myers,  Manager of Programming and Special Projects at Ashoka’s Youth Venture

What seems to be the number one issue shared over the past five years through Youth Venture’s global search for young people tackling challenges?

Education.

Surprised?  Probably not, right?  Whether you live in Minneapolis like I do or across the globe in India, chances are you care a lot about how your community supports its young people through our schools.

The Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition (YSE) receives hundreds of entries every year allowing us to keep a pulse of what issues matters most.  But, more importantly, it allows us to meet youth from around the world that are doing to most to address issues like educational inequality – people like Jithin Nedumala, a YSE winner from 2008.

Jithin (left), Michelle Obama (center), and MAD teammates (right) during MRs. Obama's visit to Make a Difference in 2010.

Jithin is the founder of Making a Difference (MAD), a Venture that brings young people working amongst orphans and underprivileged children to prepare them with basic life skills and a quality education. Jithin has since grown MAD intoIndia’s largest youth volunteer network.  I met him inBoston back in 2008 at our annualSummit and it is such a joy to share his journey:

“When we won the competition we were only teaching English to our children in one city… Currently we work in 17 cities in India with over 1000 teachers teaching 3000 children. We plan to reach out to 10,000 children in the coming year.”

If you’re looking to develop a global perspective you’ll be excited to hear about the YSE grand prize – a Round the World Learning Tour with Youth Venture.  Maybe you’ll get to meet Jithin or one of the thousands of other young people working around the globe to change our world.

The four winners in this year’s YSE competition will receive a $500 cash prize and an all expenses paid trip to Techonomy, an elite conference held inTucson,Arizona from November 13-15, 2011.  Leading technology innovators at the conference will help select the grand prize winner (P.S. last year one of our teams met Bill Gates at the conference)!

So, if you have a brand new idea or have been making a difference for years, I need to hear your perspective. Check out our guidelines and rules for more information, and apply by September 9, 2011! http://ashokayouthcompetition.org/.

Spectra Myers works for Ashoka’s Youth Venture in the Twin Cities and manages national and international competitions. A graduate of Macalester College with a BA in Cultural Anthropology and Religious Studies. She has been slapped by a monkey in Bali, repelled down a waterfall in Brazil, found the best canned coffee in Japan, and served up fries with a smile at the Minnesota State Fair.  

Posted in Volunteerism | No Comments »

Tips for Building School and Nonprofit Partnerships

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Service learning is a great tool to get students more involved in their communities and great way to teach lessons in a way that is meaningful. It allows students to put their lessons into practice and see the results of their efforts.

Before you start planning service-learning projects, though, it’s a good idea to build partnerships with some local nonprofits.

Building a partnership allows students an opportunity to return to the same nonprofits and see the impact of their work. Partnerships also let teachers build better projects with the help of the nonprofit, and nonprofits get to share their issue areas with students.

Before building partnerships, though, there are some questions that schools and nonprofits should find out the answers to.

What should nonprofits ask schools or teachers?

  • What experiences have you had in community service or volunteering? What impact have those experiences had on you?
  • Why are you interested in a partnership?
  • What do you think is the most important reason for involving youth in service learning?
  • How could service learning help you to address major challenges you face in educating students?
  • If you could make one dream come true through service learning, what would it be?
  • What is the one thing you hope your students would learn about our community and society?

What should schools or teachers ask nonprofits?

  • What have been your organization’s experiences in working with schools?
  • What have been your experiences working with children and teens in your agency?
  • Why are you interested in a partnership?
  • What do you think is the most important reason for involving youth in service learning through your organization?
  • What are the major challenges you face in providing service to our community?
  • If you could make one dream come true for those served through your agency, what would it be?
  • What is the one thing you most hope service learning will accomplish in our community and society?
Finding out the answers to these questions can help to build a strong, mutually beneficial relationship between schools and nonprofits that can help to support service learning programs.
Have you built partnerships with nonprofits or schools? Let us know in the comments what you think is important to know when you’re starting a new partnership!

Related articles

Tags: ,
Posted in Education, Service Learning | No Comments »

Hurricane Katrina, Six Years Later

Monday, August 29th, 2011

Six years ago hurricane Katrina made its second landfall in southeast Louisiana. It caused severe damage across the Gulf coast from Texas to Florida, and had a permanent affect on the land and the people of the Gulf coast.

Hardest hit was New Orleans, where homes  were uprooted from their foundations and tossed aside as if they were made of match sticks. Entire neighborhoods left as ghost towns because either the residents decided to permanently relocate or had no resources to get down to the work of rebuilding. Streets that vibrated with life in the evening were now dark because the streetlights and residents that lit up the neighborhoods were gone.

But in the aftermath of the storm, when people were reeling from the damage that Katrina had done to so many people, volunteers were packing food, gathering supplies, and driving through the night to get to the Gulf coast to do whatever needed to be done.

Six years later, the marks that Katrina left on the Gulf coast are still visible.

Six years later, the Gulf coast is not completely what it used to be. Some of the people who were displaced never returned home.

Nearly six years later, three thousand volunteer leaders from across the country came to New Orleans to learn from each other when the National Conference on Volunteering and Service was held in New Orleans.

Six years later, we know more about the power and drive and hope of people reaching out to help each other during the worst of times.

 

Related articles

Posted in Disaster Relief | 1 Comment »

The Importance of Getting Good & Ready

Friday, August 26th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Sharon Tewksbury-Bloom, an AmeriCorps Alum and professional volunteer leader.

You don’t expect disaster to strike where you live.

Most people do not plan for disaster when choosing a place to rent or when choosing a place to live.

I have rented homes from at least five different landlords and have never discussed what might happen in the event of a natural disaster.  Do they have homeowners insurance?  What does it cover?  I have never kept a disaster kit so that I would be ready to evacuate.

The first time I even thought about how I would handle a natural disaster, was when we were living in northern Virginia during snowmaggedon.  As the snow piled up around the house I started looking online for information about what I should do if we lost power or if the pipes froze, or if one of the old trees surrounding our home was heavily weighted down and fell on the house.

Most disasters do not build up slowly, allowing you time to catch up on your preparedness knowledge and resources.  Earlier this year, my fiancé Jay and I traveled across the south, following the path of destruction that a swath of tornadoes had left behind.

Volunteering with the fire department in Vilonia, Arkansas, we spoke to an older man who had lived there, in “tornado alley” for almost 30 years and had never been hit by a tornado.  Now, he was cleaning up the debris from an F2 which stormed right down his street, knocking out power for over a week, destroying several homes, and killing two community members.

He was a tough guy, prepared for disaster with a seldom used storm shelter stocked with supplies, but he teared up recalling how the tornado had suddenly changed direction, one minute headed miles outside of town and the next bearing down directly towards his house.

Tornado damage in Vilonia, Arkansas

Many of his neighbors were caught by surprise, running for shelter at the last second or being stuck in the storm in their car.  Up until the funnel cloud was actually in sight, many people still didn’t believe that they could be the victim of a tornado.

We left Arkansas and headed to volunteer for disaster relief in Alabama.  After seeing the damage that an F2 could do, I was afraid of what we would find in towns hit by F5 storms.

In small towns like Hackleburg, the destruction was immense.  Residents, work crews, and volunteers were basically clearing everything that had been there in order to rebuild from scratch.

The tornado victims that affected me the most, because I could see myself in them, were the people renting homes.  We would usually arrive at an affected town at least a week after the damage had been done.  Utility crews had already been hard at work restoring power and most homeowners had already submitted insurance claims and were expecting money to rebuild with.

These homeowners were badly shaken up by what they had experienced, but they were able to take healthy steps towards rebuilding their homes and their lives.  Renters however, were often left wondering about their fate.  Those renting homes that were destroyed were at the mercy of the homeowner to make repairs or to contact insurance.

Tornado damage in Hackleburg, Alabama, at least one week after the tornado.

Some renters found out that the home was uninsured or only partially insured.  The renters we spoke to did not have renters insurance and therefore, the property that had been damaged or lost in the storm could not be replaced.  Many renters are new to the area they are living in and are less familiar with what services are available or less connected to neighborhood organizations that serve to assist residents after disaster.

Being Good & Ready is about deliberate actions you take to be prepared, as well as regular activities that help you be a connected community member, which will also benefit you in the event of a disaster.

What I have learned, through seeing the effects of disaster up close, is that it can happen to you and the effort it takes to be prepared is worth every minute and penny.  Through HandsOn Network’s Good and Ready campaign, you are encouraged to Create a Plan, Build a Kit, Help Others, and Get Trained.

These are all great steps towards the broader goal of thinking through how you will react in the event of a disaster and strengthening your connections with your neighbors and local community so that you can quickly get assistance and be able to quickly offer assistance.

Disaster can affect anyone, so please use this extra motivation of the Good and Ready campaign to get prepared.  I’m making my pledge today.

 

 

Sharon Tewksbury-Bloom is currently traveling throughout the United States and Canada with her fiance Jay, volunteering along the way.  As an AmeriCorps Alum and professional volunteer manager, Sharon is now focused on now experiencing volunteerism from the perspective of a short term volunteer.  She writes about her experiences at http://www.servicedriven.org.

Posted in Volunteerism | 2 Comments »

The Importance of Mutual Respect to Youth Service and Leadership

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

When you’re trying to engage youth in volunteering and service learning programs, it’s important to respect the skills and viewpoints that they can bring to the table. Positive relationships depend on mutual respect.

Respect – Respect means that adults respect youth and youth respect adults for their ideas, skills, experiences, and resources. When people are respected, they are freed to take risks and to act on their dreams.

Engage – Kids and teenagers need opportunities to engage in meaningful work in their communities. While administrative chores are a necessary part of most service projects, the ‘grunt work’ shouldn’t fall solely on the kids and teens while adults assume all of the major responsibilities.

Support – Agencies need to invest in youth just as they would invest in any volunteer effort. That investment may include training, supervision, supplying materials and other needs. In return, youth should support the agency and program by being dependable, participating in training opportunities and acting and speaking responsibly on the agency’s behalf.

Partner – Youth leadership is really a partnership between youth and adults who work side by side to plan, manage, serve, and evaluate based on a common goal. Both youth and adults are colleagues in the process, each brining particular strengths and perspectives to decision making, priorities, and project management.

Evaluate – Young people, along with adults, need regular opportunities to evaluate their own efforts in terms of the services being offered and what they are learning from their involvement. Continuous evaluation allows for improvements based on what has been learned.

Communicate – Regular communications of expectations, needs, concerns, and affirmation by both adults and young people create a healthy environment and can prevent problems.

Train – Although some people have natural leadership ability, no one is expected to become a leader without preparation and training. Young people are no different. They need training before they begin their service, and they need ongoing training and refelction to improve their knowledge and skills. They also need to be given an opportunity to make mistakes and to learn from them.

 

 

Tags: ,
Posted in Service Learning, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

8 Tips for Making Service Learning Work

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

Several factors make a big difference in whether an agency’s efforts in service learning are effective.

Agency-wide commitment

An organization’s commitment to service learning often starts with on person advocating for including service learning in the organization and bringing others to share their perspective. once a commitment to service learning permeates the organization, it will become much simpler to sustain a quality program because everyone in the organization is committed to service learning.

Youth serve and lead

Effective service learning efforts see students as key members of the planning team, not just participants. Giving students opportunities to assess needs, develop plans, and implement projects contributes to their growth.

Strong school partnerships

Agencies can operate effective student community service program on their own, but service learning has the most impact when it involves a partnership with a school so that students can take full advantage of the elarning that is stimulated through the service experience.

Clear learning and service goals

Not every service opportunity will appeal to everyone. Students will need to do their share of the work that doesn’t seem as exciting as the actual service, like finding a project site, identifying community needs, and planning what the project will look like.

By working with other students, teachers, community members and other partners to set learning goals and how those goals will be achieved can make the service more meaningful and productive.

Age-appropriate, meaningfl service

Just as you would match anyone’s skills and strengths with a particular service area, the same is essential in working with students. Projects or assignments need to take into account the students’ abilities so they can be stimulated, challenged, interested, and engaged by the service experience.

Effective program management

Service learning is most effective when it builds on a well-managed volunteer program with established procedures. In these cases the basic processes and procedures are already in place and can be adapted to the particular needs of students and service learning.

Sustained involvement

One shot service projects can build enthusiasm and interest, they’re harder to build a quality service learning experience around. To be most effective in providing long-term involvement, schools, students and agencies need to work together to plan how the service-learning program will grow.

Reflection

Reflection is an essential component of service learning. It completes the learning cycle, giving students the opportunity to think about what they did, what it means, and what they will do because of their experience.

this not only benefits the students, but it also strengthens the service they provide. As the students become more knowledgeable and sensitive about the issues, more skilled in the activities, and more aware of an organization’s needs and challenges, they can become better at planning their service projects.

 

Have you involved your students in planning service learning projects? Do you work with an agency that has a lot of service learning students volunteer? Let us know what you’ve found works best for planning service learning projects in the comments!

Tags: , ,
Posted in Education, Service Learning, Volunteering | 1 Comment »

18 Benefits of Service Learning

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

When done well, service learning has the potential to benefit everyone involved.

While involving children and teenagers in service learning requires a significant commitment and may require redesigning some elements of your volunteer program, many agencies find that the rewards more than make up for the extra work. Agencies have seen many benefits when they include youth service learning in their volunteer programs:

  • Agencies gain new partners in their efforts to fulfill their mission
  • Young people bring a sense of vitality and excitement to the organization
  • The agency gains positive visibility and exposure in the community and the school
  • Service learning can open up new opportunities for funding and other resources
  • By involving young people in an agency’s work, service learning helps to nurture the next generation of committed volunteers

Just as anyone who provides service gains from the experience, students benefit particularly when their needs for learning are taken into account in the planning and implementation of a project. There are a lot of benefits for students who take an active role in planning and executing their own service projects when they’re tied to a lesson plan:

  • Service learning can enhance personal development in areas such as self esteem, moral reasoning, social skills, communication skills, problem-solving abilities and concern for others and society
  • Involvement in service learning makes the subject matter in school real and relevant for students as they try out their knowledge and skills
  • When young people serve others, they can see that they are valued and can make a real difference
  • As young people discover their own abilities to address issues, they are empowered to become active citizens and communities begin to see them in a different light
  • Young people learn leadership skills as they take responsibility for designing and implementing service experiences

There is virtually no limit to what young people can do, no social need they cannot help meet. Through service-learning programs, communities gain many things:

  • Unmet needs are addressed and problems solved
  • Creative ideas and solutions are offered for perplexing problems.
  • New energy and commitment emerge for the community and the common good.
  • Communities see students as valuable resources

As schools search for more effective educational strategies, many are turning to service learning as a powerful method for revitalizing education and improving student achievement. When students participate in service learning, schools benefit:

  • Students are more engaged in their education and their community
  • Students learn more readily because they are learning by doing
  • Community members become partners with schools in educating students
  • Schools are seen as resources to the community, helping t build support for the schools

 

Have you planned service-learning projects with your students? Has your organization benefited from students’ service-learning projects? Tell us about your experience in the comments!

Related articles

Tags: ,
Posted in Education, Service Learning, Volunteering | 7 Comments »

5 Ways Your Company Can Activate Employees on the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

The 9/11 nonprofit MyGoodDeed and HandsOn Network, the volunteer activation division of Points of Light Institute, have joined together to encourage all Americans to commemorate the anniversary of Sept. 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance, leading the efforts to inspire one million acts of charitable service in tribute to the victims, survivors and those who rose to service in response to the attacks 10 years ago.

911day.org has a variety of ways for corporations to get involved as part of the 9/11 tribute movement. We are anticipating that over a thousand employers will recommend employees volunteer, make tributes, or take action as part of the their commitments to the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.

Are you wondering how your company can get involved with service and remembrance on September 11th? Here are some ways:

  • Post a Tribute: The Tribute App lets employees make a commitment to take action. You can add the Tribute App to your company’s Facebook page  or go to http://911day.org/post-tribute to post a tribute. Tributes appear immediately on the 9/11day.org site
  • Search for a Project: People interested in volunteering can search the project database of more than 100,000 opportunities between 8/30 – 9/25 at http://911day.org/volunteer
  • Register Your Corporate Projects:  Share what your offices are doing at http://www.911day.org/npovolunteer/hoc to register your events to be included in the data feed of programming and highlighted to the media, congressional officials and other interested parties.
  • Visit HandsOn Network Affiliate websites: For service opportunities near you on and after the 10th anniversary of September 11th, visit your local HandsOn Network affiliate’s website to find volunteer opportunities. You can find your local affiliate here. 
  • Support the social media campaigns. When you’re talking about what your company is doing for the day of service and remembrance, use the #IWill hashtag on Twitter, and tag  (Don’t forget to Like the page so you can tag it!)

 

Q:  How do I post projects?

A:  Create your own volunteer activity or project in your local office or in your community. To post your project, go to www.911day.org. Click on “Non-profits/Organizations” on the right side of the homepage and “Click here to get started,” or go to http://www.911day.org/npovolunteer/hoc to register your events to be included in the datafeed of programming and highlighted to the media, congressional officials and other interested parties

Q: How do I make a Tribute?

  • Post your “I Will” tribute for 9/11. For example, “I will bring lunch to my local fire department.”
  • Upload your video, photo or fill out the Tribute card.
  • Dedicate your tribute to an individual lost on 9/11, a first responder, recovery worker or a member of the military.


Related articles

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Disaster Relief, Volunteering | No Comments »

5 Tips for Solving Any Problem With Your Program

Friday, August 19th, 2011

No matter how well you plan a volunteer event or manage your volunteers, eventually something is going to happen that doesn’t quite go as planned. It’s important to address the problem quickly and professionally and getting back to normal.

Identify the Problem

Try to understand what has happened that has created some difficulty. Take a moment to reflect on the problem to try to find the root of it. What’s going wrong at the moment needs to be addressed, but there may be a deeper cause of the problem.

Face the Problem

After you’ve identified the problem facing your program, the next step is to face it.

While it might be easier to avoid the problem, avoiding it won’t help make it go away. Face the problem with resolve and try to solve it in a positive way.

Move On

Once the problem is solved, move on. Try not to dwell on the problem once it’s solved. Don’t keep rolling the situation around in your head, it will only make you anxious and stressed.

Remember the Lessons Learned

Moving on doesn’t mean that you forget that the problem happened, though. Make sure you understand what caused the problem and try to implement new practices that won’t let the same problem happen again.

Be Ready for Problems

No matter how well you plan a volunteer event or the processes in your program, something is eventually going to go wrong. Knowing that and understanding how to solve problems can make your program stronger and better able to deal with unexpected problems.

 

What was the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced managing volunteers? How did you solve it? What did you learn from it? Let us know in the comments!

Posted in Volunteerism | No Comments »

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 .

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!

 

 

Related articles

Tags:
Posted in Volunteer Recruitment, Volunteerism | No Comments »

« Older Entries