Why do you volunteer? Many volunteer for selfless reasons, but service can do so much good for the volunteer too! Consider volunteering more often to help others in your communities, social circles, and life, not only for all the wonderful benefits that come from spreading kindness, but also for the great benefits that people experience when they help others.

Research, observation, and possibly even your own experiences agree that helping others, altruism and finding meaning in life all have their hand in stress management. While donating your time or unneeded possessions doesn’t always solve your problems or ameliorate your stressors, acts of kindness and volunteer work can provide the following positive effects:

• A good feeling about oneself. Having a positive sense of self can actually help you feel less reactive to stress, and bring more enjoyment to all of your activities.
• A feeling of connection to others. Having a sense of community, a supportive circle of friends and other forms of social support can increase your resilience as well as your longevity and quality of life.
• A sense of meaning and greater purpose in one’s life. Having a greater sense of meaning can help stressors seem more manageable, feel less threatening and be less likely to trigger your stress response.
• Perspective about one’s stressors–others may have greater problems. Having a change of perspective can help your stressors seem much smaller to you, and may help you realize that you have more control in life and more options than you realized.
• A reminder to feel gratitude. When you’re feeling more gratitude about what you do have, your whole life feels better, and those things that you lack seem less important, less stressful.
• An opportunity to use one’s own unique gifts. Especially if you’re battling burnout or in a job that doesn’t thrill you, it’s important to have outside activities that ‘feed your soul’, that challenge you in ways that make you feel alive. Often, volunteer opportunities can provide that, while you provide others with gifts that they can really use as well.
• Something to think about other than one’s stress! Distraction can be a beautiful thing, and distraction from stress can give your body a chance to recover from chronic stress and feel healthy and calm again.

All of these effects can help with stress management, and are reasons to continue to volunteer throughout the year! Consider starting with small things that will still make a big difference to someone in need; do to what you can, rather than thinking that you’re too busy to make a real difference! Are you a regular volunteer, or do you plan to do something to help others this weekend? Share your good deeds in the comments below.

Valentine’s Day is a week away, and while you may be thinking, “Why would I actually want to celebrate this day it is just another excuse to spend money?” this year you can get a little more out of your presents than just making your sweetheart swoon over your gift.

Why not choose a Valentine’s gift that gives back instead of just gives for a couple days. Whether it is fair-trade chocolate, flowers that fight causes, or a teddy bear for charity you are sure to make an impression with these gifts!

1. Flowers are always a good choice when it comes to your Valentine. How about choosing flowers that not only look gorgeous on her work desk or dinner table, but also give back to her favorite charity. Companies such as organicbouquet.com do just that! You have the choice of choosing from a bouquet of flowers in their Flowers for Good program. You can choose flowers that will give back to organizations such as the American Lung Association, Women For Women, Amnesty International, or PETA. Your sweetheart is sure to be impressed with this gift from the heart!
2. Looking to put your honey’s feet in style, why not try TOMS shoes? For every pair of shoes that you purchase, another pair is given to a child in need. This is great way to not only bring a smile to your significant other’s face, but also give a smile to a child in need!
3. Does your lover have a sweet tooth? Fair-trade chocolate is the perfect gift to satisfy a sweet tooth! Companies such as TCHO Chocolates and Divine Chocolate donate a portion of their proceeds to support fair-trade or practice fair-trade.
4. Is your Valentine not much of a chocolate fanatic? Cookies are always a great gift for any holiday! Cookies for Kid’s Cancer not only taste great they also donate 100 percent of profits to fund pediatric cancer research!
5. Looking for date ideas? Volunteer together for your favorite cause. It is a great way to spend time together on something that you are both passionate about.
6. Give cookies or valentines cards to those in need. You can make cookies for your local retirement home, make valentines cards for a homeless shelter, or visit a hospital and make someone’s day a little brighter.
7. Perform a small act of kindness for someone in your neighborhood, work, or a complete stranger. Whether you are shoveling someone’s driveway or mowing his or her lawn. You can truly show someone the power of love just through a simple act of kindness.

This Valentine’s Day do more to spread the love. You are sure to impress that special someone, while you also spread the love to someone who may need it more with these simple Valentines tips.

We hope these suggestions get you out of the Valentines Day rut and help you celebrate the power of love. Have a happy Valentines Day and please share with us how you are celebrating, we would love to hear about it!

 

1. Look for a big audience.

If you can, schedule a volunteer orientation for a large group of new volunteers.  A larger group gives you a better chance of being able to connect with someone.  If you find yourself starting to get nervous focus on a person you’ve connected with, it will help you to get back on track and not feel as nervous.

2. Take all the words off your slides.

If you need to make sure that your volunteers are paying attention to what you’ll be saying, take all of the words off of your slides.  This way, no one will be reading ahead of what you’ll be saying.  Make sure to use pictures that relate to what you’re talking about, though.

3. Don’t give print outs of your slides.

Giving out a printout of your slides before your presentation gives your new volunteers something to pay attention to other than you and the orientation.  If you want the volunteers to have the information you’ll be talking about, give it to them after the orientation.

4. Show up early to figure out the lay of the land.

This may sound a bit silly, especially if you’ll be giving your orientation at the place you work.  You probably know the lay of the land there fairly well.

It’s not just about being familiar with the room, but being able to set up a room in a way that works best for you.  Don’t like where a desk is?  Move it.  Don’t like how much light is in the room?  See if you can change it.

Showing up early gives you time to set up your presentation before your new volunteers arrive.  This way you can get things started right away instead of keeping your new volunteers waiting while you set up.

5. Encourage your audience to ask a lot of questions.

Make sure to leave open time during your orientation for the new volunteers to ask questions.  Not only does this give the volunteers an opportunity to ask their question while it’s still fresh in their head, but it gives you a break from talking and moves the attention to the volunteers.  A few moments of not talking reminds you to breathe and gives you an opportunity to get a drink of water or mentally rearrange your orientation.

6. Have fun with mistakes.

No matter how well rehearsed and planned your orientation is, something is going to go wrong.  Don’t dwell on what’s not going right.  Have fun with what’s not working instead of letting it turn into a crisis.

Lets not kid ourselves.  Standing up in front of a group of people and talking is hard.  Try not to let it intimidate you.  Remember that you know what you’re going to be talking about.  Don’t forget to have fun, either!

How do you prepare for new volunteer orientations?  What have you done that works really well?  What have you found that doesn’t work?

Did you make a resolution to volunteer more, but don’t know what you can do? How can you ever fit more projects into your already hectic schedule?

We have a great list for you to make your resolution into a reality! Whether you are a busy person or you have some time on your hands, volunteering can always happen in various ways!

1.  Go to your local animal shelter and donate a bag of dog or cat food
2. Donate your unused books to your local Salvation Army, thrift store, library, or school
3. Volunteer to read to children at your local library
4. Clean up your neighborhood park
5. Plant a tree
6. Make the decision to bike to work or take transit instead of driving to work
7. Donate winter clothing to your local homeless shelter
8. Bake cookies and bring them to your local police shelter or fire department
9. Spend a Saturday helping out at your local soup kitchen or food bank
10. Hang out or read to a senior citizen at a retirement home
11. Decorate a local school or retirement center
12. Help someone who is sick or homebound with their grocery shopping
13. Donate to your local charity
14. Help out with the kids at a woman’s center so that moms can go shopping or look for a job
15. Recycle your trash
16. Help out with building a home at a Habitat for Humanity event
17. Assist with an English language class
18. Donate hygiene products to your local shelter or retirement home
19. Plant a community garden in your neighborhood

No matter what you choose, any form of service benefits those in your community. If you have made volunteering your resolution for 2012, do not get discouraged your project can be big or small; anything that will benefit your community is service to your neighbors. Don’t forget, you can find a great volunteer opportunity with any of our HandsOn Network affiliates!

We hope that these tips help make your decision to serve easier to accomplish. How are you serving this year? Share your comments and insights with us in the comment box; we would love to hear them!

 

 

 

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club claims that Phil’s prediction is correct one-hundred percent of the time. However, spoilsport scientists say he’s no more accurate than your local weatherman: An analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that, from 1988 to 2010, there was no correlation between the groundhog’s prediction and the weather for the rest of the season.

Regardless of Phil the Groundhog’s accuracy, there are important lessons to be learned from Groundhog Day for the field of volunteer management. Read on for Phil’s lessons!

Have patience Winter can often seem endless, especially in the usually cold days of January! Every year we must exercise patience, waiting for the groundhog’s revelation, and even more so when Phil predicts six more weeks of winter! In your service and volunteer management, patience is just as important of a virtue. When you encounter red tape, when funding is at risk, or even when you just can’t seem to find a volunteer position that suits your skill set, patience is key. Let Punxsutawney Phil’s hibernation be your inspiration for peace and patience this winter!

Keep an eye out for industry predictions As in any evolving industry, it is important to keep an eye out for new trends and best practices in the field of volunteer management. Just as Punxsutawney Phil prognosticates future weather conditions, movers and shakers predict nonprofit and volunteer trends for the year based on the past year. Keep an eye on blogs for this information to stay ahead of the curve; congratulations, you’re in just the right place!

Take risks When we put our collective trust in a rodent’s notice of his shadow each year to determine the season, we take quite a risk! Don’t be afraid to take risks in your field, especially as the new year is the perfect time to implement the new trends you’ve discovered.

Embrace silliness Its easy to get bogged down in the administrative burden and various minutiae of volunteer organization and begin to see it as a burden. If nothing else, Groundhog Day teaches us not to take ourselves too seriously and to embrace a little silliness. Why not send Groundhog Day cards to your volunteers? A little fun will fit into nearly any setting, and your volunteers are more likely to remember your organization fondly if you show your goofball side!

Don’t drive angry! This may be the most important lesson Phil teaches us this year. Keep a cool head!

Did you watch Phil’s prognostication? How will you apply these tips to your service? Let us know in the comments below!

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You survived January 2013, now what? Did you make that New Years resolution stick through the chilling January temperatures? 

Let’s not get discouraged, let’s get out and volunteer to keep that New Years resolution throughout the whole year! Statistics show that after the first month of trying to stick to a New Years resolution only 64% of people who set them will actually stick to them.

If you resolved to help others and your community in 2013, you do not need to be another statistic in this continuous cycle of failed resolutions. Helping others does not need to be a complete life change or turning away from a bad habit. It is just a positive addition to your life that will benefit you in so many ways (hey maybe with the positive feeling you get from volunteering you will be able to move to new goals like losing weight)

So why do people find it so hard to stick to resolutions such as volunteering?

1. Many people believe that they do not have enough time to volunteer during their hectic schedule. Come on we have heard this excuse so many times, why do you think people don’t exercise?
2. Some people do not know where to volunteer their time or what organizations need volunteers.
3. Volunteers get intimidated by the many options available in the nonprofit world. There are a ton of action areas it can be difficult to choose just one!
4. Some people do not see problems in their community, so they do not believe that their community needs volunteers.
5. Others will get distracted by various plans. It can be difficult to volunteer on the weekends especially when you work all week.

Do these excuses sound like similar phrases that have come out of your mouth this past month? Well, it is good you are looking at today’s post. Let’s find solutions to these excuses. You do not have to be super volunteer to help your community. Make baby steps. No one completes their resolutions over night; if we did losing weight would be number one on our lists!

Excuse #1: You may be extremely busy, and volunteering just does not have a place on your schedule. Okay, so you can’t go out on a Saturday morning and volunteer physically to a soup kitchen or volunteer for a Habitat for Humanity build. But you can…

• Donate canned goods to a food bank or soup kitchen
• Donate gently used clothes or appliances to a shelter or donation center
• Make decorations for a retirement home or hospital
• Conserve water and energy
• Recycle
• Save your change and donate it to your favorite cause or charity

Excuse #2: There are so many charities and nonprofits in every city; it can become overwhelming when you are searching for a volunteer opportunity. There are many organizations that can help you find a volunteer opportunity that will guide you to the perfect match! Check out:

• HandsOn Network
• Volunteermatch
• Serve.gov
• 1-800-volunteer.org

Excuse #3: Yes, we know there is an overwhelming amount of volunteering opportunities available. To make your volunteering choice less intimidating pick out something that you are truly interested in, so that you will want to continuously do it. Who wants to keep up with something they do not enjoy. Volunteering opportunities fall into a majority of these categories:

• Animals
• Elderly
• Military
• Youth
• Environment
• Disaster relief
• Homelessness
• Poverty
• Women

Excuse #4: It is sometimes difficult to observe your community’s needs on a daily basis. The truth is every community needs and relies on volunteer work. Your contribution no matter how big or small will make a huge difference to your community and its members. Never believe that volunteering in your community will go unnoticed!

Excuse #5: It is normal to just want to relax during your time off. There are volunteering opportunities for every level of volunteer. You can volunteer from your couch, your kitchen, or your workplace. You can choose projects that are big or small just do something that you enjoy and it will not seem like work, because the benefits will outweigh the costs.

It is 2013. Don’t let yourself give up on another resolution. Make this year count! You will begin to see the rewards of your service quicker than you think. Just try it; what do you have to lose?

Are you volunteering in 2013? Share your ideas with us; we would love to hear them!

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• Want to Make a New Years Resolution Stick? Volunteer!
• 20 Ways to Volunteer in 2012
• 8 Benefits of Volunteerism
• “Healthy” Volunteering: 5 ways to incorporate health into volunteering
• Stay Out of the Cold and Volunteer from Home