Posts Tagged ‘Corporation for National and Community Service’

« Older Entries

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: . 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!

Related articles

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Volunteer Management, Volunteer Recruitment, Volunteerism | 2 Comments »

Volunteers, You’re Awesome Take a Bow

Monday, April 9th, 2012

We absolutely love volunteers! Not just because we are a nonprofit organization focused on volunteer listings and opportunities, but also because they are just plain awesome! Why?

Volunteers dedicate themselves to a cause or an issue in the community because they care and want to give back. They do not act for monetary rewards or even recognition. They volunteer their in many different ways from book drives to park clean up just to give back to their neighbors.

April is National Volunteer Month, so let’s celebrate the hard work volunteers are doing around the world by recognizing their efforts!

  • In 2012, 62.7 million people volunteered in America.
  • Thanks to those 62.7 million volunteers, 8.1 billion hours of service were logged for the United States. Imagine what the nation would look like without those 8.1 billion hours!
  • 26.5% of United States residents reported that they volunteered in some form over the past year in 2010. Those 26.5 percenters individually contributed 34.1 service hours in their communities.
  • The Independent Sector reports that those 8.1 billion hours of service were worth $178 billion in 2010. Each volunteer is worth $21.67 per hour, but they do the work for their love of the community, rather than salary.
  • 23.5% of volunteers are actively involved in food collection and distribution. How many residents would go hungry without these volunteers?
  • 26.7% of volunteers for education. How would our children succeed in school without the help of education volunteers?
  • 11.6 million Millennials volunteered 1.2 billion hours of community service to their community in the categories of fundraising, labor, mentoring, and food distribution. Do you still believe that young people cannot make a difference?
  • 9.2 million older Americans (65 years and older) donated 1.7 billion hours of hours to their communities. Older adults are able to find new meaning to their lives after retirement thanks to volunteer work.
  • Volunteers with HandsOn Network affiliates impacted the service economy by $546,638,278!

Are you still skeptical about the value of volunteer work? We hope not. Recognize the work being done in your community via volunteers. National Volunteer Week is just around the corner, April 15-21. Do something special for your volunteers! Whether you want to alert the media about your volunteer events and impact or you want to write personal thank you notes for your volunteers, make this a week of recognition for the unbelievable service work happening every day!

 

The statistics used in this report can be found in the 2010 Volunteering in America report conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

This infographic can be found via the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Related articles

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Impact, Service, Volunteer Recognition, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

It’s AmeriCorps Week, but what is AmeriCorps?

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Hooray, hooray! Happy AmeriCorps Week everyone! Let’s kick off the week by explaining what exactly AmeriCorps is, in case you still do not know.

AmeriCorps is a United States federal government organization set up under former President Bill Clinton, and it was later expanded under President George W. Bush. AmeriCorps is a division of the Corporation for National and Community Service whose focus ranges from service in education to the environment. Each year AmeriCorps offers more than 75,000 opportunities for adults of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities in a variety of ways.

Why is AmeriCorps the coolest?

Your term of service through AmeriCorps will have multiple benefits. By serving in an AmeriCorps program, members become eligible to for the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. This award can be used toward the payment of student loans or graduate school tuition. Many programs offer an allowance that will cover the basic costs of living.

A term of service will also be beneficial when searching for professional work. Those who make a commitment to service have better networking options, and become more competitive in the job force, than those who do not. Members also have the opportunity to develop skills that they may not have had the chance to use otherwise.

What options do you have?

AmeriCorps is split into three different programs that have different focuses.

  • AmeriCorps State and National: Refers to a broad range of service areas in your local community. The main focus is intensive service in community programs. Members have the opportunity to serve in a variety of agencies including faith-based, community organizations, higher education, and public agencies. Their goals are to raise awareness in the fields of education, environment, public safety, and health. They engage in direct service such as after-school tutoring, volunteer recruitment, and capacity building.

Does AmeriCorps State and National Work?

  • AmeriCorps VISTA: VISTA was originally created under Lyndon Johnson as a way to fight poverty. Former president Bill Clinton brought it under the AmeriCorps program during his presidency. There are currently over 5,000 VISTAs serving throughout the country in various organizations. They work to fight illiteracy, improve health services, create businesses, and strengthen community groups.

Does AmeriCorps VISTA Work?

  • AmeriCorps NCCC: NCCC is a full-time program for adults ranging from the ages of 18 to 24. NCCC stands for National Civilian Community Corps. Their goal is to strengthen communities, while building leaders out of team service. NCCC members focus on aiding national crises.

Does AmeriCorps NCCC Work?

AmeriCorps Week is March 10-18, it is the perfect time to recognize and celebrate the dedication to service that AmeriCorps members make every year. There are many great ways to get involved in celebrating AmeriCorps and service this week! The theme for this week is AmeriCorps Works. Although, these are just a few examples of how it works, you can see that AmeriCorps truly accomplishes its goals and provides a great deal of service to our communities.

Now that you know more about AmeriCorps, how will you show that it works?

Related articles

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

How Much Are Your Volunteers Worth?

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

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

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

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

State Values for Volunteer Time Map

From Independent Sector

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

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

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

Volunteer Hours Per Resident

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

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

Six Tips for Recognizing Volunteers

Eight Tips for Writing the Perfect Thank You Note

Nine Basic Rules for Volunteer Recognition

UPDATE: Today’s post has been updated since it was published. Some information was incorrectly cited.

Tags: ,
Posted in Economy, Impact, Volunteerism | No Comments »

So, Who Volunteers, Anyway?

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

What does a volunteer look like in America? The Corporation for National and Community Service gives us an easy way to look at volunteering with their Volunteering in America report!

Click to view original image.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Volunteerism | 3 Comments »

Coming Together To Save Service

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Today’s post comes from Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute and co-founder of the HandsOn Network.

Last week, the president signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011. The compromise calls for $917 billion in cuts over the next 10 years, and another $1.5 trillion in cuts could be identified through a 12-member bipartisan committee.

It is now apparent that many federal programs will be threatened with either significant spending reductions or elimination.

The Corporation for National and Community Service and the programs it administers – AmeriCorps, the Volunteer Generation Fund, Senior Corps and RSVP, VISTA and others – will be vulnerable in this environment.

Now is the time to act.

On Wednesday, Aug. 10, supporters of national service programs are once again visiting their elected representatives’ home offices to let them know the importance of national service in their communities and across the nation.

You can find and join a District Day event at the office of your member of Congress on the Save Service website. Along with District Day events near you, you’ll find information that you can share with your member of Congress about the impact of national service programs in your state.

If you’re not able to participate in a District Day event, please take the time to write or call your member of Congress and let them know why national service is important to you. You can find your representatives’ contact information here and your senators’ contact information here.

National service enables people to make meaningful contributions to their communities, build organizational capacity, generate community-based social capital and leverage more than 1.4 million additional adult volunteers to tackle some of America’s toughest social, environmental, educational and economic challenges.

Please join me in highlighting the importance of national service programs on August 10 by visiting, calling or writing your representatives.

 

In Service,

 

 

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute

Co-founder, HandsOn Network

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Michelle Nunn, News & Links | 1 Comment »

AmeriCorps Week Showcases the Impact of National Service

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yours in Service,

CEO, Points of Light Institute
Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Events, Impact | No Comments »

Engaging Veterans with Disabilities in National and Community Service: Interviews with AmeriCorps Veterans

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

This post comes from Joanne E. Cohen, M.A., Organizational Consultant, CTAT at Denver Options and liaison to the National Service Inclusion Project.

The Corporation for National and Community Service(CNCS) values initiatives and programs that engage veterans and military families, grow a knowledge base of how national service can best meet the needs of veterans and military families, support efforts that engage veterans who want to continue service in new ways at home, and promote effective collaboration with our veterans, military family members, and veteran-serving organizations.

To support CNCS in this effort, the National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP), a CNCS training and technical assistance provider on disability inclusion, is collaborating with the Center for Technical Assistance and Training (CTAT) and Operation TBI Freedom (OTF) at Denver Options.

This initiative is identifying promising practices, products, and delivery strategies.  Most importantly, veterans, including those who are current or former AmeriCorps or other national service volunteers, will inform this work extensively. Information from this work and related products will be made widely available to veterans’ groups, national service programs, and the disability community to guide the practice, policies, and procedures of service programs as they recruit and support veterans with disabilities.

The following narrative summarizes seven interviews that were conducted during 2010 with veterans who are current AmeriCorps members or alums. Of the seven, five have a disability.  Of the five, one did not disclose the nature of his/her disability, one had a “traumatic disability” that he/she did not want to discuss, one has post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and physical disabilities unrelated to the military, one has a head trauma as a result of being in the military, and one has PTSD that has not been officially diagnosed along with a disability that has been diagnosed through the Veterans Administration.

Themes:

Common themes emerged from the conversations:

  1. All interviewees expressed a passion to help people, including Veterans.
  2. Many described how AmeriCorps provides them the opportunity to get back into the workforce—additional skill sets are developed, it is a great addition to their resume, and they believe it is impressive to potential employers.
  3. Interviewees articulated that service and volunteerism is a satisfying and structured opportunity to serve our country in another way, giving back to the community and committing to someone else’s well-being, life, happiness, and education, while making an impact on others’ lives and helping the “under served” to help themselves.
  4. Through AmeriCorps, these veterans felt a sense of belonging, regaining their identity.  AmeriCorps gets them out of their comfort zone, stretching and learning a great deal.
  5. AmeriCorps promotes change while making our country and the world better equipped to meet actual needs of others.

The following is a quote from one of the interviewees, an anonymous veteran who served in AmeriCorps:

“My experience as a volunteer in the AmeriCorps program has given me the will to get out of bed every day.  It has given me the education and the knowledge to understand my disability and it gives me a purpose in life.  If you don’t have a purpose in life, it’s hard to get out of bed every morning.”

Joanne has over thirty years combined experience in coaching, consulting, and facilitation.  She was in a car accident in 1992, experiencing her own TBI and PTSD.  It is with this experience that many Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans who return with TBI and PTSD relate to her. Joanne is proud to serve as a liaison to this project.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Military | No Comments »

Stand Up to Save Service

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

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

Early on Saturday, February 19th, the US House passed HR 1, a continuing resolution to fund the government through the end of 2011.

In an attempt to reduce the national debt, cuts to many federally funded program are proposed in this bill, including funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Corporation for National and Community Service.  The bill proposes a complete defunding of the Corporation for National and Community service, which engages more than five million Americans in service through AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, Senior Corps, and United We Serve—a nationwide service initiative that helps meet growing social needs resulting from the economic downturn.

When Caleb Jonas, an AmeriCorps Alum, heard about the legislation, he looked back on his year of service and decided that something needed to be done.

Caleb started the Save AmeriCorps Petition and the campaign which became the official campaign for AmeriCorps Alums.

Caleb’s experience volunteering started long before his AmeriCorps service term.  In high school he spent his summers working as a teacher and tutor for low-income students.  In college he volunteered on political campaigns, but couldn’t see how his work there helped create positive change in the lives of the neediest families in his community.

After graduating, he joined AmeriCorps*VISTA and built a city-wide partnership of tutoring programs in Saint Paul.  Because of his work, students in Saint Paul received more effective and better targeted support for their work, and were made stronger connections to what they were learning.

If the Corporation for National and Public Service is defunded, then thousands of programs across the country that work with people who need support the most will lose the AmeriCorps members, people just like Caleb, that help them to thrive.

What can you do to help support AmeriCorps?

Sign the Save AmeriCorps Petition and lend your voice to support national service.

Join the and share your story of service as an example for why AmeriCorps programs need to continue getting things done for America.

Call your Senators to let them know that you support AmeriCorps and national service.  You can find your Senators’ contact information at Congress.org.

Show up for a District Day event through saveservice.org.  On February 25, supporters of service around the country will be visiting their Congressmen’s district offices to show their support for national service.  You can find your Congressmen’s district office here.

Thanks for your support of national service programs!

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Inspire, Mobilize | 1 Comment »

A Professional Development Journey

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

by Sharon Tewksbury-Bloom
Volunteer Program Specialist, Volunteer Arlington

How fast does three years go by?

Three years ago I was joining AmeriCorps in hopes of getting training in the career of volunteer management.

In 2007, I was serving as an AmeriCorps member in northern Arizona and it was my responsibility to launch a volunteer program to help homebound seniors and disabled adults.

Just out of college with a history degree I found myself in charge of recruiting people, matching them with opportunities to serve, orienting and training them, as well as supervising and recognizing them.

I had jumped right into the volunteer management profession, without a single course in management.

Typical, I know.

It was my great fortune that Rick Lynch and Steve McCurley, co-authors of and legendary for their training in the field, came to Arizona that year and presented a two-day training on volunteer management.

Over those two days we went through theory and practice on the soup to nuts of volunteer management.

Their insights about how people relate to one another, why people volunteer, and what the role of the volunteer manager is, were critical to my personal and professional development.

The binder I got that day has become my volunteer management bible which I carried with me through the next three years.

Jumping ahead in time to today; I am still in the field and now have the unique opportunity of bringing Rick Lynch to my new network of volunteer managers in the DC area.

I now work at Volunteer Arlington, a HandsOn Network Affiliate and we provide support to volunteer managers.

Having been in their shoes, I know how valuable it is to get the chance to participate in a well-designed and well-researched training with peers who are experiencing the same sort of challenges that are unique to this profession.

I am very excited about this training event and hope that it will serve as a key part of my peers’ professional development in the way that it did for me.

Volunteer Arlington, along with Volunteer Fairfax, Volunteer Alexandria, and the Northern Virginia Association of Volunteer Administrators are pleased to present Management 2011: Advanced Volunteer Management Training with Rick Lynch on Thursday July, 22, 2010 in Arlington, VA. Visit the website for more details.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Equip, News & Links, Volunteer Management, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries