Posts Tagged ‘Service Jam’

8 Volunteer Management Behaviors that Lead to Effective Volunteer Programs

Friday, February 11th, 2011

1. Recruitment
Word-of-mouth continues to be the primary gateway into service. Effective recruitment strategies offer variety, flexibility and meaningful experiences.

2. Supervision
Volunteers who are supported, coordinated and well managed are likely to feel positive about their volunteer experience and stay.

3. Role Clarification
Written position descriptions equip volunteers with the tools they need to deliver maximum impact and receive a sense of personal fulfillment.

4. Development
Training and development is important to nourishing strong volunteer leadership and extending the volunteer life cycle.

5. Resource Procurement
While volunteers are unpaid by definition, they are not cost free. Resources are needed to deliver effective volunteer management programs.

6. Balancing Skilled & Unskilled
Volunteers bring a wide array of skill sets to the table. Assessing the required skills for specific tasks enables the best use of volunteer man power and minimizes resource expenditure.

7.  Appreciation
While volunteers do not participate for the sole purpose of reward or recognition, it is important to acknowledge and thank volunteers to promote an ongoing culture of service.

8.  Retention
Engaging volunteers is only the first step. Incorporating the seven aforementioned volunteer management behaviors helps to avoid the costly cycle of recruiting and training new volunteers.

These ideas originally appeared as a sidebar in IBM’s Service Jam White Paper and were contributed by The Department of Communities, Queensland — Australia’s lead government agency addressing issues in service and volunteerism, managing volunteers requires time and resources. We loved the list and wanted to share it.  You can download the full Service Jam white paper here.

8 Standard Practices of Service Learning

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

How do we institutionalize a culture of service so that it transcends calls to service, generations, countries, cultures and time?  I often thought that if we could make service a true rite of passage in a person’s life – starting early in school, providing opportunities and inducements along the way, and igniting a passion to something beyond the pursuit of material goods, it would be a good start.” —John Bridgeland, President and CEO of Civic Enterprises, IBM Service Jam.

The difference between teaching service in schools and service learning is that service learning is integrated into the curriculum.

Every service learning opportunity should be tailored to meet specific academic goals.

The National Youth Leadership Council suggests that successful engagements will incorporate the following eight elements:

1. Meaningful Service

Service learning actively engages participants in meaningful and personally relevant service activities.

2. Link to Curriculum

Service learning is intentionally used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards.

3. Reflection

Service learning incorporates multiple challenging reflection activities that are ongoing and that prompt deep thinking and analysis about oneself and one’s relationship to society.

4. Diversity

Service learning promotes under­standing of diversity and mutual respect among all partici­pants.

5. Youth Voice

Service learning provides youth with a strong voice in planning, implementing, and evaluating service learning experiences with guidance from adults.

6. Partnerships

Service learning partnerships are collaborative, mutually beneficial, and address community needs.

7. Progress Monitoring

Service learning engages participants in an ongoing process to assess the quality of implementation and progress toward meeting specified goals, and uses results for improvement and sustainability.

8. Duration and Intensity

Service learning has sufficient duration and intensity to address community needs and meet specified outcomes.

Service-learning is not an add-on to the classroom lesson, it is the classroom lesson.” -IBM Service Jam

Learn more about Service Learning at the upcoming NYLC Conference to be held in Atlanta, April 6-9, 2011.

You can also find great service learning curriculum and ideas at generationOn.

These standard practices originally appeared as a sidebar in IBM’s Service Jam White Paper. We thought it was great and wanted to share it.  You can download the full Service Jam white paper here.

Come Jam With Us

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Friends,

Please join us at the upcoming IBM Service Jam!

This global online event will bring together nonprofits, thought leaders, corporations, schools, and government agencies in a conversation about how social innovation can help solve the world’s most significant challenges.

The Jam aspires to generate breakthrough ideas that redefine volunteerism, corporate citizenship, and service models.

Some thoughts for the Jam:

  • How do culture and geography affect the concept of service?
  • How can communities (geographical, virtual, formal, informal) change systems and policies?
  • How can we leverage social media and networks to create change? How much is hype and how much is  game-changing?
  • How do we enable individuals to use all of their assets and resources to make a difference — their time, skills, purchasing power, civic voice?

The Jam takes place October 10 -12, and you can dip in and out of the conversations as you wish.

I will be hosting a discussion forum on Empowering the Individual, and we want and value your thoughts, insights, and questions.

Other forums will address measuring social impact, effective partnerships, the digital revolution within the service sector, and much more.

Other discussion hosts include Patrick Corvington, Alan Khazei,  Sonal Shah, and John Bridgeland.

Following the Jam, IBM and its partners will produce a white paper with key findings and highlights to share with participants.

The document will serve as a call to action on key issues and as a practical guide to help organizations innovate and improve service programs — all the more reason we want your energy and creativity at this unique event.

For more information and to request an invitation, please visit the Service Jam Website or email .

Yours in service,

Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute

Register for the Service Jam!

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Dear Friends,

Please take action now to claim a seat by registering for the upcoming Service Jam, if you haven’t already. The Jam is an online event, and you can pop in and out as you wish over three days Oct. 10 through 12.  Seats are filling up so reserve your place today!

I will be hosting a discussion forum, “Empowering the Individual,” and we want and value your thoughts, insights, and questions. Visit the Jam website to find the latest information and more featured guests, including John Bridgeland, Alan Khazei, Patrick Corvington, and former President George H.W. Bush.

IBM and Points of Light are joining with many other thought leaders and organizations in this global conversation; we need individuals to step up and realize their power to change the world. Come jam with us!

Sincerely,

Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute, and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network