Posts Tagged ‘Volunteer Leader’

Five Tips for Inclusive Service Projects

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

There is a perception that people with disabilities are limited to being the recipients of service. Volunteer managers are in a position to expand efforts to engage individuals with disabilities and challenge this perception within their own community. Read on to learn to be more inclusive as your work managing volunteers.

  • Research The National Service Resource Center has an accessibility checklist that will help you get started right away. This checklist will help you determine the programmatic and physical accessibility of your service project and site. Contact one of you local disability support organizations to address any problems the checklist may reveal.
  • Broaden Your Language Persons with disabilities are read to serve, but are they getting your message? recruiting materials should use welcoming language that encourages people with disabilities to apply.
  • Partner Are you performing any type of outreach activity? Consider partnering with disability support organizations to plan a service project.
  • Encourage open conversation For many, a disability is only an inconvenience that can be mitigated with a reasonable accommodation, which may or may not be needed to participate in your organization’s service activity. Encourage prospective volunteers to disclose a disability prior to the service activity, which allows for adequate preparation. When a prospective volunteer chooses to disclose, thank them for their willingness to share and their desire to serve. Describe the service activity and the types of work functions they will need to be able to perform the service. In most cases, an accommodation will not be necessary, but if you and the volunteer are unsure, contact one of your local disability resource centers for assistance.
  • Have the appropriate technology Creating an inclusive service environment is a continuous process. Adaptive technology is evolving at an increasingly rapid rate, so it is critically important to survey your program for accessibility on an annual basis. Make inclusion a component within your strategic planning and reveal the benefits of inclusion to any that may be skeptical about its importance. Embracing equality and diversity within your volunteer service teams will benefit individuals with disabilities and those without. It sets an example for community leaders and those that aspire one day to lead.

Inclusion starts with the actions and attitudes of those within your organization; it is a value that we share. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said “everyone can be great because anyone can serve”. When you take the steps to achieve an inclusion service environment, you are giving someone the chance to serve and the chance to be great!

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Posted in Volunteer Management, Volunteerism | No Comments »

The Road to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Being a Leader

Monday, December 13th, 2010

What does it mean to be a leader?  Does it mean that you have an army of followers ready to do whatever you ask of them?

Does it mean that you’re the best in the world at something?

Does it mean you have thousands of followers on Twitter or thousands of friends on Facebook?

Or does it mean that you saw something happening that you knew was wrong and acted to change it?

That you brought people together to create change in your community.

That you started something that made real, lasting change in the lives of people.

We think that everyone can be a leader when they have an idea that they’re passionate about.  There isn’t a special handshake or password that you need to know.  All you really need is a cause and the desire to make a change.

We want to help you to make that change.  You can use the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday as a springboard to starting change in your community.  Plan your own volunteer project in your community that addresses an issue that’s important to you.

You don’t have to plan a volunteer event of your own; you can take part in an event that has already been planned. Join forces with a group that works with an issue that’s important to you and work with them after the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

You can be a leader without being a volunteer, too.  You can bring people together to start the discussions that lead to action in your community.  You can host a Sunday Supper or attend a Community Cinema event in your community.

A Sunday Supper doesn’t have to be a meal in your home.  Bring people together in a community gathering place like a coffee shop, library, or community center.  You don’t have to provide all of the food yourself; ask people to bring a covered dish, or hold your Sunday Supper at a restaurant.  A Sunday Super is about bringing community members together to talk about issues impacting your community over a shared meal.  Be sure to register your Sunday Supper so people can join you on Sunday, January 16, 2011.  If you need help planning a Sunday Supper, check out our Sunday Supper toolkit with tips and materials to help you host your own discussion.

You can attend a Community Cinema event and take part in a discussion about documentary films highlighting communities that are being changed by their members.  Community Cinema events support discussions about the films that can turn into changes in your own community.

Although there are many opportunities around the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday to become a leader in your community, you don’t have to wait until January to do it.  Reach out to your local HandsOn action center to start affecting change in your community, or listen to a recorded webinar with tips for becoming a volunteer leader in your community.

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Posted in Volunteer Leader, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

8 Ways to Grow Volunteer Leaders

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

The secret to mobilizing and engaging volunteers to bring about sustainable, positive social change…

…is the development of volunteer leaders.

Volunteer leaders provide vision and they inspire, recruit and lead others.

You can play a role in mentoring, coaching and encouraging potential leaders to build the skills they need to take on leadership roles that drive social change.

First, identify individuals who have consistently demonstrated their ability to collaborate and work well with others in productive, long-term relationships.

Through mentoring, you can help new leaders recognize their own ability to manage a team and make effective decisions that result in progress toward objectives, which will improve the community.

Here are eight ways you can develop leaders from within your volunteer ranks:

1.  Provide opportunities within your organization for emerging volunteer leaders to develop and practice their skills.

2.  Encourage your volunteers to take on challenges that will foster their own growth and development.

3.  Make it safe for them to make mistakes by treating them as learning experiences.

4.  Support initiatives that your volunteers may come up with themselves rather than insisting on your own (to the degreethat you can). Volunteers will be inspired to pursue efforts and topics that are of particular interest to them rather than what you feel is best.

5.  Recognize individuals frequently for their contributions. Recognition that is low-key, frequent and personal is generally more meaningful to people than a big, annual event (although doing both is even better).

6.  Send volunteers with leadership potential to a training or take them to conferences.

7.  Remind yourself that a progressive increase in responsibility coupled with improved skills helps build leaders.

8.  Believe in everyone’s ability to reach higher and achieve more.

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Posted in Equip, Service, Tools You Can Use, Volunteer Leader, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

Restoration

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

by Sheila Weinberger Cope, Social Media Volunteer, Hands On Nashville

For me, what is most memorable about the May 1st flood in Nashville is the text message I received from HandsOn Nashville on the night of May 2nd.

The message let me know that HandsOn Nashville was officially in emergency management mode. We all needed to act and act fast.

When that message arrived, I was on a gurney in an emergency room with what turned out to be one nasty case of pneumonia.

My situation didn’t matter.  I tweeted and I posted about the disaster right then and there all the while with nurses doing their thing to ensure that I could breathe again.

With those tweets and posts, I put out the call for volunteers, tried to soothe frayed nerves and give hope to those who had none.

Even as sick as I was, my adrenalin kicked in and I became determined to do any and everything I could to help the city and organization that I love absolutely.

Before volunteering to do social media work for Hands On Nashville, I was, in a way, lost.

Early in my career, I was a publicist, a journalist and a photographer in New York City.

I went on to practice law and led intellectual property litigation if Silicon Valley.

Most recently, I opened and ran a yarn store that was, incidentally, very successful.

I sold the yarn store in the summer 2007

It was right after selling the shop that when my life changed completely.

In January of 2008, I was diagnosed with MS.

In response to the news, I floundered, grieved and struggled with what having MS would do to the rest of my life.

Always having been an active, go-getting, afraid of nothing, overachiever, I suddenly felt like MS took all of that away from me.

Last winter, when I saw that Hands On Nashville was looking for a social networker, I jumped at the chance.

Here was something I could do from home (my feet are totally numb so I’m not allowed to drive anymore) and something I hoped would finally give my life a purpose again.

I responded to HON’s search for (and I am quoting!) “a social networking guru” willing to devote four hours a week to posting and tweeting on their behalf.

After I signed up, I went home and then worried whether I could really do it and do it well.

Trust me when I say that in my wildest dreams, I could never have conceived of what this “little” project would become.

If I had, it probably would have scared me to death and sent me running to bury my head in the sand. But luckily, managing Hands On Nashville’s social media efforts has turned out to be my favorite volunteer project that I have ever participated in.

(And being over 40, that’s really saying something!)

I. LOVE. WHAT. I. DO.

I love it because I get to work so closely with nine of my heroes.

Those nine heroes are the people that run Hands On Nashville.

Of those nine, only four are actually full time employees.

It boggles my mind and leaves me awestruck at the end of every day.

If anyone is worthy of being a hero, it’s those nine good people.

Another reason I love what I do is because from where I sit, I get to see the big picture and the small ones too.

Whatever cynicism I had on May 1st, when the Nashville flooding started, is all gone now.

Watching, reading and hearing so many stories from so many amazing, kind, generous, unselfish, enthusiastic and devoted people has been an incredible experience.

The wonderful people of Nashville give me overwhelming hope.

They restore my faith in humanity.

They make me more proud than ever to be Nashville born and bred.

I am truly blessed beyond measure.

No words could sufficiently express my gratitude to Hands On Nashville, to volunteers from everywhere and to the 25,255 online fans and followers.

My focus now is to keep the disaster response momentum going even though life seems to be getting back to normal and enthusiasm understandably starts to wane.

It’s a challenge but I think I’m going the right direction.

I believe I‘ve landed where I was meant to be, doing what I was meant to do.

This project has restored me.

I’m finally ready to go back to living my life without letting my MS limit me.

My friends keep telling me how wonderful it is to have “me” back.

Sheila Weinberger Cope will be recognized at the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service as today’s Daily Point of Light Award winner. Neil Bush, Chairman of the Points of Light Institute Board of Directors will present her award at a HandsOn Network Affiliate luncheon.  Her award will be accepted on her behalf by Brian Williams, Executive Director of Hands On Nashville.

In the 58 days since the disaster, Hands On Nashville has recruited 16,422 volunteers to serve in 925 project sites and contributed 67,857 volunteer hours to flood relief and recovery efforts.  Their extraordinary social media campaign, led by Sheila, has helped galvanize 25,000 plus on-line fans.

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Posted in Disaster Relief, Inspire, Service, Stories from the Road, Volunteer Leader, Volunteer Reflection, Volunteering, Volunteerism | No Comments »

Millard Fuller: An Inspiration

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

Many of you have seen in the news that Millard Fuller died unexpectedly Monday night. In the midst of our work and the day-to-day business, this passing marks an opportunity to reflect upon a service giant who changed our world through will, determination, vision, passion and faith. Millard not only lifted our sights and created new pathways for addressing poverty housing, but he also transformed how people are engaged in solving this problem. Habitat has been unparalleled in its growth as a nonprofit in the last thirty-plus years. In the process, the Habitat organization and movement has changed the expectations and possibilities for how people serve.

Points of Light had a number of points of intersection with Millard and Habitat. Ray Chambers wrote to me today and said that Millard was one of the founding board members of Points of Light Foundation. He and his wife Linda are also recognized heroes of the Extra Mile. About five years ago, all of our Hands On staff went down to Americus for a retreat and visited with Millard and his team in a visioning session.

I also had the privilege of knowing and meeting with Millard on a number of occasions and was profoundly impressed by his unyielding and visionary commitment. (I loved questioning him about how he set his goals: a mixture of faith and a really keen marketing mind- 2,000 houses by the year 2000 or 20,000 houses for our twentieth anniversary- you could be sure that the numbers rhymed even if they were not analytically gleaned and you could also be sure that somehow Millard would reach them!) He made the impossible- possible. And with all that big thinking, he managed to write touching and sweet personal notes to thousands of people like me who he encouraged and promoted over many years.

I know that others of you have personal stories of Millard, and I encourage you to share them with our staff- virtually and in real time with your colleagues. Millard’s passing is an opportunity to celebrate social entrepreneurship and service and the power of individuals to change the world.

Let’s take note and inspiration. Millard would have liked that.

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

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Posted in Inspire, Volunteer Leader | No Comments »