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How To Maximize Your Volunteer Resources
- Support from the Top for Volunteers
- International Journal of Volunteer Administration
- Planning a Staff or Volunteer Retreat
- Statistics on Virginia Volunteering
- Valuing Volunteer Time
Looking for a local Volunteer Center in Virginia? Want to know the latest news about volunteering and national service here in the Commonwealth?
Visit www.vaservice.org
New Online Course in Volunteer Management (only $20!!)
The University of North Texas is pleased to offer its first continuing education course in volunteer management entitled, "Are You REALLY Ready for volunteers?" Both first-time volunteer managers and seasoned professionals can benefit by learning what nonprofits need to know when incorporating or revising a volunteer program. Topics include strategic programmatic considerations, best practices, and program assessment techniques. This 2.5 hour self-paced course is now available. Participants have one month from enrollment to complete the course. Best news of all: it is only $20!
Support from the Top for Volunteers
Laying a good foundation for a successful volunteer program begins with the top decision-makers of an organization. It requires significant management team support to integrate volunteer engagement with financial development, public relations, program development and all other key aspects of the organization, all requiring coordination at the highest levels. It is also vital that top leadership express their vision of the potential power of volunteerism, and then take action to assure that the vision can be realized. Here are a few books which can be used to educate decision-makers as well as frontline volunteer program managers.
12 Key Actions of Volunteer Program Champions
http://www.energizeinc.com/store/5-219-E-1
Free report - What real-life "Volunteer Program Champion" CEOs think, feel, and do to support volunteer involvement in their organizations.
The Board's Role in Supporting Volunteer Programs:
55 Min. Training Module 10 http://www.energizeinc.com/store/4-210-E-1
A training module to set the stage for board members to become active in initiating and/or supporting effective volunteer programs.
Build a Better Board in 30 Days
http://www.energizeinc.com/store/5-212-E-1
Great reminders for experienced board members and an easy orientation for new board members.
Building Staff/Volunteer Relations
http://www.energizeinc.com/store/1-104-E-1
Insight into (and humor about) the reasons for tension between employees and volunteers and practical strategies for designing satisfying work for both groups.
International Journal of Volunteer Administration
The International Journal of Volunteer Administration (IJOVA) is a peer-reviewed, professional publication connecting practitioners, academicians, and consultants in greater service to the global volunteer community. Formerly published by the now dissolved Association for Volunteer Administration and known previously as The Journal of Volunteer Administration, IJOVA is now produced by North Carolina State University in recognition of the critical role of professional managers of volunteers in mobilizing human resources to address serious human, community, and social needs through volunteerism.
The first four on-line issues of the Journal will be published in 2006-2007 and available free of charge to anyone with access to the Web. Themes of each issue include:
July 2006: Trends and Transitions
October 2006: Volunteerism and Health Care
January 2007: Volunteerism and the Other Sectors
April 2007: Volunteerism and Holistic Community Development
Beginning in 2007, The IJOVA will move to a subscription-only Web-based publication, so now is the perfect time to check it out at no cost! Visit www.ijova.org to access informative articles.
Planning a Staff or Volunteer Retreat
Retreats are a way to gather your staff, board and/or other participants in a relaxed setting to share ideas, reflect on experiences, discuss service issues, learn new skills, and work on team-building. Retreats are a valuable resource, but much of their potential can be wasted if they are planned ineffectively. Retreats should always be a forum for learning and working together that supports the organization's mission, goals, and priorities.
Consider the following when implementing a retreat:
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• Define the desired outcome of the retreat.
• Determine who needs to attend in order to accomplish the desired outcome.
• Decide whether you will use a facilitator to help plan the agenda and manage the retreat.
• If you use a facilitator, decide whether s/he should be from outside the organization or inside the organization.
• Once you know how many people to invite and the type of space you need, identify a facility that can accommodate your requirements.
• Visit the facility if you are not familiar with it to verify the accommodations.
• Develop an agenda for the meeting and determine whether you want the attendees to do any work prior to the retreat.
• Schedule some "fun" or "down" time for attendees to reflect and just enjoy being together.
• Hold retreats that last longer than a day at the beginning of the week. Participants will be much more focused if they have had the weekend to relax.
• Reconfirm details with the facility a few days before the retreat.
• Arrive early the day of the retreat to set up the room.
• Ask everyone to complete a Retreat Feedback Form at the end of the retreat.
(Source: Corporation for National and Community Service. Handbook for Continuous Improvement, "Tools and Practices," and "Participant/Staff Retreat," pp. 1-12. )
Statistics on Virginia Volunteering
Information about how and where Virginians volunteered during 2002 to 2005 is now available from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). Highlights include:
- The number of volunteers reached the highest point in 2005, when close to 1.7 million people volunteered.
- The rate of volunteering for 2003 to 2005 in Virginia (29%) was higher than the 3-year rate for the South overall (27%) and similar to the 3-year rate for the nation (28.8%).
- More persons aged 45-54 years volunteered (33.9%) than any other age.
- From 2003 - 2005, volunteers in Virginia spent a median of 54 hours annually on volunteer activities. This was higher than both the annual median hours for the South (52 hours) and the nation (51 hours).
- Close to one-third of Virginia volunteers donated 100-499 hours annually.
- Volunteers in Virginia donated the most time to coaching, refereeing, tutoring, teaching or mentoring (28.8%) and fundraising (28.6%). These were the top two categories throughout the South.
CNCS has set a national goal of increasing volunteerism in the United States by 10% by 2010. Virginia's Commission on Community and National Service is developing a state service plan to embrace this goal, and VANNO is represented on this task force.
For more information, including detailed state-level volunteering tables, go to www.nationalservice.gov.Valuing Volunteer Time
As their fiscal year ends many organizations seek to capture the value of what volunteers contribute. Calculating the number of volunteer hours is one approach, but this does not take into account the dollar value of their work nor the more intangible impacts of the time they donate.
There are five different methods for measuring the value of volunteers, each having their advantages and disadvantages:
Average wage: assigns a dollar amount per volunteer hour, based on the average wage paid to an American worker at a national, state or city level.
Replacement wage: calculates the value of the volunteer's time based on the amount it would cost the organization to pay someone to complete the same task.
Opportunity cost: estimates the salary that the individual volunteer makes in his/her professional life; for every hour volunteered, the person is forgoing that hour's worth of income.
Social benefits: includes both direct and indirect results of the volunteer program, beyond a purely wage-based value.
Value to volunteer: measures the benefit that the volunteer receives in exchange for their time and efforts.
Whereas the "Average Wage" system is the most commonly used, it doesn't tell the whole story. The inherent value of volunteers is indisputable, and worth articulating in the most meaningful way for your organization. For more excellent information about each of these methods, visit the following websites: