Engage Library

Volunteer centers exist around the world, although they rarely connect with each other across national borders. In Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, the concept of a “volunteer bureau” – the most common original name – first gained traction to mobilize home front…

A chapter in Hybrid Organisations and the Third Sector. Challenges for Practice, Theory and Policy, edited by David Billis (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

Arts, heritage and cultural institutions have always been one of the bulwarks of volunteer involvement, engaging large numbers of volunteers in a very wide range of institutions. One of the more fascinating aspects of volunteering in these institutions is that some programs are…

Once again, Along the Web summarizes a variety of new materials and events on the Web that are related to volunteering. This popular feature by Steve McCurley presents a sampling of research studies and articles on trends, environmental volunteering, volunteers by age groups,…

The expression “work-life balance” was first used in the UK in the late 1970s to help explain the unhealthy life choices that many people were making. According to one definition, people “were choosing to neglect other important areas of their lives such as family, friends,…

This month’s Research to Practice takes a slight detour from reviewing research to report on an article that tries to take a completely new view on some well-known volunteer issues.  The article, called “It Ain’t Natural: Toward a New (Natural) Resource Conceptualization for…

With this issue of e-Volunteerism, co-founders and co-publishing editors Susan J. Ellis and Steve McCurley begin their tenth year of publication. When they began this effort, both admit that they had no idea whether a venture like e-Volunteerism would succeed at all, much less…

Established in 1964 and held every year in Western Australia, the Dowerin Field Day is an effort to find ways to prevent the small, wheat belt community of Dowerin from becoming a ghost town and to raise funds for improved community facilities. In an attempt to engender…

For 30 years, Kate Hanson pursued two passions: growing vegetables and herbs in her organic garden and studying the complexities of working with others. Until recently, she viewed these passions as two completely different and separate areas of her life. But in this creative,…

The rise of social media is contributing to the return to prominence of what is called ‘the gift economy.’ As social networks and online communities grow, values such as sharing, openness and collaboration are increasingly governing our relationships and the connections between…

In the scenic Olympic Peninsula town of Port Angeles, Washington, businesses were struggling to survive the national economic meltdown. The six-week Hood Canal Bridge closure from May 1 to June 15, 2009, temporarily slowing the economy-driving flow of tourists from the Greater…

This issue of Along the Web continues our practice of providing you with links to a variety of the more interesting studies and reports available via the Internet.  In this issue we’ll look at everything from international youth service programs to volunteering in cathedrals to…

Despite all the theory and research about Generation Y — those individuals typically born between 1977 and 1997 — there still appears to be a considerable amount of confusion as to how volunteer managers can effectively engage this generation. Could this confusion stem from not…

The Volunteer Probation Officer Law of 1950 formalized Japan’s unique and long-standing reliance on volunteers to assist professional probation officers and aid offenders of all ages with rehabilitation and to work on crime prevention. Today, just under 50,000 people from nearly…

This Training Design by Rick Lynch presents basic points about how to design an effective training session for volunteers. Co-author of the best-selling book, Volunteer Management, Lynch describes three distinct training arenas or “domains”  – training to increase volunteer…

In this Research to Practice, Steven Howlett reviews a recent research report that delves into how middle-aged and older Americans spend their time when they’re not at work. Published in January 2010 by AARP in Washington, D.C., this report collects information from a…

 “What kinds of work should volunteers do?” Volunteer program managers tend to run into this discussion in a number of different ways, often centering on the issue of whether volunteers can do some positions/work or whether only paid staff can do the work. And the usual context…

If you watched the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, you no doubt recall the “blue jackets” – the 25,000 passionate, talented and dedicated members of the Olympic volunteer team who worked at every event and venue leading up to, during and following the Games. In this e-…

One of the hardest things a volunteer manager may ever face is how to deal with an aging volunteer whose performance has begun to fall short of the organization’s expectations. In this special two-part series, e-Volunteerism tackles this important but often over-looked issue…

In this issue’s Along the Web, Steve McCurley presents another collection of Miscellaneous Good Stuff. In this regular e-Volunteerism column, McCurley covers a wide range of topics, ranging from trends in Internet usage and volunteering by seniors to issues related to student…