Engage Library

In the late 1990s, the Volunteer Center of Battle Creek (Michigan) worked closely with the Points of Light Foundation (POLF) and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) to adopt and implement the POLF Family Matters program. The goal of the POLF Family Matters program was to “make…

On a recent visit back to the United States, I heard very different opinions about volunteerism from two good friends. The first said that she will never volunteer again...she tells why. The second friend said she couldn't get enough of volunteering...and she tells why. These…

There has recently been a flurry of publications in several countries discussing the way that organizations might present the "value" of volunteering in terms of cash equivalents. In the US, a major national nonprofit currently provides the figure of US$16.05/hour as the average…

Fund raising in Italy is deeply rooted in antiquity. We could go as far as to maintain that it was born 2000 years ago at the age of the Roman empire. Seneca and Cicero (De Officiis) might be regarded as the first two theorists of fund raising, not to mention the golden age of…

Every once in a while we run into someone from Corporate America who, upon learning that we work primarily with nonprofits, proceeds to talk about how charities should be run more like businesses. We also occasionally find the Nonprofit Executive who is certain that social…

Good, skilled people in the field of volunteer management are often unsuccessful because they function reactively in programs where there is little or no true commitment, understanding or support for developing and sustaining a healthy, cutting-edge volunteer program.…

When I conducted my first workshop in England in 1992, I vividly remember discussing the topic of organizational image. I asked participants how long their organizations had been operating in the community. When one response was "since the Crusades," I knew I wasn't in Kansas…

One of the truly neat things about volunteering is that is allows people to make a contribution to the world in which they live. With formal volunteering this is only true, of course, to the extent that organizations allow people to volunteer, thus recognizing that ability to…

Minnesota is pleased to announce the beginning of a new statewide association for people in the field of volunteer administration, the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (MAVA), affiliating thirteen previously-independent professional networks (and growing). This…

Imagine that some catastrophic event hits your community, and residents are unable to use telephones, the Internet, or other communication tools we take for granted. Did you know that there is a vast global network of volunteers ready to get help to you quickly and efficiently?…

At the recent Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City many non-Canadians would have heard our national anthem, "O Canada," for the first time. Of course, it is a young anthem, adopted only 35 years ago. Canada is a young country but we have a long history of volunteerism. During 2001…

"Time dollar" advocates claim that their currencies are not money, when in fact they are - special-purpose monies that function differently from the general-purpose monies we are accustomed to using. Does this mean that time dollars are a detriment to volunteerism? Not…

I began work as a Coordinator of Volunteers in 1964. A year later I started writing poetry and haven't been able to stop since. I only hope this is not another occupational hazard in a profession already well supplied. Still, it's true that poetry can say some things hard to…

During the period of 1975 to 1998, the defining change in volunteer involvement was the shift in styles of volunteering from the Long Term Volunteers, who had dominated volunteering in the 20th century, to the Short Term Volunteers, who struggled to balance the demands of work…

Susan and Steve explore the question: Are people who are required to do unpaid service really "volunteers"?

One of the least-researched areas of volunteer involvement in the United States is that of ethnic volunteering. Hispanic volunteering, in particular, has received much less attention than it deserves considering the vast increase in size and importance of the Hispanic population…

Rather than offering a training design, I'd like instead to share a lot of quick ideas with you that I have learned and found invaluable in almost 30 years as a trainer. Instead of adding more words than you would ever want to read about each idea, let me just offer them in "…

Mary Wiser, innovative director of volunteer services at the Courage Center in Minnesota, lost her fight with cancer but remains in the memory of the many volunteer program managers who saw her as a mentor. Unfortunately, Mary was not a writer, but her friends have culled her…

Volunteers have always been the backbone of sports, leisure and recreation programs, so we decided to do a quick round-up of Web resources in this area. What follows is a mix of things: research studies and articles forms and policies workbooks and manuals And just for fun we…

The refrain is heard time and time again in the groups and organizations of modern society. Schools have been crying out for ages about the shortage of math and science teachers. Corporations have been wailing about the lack of skilled workers. Community issues go un-addressed…