Trends and Issues in Volunteer Management

Including: Civic Engagement, Civil Society, Time Banking

Articles and excerpts on this subject

Better Together: The Report of the Saguaro Seminar, Civic Engagement in America (2000)
Corporate Citizenship: A Tax in Disguise? by Richard Teather, challenging the philosophy behind the practice.
DIVERSITY: Different Perspectives on the Same Topic, from the book Megatrends and Volunteerism
A Nation of Doers Needs to Do More, editorial by Robert Putnam and John Bridgeland (2004)
National Conference on Volunteering and Service 2009 Summary Report describing new service initiatives of the Obama Administration and Points of Light Institute.
The New Volunteer Workforce, by David Eisner, et. al. in Stanford Social Innovation Review (Winter 2009)
A People Lens, an interview with Volunteer Vancouver about their innovative engagment of highly-skilled volunteers.
Rethinking Volunteer Engagement, from Volunteer Canada
Seven Trends to Capitalize on Volunteer Resources During Tight Financial Times, from the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (2008)
Transition Strategies for the Volunteer World from the Journal of Volunteer Administration
Volunteer Effort: A Tool for Change, but Not for Free from Civil Society at the Millenium

Free electronic books on this subject:

America's Civic Health Index 2008: Beyond the Vote from the National Conference on Citizenship. Reports for earlier years can be downloaded at http://www.civicenterprises.net/reports.php.

Citizens at the Center: A New Approach to Civic Engagement, written by Dr. Cynthia Gibson and commissioned by the Case Foundation. Proposes a re-thinking of what civic engagement is (and how volunteering fits in). (31 page PDF, 2006)

The Pro-Am Revolution: How enthusiasts are changing our economy and society, by Charles Leadbeater and Paul Miller (UK, 70 page PDF, 2004). Presents the concept of "Pro-Am" (professional/amateur) relationships as a way to add extra expertise to work on social needs.

Generation We by Eric Greenberg
Explores the emerging power of the Millennials, the largest generation in American history. Based on a 2,000-person survey and twelve focus groups in four different regions of the country, Greenberg's research provides insight into the subtle and nuanced political views of young people today.

Understanding Canadian Volunteers: Using the National Survey on Volunteering, Giving and Participating to Build Your Volunteer Program
This excellent, free, 44-page guide demonstrates wonderfully how to apply research to practice by applying data in the National Survey to specific aspects of volunteer management. By Norah McClintock for the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy and Volunteer Canada (2004).

Youth Helping America — Leveling the Path to Participation: Volunteering and Civic Engagement Among Youth From Disadvantaged Circumstances from the Corporation for National and Community Service (2007, 32-pages).

Websites with useful articles on this subject

"Anti" Volunteerism Positions and Arguments
Collected by the Ayn Rand Institute:
http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5404
http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5319
http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5161

Ashoka - Civic Engagement
http://www.ashoka.org/civicengagement
Defines and presents worldwide examples of what they call the "citizen sector" (see definition).

Better Together
http://www.bettertogether.org
Social trends discussed by author Robert Putnam and an initiative of the Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America, this Web site defines "social capital" in great detail, and offers specific ways individuals and groups can become involved in building communities. Especially see the FAQs: http://www.bettertogether.org/faqs.htm

Citizens at the Center
http://www.casefoundation.org/spotlight/civic_engagement/summary
Case Foundation's site proposing new approaches to civic engagement.

Civil Society section of Citizendium
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Civil_society
Civil society is the "arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values." This new wiki (2007) is being compiled by academic Roger A. Lohmann.

Focus on the Economic Crisis
http://foundationcenter.org/focus/economy/
Site from the Foundation Center established to share many perspectives on how nonprofits and funders are behaving during the economic crisis.

Generation We
http://gen-we.com
Site devoted to explaining the perspective of Millennials and mobilizing them to service.

Guardian Newpaper
http://society.guardian.co.uk/volunteering/
This newspaper web site devotes a full section to the topic of volunteering, with many provocative articles challenging the value and role of British volunteers.

"Hot Topics" in Volunteerism (archive)
http://energizeinc.com/hot.html
Monthly essays by Susan Ellis, with reader responses.

"Hot Topics" from OzVPM (archive)
http://www.ozvpm.com/htarchive.htm
Monthly essays by Andy Fryar from Australia.

OneWorld UK Volunteering Guide
http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/volunteering?gclid=CJOLpc7a-oQCFRU-GgodsiA9Bg
OneWorld Guides offer an introduction to relevant sustainable development and human rights issues, with pointers to more detailed content. This one focuses on trends in worldwide volunteering.

Social Citizens Blog - Glossary 2.0
http://www.socialcitizens.org/blog/what-is-a-blog-anyway
Site utilizing the most innovative online technology for "social citizenship" offers this page defining blogs, wikis, and other tools (includes videos).

Time Banks USA
http://www.timebanks.org
Founded by Edgar Kahn, describes how to set up service exchanges that give barter "value" to each hour of volunteer work contributed by participants.

Topic of the Month by Mary Merrill
http://www.merrillassociates.net
Mary Merrill, the late volunteer management consultant, posted a monthly topic on volunteer management. Past essays are all accessible.

Voluntourism
http://voluntourism.org/
VolunTourism is the integrated combination of voluntary service to a destination with the traditional elements of travel and tourism - arts, culture, geography, history, and recreation - while in the destination. This site explains it all.

WorkPace™ Program
http://www.workpaceusa.org/
The Volunteer Center of North Texas helps businesses deal with injured employees who are well enough to work, but not able to return to their normal job. WorkPace places employees in volunteer work with nonprofit organizations and reports to the employer on the activity.

Youth as E-Citizens Report
http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/index.htm
Online "tour" identifies and analyzes almost 400 websites, created for and in some cases by young people, that engage youth in civic activities. Read the full 155-page report by American University's Center for Social Media (2004) about how an online youth civic culture, largely unnoticed by the general public, has taken root on the Internet and is fostering Generation Y's participation in U.S. politics and community affairs. http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/youthreport.pdf

Relevant Hot Topic essays

Taking the Client's Perspective in Designing Volunteer Roles - October '09
Making Ongoing Volunteering Valued and Visible - Sept '09
The Separation of Service-learning from Volunteering...and Does It Matter?
- Aug '09
The Drive towards “Highly-skilled” and “Pro Bono” Volunteering - Jul '09
Days, Hours and Minutes of Service – Enough Is Enough - June '09
The Difference Beteween Needing and Wanting Volunteers - March '09
What's Ahead for 2009? - Jan '09
How Will the Economic Crisis Affect Volunteering? - Nov '08
Volunteers Should Not Be Second-Class Taxpayers - Jul '08
Is the Rising Cost of Gas a Crisis or an Opportunity for Volunteering? - Jun '08
The Big Merger: Many Unanswered Questions - Aug '07
Voluntourism – Pros, Cons, and Possibilities - Feb '07
Applied Futurism: Putting Trends to Work Today - Aug '04
Volunteering in For-Profit Settings: Exploitation or Value Added? - Feb '00
Trend Watch: Are You Ready? - Sept '99
If the Whole World is Changing, Can Volunteerism Stay the Same? - Jan '99

For information on this topic specifically relating to the Australasian region please visit our friends at OzVPM :
http://www.ozvpm.com/resourcebank/resource_trends.htm

7/3/09