2010 Weekly Volunteer Management News
27 June: It may have first gained visibility with the Olympics, but today every major international sporting event benefits from the engagement of thousands of volunteers. The Football (Soccer) World Cup is carrying on the tradition. As an article last week at goal.com reported:
What's green, yellow and always ready to assist? It could only be a FIFA volunteer. No fewer than 15,000 volunteers from all over the country, and indeed the world, signed up to help make the 2010 World Cup a success.
They are responsible for, well, pretty much everything involved in the running of the tournament, except for security. Some work as translators, others as internet technicians, and some in media/PR
Then there are those untold thousands who applied simply to be a part of it and work on whatever they are assigned. Often seen behind all manner of desks, or around the stadium, they offer directions, assistance, book taxis, distribute media passes and tickets, and - of course - are always ready with a smile and some helpful advice.
So while you’re cheering for your favorite team, or bemoaning the problems besetting them, think about the volunteers (and the people managing them) who help to make the World Cup happen.
20 June: The New England Network for Child, Youth & Family Services (www.nenetwork.org) has just released THE HIDDEN WORKFORCE: How to Make the Most of Volunteers in Child- and Youth-Serving Agencies. It’s a free, 54-page “toolkit that takes a clear-eyed look at what volunteers can really do in child- and youth-serving agencies, and how to get started growing or improving your own volunteer program.” While using examples from family service agencies, the material in the book is applicable to any setting.
NEN describes the impetus for the book as:
Since the early 1990’s, experts have been telling the nonprofit world that an advancing wave of retiring baby boomers would soon be landing on its doorstep, eager to give them all sorts of assistance, and for absolutely free. Now, due to demographics, the economy and evolving national policy, volunteers are here. But are child- and youth-serving nonprofits really ready for them? Can they use volunteers in ways that truly improve their program services, cut their overhead, and extend their reach?
The Hidden Workforce concludes yes, and gives practical advice for doing so.
13 June: The Cities of Service initiative, started by NYC Mayor Bloomberg and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, was announced with much fanfare last year. But it may be an example of the emperor has no clothes. There is not a single piece of information about activities or accomplishments available on the project's Web site other than the winners of $200,000 awards to create "Chief Service Officers" in major cities.
Philadelphia (where Energize is located) won such a grant in January. Other than a single mention in an April speech, Philadelphia Mayor Nutter has done nothing until last Monday when he finally appointed a Chief Service Officer for the city. The press release announcing the appointment reports "this new position is dedicated to engaging more Philadelphians in service and channeling volunteers towards the City's most pressing challenges." You can still see the job opening announcement, outlining what the CSO is expected to do.
Four days later on Friday, the Philadelphia Public Policy Examiner ran an article critical of the whole concept. In "Overpaid Volunteer Work: Philadelphia's New Chief Service Officer," columnist Chris Bordelon says:
Does Philadelphia need a Chief Service Officer (CSO)? Probably not.
The city has managed without one up until this year. That has not kept Philadelphians from performing tens of thousands of hours of unpaid volunteer work annually in the public interest. They needed no encouragement, coordination, or supervision from an $80,000-a-year city employee…
The position seems unobjectionable as long as private money pays for it. But after two years, taxpayers would have to foot the bill for the CSO. That would be a waste.
According to the press release announcing Wolfgang's hiring, the CSO will "lead a collaborative effort to develop a citywide service plan." The city has never had such a plan and doesn't need one. It has no shortage of either willing volunteers or worthwhile projects seeking their help…
Leaving aside the many misconceptions in this article about volunteering and the title of "overpaid volunteer work," the questions raised are important.
Energize is trying to collect impressions of the Cities of Service initiative. If you are in a city that has a Chief Service Officer and want to share your experience so far, please e-mail info@energizeinc.com.
6 June: On Monday, 7 June, Volunteering England launches the Value Volunteer Management Campaign to increase awareness of the value and importance of investing in volunteer management. Many key organizations have already shown support, going on record that investing in professional and strategic volunteer management really boosts the value they gain from volunteering, leading to increased budgets, raised organizational profiles, strengthened service provision, improved community relations, and much, much more. The campaign site offers British organizations the chance to show their commitment to volunteer management by signing the online endorsement or by providing a quote or case study.
Also on 7 June, Volunteering England opens its new Volunteer Management Portal, designed as a gateway to the world of volunteer management with links to over a thousand resources across England. This means that information on support, training and development opportunities for people managing volunteers is available to view in one single place.
As of 7 June, visit the portal at http://www.volunteering.org.uk/vmportal
Both these initiatives are funded by the Office for Civil Society as part of Capacity Builders’ Volunteer Management Programme.
You can follow these initiatives on Twitter, http://twitter.com/VEVolManagement, and by reading VE’s Volunteer Management Blog on i-Volunteer.
30 May: The Drucker Institute (www.druckerinstitute.com) at Claremont Graduate University has announced a call for applications for the 2010 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. The first-place prize is $100,000 (through a grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation), the second-place award is $7,500, and the third-place prize is $5,000. Sorry but this is open only to American 501(c)(3) organizations but, if you qualify, the the award application is now available. The submission deadline is July 1.
Administered annually since 1991, the Drucker Award is granted to a social-sector organization that demonstrates Drucker’s definition of innovation: change that creates a new dimension of performance. In addition, the judges look for programs that are highly effective and that have made a difference in the lives of the people they serve.
This type of established and lucrative awards program is a golden opportunity to articulate the unique role of volunteers in pushing change. Why not complete the application process, both for a chance to win and for the exercise of articulating what’s innovative in your work? According to a survey the Institute conducted, 94% of the organizations reported that the application process gave them a better understanding of how the particular program theyd nominated for the award was, in fact, innovative. Some 87% said the application would prompt them to explore additional opportunities for innovation in their work.
The winners of this year’s competition will be invited to attend the Drucker Innovation Forum later this fall. At this intimate, invitation-only event, participants will gather for a uniquely cross-sector conversation about strategies for making innovation systematic and effective within an organization.
If you have questions about the application or award process, please contact Jamie at award@druckerinstitute.com.
23 May:
The United Kingdom celebrates its national Volunteers’ Week on June 1-7 every year. As a lead up to the 2010 festivities, the Red Foundation’s social networking site for the volunteer field, i-volunteer.org.uk, has launched a new campaign to use 
Twitter as a recognition forum: #ThankQThursday. In its announcement, i-volunteer explains it like this:
Using the power of social media platform Twitter we want to start a new trend where charities and individuals across the country use Thursdays as an opportunity to say a big thank you to their volunteers and to organisations that have helped or supported them…
… just create the hash tag #ThankQThursday (or #TQT) and then Tweet the name of the volunteer or organisation that you want to thank - if the person you're thanking has a Twitter profile you can include that, or a link to a website if you're thanking a charity or other organisation. Once you've Tweeted your ThankQ it will appear in the hash tag feed so everyone can follow it - that way we can start to see just how many people across the country are being recognised in this way.
If you are already familiar with the Twitter world, this explanation will make sense. (If you’re not, maybe this will push you over the edge to learn more.) You can already see the idea in action at http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23ThankQThursday.
If you were wondering, i-volunteer picked Thursday because Twitter already has #FollowFriday and #CharityTuesday. It is their hope that, as word spreads across the UK and the idea catches on, people from all over the world will expand its use. And you don’t necessarily have to wait until a Thursday to tweet your recognition message!
16 May: The seventh annual survey in the Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Research series, the 2010 Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey has just been released. It was commissioned “to understand the value corporate America places on skilled volunteerism, and whether businesses expect volunteerism to be effective in helping meet social goals.”
According to the Executive Summary, the Survey finds “corporate America
gives workplace volunteerism a strong vote of confidence as a means to make
a significant, long-term difference in their communities…more than eight in 10 companies believe that volunteerism can help nonprofits accomplish long-term (84 percent) social goals.” Further, businesses are turning to their employees’ skills as a way to meet philanthropic goals in a poor economy:
- 60 percent of corporate managers and other executives polled say they offer skilled volunteerism where employees self-select the issue, and 64 percent offer skilled volunteerism where projects address companies’ philanthropic focus area.
- This reveals a notable increase: In the 2009 Volunteer IMPACT Survey of corporate contributions professionals, 50 percent of respondents said their company provides skilled volunteerism to nonprofits.
But the Survey also concludes there is much left to be done:
While companies have high expectations that volunteerism will achieve both short- and long-term social results, the survey found that they often do not take a business-oriented approach to volunteer programs. In particular, they are not consistently communicating their goals and expectations to nonprofit partners in advance of committing employee volunteer time and also not employing follow-up measures in the aftermath.
9 May: Australian colleague D.J. Cronin is quickly becoming one of the volunteer management field’s most outspoken and passionate advocates – often as the loyal opposition, goading colleagues to grow professionally. He has launched a new blog (http://djcronin.blogspot.com), called “Speaking out on Volunteer Management!,” as a forum for offering his point of view. In his May 2nd post, he seeks some pointed humor to support volunteer management.
Q: How many Volunteer Managers does it take to change a light bulb?
So here is my challenge. To evolve and become a true profession I argue that we need an answer, no, a funny answer to this question!
When there are legitimate jokes about Volunteer Management and especially when there is VM joke associated with the classic light bulb then we know we have entered the mainstream.
So help me here as I find one way to launch Volunteer Management into mainstream thinking!!
Read the responses to date here. Then add your contribution!
D.J. is a manager of volunteer services in Brisbane, Australia. Irish born, he started volunteering at the age of 15 and has managed volunteers in various settings in Australia for the past 13 years. He is immediate past President of the Australasian Association of Volunteer Administrators (AAVA) and a faculty member with the Annual Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management in Australasia. For more on D.J.’s perspectives about volunteer management, read his blog and see his article, “Are We Asleep at the Wheel? A Frustrated Volunteer Manager Speaks Out,” in the last issue of e-Volunteerism.
2 May: Manor, Texas - a city of 5,000 outside of Austin - recently launched an initiative called Manor Labs to harvest good ideas from citizens and put them into practice. Citizens go to manorlabs.org to submit proposals and vote ideas up or down. The site explains, “Manor Labs is an open innovation platform designed to allow you to help us solve problems that plague our local government agency. This is also a place for you to submit ideas on how we can do things better.”
Each interaction with the site earns participants points - known as Innobucks - which can be spent on police ride-alongs, meals at local restaurants or other items. The best suggestions are adopted by the city government. In “Manor, Texas, Crowdsources Ideas for Running the Town” on the Government Technology Web site, Dustin Haisler, the CIO, of the town says:
The cornerstone of Manor Labs is soliciting ideas from city residents, or anyone else, to make the city a better place to live. What makes Manor Labs appealing besides the prizes is that users can actively participate in making an idea come to fruition. When an idea is submitted, it goes into what Haisler calls the "idea funnel," which has four levels: incubation, validation, emergence and closed.
Since its launch last October, Manor Labs has collected almost 100 ideas, and five were implemented, including one for retooling the city's work-order system.
In “Attracting Youth to Government Service,” also on Government Technology, Manor Labs is cited as a possible “glimpse of what the future may hold for government as a younger generation enters public service.”
"This is stuff we wouldn't have thought of, and that's the important thing. Because when you do innovation internally, you can only come up with so many ideas," Haisler said…, "Manor Labs empowers citizens to participate and become involved; it's a new form of community service – online."
This may be another variation on the “self-directed volunteer” described in the new May Hot Topic.
25 April: For the fourth consecutive year, the Advanced Volunteer Management Institute (AVMI) will be held in conjunction with the National Conference on Volunteering and Service. This learning opportunity for experienced volunteer resource managers will be held this year on June 26 and 27 in New York City. Join facilitators Martin J Cowling, Susan Ellis, Rick Lynch, Steve McCurley and Betty Stallings in this high-level, engaging and enlightening exploration of advanced topics in volunteer program management for nonprofit, government and community organizations. Participants will:
- Explore cutting-edge approaches for effective volunteer engagement
- Focus on the challenges facing volunteer programs in our rapidly changing world
- Engage in individualized conversations with other advanced volunteer program managers
For details on the AVMI agenda, go to: http://www.volunteeringandservice.org/plan/advanced-volunteer-management-institute.cfm.
Attendance for the 2-day event costs $200 ($150 for HandsOn Network members). Although you register through the National Conference form, you may attend the AVMI without paying for the full conference which runs from June 28 to 30. To register, go to: http://www.volunteeringandservice.org/register.cfm.
18 April: Energize is now on Facebook! Become a fan or add us to your favorite pages to support our goal of empowering leaders of volunteers, volunteer programs, and organization-wide volunteer involvement. We’re hoping to connect with your friends and colleagues in the field who may not have found our awesome resources yet.
We’ve joined Facebook to make even more connections between volunteer management professionals and the many powerful resources available for improving the way we involve volunteers in our organizations. For example, on the left-hand side of our page on Facebook you’ll notice our Favorite Pages box (links to other outstanding people and organizations in volunteermanagement) and our Links box (links to interesting information related to volunteer management). Check these out when you visit our page to see what we find interesting and valuable.
In the weeks and months to come, we hope to learn more about how Facebook can help us encourage dialogue between our colleagues and us. In the meantime, visit the page to see what Energize is focusing on at that moment, whether it is a new book release, activity at a conference, or news from the field. For all of our full in-depth discussions, information, lists of tons of links and articles, connections to the field, etc., continue to visit our Web site.
11 April: In the April 6th post to her blog on issues for the nonprofit and volunteer community, Jayne Cravens international consultant and founder of Coyote Communications (www.coyotecommunications.com) issues the challenge, “Don't let them equate volunteer management with HR management.” She is referring to the conclusions reached by the “Reimagining Service” project (announced in this news section last year):
If you see volunteer management as just HR management, then you will love Reimagining Service, which promotes the idea of applying private sector human resources practices to nonprofit organizations. It's all about "there's a lot of work to be done; let's get volunteers to do it!" It ignores emerging trends regarding volunteer management and takes us several steps back. Don't get me wrong - "Reimagining Service" is not without some good ideas; it's nice that it says that volunteers aren't free (something the nonprofit sector has been saying for many years). It's nice that the people behind it see a need to fund volunteer management.
Jayne is absolutely correct that the project relied far too much on corporate representatives and advocates of full-time national service, with very little input – or recognition of – people in the profession of volunteer management. [Behind the scenes note: Susan Ellis was asked to review the "Reimagining Service" report just days before it was published and attempted to get the authors to avoid the most egregious issues. Mostly she failed, but did manage to get the volunteer management profession at least mentioned in the text.]
Jayne is eager for action:
… I hope that some folks will crash the Reimagining Service Forum, to be held on Tuesday, June 29th, from 10:30am – noon, in New York City at the National Conference on Volunteerism and Service and try as much as you can to educate the HR professionals and corporate representatives there about the new paradigms regarding volunteer management and the realities of the nonprofit sector.
For Jayne’s suggestions on how to be an advocate, read the entire blog posting – and add your thoughts in response. Unfortunately, there is no longer any way to comment on the Reimagining Service report itself, though you can download it to read for yourself.
4 April: The Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (MAVA) continues to earn its reputation as one of the most active and original professional societies for leaders of volunteers in the United States. They requested original research from Dr. Mai Moua, Leadership Paradigms, on volunteerism in immigrant and refugee communities in Minnesota. The full report, Relationships Matter: Volunteerism in Immigrant Communities, is now available for free at www.MAVANetwork.org/Diversity, along with an executive summary and other documentation.
Using focus groups, interviews, surveys and literature, the research documented the value of volunteerism by immigrant communities, particularly those of Hmong, Latino, and Somali populations. Of 111 Minnesota nonprofit and governmental organization leaders responding to a Web-based survey:
- 69% believe that it is important to involve immigrant volunteers within their organization
- 62% of respondents currently utilize immigrant volunteers in their organizations
- Only 25% believe they are engaging these populations successfully
The report provides the basis for ten recommendations on how to best engage the valuable volunteer involvement resource of New Americans. These are fully explained in the report:
- Understand how relationships are created and why trust is important within immigrant communities.
- Articulate the reasons for developing authentic relationships with immigrant volunteers and communities.
- Find volunteer opportunities that engage and benefit the collective, family-centered system that is prevalent in immigrant communities.
- Cultivate a strong sense of social identity for immigrant volunteers.
- Assess practices and systems that cause barriers to fully engaging immigrant volunteers.
- Find adequate resources to successfully engage immigrant volunteers.
- Know the cultural history and background of immigrant volunteerism, including the cultural competency skills needed to work with immigrant populations.
- Build on the talents of immigrant volunteers
- Engage the whole organization to recognize the importance of volunteers from immigrant communities.
- Cultivate racial and cultural understanding, sensitivity, and proficiency.
Learn more and download the free materials.
21 March: Energize is delighted to announce the publication of the long-awaited, by-popular-demand 3rd edition of From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Successful Volunteer Involvement by Susan J. Ellis.This is one of the most influential books in volunteer management and remains (since the first edition in 1986) the only title to focus directly on educating the top executives of organizations about the value of volunteers, the need for vision and strategic planning, and what is needed to support the effort.
The reason we are announcing the new 3rd edition as “news” is that it so relevant to all the issues facing the volunteer field today. Susan has expanded or added new sections to address volunteering in a down economy, the relationship between money donors and “time donors,” a description of dozens of types of community resources that fall under the domain of volunteer involvement, and much more. It is not a volunteer management how-to book; instead, it examines what an organization needs to do to lay the foundation for success and the decisions that must lie with top administrators.
GIVE IT TO YOUR BOSS! But first read it yourself, since Susan presents an operating framework that calls everyone in the volunteer community to the highest standards.
See the product page in the online bookstore for more details and the table of contents. You can get the book as a paperback and, for the first time, as an e-book, too. It is also available in a Kindle edition (if your exec is on the cutting edge!).
14 March: Bravo to AHVRP – the Association of Healthcare Volunteer Resources Professionals! In announcing their 2010 annual conference, they directly challenge the lamenting so frequently heard in our field about permission and funding for professional development. Tired of hearing “my administrator never allows me to go to anything” or “they won’t pay my conference registration or travel,” AHVRP has created what they call a “Justification Toolkit” on their Web site.
AHVRP now offers you all the materials you need in order to gain funding for your attendance at the 2010 conference in one easy location. With expert advice, pre-conference justification documents and post-conference reporting templates, your manager or supervisor is sure to appreciate the investment made into your training and development as well as to your organization’s success.
Though written for those in healthcare settings, the free materials offered are totally applicable to any leader of volunteers in any type of organization and anywhere in the world. At http://www.ahvrp.org/ahvrp/conference/conference10/justification.shtml, you’ll find documents on the following topics:
- How to Justify Attending a Conference
- Why the AHVRP 2010 Annual Conference?
- Benefits of Employee Engagement
- ROI (Return on Investment) – which poses the question, how much would it cost for you not to attend an AHVRP conference?, and then shows how to justify professional development costs and how you could actually save money through conference attendance.
- Customizable Letter to a Manager
- More Justification Tips
- Post-Conference Reporting Documents
Thank you, AHVRP!
7 March: Did the homepage teaser grab your interest? The Evening Courier (Halifax/Calderdale, UK) article, “Hundreds Answer Call for Murder Squad Volunteers,” explains how surprised the local authorities were at the outpouring of interest in helping the police to solve the most serious crimes in the area. Those of us in volunteer management could have told them that any assignment like this would generate lots of response: it’s clearly important, intriguing, and even sexy.
Here’s one recruitment pitch that worked:
BUDDING SUPER SLEUTHS WANTED; Volunteers sought to help murder squad.
DO you fancy yourself as an amateur Inspector Morse? Then West Yorkshire’s Police's murder squad wants to hear from you.
In an unprecedented step for the force - and in what is thought to be a UK first - the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team (HMET) is recruiting volunteers.
They will work alongside top detectives on some of the area's most high profile crimes.
More details can be found in an article in the Yorkshire Post.
Needless to say, the phrase “murder squad” has elicited some interesting buzz on a variety of online discussion forums, but this development probably bears watching. Will it work and will the idea catch on?
28 February: The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes (www.barronprize.org) is an annual award that honors outstanding young leaders in the United States who have made a significant positive difference to people and our planet. Each year, ten national winners each receive $2,500 to support their service work or higher education. Half of the winners have focused on helping their communities and fellow human beings; half have focused on protecting the health and sustainability of the environment. Since its founding in 2001, the award has won the support of the National Geographic Education Foundation, Girl Scouts of America, National Youth Leadership Council, and many other national organizations. Their Web site explains:
The Barron Prize honors outstanding young people, ages 8 to 18, who have shown leadership and courage in developing and implementing an extraordinary service project. The project must clearly benefit other people, our fellow creatures, or the planet we share. Winners must have demonstrated strong personal initiative as well as positive spirit, courage, intelligence, generosity, and high moral purpose. While outside help may have been obtained, the activity must be largely the winner's own creation. The service activity cannot have been done primarily to complete an assignment for work or school. The Barron Prize places significant emphasis on recognizing young people who help the environment.
The deadline to nominate a young volunteer is April 30 (every year). Get all the information on how to submit a nomination at http://www.barronprize.org/nominate/to_nominate.html.
21 February: A new report –“Connecting and Giving: A Report on How Mid-life and Older Americans Spend Their Time, Make Connections and Build Communities” – has just been released by AARP. It is the most comprehensive study on the Baby Boomer generation and its time and giving patterns since AARP’s 1997 study, “America’s Social Fabric: A Status Report of Civic Involvement.” The introduction to the report notes (p. 2):
Much has changed since 1997—9/11, two recessions, the aging of the Baby Boom generation, and a workplace characterized by longer hours and telecommuting in an effort to generate greater employee productivity in the face of a globalized economy. How have these trends and others impacted the extent and nature of the community involvement and civic participation of mid-life and older Americans? This report provides some insight and information in response to that question.
Among the highlights of the findings:
- Mid-life and older Americans are less likely to join organizations, including religious ones.
- “While the rate of traditional volunteering…has held steady, the amount of time volunteers spend in service has declined as volunteering becomes more episodic.”
- 64% of volunteers now spend less than ten hours a month volunteering (9% spend over 40 hours); in 1997, it was 56%.
- The frequency of charitable giving increased from 55% in 2008 to 72% in 2009.
Among of the stated implications of the study:
Although mid-life and older Americans recognize the power of groups, they are less optimistic about this potential than they were in the 1990s, and their civic activities tend to more individual that group-focused now compared to a few years ago. Their focus is also more likely to be secular than oriented to traditional religious groups.
14 February: After a year of waiting and two previous false starts, the Corporation for National and Community Service (The Corporation, www.nationalservice.gov) is about to get a new head. On February 11th (snowfall notwithstanding), Patrick Corvington was confirmed by unanimous consent of the Senate to become CEO of The Corporation. The official press release describes Covington like this:
Patrick has devoted his career to helping people in need and building the capacity of organizations to solve problems. He brings strong leadership skills and extensive knowledge of key issues facing the nonprofit sector, shaped by a wide-ranging series of positions including Senior Associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation; Executive Director of Innovation Network, policy researcher at The Urban Institute, a case manager for migrant workers, an advocate for adjudicated youth, a director of a group shelter home, and a patient advocate in a community-based HIV/AIDS clinic.
Patrick’s first-hand work in and with communities, his research and evaluation experience, and his knowledge of the nonprofit sector will help the Corporation and the larger national service field achieve higher levels of impact, innovation, and effectiveness. He is committed to advancing and expanding national service through a strong focus on governance, management, diversity and streamlined operations.
Also according to the release, “Corvington, who is of Haitian decent, was personally affected by the devastation suffered in Haiti, and worked with his community to quickly mobilize relief efforts to address the medical needs of the earthquake victims.” Read his full biography.
The final step is for President Obama to sign Corvington’s appointment, which is expected soon.
7 February: Thanks to David Ross at the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO), we’ve been alerted to the surprising, but very welcome, news that the campaign to raise the volunteer mileage deduction may be back in gear after lack of success in 2008. The Congressional Research Service has just released CRS Report R40434, Charitable Standard Mileage Rate: Considerations for the 111th Congress, by Nonna A. Noto, analyzing the current volunteer mileage rate tax deduction law and four legislative proposals dealing with the statutory rate (14 cents per mile) which taxpayers can deduct if they drive their own vehicle for charitable purposes. The deduction also is the ceiling at which organizations may reimburse volunteers for driving; anything over 14 cents a mile would be considered reportable income. The Report poses three sets of questions for Congress to consider:
- Should the charitable standard mileage rate continue to be set by statute? Or, should the authority to regularly review and set the charitable rate be returned to the Secretary of the Treasury and the IRS?
- At what level should the charitable rate be set relative to the other two standard mileage rates? Should the charitable rate be equal to, or higher than, the medical and moving rate? If higher, specifically what additional costs should be included? Should the charitable rate be as high as the business rate? If so, what reasoning would justify that?
- Should volunteers who receive mileage reimbursements from their charitable organizations receive more generous tax treatment than volunteers who deduct their unreimbursed automobile expenses? If not, what changes can be made to the tax treatment of mileage reimbursements, mileage deductions, or both to help equalize their benefits?
You can get more details about the report, the history of the legislation, and past efforts to raise the rate at http://pano.org/publicpolicy/publicpolicy-volunteerism.php. You can also revisit the efforts in 2008 by reading the Hot Topic, Volunteers Should Not Be Second-Class Taxpayers, as well as the various responses and updates to it.
31 January: Using crowd-sourcing technology, Change.org has launched the second annual Ideas for Change in America competition, an initiative to empower citizens to identify and build momentum behind the country's best ideas for addressing the major challenges we face. Anyone can go to www.change.org/ideas to submit any idea, discuss ideas with others, and vote on the top ideas from across the country. Ideas can be submitted within any one of 20 issue categories, ranging from the environment to homelessness to education.
The top 10 most popular ideas will be announced at an event in Washington, DC in March and presented to relevant officials in the Obama Administration. Change.org will subsequently mobilize its full community of 1 million members to support a series of grassroots campaigns to turn each idea into reality.
To submit an idea, go to www.change.org/ideas/post_idea. If you get enough volunteers to rally around your organization’s cause and ideas to address it, you may start a landslide and be in the top 10.
24 January: A 2.5 year project led by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) in partnership with the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR) and Involve, the Pathways through Participation project aims to explore how and why people get involved and stay involved in different forms of participation over the course of their lives. It looks at participation in a very broad sense and considers the act of taking part in a wide range of social or civic activities, including:
- fundraising
- boycotting a product
- voting
- being a school governor
- campaigning
- volunteering for a charity
- signing a petition
- helping out in a local fete
- responding to a local council consultation
- joining a community group
This qualitative research project began in April 2009 and explores participation in three contrasting case studies areas in England: Leeds (inner city), Enfield (suburban) and Suffolk (rural).
The first product released is a Literature Review, now available for free download . The review brings together different bodies of literature on participation, including literature on community development, volunteering, public participation, social movements, everyday politics and ethical consumption. For more information on the project or to subscribe to its newsletter, visit the website http://pathwaysthroughparticipation.org.uk/
17 January: Whenever a natural disaster strikes, volunteers become the “silver lining in the cloud” of misery. The news is dominated right now by the nightmare of Haiti after the massive earthquake and, of course, how aid is being mobilized around the world. Paid aid workers are coordinating the efforts of countless volunteers. But this is also the time when people need to be cautioned to express their genuine concern in effective ways. This means:
- Do not try to fly to Haiti to volunteer! They do not need more people to feed and shelter – especially people without disaster relief training. Those who want to give time should do so locally, helping any one of the organizations such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc. with affiliates in many global cities. Even, then, however, there will be a limit as to how many new volunteers can be accepted in the midst of the crisis.
- In the beginning, what is needed is money for food, water, medicine, and basic supplies. Rushing out to bring used clothes or bedding to some central spot only diverts workers to sorting and storing, before real needs are known.
- Check out rumors. For example, the UPS Foundation, which has pledged $1 million to the relief effort, is trying to correct misinformation circulated on Twitter:
On Twitter, some have mistakenly shared a rumor that UPS will ship for free any package under 50 lbs. to Haiti. The destruction of roads and communications networks means our own shipping services to Haiti are on hold. Rather than offer free shipping to individual donors, UPS directs its aid through relief agencies.
- Remember the problem and get involved later. It will take months to help individuals in Haiti and years to rebuild their infrastructure. That’s when volunteers really count. Plan a fundraiser now designated for Haitian relief but run it in July – less competition for attention and truly more welcomed by the recipients as time goes on.
10 January: VolunTourism.org is the leading source of information and advocacy for volunteer vacations and other forms of voluntourism. David Clemmons, publisher/editor of The VolunTourist online newsletter took the opportunity of the start of a new decade to reflect on how his industry has developed over the last ten years. See his interesting summary of the news and events that influenced voluntourism at http://www.voluntourism.org/news-soyouknow54.htm.
Combining service and travel has created some debate in our field, but this seems to be an idea that is coming of age. If you visit the VolunTourism site, check out the weekly webcast and browse the many stories and links – you’ll find many inspired ideas.
My browsing led to discovering the USA Today online “Kindness Community” (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/kindness/index) launched in October 2009. With the tagline “New Ways We Give and Volunteer,” the blog is attempting to engage readers in discussions of positive news stories and ways to get involved. They highlighted voluntourism, which is why I found the link on David Clemmons’ site. It’s all connected…
3 January: Music National Service (MNS) is a national nonprofit that supports music as a strategy for public good. In 2009, MNS launched a domestic "musical Peace Corps" called MusicianCorps in four cities - SF/Oakland Bay Area, Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle - where twenty-one MusicianCorps Fellows serve full-time in public schools, parks and recreation centers, children's and veteran's hospitals, public housing communities and elsewhere in return for a living stipend, health benefits and professional development. MusicianCorps has received media attention and endorsements from a wide array of organizations for its work in recruiting, training and placing musicians in high-need settings in order to "strengthen communities, develop 21st century skills (like teamwork, discipline, perseverance, risk-taking, critical thinking, etc.) and spread music wherever music can reach, teach or heal." The holiday message on the MNS Web site reports:
Happy holidays and thanks to all who've carried Music National Service and the launch of MusicianCorps through 2009. Today, 21 MusicianCorps Fellows -- trained, talented musicians and community service leaders -- are providing consistent music education and programming in four cities for 2,800 underserved youth and other high-need populations. MusicianCorps is currently meeting needs at twenty-six public schools, seven parks and recreation centers, two public housing communities, four hospitals, two hospice homes and ten community based organizations.
MusicianCorps has a bright future.
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