The quest for “tell me what’s standard for all volunteers” emerges endlessly, but there are few universal answers. Start by examining the factors of your organization and determining what is best for you, not others.
What is it about our field that everyone thinks they know how to do or how to interpret it? Why would anyone assume that working with volunteers is simply a matter of instinct, common sense, and being nice?
Orienting and training volunteers are key elements of successful volunteer involvement. But if we focus only on training volunteers, we miss the opportunity to facilitate education for our entire organization.
What are the roles of our field’s various professional societies and resource organizations, both in relation to each other and in terms of local, state/provincial, or national levels of operation? Susan examines the options.
Susan examines one of the recurring issues in our field: the disconnect between those who are paid to be coordinators of volunteers and those who, as volunteers themselves, lead other volunteers.
Susan revisits the last 63 Hot Topics and considers which remain "hot" even now.
Reactions to criticism - and to any forthright opinion expressed publicly in our field - seem to fall into four categories of response, from "why don't they like us?" to "let's fight back."
Susan reflects on how volunteer management requires a special world view within a culture so focused on economic gain. Read her version of "Everything I Needed to Know in Life, I Learned from Working with Volunteers."
Now more than ever, we need to focus on root causes and prevention of new problems. Are we engaging enough volunteers, enough of the time, in advocacy and activism along with direct services?
No matter how long I work in this field, I simply will never understand why so few of our attempts at educating decision-makers seem to stick. Maybe funders have to add their clout to their money.
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