November 5th is IVMDay. Most professions do not expect or need a special day of recognition - why do we? Because it's an opportunity to get others to pay attention to what it takes to coordinate volunteers effectively.
Volunteer resources managers (VRMs) are constantly being told what we can learn from professionals in personnel or human resources (HR). Maybe it's time we tell HR what they can learn from us.
In 1980 and 1990, Energize produced a mini-poster with the dramatic title of "The Seven Deadly Sins of Directing Volunteers." Susan considers whether the "sins" have changed now in 2013 - and asks for your help in generating a list for today.
One of the enduring mysteries of the volunteer management field is how often those who lead volunteer efforts do not build a team of volunteers to help them in their important work. Do you?
It's common to use a "volunteer satisfaction survey" as ostensible evidence that things are going well. Do such surveys reveal anything meaningful about the value of volunteer contributions? What might tell us more?
What would your organization look like if it practiced everything we preach about creative, welcoming, and effective volunteer management? We have to picture the results of our efforts to be motivated to do the work necessary.
United Nations Volunteers is set to issue its State of the World's Volunteering Report. In this spirit of celebration and reflection, Susan looks back at all that has happened professionally in our field - things we have done or were done to us - and asks for your retrospectives, too.
The majority of people who lead volunteer involvement do so only part-time, showing a serious disconnect between an organization's desire to engage volunteers and an understanding of how much expertise and time are needed to ensure success.
Susan offers 8 essential approaches to generate greater support from top management - using the tools leaders of volunteers already have in more powerful ways.
Some truly wonderful and provocative blogs have emerged recently. Here are some by authors who are willing - in fact, determined - to address philosophy, ethics, and the "big questions" facing the volunteer field.
Pages
