Monthly Archives: March 2010
Why Volunteers?
by Jamie Andrew For those of you who don’t know, PAVA is a beautiful thing. PAVA stands for Portland Area Volunteer Administrators, and we meet once a month at different organizations throughout Portland. Not only are there muffins and coffee … Continue reading
Posted in People, Recruitment, Retention
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One of the things that volunteer managers struggle with in recruiting is finding the things that people are passionate about.
By Michael Aiguier One of the things that volunteer managers use in recruiting is finding the things that people are passionate about. Something that can be implemented into many volunteer programs is music. People are passionate about both genre and … Continue reading
Posted in Recruitment
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Why Parents Don’t Participate… and How Nonprofit Leaders and Volunteers Can Cope
by Sarah Rhyan Last semester, one of my students brought me an all-too-familiar problem. As a leader of her son’s P.T.A. she was frustrated with the low parental turnout at meetings and P.T.A.-sponsored events. She asked what she should do. … Continue reading
Posted in People, Recruitment, Retention, Strategies
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The Familiar Unknown and Beyond
by Brad Hunter It’s like one of those super-cool, old-school video games where your map screen only shows the area directly around your character and not the rest of the map you are working with. AmeriCorps, I’m speaking about. When … Continue reading
Posted in AmeriCorps
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What Have I learned in a Lifetime of Working With and For Volunteers?
By Noble Smith Having spent nearly fifty years in the business of working with and for volunteers at non-profit organizations does not make me an expert at anything. However, one aspect of serving as a volunteer that I have carried … Continue reading
Why Do WE Volunteer?
By Pete Phair I have a couple of good friends who spend many weekends every year maintaining their respective sections of the Appalachian Trail. Another just received a coveted Volunteer of the Year Award from an organization she has done … Continue reading
Posted in Recruitment, Research, Retention
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Taking Time to Retool
By Penny Kern I’m still cleaning out drawers. After almost twenty years in the volunteer manager business, I don’t think this chore is going to end any time soon. Anyway, I found a packet from a workshop I did in … Continue reading
Developing the Art of Photography
by Alec Hartman Digital cameras make photography easy these days, and many, many people take good pictures. So, what makes a photograph really interesting and lifts it above the level of others? Personally, I don’t think it’s the number of … Continue reading
Posted in Recognition
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Sustaininability in the Nonprofit World
By Patricia Kimball According to Wikipedia (“the free encyclopedia”), sustainability is the capacity to endure. While most commonly associated with environmental concerns, we hear it often in the nonprofit world, as well. The last question on most grant applications asks … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Make it easy for your volunteers to build your brand.
By Emily Brackett If your organization relies heavily on volunteers, make sure there is a system for easily maintaining your brand standards. Your brand is an extremely valuable asset, and you want to ensure that your volunteers value, maintain and … Continue reading
Posted in Managing Organizations, Marketing
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