By Trudy Hamilton
Spring is upon us (I know it doesn’t seem like winter is releasing its grip). Spring always makes me feel alive, after a long, cold winter. For some reason, the cold really sank into my bones this year, so I am looking forward to all the new sprouts, the fiddleheads in the pot, and tender dandelion greens in the salad bowl.
Another thing that is stirring this spring is a new association, AL!VE. AL!VE is the Association of Leaders in Volunteer Engagement. We hope to become an excellent resource, support, and advocate for volunteer managers nationwide. We hope to include everyone, but one of our main ideas is to be the association for what I like to call the Independents, those of us who do not have an affiliation with Hands-On Network, and we aren’t tied to tightly to the Corporation for National Community Service or other national entities.
The Independents often lack the formal support that Volunteer Centers enjoy, and those operating under the umbrella of AmeriCorps. We don’t have all the answers provided to Girl Scout or Boy Scout staff, or other large volunteer- and membership-driven organizations.
We do, however, manage volunteer programs for Area Agencies on Aging, perhaps the local library or transportation program that engages volunteers to ensure success. We recruit, engage, and motivate the millions of volunteers in this country that are not associated or affiliated with the national outfits.
AL!VE isn’t ready to have members join yet, but as one of their Board members, I’d like some input from those of you in the field. What would you like to see provided by AL!VE for the Independents? Services? Training? Research? Advocacy? What ideas do you have? What does a national organization need to do to meet your needs? What should be a priority? This is your chance to express your ideas and share your experience, while we are still working on the details. So, I invite you to send me your thoughts. A peer2peer forum has been created especially for Al!ve. This will serve as a place where we can chat about your ideas during the development stages and then as a place for members to collaborate once Al!ve is officially established. Please join the conversation.
We plan on opening the organization to new members at the National Conference on Volunteering and Community Service in San Francisco this June, so you’ll hear more about AL!VE after that.
Trudy Hamilton is Volunteer Manager at Seniors Plus and a featured blogger.
