Why Do You Volunteer?

Posted on March 21, 2012 by VM Tech

by Kristen Sarah Jones

For so many reasons. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to serve this year as an AmeriCorps member through Goodwill Industries of Northern New England.

Volunteers learn as they teach, receive as they give, grow as they challenge. The volunteer-recipient relationship is one of the greatest chances in human interaction that allows for true balance.

It is this interaction that I pursue with Great Strides Rural Education Corps in Greenville, Maine. Straight away I was given the chance to work with a group of freshman and sophomores starting online learning for the first time. The challenges are, at times, complex issues of development and management. Other times, the challenges are simple motivation and mood. It is, above all, about the experience between mentor and mentee. The give and take of academic priority and personal reflection is the back and forth weighing in the mentor interaction that builds incredible children into strong young adults.

And it doesn’t end there. At the end of the day, I get the opportunity to serve with the literacy group in the K-6 after school program. This dichotomous experience allows for a wide ranging exposure to the developmental complexities at all levels of schooling.

I will prize this chance to serve the state of Maine and my country in this manner forever; and with four months left, it seems there is still so much to do and so little time.

Thank goodness more members will follow!

Kristen Sarah Jones is serving at Greenville Consolidated School for the 2011-12 school year as part of Goodwill Industries of Northern New England’s Great Strides Rural Education Corps. She is also a native of Greenville.

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What’s so Interesting About Pinterest?

Posted on March 19, 2012 by VM Tech

by Daniel Martinage, CAE

Just when you think it may be a good time for your nonprofit to test the social media waterways, up pops another big internet fish—in this case, Pinterest.

Pinterest debuted in March 2011 to lukewarm reviews. Less than 6 months later however, it became the new social media sweetheart by becoming the fastest independent site to hit 10 million monthly unique visitors in the US.

Pinterest Logo

Pinterest Logo

Branded early-on as a “women’s site,” Pinterest quickly proved it had a broader and more diverse appeal. Although women continue to be the largest percentage of Pinterest “subscribers,” there’s a whole lot more going on there than exchanging recipes and wedding ideas.

Here are some of the latest Pinterest statistics as reported by Comscore and Mashable:

• 28% of users have an average household income over $100k;
• average user spends 16 minutes a day on Pinterest;
• half of the users have children;
• 68% of Pinterest users are women;
• Pinterest gets 1.36 million visits per day;
• half the users are between the ages of 25-44;
• Whole Foods has the most followers on Pinterest.

Okay, this is all fine and good, you may say, but what does it have to do with NPOs? Well, a lot —at least potentially. Although like other social media networks, it’s not “cool” to overtly push your cause, Pinterest’s rich image format attracts followers who share an interest or passion for your cause. This attraction has the potential to increase your organization’s followers exponentially.
Some examples of NPOs that have embraced Pinterest include the National Wildlife Federation, Water.org and the Humane Society of New York Woof-Adopt A Dog.

One particularly thorny issue concerning Pinterest deals with copyright issues. Experts are contemplating what is and is not copyright infringement. The issue is further complicated when you consider that pinning a copyright image actually creates hype and interest—something many copyright holders desire.

In this volatile world where today’s “honey” can become tomorrow’s “left over,” it’s difficult to predict just how influential Pinterest will become. That being said however, the time is definitely right to discover what’s so ‘pinteresting’ about Pinterest.

For more information on Pinterest and nonprofits check these sources out:

Joe Waters: Why and How Causes Should Use Pinterest
Beth Kanter: Pinterest: A Tool to Curate Relevant Visual Content for Your Audience
Avi Kaplan: Steal These 42 Creative Pinterest Ideas for Nonprofts
Mashable: Pinterest: 13 Tips and Tricks for Cutting Edge Users
LinchpinSEO [INFOGRAPHIC]: Ideas For Marketing Your Products Using Pinterest

Daniel Martinage, CAE, is an executive coach and consultant specializing in nonprofits and associations. The former executive director of the International Coach Federation, Dan also serves on the Selection Committee for The Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management and on the faculty at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. His website is www.associationcoach.com

Posted in Association Coach, Social Media, Technology | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

AmeriCorps Members Support Efforts at Critical Health Nonprofit

Posted on March 16, 2012 by VM Tech

by Brandy Dupper-Macy and Christine deLorimier

AmeriCorps*National Members Brandy Dupper-Macy and Christine deLorimier are on assignment at LifeFlight of Maine, Maine’s only emergency medical helicopter service. While in different roles within the organization, both Brandy and Christine are supporting a non-profit that ensures high quality critical care in the direst of situations for all Mainers and visitors.

Brandy Dupper-Macy, a United States Air Force veteran, serves mainly within the framework of Education and Outreach, where she facilitates a vital initiative to train and educate doctors, nurses, paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians about working with critical pediatric patients. The training is essential for providers because pediatric patients are not seen as often and respond to trauma and treatment differently than adults. Education also includes best practices and techniques for emergency assessment and care. Conferences are held all over the state of Maine. The most recent conference was in Skowhegan, at Redington-Fairview General Hospital. Two pediatric surgeons and several LifeFlight medical staff were on hand to teach and provide hands-on practice through practical scenarios and child-sized Human Patient Simulators.

Christine deLorimier is serving within the framework of fundraising for a new LifeFlight initiative, which is raising money to buy an airplane and retrofit it with high-tech medical equipment to supplement two medical helicopters currently in service. This new aircraft would allow LifeFlight to fly in inclement weather when the helicopters cannot and would help the helicopters last longer. When the two helicopters were purchased, expected flying hours were approximately 450 hours per year; they are currently flying about double that. An airplane will help prolong their lifespan and fly people in snow and rain. Christine supports fundraising efforts by coming up with systems to track giving from different sources and develop those sources (i.e. grants, individual donors, corporations) to further the campaign goal.

In addition, Brandy and Christine support the small office staff of the LifeFlight Foundation in many ways, often working on mailings and special initiatives such as patient celebrations, golf tournaments and community partnerships. AmeriCorps supports this partnership of helping a necessary resource in our rural state, and gives two willing volunteers the opportunity to learn about and be involved in an amazing organization that is so essential for Maine.

Brandy Dupper-Macy and Christine deLorimier serve at the LifeFlight Foundation in Camden through Goodwill Industries of Northern New England’s Emergency Response Corps. Christine lives in Appleton with her husband, two sons, and a menagerie of pets. Brandy lives on North Haven, with her husband and two sons and takes a ferry over daily to serve. She is an Air Force veteran who is looking forward to her first day-long helicopter ride-along this month.

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VISTA: Fighting Poverty with Passion

Posted on March 15, 2012 by VM Tech

by Monika Pardon

When I mention that I am an AmeriCorps*VISTA and that I serve with the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, the usual response is “huh?” That is when I attempt to say what AmeriCorps is and what we as VISTAs do.

What is AmeriCorps*VISTA? President John F. Kennedy famously said, “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Many Americans, young and old have since answered his call for service. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson created a new service program called Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). Then in 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act, which established the Corporation for National and Community Service. Under the Corporation are AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve, and Senior Corps. VISTA and the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) were incorporated with AmeriCorps. Now there is the state and national AmeriCorps, AmeriCorps*VISTA, and AmeriCorps*NCCC.

VISTAs are people who give a yearlong commitment to serve in their community. We do all sorts of volunteer work, from helping in the fight for literacy, to helping tutor in afterschool programs, to working with non-profits to help build sustainable volunteer programs and finding funding for programs that are crucial to the community.

AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps*VISTAs are all over the country, serving in every state. In Maine, we have AmeriCorps members all over the state, working on service-learning implementation to prevent dropouts, working with veterans and their families, working with volunteers, working with nutrition programs, and in many other community based non-profits and government agencies. Our main goal is to help fight poverty—one program, one child, and one senior at a time.

VISTA member Monika Pardon

Maine VISTA Project Monika Pardon serves at Southern Maine Agency on Aging

As a VISTA, I came to work at the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, working with Ken Murray in Volunteer Services in August 2011. We got straight to work trying to improve our volunteer department. I rewrote the new volunteer guide to help our volunteers read through it with as much ease as possible. I helped update the volunteer section of the Agency’s website, but most importantly, I have been able to work with a few of our dedicated SMAA volunteers, whether interviewing them for the Volunteer Spotlight in the Senior News or working through Excel to help analyze the 2010 Census Data. I appreciate the response to the volunteer survey that was sent out at the end of last year. The feedback has been wonderful to hear, and has been helpful to show where our services need some fine tuning.

President Bill Clinton stated upon swearing in the first AmeriCorps class in September 1994, “Service is a spark to rekindle the spirit of democracy in an age of uncertainty. When it is all said and done, it comes down to three simple questions: What is right? What is wrong? And what are we going to do about it?” As an AmeriCorps*VISTA working at the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, I am pleased to say that I am doing my part to help the senior population of southern Maine by helping our incredible volunteers make a difference every day.

Monika Pardon serves at Southern Maine Agency on Aging with the Maine VISTA Project. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan where she completed several research projects, served as a judicial intern, and studied abroad in Oxford, England. She lives in the greater Portland area with her two young children. To learn more about the Maine VISTA Project, watch this short video starring several of its members.

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Finding a Way to Talk About What We See

Posted on March 14, 2012 by VM Tech

by Caroline Fish

Serving in the Great Strides Rural Education Corps in an area of Maine where poverty is prevalent and deep, I’ve wanted to find a way to talk about the extent of the hunger and need in an empowering way.

It was sitting in a webinar on poverty offered by AmeriCorps that I began to understand how to do that. In the webinar, we watched a talk given by Dr. Donna Beegle, a woman who lived through and got out of generational poverty. She said, “Teach kids. Teach kids in poverty about poverty so they can externalize the shame and blame.”

Around here, people are resourceful, strong, close-knit, helpful, generous, and hard-working. Everyone is. We don’t talk about the poverty, exactly. No one wants to. We all have more dignity than that. It’s shameful to be in a position where you can’t feed your kid or heat your house. However, externalizing the shame and blame associated with being poor is one way to teach someone how to survive and thrive.

Dr. Beegle described changing our language in order to motivate our children in ways that make sense. We need to take the time to find out the circumstances of that child, then find a way to motivate them within their context. Use words that make sense. She described working in a school once where she used the word “spa.” The kids had never seen, heard about, or been to a spa. How about “sauna?” She began stretching to find a new word that they could relate to. What about when we tell our kids, “Dare to dream!” or “Be all you can be!?” When they go hungry over the weekend, “Be all you can be” means something different. It could mean “Forage for food.” They might be sleeping on a friend’s couch because they’re sixteen and homeless.

I dare you to tell a child to dream when they’re hungry. How would you rephrase the phrase “Dare to dream” so they feel like they can? It’s hard, but stretching to find a new way to say something so you can be sensitive to another person’s life experience teaches you your own privilege. Maybe you don’t know what it feels like to experience poverty, and if you don’t know what it feels like, you are privileged. And you can learn how to talk about it.

My site coordinator talks about the poverty all the time. The first days of work, I was learning from him about my job and the kids I would work with. He said, “Some of our kids don’t have a kitchen table. Where are they going to do homework?” That stayed with me. What does homework mean for a kid that doesn’t have a home? I don’t usually know which students don’t have a kitchen table. No matter. I do know they all want to be celebrated. Every kid does. So we all play. We create safe places to be and to grow. We try to find ways to speak so they feel strong.

Caroline Fish is an AmeriCorps volunteer serving at the Maine Sea Coast Mission EdGE afterschool program in Cherryfield, Maine. Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina and graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Caroline is serving at her site until July 2012 before pursuing graduate studies in social work.

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Can AmeriCorps Help Advance Service-Learning in Maine?

Posted on March 13, 2012 by VM Tech

by Richard Higgins

My service as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Maine Commission for Community Service is just one month old, but, in recognition of AmeriCorps Week 2012, I’d like to take the opportunity to highlight the extraordinary impact that the Maine VISTA Project is making in education in this state and to let readers know how they might also benefit from a VISTA or other AmeriCorps volunteer.

Service learning is a bit of a buzzword these days—and certainly for good cause—but it turns out that it isn’t really something new. In fact, if you think about it, many of us have utilized service-learning techniques before, either formally or informally, but didn’t necessarily call it that. What we know, though, from myriad studies and research is that service-learning has a very positive and beneficial effect on youths: Students that engage in high-quality service-learning programs in their schools show increased personal and social responsibility, treat others more kindly and helpfully, have fewer behavioral problems, and are less likely to be in need of disciplinary measures. The research also shows that service-learning helps students acquire academic skills and knowledge, achieve higher standardized test scores, become more engaged and motivated to learn, and it helps keep them in school.

With such a glowing record backed by much data and research, one wonders why every teacher isn’t already using service-learning as a teaching tool. Why haven’t principals, superintendents, and school boards everywhere already embraced this pedagogy that will help their schools’ performance measures? Why haven’t communities across Maine already demanded it of their schools as a means of helping their children become more responsible and civic-minded?

That is where we come in. Of the 21 Maine VISTAs currently serving throughout the state, a third of us are working with local school systems, engaging students and teachers in service-learning. For the school districts around Maine that do not already benefit from a Maine service-learning VISTA, imagine, if you will, having one or even ten energetic and motivated volunteers helping you to realize better-performing students, better-performing schools, and better-off communities. From York County to Mount Desert Island, from Skowhegan to Oxford Hills, our service-learning Maine VISTAs are dedicated to working with teachers, principals, curriculum coordinators, and the students themselves to inspire, motivate, educate, and train them in the best practices of service learning.

The students at the schools systems they serve are engaged in service projects that you’ll recognize: they create and maintain school vegetable gardens, introduce recycling programs and other sustainable efforts to make their schools lean and green, or explore other community issues to address and learn from. The VISTAs help the schools motivate students to identify and participate in extended learning opportunities. They also work with teachers, curriculum coordinators, principals, superintendents, and school boards to ensure that their efforts are sustainable.

The neat thing about this is that other organizations can take advantage of this and other AmeriCorps programs right now. The Maine Commission for Community Service offers program operating grants under the AmeriCorps*State Formula funding allocation. Grants are available for programs that will focus on:

1. increasing adoption of service-learning as a teaching method;

2. engaging citizens in service that increases health and wellness through increased physical activity and decreased obesity;

3. building capacity of organizations and schools that contribute to an increase in the percentage of students who complete high school and pursue post-high-school training or education;

4. building capacity of organizations and schools to decrease the incidence of obesity as prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Eligible applicants include Maine non-profits, faith-based organizations, state and local units of government, higher education institutions, and national or regional organizations intending to operate an AmeriCorps program within Maine. A typical award for the Education Award Program is between $20,000 and $30,000, while the maximum grant for cost reimbursement is $260,000. For more details and information on how to apply, visit the Maine Commission for Community Service’s website. And, I should mention, individuals currently serving as AmeriCorps members are prohibited from writing applications for any Corporation for National and Community Service funding through their hosting organizations.

We think it’s a great opportunity, and we know the added value we VISTAs and other AmeriCorps volunteers can give an organization helping the community. And, what better way to do that than through education and service-learning? So, I hope if you are planning a program that fits one of these criteria, you will follow the link above, or if you know of a group, that you will pass this information to them.

I know I’m proud to be a part of the AmeriCorps VISTA program serving my home state. I’m also excited to be involved in the promotion of service-learning, because I cannot think of a better way for our youth to become more engaged in their learning and, at the same time, in their communities.

Richard Higgins is an AmeriCorps*VISTA member serving at the Maine Commission for Community Service. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer, serving in the Philippines with a focus on educator training and community development. Prior to that, he worked as a Japanese-language interpreter for more than a decade. To learn more about the Maine VISTA Project, watch this short video starring several of its members.

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Volunteers Preserve Maine’s Past for Future Generations

Posted on March 12, 2012 by VM Tech

by Rachel Miller

Like many of my AmeriCorps colleagues, my position at the Maine Historical Society and Maine State Library encompasses a wide range of projects and responsibilities. However, unlike many other AmeriCorps members, all of the volunteers I manage are public and community history volunteers working around the state to preserve and share narratives from Maine’s past. I’d like to take this opportunity to briefly outline two major initiatives in Maine public history, and the key role volunteers play in keeping them alive.

The Maine Community Heritage Project

The Maine Community Heritage Project (MCHP), now in its third year, is a unique and innovative program that unites schools, libraries and historical societies in the pursuit of local history. MCHP brings together key community stakeholders across organizational and generational lines as project participants collect, explore, and share the objects and stories that make their town unique. The program culminates in a community website hosted on Maine Memory Network, a statewide digital museum. To date 19 communities have participated, including current teams in Surry, Swan’s Island and Strong.

None of these projects could be completed without volunteers; a great deal of the scanning, cataloging and information gathering is completed by historical society members donating their time, as well as educational and library professionals going beyond their job descriptions. For example, when students at Mattanawcook Junior High School in Lincoln wanted to know more about their town’s history of mills and paper production, they need more than just a textbook or Wikipedia. Instead, they relied on the local knowledge of relatives and Lincoln Historical Society members to fill in the gaps. Although perhaps not what first comes to mind when we think of volunteer service, the project participants in MCHP have made invaluable contributions to their communities.

The Portland History Docents Training

The Portland History Docents (PHD) is a unique, collaborative approach to volunteer recruitment and training for historic properties and museums in Portland. Now in its fourteenth year, the PHD program has grown to include eight sponsoring organizations, all of which rely on volunteer guides to keep their doors and (and this year, cemetery gates) open. The PHD program was developed by the Portland History Collaborative, a group of museum professionals and volunteers who identified an overlap in their training, both in terms of historic background and docent best practices. Each PHD participant receives a total of nine weeks of group training, including lectures covering Portland art, architectural and social history as well as public speaking, teaching with objects, and leading inclusive tours. Participants choose at least one site and commit to 6-10 hours a month for at least a year, and then undergo site-specific training that covers the particulars of their volunteer position. Having been both a participant in the program and an employee of one of the sites, I can say with certainty that both parties greatly benefit from this collaborative approach to volunteer training and recruitment.

Neither MCHP or the Maine Historical Society’s educational programming would be possible without volunteers. In 2011, education docents contributed 523 hours to the organization, and volunteers also support crucial work in the Longfellow Garden and in the Brown Research Library. Whether engaged in teaching, digitizing, event organizing, researching, or writing, the continued preservation and sharing of Maine’s history depends on volunteers.

Rachel Miller is an AmeriCorps State Member serving at Maine Historical Society and the Maine State Library under the Community Resource Corps, which is a division of Goodwill Industries of Northern New England and funded by the Maine Commission for Community Service.

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Community Partners: Helping with the Solution

Posted on March 5, 2012 by VM Tech

by Matt Robinson

In two recent conversations with teachers about to start service-learning projects with their students, I was asked the same question. One teaches urban secondary students, the other rural elementary students. Since two individuals in different situations had the same question, and because the question relates to an issue on which community partners are a big help, I bring it to this space because many of you are either community partners or you work directly with those who are community partners for service-learning projects.

In earlier posts, I have stressed the value of community partners. Remember, one of the eight Quality Standards for Service-Learning projects is Partnerships. From the Quality Standards for Service-Learning: “Service-learning partnerships are collaborative, mutually beneficial, and address community needs.”

Indicators are as follows:

1) Service-learning involves a variety of partners, including youth, educators, families, community members, community-based organizations, and/or businesses.
2) Service-learning partnerships are characterized by frequent and regular communication to keep all partners well-informed about activities and progress.
3) Service-learning partners collaborate to establish a shared vision and set common goals to address community needs.
4) Service-learning partners collaboratively develop and implement action plans to meet specified goals.
5) Service-learning partners share knowledge and understanding of school and community assets and needs and view each other as valued resources.

An aside: keep these indicators handy! They are a wonderful resource to use to reflect on your practice.

Back to the teachers’ questions: both teachers are wondering about the stage of the service-learning process when students identify and research solutions in preparation for selecting a solution(s) to impact the community problem or need. Basically, they asked, “What do I do if my students choose to do something that I don’t think we can do?”

Sure, that is a big question. It has some important assumptions and it begs follow up questions. But while there are many strategies for helping students to select solutions, discussion of those strategies could fill a good many blog posts. I want to call attention to, as Indicator Four from the list above suggests, help from community partners in this process.

As individuals who are engaged with the problems and needs related to the project on a day-to-day basis, community partners’ input brings authenticity and realism. They should—as Indicator Four implies—be a part of the process of identifying and selecting the solutions.

In practice, participating in the process of identifying and selecting actions with students can take many different forms. A couple of ideas:

1. Community partners can provide samples of criteria for a solution—just a few guidelines drawn from their experience for students to consider as they brainstorm.

2. If schedules allow, students can host a “solutions fair” at which they present their in-process ideas to their community partners who then to provide some objective feedback.

Community Partners play a vital role in service-learning experiences from beginning to end, and the stages of identifying, researching and selecting solutions are no exception.

Review the Quality Standards for Service-Learning, especially the standard on Partnerships and get ready to share your knowledge and experience as you help youth to help the community.

Matt Robinson is a Featured Blogger and an education consultant with KIDS Consortium.

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Orientation is the First Step in Training Volunteers

Posted on February 28, 2012 by VM Tech

by Jen Lobley

Training and orientation are not one in the same. Yet in recent conversations with some of my colleagues, I have noticed that there seems to be a bit of confusion. This became very apparent to me when I started brainstorming with someone a list of topics to include in an orientation. By the time we finished, the list included enough information for a full two days—enough information to totally overwhelm a new volunteer and send them running from the organization.

An orientation, in my mind, provides an overview for a new volunteer. It helps them get acquainted with the organization, helps them to gain a general picture of who the organization is, what the organization does, and how volunteers play a key role. Training, on the other hand, typically provides more in-depth information. Trainings can be for new or experienced volunteers and might be based on need.

Orientations are your opportunity to provide consistent information, not only about the organization but about policies and procedures. Picture five new volunteers coming into your organization. Each may have had a different experience with your organization, heard things from one of your current volunteers, or have been a volunteer for another similar organization. Each brings their own assumptions and interpretation of what it will mean to be a volunteer. Orientation is the time to get everyone on the same page, regardless of the specific volunteer role they will have or what prior knowledge or assumptions they carry with them.

Orientations can be provided one-on-one, in small groups, large groups, through written materials and even on-line. Keep in mind that orientations provide an opportunity for new volunteers to ask questions and have information clarified, so if you are using written or on-line materials, be sure to follow up with the volunteer though a phone call or in person so their questions can be answered. Good orientations can be accomplished in 90 minutes and should:

Develop a feeling of belonging: This is a great time to help new volunteers begin to feel connected to the organization as they meet staff and other volunteers. Plan a fun ice-breaker or get to know you activity and plan for partner or small group interaction as part of your orientation. It is important that your new volunteers feel welcome and appreciated.

Clearly communicate expectations: What is it that you need your new volunteers to know? This is the time to state what is expected. Are there behavior standards? Dress code? Confidentiality issues? Time commitments? Volunteers can’t meet your expectations if they haven’t clearly been stated. Taking the time to address expectations up front can save a lot of time further down the road once the volunteer has started their assignment.

Share the mission of organization: A bit of history about the organization, the mission statement and goals and objectives are helpful to a new volunteer. This helps them to see how their role as a volunteer fits in. Include a brief description of programs, and you may wish to share some impacts your organization has had on the communities it serves.

Review policy and procedure: Include an explanation of policy, procedures, rules and guidelines. Inform volunteers who they can contact with questions about these topics.

Explain where to go for additional support: Introducing key staff members and explaining their roles is important. Volunteers will want to know where/how to access additional resources to help them in their role. Explain modes of communication that are used—is there an email list, monthly newsletter, team meetings? Assure volunteers they won’t be out there on their own, and be sure they understand there is a support system for them.

Tour of facilities: Make sure to give a short tour to point out rest rooms, volunteer offices, phones, parking, resource library and break room.

Risk Management: This will be individualized based on the type of work the volunteer will be doing with your organization, but certainly an area to cover.

Provide written information: Provide your volunteers with a some written information that summarizes the information you covered in your orientation: a handbook, packet, brochure, or Web site. Volunteers won’t remember everything they heard you say. Give them something to reference if they have questions or want to review particular pieces of information.

Jen Lobley is a featured blogger and the Extension Educator for Volunteer Development at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

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Understanding Consensus

Posted on February 21, 2012 by VM Tech

by Jane Haskell

Last time, in Making Group Decisions – Six Options, we talked about the six decision-making options: spontaneous agreement, one person decides, compromise, multi-voting, majority voting, and consensus building.

We know that the facilitator, group leader, or the group needs to choose the most appropriate method before each decision-making session. Each of these options, of course, has its pros and cons.

This month, we will dig more deeply into understanding what consensus is, when to use it (or not) and what are some of the key points we need to remember about consensus. This post wraps up with identifying effective decision-making behaviors.

Consensus Pros and Cons
Consensus building involves everyone clearly understanding the situation or problem to be decided, analyzing all of the relevant facts together, and then jointly developing solutions that represent the whole group’s best thinking about the optimal decision. It’s characterized by a lot of listening, healthy debate and testing of options. Consensus generates a decision about which everyone says, “I can live with it.”

• PROS of consensus building are that it’s a collaborative effort that unites the group. It demands high involvement. It’s systematic, objective, and fact-driven. It builds buy-in and high commitment to the outcome.

• CONS are that it’s time-consuming and produces low-quality decisions if done without proper data collection or if members have poor interpersonal skills.

Consensus can be used when decisions will impact the entire group; when buy-in and ideas from all members are essential; when the importance of the decision being made is worth the time it will take to complete the consensus process properly.

Understanding Consensus Building
The crucial importance of consensus simply cannot be overstated and must be fully understood by all facilitators. In fact, facilitation and consensus are based on the same set of core values and beliefs. Facilitators are constantly building consensus with everything they do. The following are all examples of consensus activities:
• Summarizing a complex set of ideas to the satisfaction of group members;
• Getting everyone’s input into a clear goal and objectives for the group’s activities;
• Gaining buy-in from all members as to the purpose of the session;
• Linking people’s ideas together so they feel they’re saying the same thing;
• Making notes on a flip chart in such a way that at the end of the discussion each member sees where and how they’ve contributed and is satisfied with what has been recorded; and
• Discussing and agreeing on which decision mode to use in a formal decision-making process.
Because all facilitation activities must strive to be collaborative, participative, synergistic and unifying, all facilitation activities are essentially consensus building in nature.

Hallmarks of the Consensus Process
Regardless of whether consensus is being used formally to reach a decision on a specific issue, or informally as an ongoing facilitation technique, you know the group is working consensually if:
• there are lots of ideas being shared;
• people’s feelings are openly explored;
• everyone is heard;
• there is active listening and paraphrasing to clarify ideas, and ideas are built on by other members;
• no one is trying to push a pre-determined solution; instead there’s an open and objective quest for new options;
• the final solution is based on sound information;
• when the final solution is reached, people feel satisfied that they were part of the decision; and
• everyone feels so consulted and involved that even though the final solution isn’t the one they would have chosen working on their own, they can readily “live with it.”

There are many situations in which the decisions being made are of such magnitude that consensus needs to be designated as the only acceptable method of decision-making. In these cases, the group agrees to keep discussing until everyone indicates that he or she can live with the outcome. Defaulting to voting for sensitive decisions allows dissenters to absolve themselves of responsibility for important group outcomes. If the whole-hearted commitment of all members is important to a particular decision, facilitators need to use the strategies for overcoming resistance. This involves openly asking resistors:
• What stops you from supporting this idea? What are your specific objections?
• What changes, amendments, or additions would make this an idea you could live with?

One of the major contributions of any facilitator is in helping a group overcome the temptation to “pressure” dissenters into agreement. By openly accepting and discussing differences, facilitators help members reach decisions that have been objectively explored and tested.

You shouldn’t end a consensus exercise by asking “Is everyone happy?” nor even “Does everyone agree?” At the end of even a great consensus process, people have usually made concessions and are likely not getting everything they “wanted.”

Consensus isn’t designed to make people happy or leave them in 100 percent agreement. Its goal is to create an outcome that represents the best feasible course of action given the circumstances.

Last month, while acknowledging that decision-making is rarely easy, we discussed ‘Things to Watch for in Decision-making.’ One of the things to watch for, of course, is behavior.

Effective Decision-making Behaviors
To make any decision process work, group members need to behave themselves in specific ways. These behaviors can be suggested to the group or generated as norms in advance of any decision-making session.

Helpful and Hindering Behaviors

We also use these ideas in groups as well as training, like STRENGTHENING YOUR FACILITATION SKILLS, LEVEL 1.

Material adapted from: Strengthening Your Facilitation Skills, Level 1. Jane Haskell, Louise Franck Cyr and Gabe McPhail. Orono, ME: UMaine Extension, 2007.

Jane Haskell is an Extension Professor with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and a Featured Blogger.

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