The Nonprofit FAQ

Where can I find information on volunteer program management?
Jayne Cravens posted on October 26, 2003:

The best resource for books on volunteer management is http://www.energizeinc.com

My volunteer management "bibles" are
"Help-I-Don't-Have-Time-To-Manage-Volunteers" and "From the Top Down," which
are both available from this web site. (You can order href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0940576171/internetnonprofi">
From the Top Down from Amazon.Com and a small royalty will be paid that helps support this site.)

There's also a great deal of volunteer management information at
http://www.serviceleader.org

Finally, once you have plowed through the basics of volunteer management
info, you might join CYBERVPM, which is a discussion group for volunteer
managers. However, I encourage you to get to know the basics first before
you start posting questions to this group. You can learn about CYBERVPM at
http://www.avaintl.org/network/cybervpm.html

Jayne Cravens posted on August 26, 2003:

"The Grantmaker Forum on Community & National Service is a network of
grantmakers dedicated to expanding opportunities for all Americans to serve
and volunteer in order to strengthen our communities and build a healthy
democracy. Our membership represents the full spectrum of corporate, family,
community and private foundations."

The Forum published "The Cost of a Volunteer" in March 2003, detailing the
level of infrastructure neccessary for an organization to effectively
involve volunteers. It's based on an assessment of 26 "high quality"
volunteer programs, and notes, "If the President's call to serve is heeded,
thousands upon thousands of Americans will knock on the doors of
neighborhood nonprofit organizations. What capacity do these organizations
have to place them? What financial resources can they draw upon to train
them? What infrastructure do they need to supervise volunteers and recognize
their contributions?"

http://www.gfcns.org/pubs/Cost%20Volunteer%20FINAL.pdf

The United Nations celebrated the International Year of the Volunteer in 2000-01. Jane Cravens wrote on 10/26/01 with the following information:

The United Nations Secretary General's Report "Support for Volunteering"
(A/56/288) is now available on the UN Documentation Center Web site
[http://www.un.org/documents/]. It is available in six different languages.

To view the document, go to the web site, choose the language you want, go
to General Assembly 56th session, and look for document:

A/56/288
14 August 2001
Support for volunteering - Report of the Secretary- General

It's 13 pages long, in PDF format.

This report will be the basis for the discussion of plenary meetings on 5
December, 2001, as part of the official closing of the International Year
of Volunteers (http://www.iyv2001.org).

This report is made of three parts:

1) volunteering and its meanings, manifestations

2) volunteering and its contribution to global concerns - poverty
reduction, environmental protection and regeneration, health and
disaster management and mitigation

3) recommendations on how governments and the UN system could support
volunteering

This report highlights the evolving paradigm of volunteering from
-- the traditional view of volunteering as purely altruistic
service into one characterized by benefits to everyone involved
(in other words, reciprocity)
-- a perception of volunteering of poor people as sole
beneficiaries to one in which collective forms of voluntary action are a
fundamental way they participate in society


The Virtual Verve mailing list (about virtual volunteering) carried the following notice on June 1, 1999. (Note: To subscribe to Virtual Verve, send an e-mail to: listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu with the message in the body of the email reading "subscribe Your FirstName YourLastName" without the quotes.)


One of the most popular sections of the Virtual
Volunteering Project site is its index of Online
Resources for Volunteer Managers & Service Leaders.
This is a comprehensive index of links to Internet
resources providing information on and tools for
volunteer recruitment, management and recognition,
program evaluation and service leadership. Also
included are resources that promote volunteerism
and volunteer opportunities.

The index, at
http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/vonline.html
is presented in four sections:

Web sites with Volunteer Management
Information & Resources
Links to information on volunteer screening,
matching volunteers to assignments, record-keeping
and evaluation, legal issues/risk management,
volunteer/staff relations, online activism by
volunteers, and volunteer management software.
Also includes links to resources for coordinators
of service learning programs.

  • Online Discussion Groups for
    Volunteer Managers & Volunteers
    A list of newsgroups and e-mail-based groups for
    volunteer managers and service leaders. Great
    places to interact with other volunteer/service
    managers, get suggestions and feedback, and ask
    questions.
  • Web Sites To Find Volunteer Opportunities
    For agencies looking for a place to post volunteer
    opportunities online, and for individuals looking
    for a place to volunteer. This index links to
    major regional and nationwide sites in the U.S.
    that provide updated lists of volunteer
    opportunities at other organizations. Also
    included are links to indices of local sites,
    such as volunteer centers and community networks/
    freenets.
  • Web Sites Promoting Volunteerism/Community Service
    For those looking for information about volunteerism
    (why do it, who is doing it, tips for doing it, etc.)
    and organizations that sponsor national or
    international volunteering efforts.


    Plus



    Susan Ellis's ENERGIZE organization maintains a volunteer management
    web
    site at http://www.energizeinc.com which lists many publications for
    sale. Energize is an international training, consulting and
    publishing firm
    specializing in volunteerism.

    there is also an e-mail list is used exclusively for the
    distribution
    of Energize's monthly electronic update -- to subscribe, send an
    e-mail to: join-energize@sparklist.com August 20, 1998




    Reposted with additions, 6/1/99; additions and corrections 8/26/03; broken link to cyberVPM corrected 1/20/06 -- PB