Profession/Field of Volunteer Administration

Intrepid Australian volunteer and traveler Louise Rogers writes:

Don’t you love travelling? The preparation…the journey…the reflections…the recollections…and ah!...the experiences to be had?

I’ve had an amazing journey over the past 25 years, working in the voluntary sector in Australia and, in particular, the field of educating those who work with and lead volunteer effort. I’ve travelled through this time with many colleagues and friends, accumulating some wonderful experiences and being part of incredible changes in the volunteer world in Australia.

Now in the first flush of retirement, I have the opportunity, indeed the privilege, to reflect on those adventures – the challenges, the achievements, and the lessons learned along the way. As I look back, the landscape is barely recognizable. Like every other area of our lives, volunteerism is responding and adapting to rapid social, cultural, and economic changes.

Join Rogers in this special e-Volunteerism feature as she reflects on a quarter century in the volunteer world. You may find yourself nodding and smiling in recognition.

It was one of those moments in time that starts a movement – a movement to increase the recognition and support given to Managers of Volunteers. In this feature article, author Claire Teal of Volunteering New Zealand explains how the movement got started at a 2009 National Volunteering conference, what has happened over the past two and a half years, and why she is excited about what she calls a “work in progress.” Teal explains that “VNZ is on target to launch both the competencies and best practice guidelines before the close of 2012,” two exciting accomplishments that will certainly be important to Managers of Volunteers world-wide. 

During 2011, a small group of volunteer managers in the UK responded to an invitation to be part of a project that would ultimately allow them to develop new skills, extend their networks and create a team of ‘Volunteer Management Champions.’ The goal was to help create a ‘buzz’ about the volunteer management profession, and to raise the profile of the valuable work carried out by managers of volunteers across all types of organisations.

In this article, authors Rob Jackson and Sue Jones present the comments and view points of some of the volunteer managers who participated in this key group. Through the use of video and audio, these volunteer managers review their involvement and reflect on their achievements. A year on, they assess both the personal and professional impact of the project, and explain why and how more leaders and managers of volunteers should contribute to the field.

In this Voices, we underscore the fact that Steve McCurley has been remarkably prolific during his career. His earliest publications (1972- 2004) are listed in a 10-page, single-spaced bibliography on the Energize Web site. As the Director of Research for the National Center for Voluntary Action (the predecessor of the predecessor of the predecessor of Points of Light), he often contributed to their magazine, Voluntary Action Leadership, with his first article appearing in the Fall 1976 issue. We present an excerpt from that article in this issue of Voices, along with excerpts from a number of Steve's long out-of-print articles, including items he wrote for “Grapevine,” the bi-monthly newsletter he produced with Sue Vineyard beginning in the 1980s. You’ll be surprised at how much of Steve’s “Early McCurley” material still resonates in today’s world.

How many of you have actually taken the time to create a strategy for your own professional development? Have you considered what you would like to achieve professionally over the next year or the next five? So many of us discuss the need to professionalize volunteer management so that our organizations will value volunteers and the work we do, leading to greater investment in volunteerism and viewing us as internal experts. But for that to occur it must start with each of us. 

According to Sheri Wilensky Burke and Gerald (Jerry) Pannozzo, it's important for each individual to invest in professional development. There are many strategies out there to accomplish this: subscriptions to publications such as this one; memberships in professional associations, attending conferences and workshops; mentoring; and the strategy Burke and Pannozzo describe as peer career coaching. In this feature article, read how these long-time colleagues used peer career coaching to collaborate on a mutual support plan to increase their professional skills and opportunities. After reading, perhaps you can, too. 

In 2010, United Way of King County, in partnership with 501 Commons, launched the Volunteer Impact Program (VIP) in Seattle, WA.  Now moving into its third year of operation, this free program provides volunteer management training, assessment and consulting services to local nonprofits to strengthen their ability to deliver services through the effective involvement of volunteers. In a 2011 article called “The Volunteer Impact Program (VIP): An Innovative Approach to Strengthen Volunteer Engagement Capacity,” e-Volunteerism introduced the VIP model, shared some preliminary results for participants and discussed lessons learned in delivering this intensive program to local nonprofits. In this new feature, authors Nikki Russell and Liahann R. Bannerman revisit VIP and report on some exciting long-term positive results and the challenges of delivering VIP to nonprofit organizations.