Volume X, Issue 3, April 2010
Knowing When to Stop: How to Develop an Organizational Process to Help Volunteers Retire
One of the hardest things a volunteer manager may ever face is how to deal with an aging volunteer whose performance has begun to fall short of the organization’s expectations. In this special two-part series, e-Volunteerism tackles this important but often over-looked issue through two insightful... Read more
From the Vantage Point of a Volunteer: An Inside Look at the Winter Olympics
If you watched the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, you no doubt recall the “blue jackets” – the 25,000 passionate, talented and dedicated members of the Olympic volunteer team who worked at every event and venue leading up to, during and following the Games. In this e-Volunteerism feature... Read more
Effective Youth Engagement in Generation Y: Lessons from the Field
Despite all the theory and research about Generation Y — those individuals typically born between 1977 and 1997 — there still appears to be a considerable amount of confusion as to how volunteer managers can effectively engage this generation. Could this confusion stem from not clearly... Read more
What Are Volunteers Good At?
“What kinds of work should volunteers do?” Volunteer program managers tend to run into this discussion in a number of different ways, often centering on the issue of whether volunteers can do some positions/work or whether only paid staff can do the work. And the usual context for this... Read more
Miscellaneous Good Stuff, Part 9
In this issue’s Along the Web, Steve McCurley presents another collection of Miscellaneous Good Stuff. In this regular e-Volunteerism column, McCurley covers a wide range of topics, ranging from trends in Internet usage and volunteering by seniors to issues related to student volunteers in England... Read more
Choosing the Right Training Method
This Training Design by Rick Lynch presents basic points about how to design an effective training session for volunteers. Co-author of the best-selling book, Volunteer Management, Lynch describes three distinct training arenas or “domains” – training to increase volunteer knowledge, training... Read more
The Dynamics of Multi-Level Organizations
An Audio Keyboard Roundtable
On behalf of Osteoporosis Canada, volunteerism consultant Suzanne Lawson recently convened a telephone conference call that included Linda Graff, Marilyn MacKenzie, Susan J. Ellis and representatives of Osteoporosis Canada. These accomplished volunteer management experts proceeded to discuss how... Read more
Japan’s Volunteer Probation Officers
The Volunteer Probation Officer Law of 1950 formalized Japan’s unique and long-standing reliance on volunteers to assist professional probation officers and aid offenders of all ages with rehabilitation and to work on crime prevention. Today, just under 50,000 people from nearly every area of... Read more
AARP's Report on "Connecting and Giving"
In this Research to Practice, Steven Howlett reviews a recent research report that delves into how middle-aged and older Americans spend their time when they’re not at work. Published in January 2010 by AARP in Washington, D.C., this report collects information from a comprehensive survey of... Read more