History

The founding of the American Lung Association is intertwined with the work of many courageous volunteers who began by fighting the dreaded scourge of tuberculosis at the end of the 19th century. Read the stories of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, the first volunteer president of the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis (and himself a victim of the disease), Emily Bissell who created the amazingly-successful Christmas Seal campaign, and other pioneering volunteers.

Ten Thousand Villages, the largest fair trade organization in North America, works to provide vital, fair income to artisans in Africa, Asia and Latin America by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories. The nonprofit organization has its American headquarters in Akron, Pennsylvania and Canadian headquarters in New Hamburg, Ontario, and relies on a network of volunteers to keep operating costs low and to share its story with consumers. Tens of thousands of artisans benefit from the dedication and involvement of hundreds of volunteers across North America. Whether volunteers pull and pack orders in the warehouse or unpack merchandise and assist customers in a store, they know that their involvement changes artisans’ lives.

When I conducted my first workshop in England in 1992, I vividly remember discussing the topic of organizational image. I asked participants how long their organizations had been operating in the community. When one response was "since the Crusades," I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore! Even by British standards, St. John Ambulance has a remarkable history. Today it is a modern health care organization with members in over 40 countries worldwide. Its roots are in the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, confirmed in 1113. Over the centuries, through the involvement of clergy, medical practitioners, and legions of volunteers, St. John Ambulance has faced the challenge of balancing progress with tradition, the past and the future.

Fund raising in Italy is deeply rooted in antiquity. We could go as far as to maintain that it was born 2000 years ago at the age of the Roman empire. Seneca and Cicero (De Officiis) might be regarded as the first two theorists of fund raising, not to mention the golden age of the Renaissance and patronage of arts. At that time the government, i.e., the emperor, did not exert the same functions as today, but we are well aware of all that was done for the arts, culture, sciences and nursing. This must be our starting point, leaving aside the American culture for a moment, which came on stage three centuries later.

Mary Wiser, innovative director of volunteer services at the Courage Center in Minnesota, lost her fight with cancer but remains in the memory of the many volunteer program managers who saw her as a mentor. Unfortunately, Mary was not a writer, but her friends have culled her files and share some of her remaining training materials and other words of wisdom.

Print periodicals in our field emerged in the late 1960s. What were the topics of interest back then? Browse the tables of contents of the forerunners of today's publications and discover what has changed--and what hasn't.

The refrain is heard time and time again in the groups and organizations of modern society. Schools have been crying out for ages about the shortage of math and science teachers. Corporations have been wailing about the lack of skilled workers. Community issues go un-addressed for lack of passionate people. There is a leadership crisis; a volunteer crisis, a "can't find the person I need when I need them" crisis. Why such a shortage of people?

Yet people increasingly ask us, "Why aren't there more leaders?" Why are people reluctant to answer the cry for leadership? ... We believe this cautiousness results not from a lack of courage or competence but from outdated notions about leadership. (Kouzes, Posner. The Leadership Challenge)