Volume I, Issue 3, April 2001
Take Advantage of e-Volunteerism's Full Potential
Tips From the Webmaster
When I design and post pages to e-Volunteerism, I start with the assumption that our subscribers are a unique group of Web users who are determined to get the most out of their Web experience. Sometimes it's hard to break old print-reading habits though. Do you find yourself printing out each article you want to read, sacrificing the opportunity to easily respond to the author's thoughts? Are you ignoring the audio and printer-ready pieces because you are concerned you won't be able to access them? Are you reticent about responding to articles, or even writing your own article, because you think you need to have more expertise?... Read more
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Modern technology makes it easy for anyone with a computer and an Internet connection to access training on virtually any subject. With the click of a mouse, you can learn how to arrange flowers or earn a degree without leaving the comfort of your home. You can log in to join a live class or sign... Read more
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Volunteers with strong loyalty to their cause tend to hold their traditions sacred. Imagine what would happen if two long-standing volunteer groups, serving different children's hospitals in the same city, united after decades of fiercely independent -- even competitive -- operation. That's exactly... Read more
On-the-Spot Audio Interview
e-Volunteerism Publishing Editor, Susan Ellis, recorded answers to this question from attendees at the IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Amsterdam this year. You'll be amazed at how much we are in agreement!
Listen to each person's response separately below or hear all the responses at once. (... Read more
A Dialogue on Gender
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Susan: The question of finding "men" to be volunteers and also to be volunteer program managers surfaces quite regularly, frequently accompanied by deep sighs from female colleagues. When a live male candidate actually appears, the sighs change to heavy panting.
As you can tell already by the bit... Read more
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Our previous issues have dealt with serious topics related to volunteerism, demonstrating the capacity of the Web to produce amazing amounts of useful material to assist managers of volunteer programs.
Of course, that's only one side of the Web. The other, more entertaining, side is discovered when... Read more
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Keeping a volunteer program responsive to today's volunteers involves leading a periodic environmental scan to determine what trends are factors in attracting and retaining volunteers. It is important that all staff and leadership volunteers understand these trends. They have implications that... Read more
Global Perspectives
Moderated by
The Keyboard Roundtable asked participants from the United States, Australia, Uruguay, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Denmark to comment on the structure and state of National volunteer centers or umbrella groups in each of their countries.
The topic and rationale set for the Roundtable was as... Read more
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In 1978, when Katie Noyes Campbell and I wrote the first edition of By the People: A History of Americans as Volunteers, we included a chapter on the emergence of the profession of volunteer management. By 1990, when the second edition of By the People was published, the amount of "organizing" in... Read more
The Profession
Moderated by
When we started this Roundtable, I thought the question was a simple one: Where does Volunteer Services belong?
A reader had sent an e-mail asking, "How is volunteer management different from human resources management?" He was anticipating such a question from his organization. This reader's query... Read more
Marc Freedman
Reviewed by
Marc Freedman's premise in Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America is that the baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964, will transform retirement as it transformed so many things in American culture. His positive assessment that "boomer" retirees... Read more
Saguaro Seminar
Reviewed by
The Saguaro Seminar is a program of Harvard University that builds on the work of Robert Putnam (author of Bowling Alone: Collapse and Revival of the American Community). One of its initial activities was to conduct this national survey of almost 30,000 people, released in February 2001. This... Read more
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One of the top ongoing issues of most of the all-volunteer groups in the CompassPoint Nonprofit Services' study featured in the Winter issue of e-Volunteerism was "reaching new members and keeping them involved." In the world of volunteer management, that translates to "volunteer recruitment,... Read more