This organisation has earned a star for excellence in Volunteer Management

There’s been some talk from associations for Volunteer Managers on creating accreditation type programs for organisations. Accreditation is a good thing and many organizations in many industries rely on this process.

Sadly, it’s never gotten off the ground as far as volunteer management is concerned.

Wouldn’t it be great to see associations for volunteer managers adopt a system where they can say that an organisation is Association approved? And that approval will last 2 years.

Associations would develop a criteria and send a member annually to ascertain that criteria was being met…paid for of course by the organisation engaging volunteers.

What would be your criteria for an organisation to get the tick of approval from a national volunteer management association?

Some of my thoughts

•The Volunteer program receives an annual budget equitable to other programs within the organisation

•The Volunteer Manager sits in a position equitable to other management

•The organisational mission or value statement acknowledges its volunteering team

•The Volunteer Manager is seen as the expert in all matters volunteering

•The Volunteer Manager is able to demonstrate excellence in service provision and leadership

•An independent audit of the volunteering team determines that volunteer management is pivotal in the success of the volunteer program

6 criteria with each carrying a score of 16.6.

The organisation gets a tick if scoring 83 out of 100

The result need not be a reflection on the Volunteer Manager as results of each criteria are made public to the organisation and Volunteer Manager.
So we could have a case where the organisation fails to receive a tick based on their value placed in volunteer management and not on the work of the individual VM. Yet the organisation could be denied a tick due to poor Volunteer Management.

Sounds too simplistic? Well it’s not being done and something like this needs to happen. Maybe we complicate processes by too much thinking!

How is Volunteer Management valued in your nation?

For me it’s simple. Volunteer Management is valued when VMs are given the resources to manage and coordinate volunteer programs. VMs are recognized for their skills by being paid the wages professional managers deserve. VMs are recognised when the community, government, volunteer peak bodies and the private sector see the VM sector as real and professional. And they demonstrate this by consulting with the VM sector on matters of policy and on major decisions that will effect volunteering.

Here’s a question to ponder. What are the signs to watch for that demonstrate to you that Volunteer Management is beginning to be respected in your nation? How can you answer the following?

Do you have a strong professional association? Is it influential? Does it help shape national policy? Does it advocate on behalf of you? Does it have a voice that is heard by Government and is therefore frequently consulted? Is it in the public eye? Is it visual? Is it constantly commenting on all matters volunteerism, via regular updates on its websites, through forums, social networks as well as local and national media? Does it make a difference?

How many ticks can you apply in your country?

What about you peak body for volunteering national or local? Does it have a good relationship with the VM sector? What’s good? Does it consult with your professional body? Does it raise awareness about the VM sector? How? Does it raise the profile of Volunteer management as a profession? When was the last time your national or local peak body invited you and some VM colleagues of yours into their place to have a chat about volunteering and volunteer management and I am not talking about conference here.

What sparked these thoughts was a great post to the i-volunteer website. The link to that website can be found on the right hand side of the page. Under the title “Value Volunteer Management Campaign – Time to Celebrate Success!” Volunteer England gives a progress report on this fantastic campaign.

It’s a great article which also includes very valuable resources for Volunteer Managers no matter where you are.

Have a read, comment and congratulate Volunteering England! Then have a look for signs that Volunteer Management is beginning to be respected in your nation.

If you don’t see them speak out.


I am!

2010 Top Ten Moments

The top ten moments for Volunteer management in 2010

Its that time of the year where people review the year gone by. On a personal note I hope that it was a good year for you. If not, I hope that 2011 brings much more to you.

In regards to the sector of volunteer management here’s my list of the top ten highlights. It’s a personal list of course. To me these were the moments where our profession was nudged forward a little. And they are mostly based on my blogging.

The top ten moments for Volunteer management in 2010


10. Volunteering England holds National Conference for Volunteer Management. Other nations still lag behind.

9. Volunteering Tasmania grant scholarships allowing people to attend the Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer management in Adelaide.

8. DJ Cronin launches this blog in March. An independent voice for Volunteer management. And still a sleeping tiger. Watch this space.

7. Debate on OZVPM listserv community on definitions of volunteering. In April there were 221 entries or contributions to this listserv on a debate on whether or not volunteering existed outside the not for profit sector. Some people stated that they would compile a synopsis of the debate but we still await that.

6. Jayne Cravens Blog. Continuing to push the envelope. Some people are quick to call themselves “leading international thinkers” This person is the real deal and check out her new look blog.

5. National Australia Bank responds to my open letter to them via my blog. I contacted NAB which does a great job promoting volunteering asking them to consider some support for Volunteer Management. At least they responded. Sad to say, I have no idea if AAVA ever followed up on this or took the lead especially since NAB said in their reply: “We are going to have a look at the AAVA website and investigate what we can further do to celebrate this important day, thanks to bringing it to our attention.”

4. e-volunteerism. New look. New articles every month. Should be on every volunteer managers must read list. Unfortunately it is not.

3. International Volunteer Management Day 2010 – lots of great initiatives. The day officially recognised in some states in the USA. In Australia Senator Ursula Stephens moving a notice of motion in the Australian senate which recognised the sector of Volunteer Management.

2. My message to VA and AAVA on my blog in regards to IVMD 2010. Still waiting for a reply from either side. What does this tell us? A highlight for me because it demonstrates to me why we need a blog like this in the first place. So have a read to recap.

Dear Volunteering Australia

You are the peak body for volunteering in my country. You do some great work. Yet the perception I and others have is that you totally “dissed” this day. As a volunteer Manager who is passionate about my job and volunteering, I was hurt by this. If my perception is wrong please correct me. But I simply appeal to you to drop the politics and embrace the day for the good of unity in volunteerism. One day VA will celebrate the day. Why not now? Please don’t give me material for another blog next year!

Dear AAVA

My professional association for volunteer management in Australia. A mere mention of IVMD on your website doesn’t cut it. Please see my “Dear Volunteering Australia “ comment above and please be more vocal for my profession! Perhaps you are making strides to support our sector but we need to know this. We need to see some evidence of this. Please be louder in championing our cause AAVA.


1. The work of the Volunteer Management Sector. The difference they made daily in 2010. The many people they inspired. The communities they built. Leading millions of volunteers throughout our globe – activists, companions, healers, agents for change, lifesavers, counselors, builders, dreamers. Artists, advocates for freedom and free speech.
And here’s to a wonderful 2011 for Volunteer Management!

Accept your lot in Volunteer Management and don't take it out on Volunteers!

http://cchronicle.com/2010/11/its-not-you-its-me-avoiding-volunteer-break-up/



Came across an article in the Conductive Chronicle. Never heard of that before but I get alerts whenever Volunteer management is mentioned. The article is all about preparing for Volunteers and placing them into appropriate positions which is all well and good but it was this particular paragraph that got my Irish up.

“As a volunteer manager, we have certain obligations. As much as we may be overworked, underpaid and possibly even under-appreciated (never!), we certainly don’t want to make any of that our volunteers’ problem. Here’s how to make sure your volunteers and your organization are reaching a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

There is so much wrong with that on so many levels. It smacks of defeatism. It’s a little pretentious and it devalues ethical behaviour in Volunteer management. I am unclear on what the authors experience of Volunteer management is but Ive yet to encounter a colleague grumbling about how lowly paid they are and how the volunteers will suffer for it!

Also, as Volunteer Managers we need as sector to ensure that we are not overworked, that we are not underpaid and that we work on building recognition for our field. We need to do this collectively as a sector. We need to be louder than the self perpetuating martyrs who accept their lot and thrive on the victimhood of “just a volunteer manager” mentality!

Why Volunteer Management must be inspiring!

"Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe."
– Winston Churchill

Our capacity as Volunteer Managers to inspire is enormous. Like other facets of volunteer management that we ourselves seem to not recognise, inspiring people is one of the strongest traits I believe in effective and progressive Volunteer Management.

To look at this in real simplistic terms we first look at our programs and teams.

Sometimes the simplest yet amazing fact passes us by. We are people who manage and lead and coordinate people who are in our team for various reasons and motivations. They are not paid. Therefore to retain these people there must be a number of factors:

• The cause
• The motivation
• The leader

Three equally valid reasons for volunteer retention in my view. I know some can exist without the other. People volunteer for organisations and couldn’t give a hoot about the cause for the organisation because their motivation is based on some other factors. I know people who continue to volunteer for organisations even though their view of the volunteer management style is somewhat negative yet the cause of the organization sustains them. And perhaps there are those who are simply retained because they arrive at some place of satisfaction or self worth due to Volunteer management.

So taking the above paragraph aside for just a moment I want us to contemplate on the role of the inspiring Volunteer manager in retaining volunteers, in having an impact on the organisation they work for and having an impact on the field of volunteerism themselves. For this is the potential power of Volunteer Management.

Volunteer management is powerful. Not potentially so. It is.

Our profession within volunteerism is akin to a box of matches. It only takes a few strikes to light it up. Think IVMD. Think retreats for Volunteer Management. Think effective associations for Volunteer Managers. Think individual Volunteer Managers networking. Think people in our profession who not only write on our issues through blogs and articles but those who respond and engage in dialogue.

We fail too often to see the inspiring quality of our field. Do we miss the tree for the forest? Isn’t volunteering powerful? Isn’t volunteering inspiring?…..just think of the superlatives you can link to the word “volunteering”

Then think of the capacity for effective Volunteer Management to inspire!

Where am I heading ?. I am heading towards such simple formulas for Volunteer Management that I wonder why its existence isn’t so prevalent and it’s this.

Effective Volunteer Management = Effective volunteer programs

Inspiring volunteer leadership = inspiring volunteering stories

An organisations view of and value in effective Volunteer Management is directly proportional to its view of and value in its volunteers!

The last one is a vital formula for our sector!

The word “effective” is there for a reason. Poor Volunteer Management can effectively ruin volunteerism within an organisation.

I will come back to “effective” Volunteer Management another day. And what I think that might mean.

Volunteering is inspiring. It is powerful. It is dynamic. It is simply awesome. No ifs and no buts. If organisations are privileged to have volunteers then they must realise this too!

It is your responsibility however to inspire and educate up on Volunteer Management within your own organisation.

How are you doing this? Let us know. How do you inspire others as a leader?

"Leadership is not magnetic personality, that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people", that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations."

- Peter F. Drucker

Did we get a mention????

From the Volunteering Australia website:

“There was a special forum in Bonn Germany on 8/9 November as part of the consultation process for the development of the UNV State of World’s Volunteerism Report.

This first State of the World‘s Volunteerism Report (SWVR) produced by the United Nations will present an alternative vision to the one widely prevailing today, regarding what volunteerism is and why it is important. Using a broad brush, it will address first what is meant by volunteerism, why people volunteer their time, what are the ways people choose to volunteer, and the impact of this volunteer engagement.

The Report will then take up a number of key global issues that intersect with volunteerism, selected because of their critical nature and/or because of ongoing polarized discourse around them. The final section of the Report will be forward looking with conclusions and recommendations that should assist policy makers, practitioners, researchers and all other concerned stakeholders; including the people who participate in, and direct the benefits from, volunteer action.”


Very interesting. Let’s hope there was consultation with the Volunteer management sector in the world. Because..it matters wouldn’t you say?
Do you think?

I do know that the CEO of Volunteering Australia attended so it will be interesting to hear some feedback.

A final comment on International Volunteer Managers Day 2010 via an open letter to many.

Dear IVMD committee

Thank you for your tireless work year in and year out in your efforts to have the profession of Volunteer Management recognised and understood. All of you, volunteers, deserve the respect and praise that is rightly yours. Don’t give up on your cause because there are many people behind you. While I may be vocal in my support please understand that some may not have the confidence or indeed time to express their support.

Dear people who are ideologically opposed to the day and have publically engaged in the debate while still demonstrating their support for Volunteer Management

Thank you for your support of Volunteer Management. Thank you for engaging in healthy debate and I look forward to more discussion with you in 2011!

Dear Media

Once again you were totally absent! However I acknowledge that the Volunteer Management sector and the Volunteerism sector are to blame for this. We need to work harder collectively to spread the message

Dear Facebook

Credit must go to you for allowing a forum to spread this global message

Dear Volunteering Australia

You are the peak body for volunteering in my country. You do some great work. Yet the perception I and others have is that you totally “dissed” this day. As a volunteer Manager who is passionate about my job and volunteering, I was hurt by this. If my perception is wrong please correct me. But I simply appeal to you to drop the politics and embrace the day for the good of unity in volunteerism. One day VA will celebrate the day. Why not now? Please don’t give me material for another blog next year!

Dear AAVA

My professional association for volunteer management in Australia. A mere mention of IVMD on your website doesn’t cut it. Please see my “Dear Volunteering Australia “ comment above and please be more vocal for my profession! Perhaps you are making strides to support our sector but we need to know this. We need to see some evidence of this. Please be louder in championing our cause AAVA.

Dear Senator Ursula Stephens

Thank you for moving a motion in support of our sector in the Australian senate!

Dear Volunteering Calgary

Your YouTube video inspired Volunteer Managers globally!

Dear Fingal Volunteer Centre

Your support for Volunteer Management stands out internationally! You inspire me!

Dear e-volunteerism

Thank you for your offer to Volunteer Managers globally with free access to your site for a period! A tangible recognition award for VMs globally! Great vision!

Dear state peak bodies for volunteering

Thank you to the state peak bodies in Australia who organized events for Volunteer Managers in their states. You know who you are! The ones who didn’t bother? We hope you try harder next year. You know who you are!

Dear everybody else who supported the day globally!

Thank you from a Volunteer Manager!

And finally

Dear Volunteer Managers, Coordinators, :eaders Administrators etc. who celebrated the day..

Hope it was fun! Hope you felt valued! Hope you continue with your brilliant profession and hope you continue to spread the IVMD word!

One day IVMD will be globally recognised for what it is…

Long live volunteerism and those who are leaders and managers and coordinators within the field!

What my National peak body for volunteering had to say to Volunteer Managers on IVMD 2010

...











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................................................................

Thank you IVM Day (with apologies to Abba)

Today is special, in fact it’s a little bit more
You could celebrate, you've probably done it before
For you have a talent, a wonderful thing
The value to communities you bring
Of this day we are proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say
Thank you IVM Day, the tune your singing
Thanks for all the joy your bringing
Where were we without it, I ask in all honesty
What would we be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you IVM Day
For giving this to me

Think recognition and IVM Day walks the walk
It uses “our sectors important” kind of talk
And I’m often thankful that it came to be
For our jobs real importance is plain to see
I’m glad the day began
And, whenever it was, I'm a fan

So I say
Thank you IVM Day, the tune your singing
Thanks for all the joy your bringing
Where were we without it, I ask in all honesty
What would we be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you IVM Day
For giving this to me

We’ve been so lucky, It is the day with plenty cheer
I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance!

So I say
Thank you IVM Day, the tune your singing
Thanks for all the joy your bringing
Where were we without it, I ask in all honesty
What would we be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you IVM Day
For giving this to me

Thank you IVM Day
For giving this to me...

Volunteer Management Polls - your ideas?

With only a handful of days to go to International Volunteer Managers Day can I encourage you to response to the two polls on my blog? I am getting some very interesting feedback so far but would love to see more visits responding. If every unique visitor was responding we would have much more input and data.

Answers so far have been very interesting. In particular I note in the question “What are your thoughts on International Volunteer Managers Day?” that 22% of the answers given don’t get the day or have never heard of it.

Very interesting answer too on the question seeking agreement or disagreement on the statement “”My peak body on Volunteering in my country supports Volunteer management”

28% are not aware they have any peak body on volunteering. It would be interesting to poll on these people further. Like where are they from?

Alos in regards to polls for Volunteer management. I would like to throw this open to you? Let me know what kind of poll would be interesting for Volunteer management? Post your ideas here and we might run with them!

Did you Jam?

I was service jamming for the past few days. Check my earlier posts or the link on the right hand side of the page if you don’t know what I am talking about. It was interesting. I saw some colleagues there and people who are followers of this blog. I wrote a few words. About guess what? Yes my pet topic: How the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle can be found using the Pythagorean theorem.

No. seriously I mused of course on Volunteer Management. It was good to see some volunteer coordinators and managers there with some great posts! However I don’t believe I can reproduce what I wrote there here on this blog. You can review everything that was discussed at the service jam on the site if you were a participant only. I do hope that they release the material to the general public. According to the website “IBM, in collaboration with key partners, will publish a white paper to summarize key findings and highlight creative ideas generated by Service Jam to share with participants. This document will reveal key trends in social innovation and will serve as a pragmatic guide to help organizations innovate, design and improve service programs”

Were you at the Jam? What did you think?

IVMD and Volunteer management...WHO CARES?

With International Volunteer Managers Day quickly approaching I am endeavoring to work at taking the pulse of Volunteer Managers!

On my blog currently I have two pertinent questions:

Does your “peak body” on volunteering in your country support Volunteer Management? And what are your thoughts on International Volunteer Managers Day?

Important questions that take only a few clicks of your mouse.

Add your voice because your voice will matter in shaping our future direction!

Wikiwherearewe?

As most of you are aware Wikipedia is a free web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 16 million articles (over 3.4 million in English) have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world
According to its own entry on Wikipedia – “Although the policies of Wikipedia strongly espouse verifiability and a neutral point of view, critics of Wikipedia accuse it of systemic bias and inconsistencies (including undue weight given to popular culture)”

I can’t help but like Wikipedia. I do question content sometimes but on the whole I believe a large proportion of it to be an honest and genuine contribution.

So given that this site is written collaboratively by volunteers around the world it intrigues me that there is not one article or entry on Volunteer Management.

My piece here in relation to Wikipedia goes to the invisibility of our sector outside the echo chambers I talk about. Well may we talk about progress in Volunteer Management but lacking an entry in wikipedia is indicative of a lack of awareness on our field.

Sure there are critics of Wikipedia. But Its content and methodology are not in question here.

Lets look at the cultural importance of Wikipedia (again from the site and their statements are referenced thoroughly)

“According to Alexa and comScore, Wikipedia is among the ten most visited websites worldwide.[ Of the top ten, Wikipedia is the only non-profit website. The growth of Wikipedia has been fueled by its dominant position in Google search results; about 50% of search engine traffic to Wikipedia comes from Google, a good portion of which is related to academic research. In April 2007 the Pew Internet and American Life project found that one third of US Internet users consulted Wikipedia. In October 2006, the site was estimated to have a hypothetical market value of $580 million if it ran advertisements.”

So why no entry on “Volunteer Management”?

While coming to the conclusion that no such entry existed I was intrigued by the entry’s on matters pertaining to volunteering

Let’s take a few examples and take samples see what they are saying:

Voluntary sector

“There are considerable problems with terminology, however. Although the voluntary, community and not-for-personal profit sectors are frequently taken to comprise the "Third Sector" each of these sectors or sub-sectors have quite different characteristics. The community sector is assumed to comprise volunteers (unpaid) whilst the voluntary sector are considered (confusingly) to employ staff working for a social or community purpose. In addition however, the not-for-personal-profit sector is also considered to include social firms”


Wow!

Let me pick at random a comment from the discussion page:

“There is no standard internationally recognised and agreed definition of voluntary sector, voluntary organisation, community group, third sector, social enterprise, non profit organisation, NGO etc which provides neat boundaries between each one of these and the others. We could debate the boundaries between one and another ad infinitum.”

And this
Critics

in the 1960s, Ivan Illich offered an analysis of the role of American volunteers in Mexico in his speech entitled, "To Hell With Good Intentions". His concerns, along with critics such as Paulo Freire and Edward Said, revolve around the notion of altruism as an extension of Christian missionary ideology and the sense of responsibility/obligation driving the concept of noblesse oblige, first developed by the French aristocracy as a moral duty derived from their wealth. Simply stated, these both propose the extension of power and authority over indigenous cultures around the world.

Recent critiques of volunteering come from Westmier and Kahn (1996) and bell hooks (née Gloria Watkins) (2004).
The field of medical tourism (referring to volunteers traveling overseas to deliver care) has recently attracted negative criticism vis-a-vis the alternative notion of sustainable capacities (working in the context of long-term, locally-run but foreign-supported infrastructures). A preponderance of this criticism has appeared largely in the scientific and peer-reviewed literature. Recently, media outlets with more general readerships have published such criticisms, as well.

And in the discussion forum again

“The term "volunteer" is a hotly contested term, and the article should say so (with an appropriate citation). Go to any online discussion group of volunteer managers and you will see debates about who is and isn't a volunteer. Is someone a volunteer because of their motivation or because they aren't paid? There is no agreement on this question, and the article should say so.


To the entry on Virtual volunteering:

“Virtual volunteering has been adopted by at least a few thousand nonprofit thousand organizations and initiatives.[10] There is no organization currently tracking best practices in online volunteering in the USA or worldwide, how many people are engaged in online volunteering, or how many organizations are involving online volunteers, and studies regarding volunteering, such as reports on volunteering trends in the USA, rarely include information about online volunteering (for instance, a search of the term virtual volunteering on the Corporation for National Service's "Volunteering in America" yields no results”

All well and good but more interesting when you hit the discussion page:

“Wikipedia may be the largest instance of virtual volunteering, and Wikipedia pages frequently mention that their contributors are volunteers, yet no Wikipedia articles that mention their volunteers link to this article. Why? I'd love to create the links myself, but all Wikipedia-related pages are locked.” "

And this:

“I've posted to all the various online discussion groups for both volunteer managers and those who study volunteerism, encouraging them to edit this page and provide citations. I did this both in 2008 and 2009. Maybe I'll try again in 2010.” I wonder how that is going?

The point I make here is that there is some discussion on volunteering on sites such as Wikipedia.

But

1. Why no entry on volunteer management?
2. And why little contribution from the volunteer management sector on what is being posted on volunteering?



“well why don’t you post an entry yourself” I can hear one say!!

Perhaps I will. But it should be an aim of a professional association of volunteer management though don’t you think? It could be and should be a tangible outcome for them?


Such is our sector though that if anyone posts an entry under “Volunteer Manager” they will possibly be a big debate amongst ourselves again on semantics.

The author will get the whole

• How dare you call it volunteer management where the people are paid!
• The fights over definitions
• Etc.


Others may say that other management positions are not mentioned on Wikipedia

Wrong!

Here are some examples:
Human Resource Management
An interesting Wikipedia article that talks about
• 1 Features
• 2 Academic theory
• 3 Business practice
• 3.1 HRM strategy
• 4 Careers and education
• 5 Professional organizations
• 6 Functions
• 7 See also
• 8 References

Nursing Management:

Nursing management is performing leadership functions of governance and decision-making within organizations employing nurses. It includes processes common to all management like planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. A good nurse manager should be open to anything in the environment and be sensitive to the needs of the staff under her/his management.
And there are others such as

Store manager
Marketing Manager
And other management groups that are valued and recognised


And here we are. Fighting the silly war of semantics.


And nobody is writing on volunteer management on Wikipedia!

An opportunity for the Voice of Volunteer Management to be heard

(with thanks to Jayne Cravens for the heads up!)


This blogger often laments that we take little action to advance our sector. My articles are mostly about advocating for the Volunteer management sector…encouraging those of usn who are willing and able to stand up and help advance our sector because we know that Volunteer managerment is a vital cog in the wheel of community and society.

And every now and then an opportunity presents itself where we can take simple measures to voice our opinion as a field. Sometime we do not take that opportunity. People challenge me on this blog to offer solutions rather than talk of our ills. I have presented many…but here is another

Many voices work. It’s a simple philosophy and tactic used to great effect by groups such as Amnesty International.

Some great things happen in the volunteerism and service world. Sometimes Volunteer Management is simply forgotten in the equation of that. It exists…but is simply forgotten. Well meaning corporate engage this world and sometimes forget that there is an established field in volunteer Management for example..On a global scale….albeit a small one..And still fledgling and unsure of itself but existent never the less.

Rather than whine it is our duty to educate them. Yes you..the Volunteer manager..yes you the person associated with volunteer management whether you are a Volunteer, CEO in the volunteerism sector on a national peak body, an MP with responsibility for volunteerism, a state body for volunteering, a trainer, consultant, blogger, or a person simply interested in the filed of volunteer management because you are intelligent enough to know that it matters!

So here’s an opportunity

I have already signed on

Will you join me?

Will you be willing to be a part of the Volunteer management voice?

It will only take a few of us

Say a few dozen globally

Imagine though…50 volunteer managers involved globally

Wouldn’t they then sit up and take notice

That little number?

We have more power than we think

When we collaborate

Read on and join me

Join us October 10th – 12th, 2010, for an important dialogue on "Service as a Solution."
The Service Jam is an online event that will engage non-profit organizations, corporations, academic institutions, and government agencies in a discussion on how social innovation can help solve our world’s largest problems.
By engaging prominent leaders, professionals, and passionate individuals, the Jam aims to generate breakthrough ideas that will redefine service and social innovation. Through IBM’s Jam technology, participants can collaborate virtually and have the flexibility to log into the Jam from anywhere in the world at anytime most convenient to them during the three day event.

Featuring special guests:
George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the U.S.
Ray Chambers, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria
Harris Wofford, U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania
Michael Nutter, Mayor, City of Philadelphia
Jean Case, CEO, The Case Foundation
Sam Palmisano, President and CEO, IBM
Marc-Philippe Daubresse, Minister for Youth and Solidarities, France
During the Jam, invited Hosts—distinguished leaders in the social sector—will be leading specific discussion forums, as well as conversing live with participants.There will be 8 discussion forums occurring at the same time. Participants are encouraged to join any forum of their choice at any time during the event. Check out the Discussion Forums and Hosts below!
• Quantum Leaps in Service
Groundbreaking innovations fueling the service movement
John Bridgeland, President & CEO
Civic Enterprises
Stan Litow, Vice President
Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, IBM
Steve Gunderson, President & CEO
Council on Foundations

• The Digital Revolution in Service
Transforming the service sector through technology
Bruno Di Leo, General Manager
IBM Growth Markets
Michael Brown, CEO & Co-Founder
City Year

• Empowering the Individual
Personalizing civic engagement for the individual
Gloria Rubio-Cortes, President
National Civic League
Michelle Nunn, CEO
Points of Light (POL) & Co-Founder, Hands On Network

• Increasing Value & Impact of Service
Maximizing resources within an organization
Deirdre White, President & CEO
CDC Development Solutions
Diana Aviv, President & CEO
Independent Sector
• Scaling Impact
Replicating effective solutions to broaden social impact
Alan Khazei, CEO & Founder
Be The Change
Marcia Ito, M.D., PhD ,
State Technology Education Center Paula Souza, Brazil

• Measuring Social Impact
Maximizing and sustaining change through metrics
Helene Gayle, President & CEO
CARE USA
Patrick Corvington, CEO
Corporation for National & Community Service

• Progress through Collaboration
Building cross-sector partnerships critical to success
Jane Jamieson, Vice President
Digital Opportunity Trust, Turkey
Sidney E. Goodfriend, Chairman and Founder
American Corporate Partners

• Global Challenges, Local Action
Customizing solutions to solve world issues
Ariel Kestens, Head of Support Services
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Chile
Brian A. Gallagher, President & CEO
United Way Worldwide
James Anderson,
Cities of Service

Following the Jam, IBM in collaboration with key partners will produce a white paper summarizing key findings and highlighting creative ideas to share with participants. This document will reveal key trends in social innovation and will serve as a pragmatic guide to help organizations innovate, design and improve service programs.
Join service leaders from around the globe October 10-12 at 10:00 am US Eastern Standard Time, as we discuss the current and future role of Service as a Solution. If you have any questions, please contact your IBM Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs Representative or email ibmjam@us.ibm.com. To see Service Jam start and end times in various parts of the world, please visit the registration page



Ps

Lets make a special guest from the world of Volunteer Management!!!!!!!

The race between Volunteer Management, The Volunteerism sector and volunteering!

In October, there is a National conference on Volunteering. This year I am not attending. I have attended a few. To be brutally honest, as I am apt to be, the conference this year appeals little to me as a Volunteer Manager.

Now this blog entry is not a criticism of the national conference because there will be some good dialogue on volunteering as indicated by the the program.

But Volunteer management is not on any main stream there. I know Volunteering Australia will argue otherwise and point to the odd workshop by a few volunteer managers and also point out that the winner of the AAVA award for volunteer management will be announced.

An award and concept by the way that I devised myself when I was president of AAVA a few years back.

It’s good to see VA come in behind it. Although apart from announcing the winner at the conference I am unsure what else they are doing to support this. But I will be very keen to ascertain from delegates I know who are attending what mention is given to volunteer management.


At the moment I am far more interested in the national conference on volunteering to be held in New Zealand next year. I am considering going to that. The jury is still out though.

I said to a volunteer manager colleague recently that I was excited about how volunteer management was being advocated for in New Zealand and how some great progress was being made but they quickly brought me back to earth when they asked from what point they were emerging from. Which in their view was a pretty low one to begin with. This I may add came from someone I seriously consider to have some advanced thinking on volunteer management.

Nevertheless the main agendas of both conferences on volunteering are worth considering

Lets start with the Australian Conference

“Challenges such as the impacts of an ageing population and the global financial crisis, opportunities for exploring greater partnerships with the corporate and government sectors, and cementing the pivotal role that volunteering has within the broader social inclusion context, continue to be areas of discussion within the sector.

The 13th National Conference on Volunteering aims to provide a national forum to:

Initiate discussion, debate and analyse issues affecting volunteering
Discover new technologies that can affect or support volunteering
Examine initiatives that will grow volunteering and promote best practice in volunteering”

All well and good for a National conference on volunteering. It would be good however to see Volunteer Management get a look in.


Lets look at the New Zealand Conference

“There will be two main themes in the programme. Both aim to Raise the Bar.
•Episodic and Events Volunteering: The diversity, opportunities and challenges

•Developing the Leaders: The next steps to advance the Management of Volunteers

The Episodic and Events Volunteering stream aims to


•Celebrate the diversity of episodic volunteering
•Share experiences of grasping the opportunities and challenges
•Raise the bar to maximize the impacts and legacies of episodic and event volunteering

The Developing the Leaders stream aims to draw on the experience of people from all professions relative to volunteer leadership from within and outside New Zealand to:

•affirm the leadership and ability already existing in the New Zealand
•find the best pathways to advance the profession of managers of volunteers “


Spot the difference.

But of course I can’t win. Don’t think for a moment that Volunteering New Zealand will be happy with what I am saying as they rightly so will remain diplomatic. I remember once praising them for something on Ozvpm list during a debate but had their CEO post something saying they were not comparing themselves to VA etc.

Ah well I say these things as a true independent advocate for volunteer management and soem people within both organisationsprobably see me as a provocateur and both organisations are right!

I have to do this because in Oz/NZ it is not happening. That is the true independent voice for volunteer management.

I do this as an independent blogger and volunteer manager. It has nothing to do with:

•Where I work
•Money I can earn from the profession
•Status in the profession
•Developing political positioning


Enough of politics within volunteerism. I am sick of it! Volunteerism deserves better. Volunteer Management doesn’t need it.

The quiet visitors to this blog are also sending a message. Something is resonating here.

For Volunteer Managers we need and deserve a National conference on Volunteer Management.

I suggested this years ago. There were a few people eager. A typical response in Volunteer Management sector circles is “great idea!” another typical response is “well I am not doing it – I don’t have the time” and then we have the typical scenarios the four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.

Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done!

So, some ideas that I have seen floated within the volunteer management sector and that have not made it include

•National conferences on volunteer management (there has been one in the UK but what has been the impact?)

•An international dialogue between presidents of various national associations or leaders internationally in volunteer management

•IVMD – love it but sorry is not gaining graft!

• A symposium on volunteer management on international volunteer manager day. Getting together for a lunch on IVMD doesn’t really cut it does it. Nevertheless it is better than what most volunteer managers do on the day and that is nothing.

In Australia Volunteering Queensland in association with the office of volunteering have a symposium on international volunteers day.

Because of my views you won’t see me on the agenda of many conferences!
Guess what – it doesn’t bother me. My views are not dependent on the amount of people who attend my training or are members of my group, or the books I sell or who suit me politically.

Please click on to my newest link which you can find at the end of this page

Volunteerism sector and volunteering has a race

This is where I believe we are at.The ostrich is those within the volunteerism Sector and Volunteer Management sector who are stuck. The Penquin represents the reality of what volunteering is!

We are so behind the reality of volunteering!

Our national conferences are simply echo chambers!

I am independent!! I would love a comment from either VA or VNZ. I would welcome that. Let’s see eh? Can they hear what exists outside the echo chambers?? Have they the courage?

Most Volunteers are savy!

Came across an article in Pro Bono News recently

http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2010/09/perfect-match-what-savvy-professional-volunteers-want


Here is a little extract

Perfect Match: What Savvy Professional Volunteers Want

Posted: Wednesday, September 1, 2010 - 13:36

The benefits of volunteering professional skills are significant for both the volunteer and the community organisation when managed successfully, according to an Australian coaching expert.

Corrinne Armour, who runs a program providing corporate sector leaders with the tools to volunteer their professional skills to the community sector, says most Not for Profits think people want to volunteer their professional skills for a cause they are passionate about, and many do!

Armour says the typical advice given to professionals considering pro-bono activity is "find something closely aligned with your passion that inspires you”.

However, she says, experience from assisting corporate sector leaders who want to volunteer suggests that there are other considerations which are just as important.

Amour says there are several other factors that savvy volunteers consider in choosing where to volunteer their professional skills.

She says 'Organisational Readiness' is perhaps the most important factor a professional volunteer will evaluate in deciding whether an organisation is ready to receive them and capitalise on the skills they offer.
Potential volunteers will look at:

•How well defined is the assignment with clear objectives, timeframe and deliverables?
•What priority does the assignment have?
•Who will champion it within the organisation?
•What support is available?
•How does this assignment build on the organisation’s mission, vision, strategy and current program?

All well and good I say. BUT

And there’s always a but with me isn’t there?
I think this article would have been just fine applying to volunteers in general.

Because I do believe that these days many volunteers will look at

•How well defined is the assignment with clear objectives, timeframe and deliverables?
•What priority does the assignment have?
•Who will champion it within the organisation?
•What support is available?

You know what I’m saying here people? Look, I get where the author is coming from but why articulate this for so called “professional volunteers” only. It’s as if all other volunteers will volunteer for organisations without these concepts applying also.

Perfect Match: What Savvy Volunteers Want
Also applies!

Election Thoughts (3) Volunteer Management and Politics

One of the few policies in regards with anything to do with volunteering came from one of the political parties in the last week of campaigning.

From an article by Probono Australia

“Volunteering Australia says any plan to set up a volunteer scheme to allow university students to offset some of their HECS debt needs much more work.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott announced that the coalition would initiate a pilot scheme if elected to Government, in response to a question during the Forum at the Broncos Leagues Club in Brisbane held last night.
Abbott told the audience that students who volunteered would receive $10 per hour, which would come off their tertiary study HECS debt.

The Labor Government also flagged a similar scheme in January 2010 based on an idea from the 2020 Summit.

Today the Liberal Party released more details about the scheme saying it will encourage the development of Australia’s next generation of community volunteers with a $7 million pilot volunteering program to be known as AUSCORPS.

Under the pilot program, up to 1,000 university students per year will be eligible to receive a $10 credit against their HECS debt for each hour of volunteer work they undertake, up to a maximum 200 hours or $2,000 per year.

Volunteering Australia CEO Cary Pedicini says he has concerns about the implementation of such a scheme and whether it addresses the ethical issues that challenged the traditional definition of volunteering…….and……” it is the view of Volunteering Australia that the initiative as it has been articulated does not fit with the accepted definition of volunteering and as such Volunteering Australia does not recommend that a proposed scheme be considered as volunteering.

However it said Volunteering Australia believes that the initiative could be reframed as a “community investment” scheme”

Comments on the pro bono website have varied

“But there are many University students already volunteering their time without financial compensation, for these people, this plan would be beneficial, as they are volunteering for the right reasons”

“My husband and I are both mature age university students and we both spend significant amount of time volunteering for various local organisations. We do this because we want to help, not for any personal gain. We don't have money to give so we give our time to help others who need it more than ourselves. This scheme would be an excellent way to assist us and would be an appreciated thanks for our work”

“Why can’t this be just one of many benefits of volunteering? I don’t understand Volunteering Australia’s resistance to this and their arguments don’t stack up. They talk about definitions of volunteering. Whose? Theirs?...... Their own policies are inconsistent. For example: VA has a problem with this yet embraces corporate volunteering?”

“Please, let's call it what it is, perhaps 'Student Community Work' and leave the term 'volunteer' unsullied.”

“Perhaps it is time we re-defined what volunteering actually is in the 21st century rather than holding on to 1980's volunteering romantic stereotypes?”

The DJ View?

Interesting stuff. I didn’t see much reaction from the Volunteer Management community. Mind you the policy was announced late in the campaign. Still, the volunteer management community should have responded. Why?

Maybe some Volunteer Managers disagree with such an initiative. That is fine. But guess what? If implemented and if implemented under a title of “student community work” guess who will be managing the Student Community workers in organisations? HR Managers? Fundraising Managers? Corporate Service managers? Or will organisations find the funds to create student Community Work Coordinators? What do you think Volunteering Australia?

Where’s the synergy between some key stakeholders in volunteerism here?…all peak bodies have a say in this including peak bodies for VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT as well as Volunteering.

Election Thoughts (2)

I didn’t see much policy from any side to do with volunteerism during this election campaign here in Australia. I watched closely the UK election and felt that volunteerism was a bigger agenda item and that the volunteerism sector was more engaged in the political process.

Check this out!

"So many people -- media and corporate people in particular -- like to talk about volunteers in the most flowery language possible: volunteers as selfless and hard-working and nice and sweet and huggable. Gosh golly, don't you love them?!?

I'm not fond of using fuzzy language to talk about volunteers, because I find it degrading and disrespectful. It devalues volunteers and their role in organizations."

Not my words but Jayne Cravens. Please see the link on my page to Jaynes site.

3 words come to my mind when I read Jaynes stuff!

Refreshing...Honest...Advanced

EXCLUSIVE! PRESIDENT ON VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT! POSITIVE!

THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS SAYS PRESIDENT ON VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT MATTERS

Interview with Samaku President

By Don J Volau

3 months ago Volunteerism Gazette reported on a famous election victory (see blog archive – May)

“Samaku is an island west of North Arabia. Pop” 4 million, Samaku has gone unnoticed in world history generally due to its people’s penchant for peace. Samaku however should get some recognition from the volunteerism world as it has just elected a president whose full time job is volunteer manager.

According to its last census Samaku has 2 million volunteers. A figure large enough to inspire a volunteer manager to form his own political party 2 years ago. That risk yesterday paid off when Andy Cowling was inaugurated Samaku’s 4th President since the island state gained independence from Oldthink.”

3 months later our reporter Don J Volau secured this interview with President Cowling

Don J Volau (DV): Mr. President thank you for taking the time to do this interview

President Cowling (PC): Don, it is my pleasure

DV: How has your presidency been in the last 3 months?

PC: I feel it has been an exhilarating and very POSITIVE last few months Don. Some of our key successes have been the free public transport for volunteers via the setting up of a volunteer registration site, tax concessions for volunteers to offset petrol costs, the setting up of the National University of Volunteer Management and funding for SAVL - The Samaku Association for Volunteer Leadership

DV: How satisfying has this been for you given that you fought for these gains for volunteer management for many years?

PC: Well Don the only personal satisfaction I get is to see Volunteer Managers happy in their roles, feeling recognised and resourced.

DV: You’ve copped a bit of criticism over the years though and still do – how do you deal with that?

PC: I think I deal with this Don by trying to understand where people may be coming from.

DV: During your election campaign though you were criticized as being negative for pointing out, consistently, the issues facing volunteer managers and this criticism came from some volunteer managers themselves.

PC: yeah, at first I found this a strange one – I felt I was under the critical eye for advocating for the profession. But it was a great learning curve. And I came to understand where people were coming from.

DV: you say a learning curve – what do you mean by that?

PC: I think Don that traditionally volunteering has been seen as “nice” and “cuddly” and “warm”. Of course that has changed. Volunteering is now seen in terms of dynamic, value adding, innovative, community building and an important ingredient in both social inclusion and social capitol. How volunteering looks has also been changed by the diversity of the people who volunteer today and by the means by which they can volunteer. Volunteering is changing.

Volunteering is adapting to the changing world – the impermanent world. Volunteer management is trying to keep up with the pace and to a degree is lagging behind. Nevertheless I am positive that there are enough volunteer managers who can keep the pace. Our party campaigned on recognizing the true worth of volunteers. But we equally placed importance on effective volunteer management. And I think we resonated with voters who wanted to keep up as it were with volunteering!

DV: There are those of course who still resist change?

PC: and naturally so…it’s the case with anything. I think a lot of resistance has to do with fear. People are very comfortable in their familiar zones of being – hence the term comfort zone. And we have echo chambers where these people exist and think all is alright because they mix with similar people who share their viewpoint and rarely so they dabble with an opposing or alternate one and if they do its to criticize.

DV: Can you give an example?

PC: well during my election campaign I began highlighting some inequalities in the recognition and resourcing of volunteer managers. I did this after meeting several volunteer coordinators and managers who told me that they were struggling due to this. All I was doing was highlighting these issues and calling for action rather than words to address these issues.

DV: But you were accused of being too negative

PC: Too right and an agent of doom and gloom.

DV: how did that make you feel?

PC: Well at first I was flabbergasted – I was like’ hang on here – aren’t we on the same side here???” But after some serious and mature contemplation I understood

DV: an enlightened moment?

PV: Not quite Don. I just came to some of my own conclusions. It goes like this. They are the type of people who love to gripe, love to complain. And they get the listening ear, and the nods of empathy and the sympathy vote. But they won’t put it down on paper like the people who have genuine concerns. They will only share their stories verbally. Let’s call them the VMVs. They wont take action. They wont make change. They wont listen to advice. They have an underlying ease with their lot!

Now what happens when people come along who want to change Volunteer Management? Who want to make it a respected and recognised sector? The VMVs will have a go at them and accuse them of being trouble makers and doom and gloom merchants! But for them, the day when volunteer management is recognised and resourced is the day that their “story” ends!

When organisations have to properly resource and recognise their volunteers and volunteer management they will expect high standards in volunteer management! And rightly so. This threatens some people.

DV: So what next for you?

PC: I am just going to keep on doing what I keep on doing.

DV: Despite the negativity and the doom and gloom?

PC: Hey Don – I am actually mister Positive! I believe that Thoughts become things…so I choose the good ones! Always!

© Volunteerism Gazette August 2010