SPRING IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER

Repetitive signals going to Volunteers on Mars

I’ve been writing on Volunteer Management for some 15 months now. I’ve been a Volunteer Manager for 14 years. Hard to believe that after all this time I’ve only discovered on the world wide web some definitions on Volunteer Management and some tips as well!

My enlightenment comes from Idealists.org. I’m not too sure how long this piece or page for Volunteer Management has been there

Let me share some of what I have found. My commentary will be in brackets
What is Volunteer Management?

“Volunteer management is, at its core, selecting and supervising volunteers. Yet it is also much more than that. (Phew…I am so glad you added this part) Volunteer management is a key position in the leveraging of an organization’s resources, on par with fundraising/development and human resources. (Kinda, I would have said on par with any management position in your organisation)

Volunteer management is the gateway to the community, providing citizens with opportunities to become more involved in local issues and global causes, and serving as a grassroots source of public relations and marketing. Volunteer management ensures that there is community buy-in of an organization’s mission, thereby strengthening an organization’s credibility in the eyes of the public.

Volunteer management is the guardian of well-being, for volunteers and constituents, and for the organizations involving them. ( I really like this last line but feel it should be explained in more detail)

An eloquent narrative of the responsibilities of volunteer management professionals, the Universal Declaration on the Profession of Leading and Managing Volunteers, can be found on the Volunteer Canada website. (The What?? First I’ve heard of this)”


Ok then – let’s take a look at this Universal Declaration.

When I clicked on the link it informed me that “Page was not found”
So I googled Universal Declaration on the Profession of Leading and Managing Volunteers

So this is something that was developed in 2001 by the International Working Group on the Profession Convened by the Association for Volunteer Administration Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2001


Here it is. (again my commentary will be in brackets)


"Value and Contribution of Directors of Volunteers

*The phrase Directors of Volunteers applies equally to terms like administrators, managers, coordinators and directors of volunteers. For this declaration, the term “Director of Volunteers” was selected to represent these many terms.

Directors of Volunteers promote change, solve problems, and meet human needs by mobilizing and managing volunteers for the greatest possible impact.

Directors of Volunteers aspire to:

act in accordance with high professional standards.

build commitment to a shared vision and mission.

develop and match volunteer talents, motivations, time availability and differing contributions with satisfying opportunities.

guide volunteers to success in actions that are meaningful to both the individual and the cause they serve.

help develop and enhance an organizing framework for volunteering (sounds good so far!)

Role

Directors of Volunteers mobilize and support volunteers to engage in effective action that addresses specified needs.

As Directors of Volunteers we strive to:

be innovative agents for change and progress.
be passionate advocates for volunteering. (and Volunteer Managers??)
welcome diverse contributions and ideas.
develop trusting and positive work environments in which volunteers and other resources are effectively engaged and empowered.
ensure the safety and security of volunteers. (Huh?- isn’t this part of any organisational responsibility?)
develop networks and facilitate partnerships to achieve desired results.
be guided by, and committed to the goals and ideals of the cause/mission towards which we are working and to continually expand our knowledge and skills.
communicate sensitively and accurately the context, rationale, and purpose of the work we are doing.
learn from volunteers and others in order to improve the quality of our work. (would love them to expand on what this means)

Core Beliefs

As Directors of Volunteers, we hold these beliefs and seek to demonstrate them in our actions:

We believe in the potential of people to make a difference.
We believe in volunteering and its value to individuals and society.
We believe that change and progress are possible.
We believe that diversity in views and in voluntary contribution enriches our effort.
We believe that tolerance and trust are fundamental to volunteering.
We believe in the value of individual and collective action.
We believe in the substantial added value represented by the effective planning, resourcing and management of volunteers.


The complexity of the problems the world faces reaffirms the power of volunteering as a way to mobilize people to address those challenges.
In order for volunteering to have the greatest impact and to be as inclusive as possible, it must be well planned, adequately resourced and effectively managed. This is the responsibility of Directors of Volunteers. ( er..no. Isn’t this the responsibility of organisations???)

They are most effective when their work is recognized and supported.(They can be and more often than not are effective without support and recognition... it should state that they should be recognisesd and supported!)

Therefore, we call on leaders in:
Non governmental and civil society organizations, to make volunteering integral to achieving their missions and to elevate the role of volunteer directors within the organization

Government at all levels, to invest in the sustainable development of high quality volunteer leadership and to model excellence in the management of volunteers

Business and the private sector, to understand the importance of volunteer management and to assist volunteer-involving organizations in developing this capacity

Funders and donors, to support the commitment of resources to build the capacity of volunteer management

Education, to provide opportunities for leaders of volunteers to continually expand their knowledge and skills

(they should have added: Peak bodies for volunteering, local, state, national and international to support the commitment of resources to build the capacity of volunteer management)

We call upon Directors of Volunteers worldwide to accept this Declaration, to integrate and embody it in our shared work, and to promote and encourage its adoption.

While we recognize that all countries in the world do not approach volunteer development in the same way, this Declaration is intended to encourage all those concerned with the advancement of this profession, to aspire to these statements.

Developed by the International Working Group on the Profession
Convened by the Association for Volunteer Administration Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2001

With representation from: Argentina, Bangladesh, Canada, England, Hungary, Israel, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Scotland, United States
(where was the UK, Australia and others back then?)

So there it is. How many of you in Volunteer Management have even seen this. Whatever has become of this declaration? From what I can see the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration (CCVA) still adheres to the principals of this declaration.

As for the declaration itself I have some thoughts.

Much of what is said is great. But I bet that many in our sector have never heard of it. Or indeed heard of AVA. But my real concern here is that any advancement or progress in our sector seems to be cyclical. I am basing this thought process on anecdotal evidence. It seems to me that we seem to be making great strides once in every 10 years. And by great strides I mean an ability to have great dreams and aspirations.

If all of this was happening in 2001 then we have not progressed much at all. Indeed I reflected on this in a blog of mine on the examinations of Hot Topics by eminent writers in our sector over the last 10 years. In my blog I stated that we tended to be revisiting our issues cyclically. You know the debating points du jour right now:

Definitions of volunteering
What should our titles be?
Credentialing of volunteering
Creating a strong profession
Why are we ignored by other management?

It makes for great reading on blogs and journals. It makes for more interesting workshops and presentations to Conferences on volunteering. It fills the gaps there.

But can we not see the sign or message coming through?

We are still stuck on the same issues after too many years. Where is the evidence of progress in our sector? I am talking about progress for the sector nationally and internationally. I say this to deflect the “ Oh there is good stuff happening at a local level here” brigade. I get that and praise that. But tell me why I fear I could be reading the same old hot topics in 10 years!

HOT TOPIC 2021 – “Volunteer Managers – Is everyone happy with this title?”

HOT TOPIC 2021 – What is the definition of a volunteer? – discuss for another 10 years!

HOT TOPIC 2021 – Why don’t Executive get me?

HOT TOPIC 2021 – Volunteer Managers Versus Time Management

To those who will say “what are the solutions DJ” I say read all my blog postings please. Part of the solution is in self realization. The ability to see there is a problem here. Followed by the ability to form groups who recognise this and act.

There are so many people new to our profession and you may be one of them.

New to the Hot Topic of the day

New to universal declarations

New to some of the issues of the sector

Let’s hope you grasp some of these issues and take positive action to change our way of being.

Because in 2021 our sector needs to be just that - a sector – one that has gained the confidence to be strong and heard and I certainly don’t want to be blogging on the same old stuff to our sector on earth and other planets who may or may not have come in contact with. Are there volunteers on Mars?! Now that’s a true Universal thought!

A blog snapshot

There is a bit of fun in being a blogger. Indeed, if it were devoid of fun I wouldn’t be doing it. And sometimes it has felt that way , albeit briefly. I am fascinated by who is reading what and where they are coming from. To me, the snapshot of volunteerism and those who manage volunteers can be encapsulated in the little blog that I write.

I have to give thanks to two companies that enable me to look at what is happening with my blog - Statcounter and Blogger

Statcounter is A free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats. StatCounter is a web traffic analysis tool. Access to basic services is free and advanced services can cost between $9 and $119 a month The company is based in Dublin.

I love their work!

Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish blogs on other hosts, via FTP. All such blogs had (or still have) to be moved to Google's own servers, with domains other than blogspot.com allowed via Custom URLs. In July of 2011 a news outlet announced that Google intends to change the name of the service from "Blogger" to "Google Blogs," as part of a larger plan to re-brand or retire all non-Google brands in its portfolio of products and services.

Ok now that the free plug is over I can get back to my point

Thus far I have had close to 20,000 individual readers in 15 months.

Here’s what I can determine about Volunteer Management based on what people are reading on this blog.

We have a huge sense of humour! We like jokes about volunteers and volunteer management or we are seeking out such humour! Volunteer Management Jokes a blog posted in August 2010 is still the most popular blog. Maybe we need some light relief every now and then!


On a serious note though we are very interested in the notion of leadership in Volunteer Management. My blog on Leadership in Volunteer Management posted in 2010 is the second most read blog and consistently gets views every day!

Thank you speeches for volunteers comes a close third. Many people are seeking guidance or appropriate words in their recognition of volunteers.

My next most popular post is in fact by a guest blogger. Coming in at number 4 is a piece on change management by Volunteer Coordinator Wendy Moore from Brisbane Australia. Wendy has obviously identified an area where Volunteer Managers are seeking guidance on!

I’ll just stick to the top 5 for brevity sake but its interesting to note that the 5th most read post is an article of mine titled “What’s holding us back”

I think it’s significant that out of just under 220 postings on this blog that this one hits the top five. It tells me that people are interested. It tells me that Volunteer Managers do care about the following:

“Do we have an embedded subliminal fear that our jobs are not “real” because we manage a movement that is unpaid – and thus devalued? Would a psychological analysis reveal some real fears on job security, career authenticity and a predisposition to not rock the boat at any cost?
Do we keep our heads down so we aren’t really noticed and thus keep our positions? Do we therefore have problem putting up boundaries. Do too many of us take on too much, with too little resources? We try to do it all, and then wonder why we aren't provided with the resources, pay, etc.
We won't be until we demand it by saying "No", I cannot do this without additional resources.Our jobs create and add enormous value to our societies. Let us stop being afraid to acknowledge that. Let us cease being fearful of validating ourselves and our profession.”

You Go you people reading this blog post!!!

My biggest audience comes from the United States with about 38% of viewers coming from there followed by Australia, Canada UK and then……Russia!
And of course I am happy to speak on Volunteer Management in any of those beautiful countries!!! LOL
And finally to end this blog, What are the key words that people enter on search engines that result in them finding my blog? This is for the last few days!

thank you speech for volunteers 240


volunteer jokes 163


volunteer thank you speech 96


thank you speech to volunteers 87


dj cronin 67


thank you speeches to volunteers 57


leadership 39


good news 38


volunteer thank you speeches 35



I hope you have enjoyed reading some of these stats!

40,000 Thanks

This blog recently passed 40,000 page views.

I have to say I am humbled by this figure. After all this blog is just the musing of a Volunteer Manager on matters pertaining to our volunteerism sector. And its just been going for 15 months.

So I’ve nothing to gain or lose from the amount of visitors. If I had reached 400 views after the same amount of time I’d probably be posting this blog in a similar vein.

I do this blogging for a number of reasons but have to admit that I do it primarily because I enjoy writing. My passion for Volunteer Management therefore is a direct beneficiary of this enjoyment!

I continue to remain blown away that 18,300 individual people around the globe have read some of my blogs!

Its takes a lot for people to respond to postings. I realise this now. So I salute those who respond to posts. But I also salute those of you who read my musings on Volunteer Management and Volunteerism.

Thanks for being part of my journey.

DJ

Acim4me@live.com

A Tasty Dish in Volunteer Management Part 1

The Tasty Volunteer Manager: Volunteer Management Master Chef – Part One

Yep it’s been done the death in many areas but here I will attempt to cook my very own successful and effective Volunteer Management dish using ingredients I have used over the years. It’s based on personal experience. You may not like the taste and you may have different ingredients. Fair enough – After all we choose the cookbooks or chefs we feel work best for us. This has worked for me. Enjoy!

Take one person

Add

Niceness

Some of you may and will baulk at this already. Some will frown on this ingredient immediately. Many of our sector will resist the word “nice” because of perceived negative connotations in regards to volunteering. I get that. Nothing worse than an organisation thinking volunteers are “nice but not necessary” for example. And how many of you when asked your occupation get the delayed response of “that’s nice”. It sounds a little condescending but maybe it’s not such a bad thing in today’s world.

Someone said once that nice guys finish last. Perhaps that’s why there are so few men in Volunteer Management! I say that with a wink a nudge. After all to counter this Addison Walker said “It's not true that nice guys finish last. Nice guys are winners before the game even starts.”

In this day and age is niceness an attribute that is valued at the workplace? It should be in Volunteer Management.

“Oh what do you mean by nice” people will say. Of course.

I have to spell it out because some people will say I can be a great professional…but I don’t have to be nice.

Not in our profession I say.

Nice is made up of a few ingredients. This is handy for our MasterChef – having one ingredient made up of many

Nice consists of :
Courtesy
Empathy
Gentleness
Compassion
Friendliness
Patience
Tolerance

There you have it. My definition of Nice. My first ingredient. If it’s not in our dish then I believe the dish will end up with a foul taste! And I have heard of this taste anecdotally!

Our next ingredient will be advanced communication skills

Come back here for the next blog to see how that tastes!

Here’s a preview

“Advanced can be a word loosely used these days. However the communication skills of a Volunteer Manager need to be highly developed in my opinion in order to deal with a wide range of stakeholders critical to the success of any effective Volunteer program. It’s amazing the amount of people we need to be dealing and communicating with effectively – often far more than any other management profession. If we don’t include this ingredient – our dish is in serious trouble!”

It makes perfect senses yes? How you see Volunteer Management is how you see Volunteers?

Do you give credence to this statement?

Sue Hine in a response to one of my blogs lately stated “Why do so many of us undervalue the work we do, and thereby the work of volunteers??”

Do you make that connection? Can it be possible if we don’t value our own roles that we don’t value the role of volunteers?

Who can this question pertain to?

Volunteer Managers?

Surely not, Surely the one and only truism in our sector is the value we place on volunteers? If this is not the case then our management sector has no hope. No future. True?

Organisations?

Those that value volunteers value Volunteer Management right? Makes sense yes? Take out the value in one and you erase the value in the other. Right?
Peak bodies on volunteering?

They celebrate volunteerism thus they celebrate effective Volunteer Management right? Makes sense to me. They do this by celebrating IVMD, by having Volunteer Management people on their boards, by taking an active interest in our sector by consultation, by inviting Volunteer Managers on their networks, by inviting them to write on their websites and journals, by having them involved in their national and international conferences and by engaging with Volunteer Managers on their blogs and social media.
All of this is happening yes? No?

I have to pose this question to the “person from peak body” who may be reading? Is this happening? Yes? No? I mean…you do value volunteers don’t you?

Associations on Volunteer Management?

What are you doing here on this list? Of course you value volunteers. Its evident from your support of Volunteer Management. I mean..That’s what you do isn’t it? Support Volunteer Management...by

advocacy..Education..Networking…politics etc. etc. etc. And you are holding peak bodies for volunteering and organisations and government to account aren’t you? For example those who exalt volunteerism are exalting volunteer management as well and you are on top of that to make sure this is so yes?

So there. It’s really all ok I am sure. We all value volunteers don’t we? And by extension…Volunteer Management?

As they say in Australia

No worries.

Fantastic insights into Volunteer Management

I’ve had some fantastic replies to my 10 questions on Volunteer Management. All are published here and I’ve had quite a few comments to my email as well that are unpublished as requested. Whatever one may say about the questions themselves there does seem to be a chord that is being struck! And I thank everyone who has responded thus far!

I talk about a narrative in Volunteer Management. What do I mean?

Wikipedia says – “For general purposes in semiotics and literary theory, a "narrative" is a story or part of a story. It may be spoken, written or imagined, and it will have one or more points of view representing some or all of the participants or observers. In stories told orally, there is a person telling the story, a narrator whom the audience can see and/or hear, who adds layers of meaning to the text non-verbally. The narrator also has the opportunity to monitor the audience's response to the story and modify the manner of the telling to clarify content or enhance listener interest. This is distinguishable from the written form in which the author must gauge the readers' likely reactions when they are decoding the text and make a final choice of words in the hope of achieving the desired response.

Whatever the form, the content may concern real-world people and events; this is termed "personal experience narrative".

Someone asked me today if there was a deadline to submitting responses?

No. There is no deadline. There will never be a deadline to the exploration on our sector!

Please remember that you can answer anonymously!

And please remember that I am just a Volunteer Manager asking questions on Volunteer Management!

Let’s keep the discussion going on acim4me@live.com