10 Ways to Support Your Organization Every Day

by Moria R. Austin

1. Goodsearch.com. Search the web and support your charity at the same time. Sign up your charity at the bottom of the page.

2. MSN is e-mailing for the greater good; Hotmail.com and Live users can register their e-mail and IM accounts. Select Options, and then select Mail, select customizing your mail from here select “I’m making a difference.” See options your IM window for IM set-up.

3. Have your own fundraiser with all the proceeds going towards your organization.

4. Wear your organization’s gear! Wear your t-shirts, pins, lanyards, carry bags, use mugs & pens and any other products that have your organization’s logo.

5. Online social communities, make a your organization your friend on Facebook, etc. Invite your friends as well!

6. Socialvibe.com, select a sponsor and then a charity, post the widget to your page.

7. Educate yourself on what your organization offers so you can share this information with others.

8. Twitter.com; Twitter about your organization. (Make sure your profile is not set to private.)

9. Be a good example for your organization, everywhere you go you represent your organization.

10. Share this list! Customize it with your organizations name and web pages and pass it along.

Voices of the Volunteer Manager

One of the most important contributors to a successful volunteer program is the Volunteer Manager. While the titles may be many, the service is similar — empowering the organization’s volunteers to impact the community. We are sharing results of one of the most recent survey’s completed on Volunteer Managers and their impact on a global level. A new survey was recently completed and should be coming out soon. However, if you have opportunity, take a look and let us know what you think here.

2010 Annual Advocacy Luncheon

SAVE THE DATE

Are you ready for a valuable, unique afternoon of new ideas, energy and recognition of those who lead volunteers? If so, please mark your calendar for the 2010 Annual Advocacy Luncheon being held September 16, 2010. New programming, inspirational surprises and more!

More details coming soon…

Nominations Open for MDVAN Board & Committee Members

Interested in serving on a committee to help meet MDVAN’s mission in our community? Would you like to serve in a leadership role on the Board of Directors? If so, please visit the Board section of our website http://mdvan.org/board-members/ to review the qualifications and then submit your interest to the Board of Directors at Board@MDVAN.org.

Latest Nonprofit Job Postings

Interested in applying for a new job or just seeing what’s out there in the nonprofit arena of Michigan? The following are some current listings in the field:

Regional Education Advocacy Manager
Find a job you’re wild about at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the nation’s largest member-supported conservation organization, at the forefront of global warming issues, reconnecting our children with nature, and protecting America’s wildlife and habitat.

We seek an individual responsible for developing state and Great Lakes education policy initiatives, educating the public and other organizations about those initiatives, and conducting advocacy (with public officials and the media) to implement them. This position is responsible for regular communications with a regional network of grassroots stakeholders, the coordination of regional meetings with influential people and policy makers, the development of advocacy opportunities, and partnership development. This position also supports NWF’s federal policy agenda through state contacts and where relevant state governments and municipalities are engaged.

Apply at http://careers.nwf.org and join us in mobilizing Americans to protect our country’s wildlife.

Playworks: Detroit Program Manager
About the Position: The Program Manager will oversee the planning and implementation of Playworks’ comprehensive school-based play and youth development programming. This includes training and oversight of Program Coordinators, developing new trainings for program staff and facilitating the implementation any new or modified programming. This is a full-time, exempt position which reports directly to either the City Executive Director or a Program Director.

• Go to http://www.playworks.org/jobs/office/apply-now
• Please no phone calls
• Position will remain open until filled

Playworks: Detroit Program Associate
About the Position: Assist with the oversight and coordination of Playworks’ administrative functions, advance Playworks’ goals and work with staff and volunteers to create a sustainable and well-organized, community-based organization. Also responsible for some administrative functions of local, state and federal government grant program management and compliance, particularly AmeriCorps. (Application directions above.)

Are you an experienced or aspiring writer?
If so, we want to hear from you! MDVAN is interesting in publishing writings by our members and supporters on topics in the volunteerism field. Send your writings to newsletter@mdvan.org. Share your experience and insight with others in MDVAN!

Book Review: The Generosity Plan

Have you ever read a book and would like to share your thoughts on it with others in the volunteerism industry? Well, here is your chance! We are encouraging MDVAN supporters to send us book reviews. Helen Beamer, Volunteer Coordinator for St. John Hospice and past MDVAN Board of Directors Chair, shared the following with us:

The Generosity Plan by Kathy LeMay (Beyond Words, 2010)
Reviewed by Helen Beamer

The basic premise of this book is that anyone can be a philanthropist. Philanthropy is not just for the wealthy.  It is doing what you can, where you are, with what you have, but doing so with intention, focus, and action.

Author Kathy LeMay, the founder, president, and CEO of Raising Change, a fundraising social change organization, carefully takes the reader through a step-by-step process to define and develop more effective ways of giving.  The key is to focus your time, talent, and treasures on those causes which are most important to you.

LeMay convincingly argues that we cannot make as much impact on the world when we try to financially support or volunteer for many charitable causes. Noting that there are 1.5 million different charitable organizations in the United States, LeMay suggests selecting a few causes to support wholeheartedly.  While LeMay has her own personal philanthropic preferences, she avoids promoting or valuing any cause over another and freely shares examples of how others came to define their own passion, giving levels, and volunteer efforts.

LeMay provides lots of thought-provoking questions in this book and suggests the use of a journal.  If you follow the steps and take time for reflection, you should be able to develop your own giving plan.  She explains how a generosity plan will enable you to become a better philanthropist and that knowing your reasons and motivation for giving will enhance the sense of personal reward.

MDVAN recently received a complimentary copy of this book and my goal in reading it was to glean its value for leaders of volunteers.  In her visionary, upbeat style, LeMay states that readers who have never volunteered before will find the exact right commitment and those who are no longer inspired by their volunteer activities will find a way to reconnect with their personality and interests.  Although she offers good suggestions in her book, I do wonder about the wisdom of promising readers a perfect match.

To determine the focus of giving efforts, LeMay begins with looking at one’s roots.  This is achieved by asking questions such as: In the past, what people did I see helping others?  When was the first time I volunteered? What was the underlying motivation to volunteer?  How did I feel about volunteering?  When have I given to others with no expectation of return?

The author presents a very simplified view that distinguishes only two types of volunteering: informal (such as helping neighbors and family) and formal (in organizations).  For formal volunteering efforts, she emphasizes the importance of finding an organization that is a good fit with one’s passion, but neglects to mention any of the steps (application, interview, screening, and training) that a prospective volunteer might be expected to complete in a more structured setting.

While the author views volunteering from the perspective of the individual, she does bring up certain questions which might be helpful for a volunteer manager to ask prospective volunteers.  Interview questions recommended by experts Steve McCurley and Rick Lynch in *Volunteer Management: Mobilizing all the Resources of the Community* include: What attracted you to our agency?  What would you like to get out of volunteering here? What would make you feel like you’ve been successful?  In similar fashion, LeMay asks: What will be fulfilling for you?  What will have you feeling that your time was well spent? What types of activities are you clear won’t be fulfilling for you?  What would be your ideal volunteer experience?

To her credit, LeMay recognizes that giving time is philanthropic and urges readers to be as careful in giving time as in giving money.  I especially appreciated LeMay’s recommendation for individuals to set a time budget for their giving efforts, in order to prevent themselves from becoming overextended and/or burned out.  As volunteer managers, we may unwittingly exploit the eagerness of a new recruit or the dedication of a more seasoned volunteer.  Establishing realistic and rewarding time commitments for each individual would be beneficial both to the volunteer and to the organization.

LeMay emphasizes the importance of enjoying volunteer activities, in order to stay involved and to continue making a difference. LeMay advises that saying yes to a task because no one else will do it and volunteering  just because you “should” are not very rewarding ways to give time.  While LeMay does not mention motivational theory, volunteer managers can infer the underlying truth that the intrinsic rewards of interesting, enjoyable, and fulfilling work are what help keep volunteers engaged, motivated, and involved.

In this book, LeMay inspires and challenges all of us to give our very best and to reach beyond our seeming limits to create a better world.  As she says, “We cannot create the possible until we practice and live the
improbable.”

More information about the author and this book is available at http://www.TheGenerosityPlan.com

Summertime Plans

As we ease into our summer, what plans do you have for the volunteer program for which you are affiliated? Is your organization doing something special? Big event? Just relaxing?

Join the conversation and post your summertime plans!

Tools of the Trade: Becoming a Better Volunteer Manager

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 | 1 to 3 pm

Join us for our last MDVAN Workshop of the Season!

Tools of the Trade: Becoming a Better Volunteer Manager

Location: Jewish Family Service, West Bloomfield
Members: FREE; Nonmembers: $10

Reserve your seat now! RSVP to rsvp@mdvan.org

Next Page »