Nonprofit Newsletter, January 2010

Volunteer Management News

January 2010

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Welcome to BVU & Volunteer Central's updated newsletter for volunteer managers, now named Volunteer Management News.

Our goal is a simple one - to provide you with the latest information from our organization, others in the Baltimore area, and national sources that can help you recruit, manage, and develop your volunteer workforce.

Your input and feedback are critical to us at BVU, ensuring that we're focusing on topics that are most helpful to you. Since joining the team in late October, I've had a chance to meet many of you. I look forward to more introductions in the coming months and opportunities to hear about your biggest needs and discuss how we can help fill them. In the meantime, send me an email at jdickinson@bvumaryland.org if there's something particular you'd like to see covered in future editions.

I'm also pleased to announce that this fall we welcomed Dana Schwartz to the BVU team as our Community Engagement Specialist. You'll be hearing from Dana through this newsletter and working with her to manage your Volunteer Central account and general volunteer needs.

The nationwide energy around volunteerism in 2009 was incredible; we're looking forward to working with you to make 2010 even better.

-Jim Dickinson

Director of Community Engagement

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In This Issue

Skills-based Volunteerism

Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.

Martin Luther King Day 2010

Skills-based Volunteerism

Announcing BVU's New Program for 2010

Thanks to the generous support of Citi, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Baltimore Community Foundation, BVU is providing local nonprofits with a new matching service for skills-based volunteers on the heels of our Citi-sponsored workshop on the topic (pictured above).

We are defining skills-based volunteers as "professionals providing service based on functional business skills, experience, or expertise to benefit a nonprofit organization and/or its cause." In other words, these are volunteers who bring talents to your organization that your "typical" volunteer wouldn't have. Examples could include people with expertise in marketing, finance, human resources, trade skills such as electrical or plumbing work, plus many others.

To help you market opportunities to skills-based volunteers, BVU has provided a description template and examples at http://www.volunteercentral.net/agencies-resources.htm. We encourage you to use the template to describe your skills-based volunteering needs and post them on Volunteer Central and through your other volunteer recruitment channels.* BVU staff will be working to promote skills-based volunteerism among our business members and our general volunteer population. We are looking forward to introducing qualified individuals to your opportunities based on mission/interest and skill match.

For more information contact Jim Dickinson at 410-366-0910 or jdickinson@bvumaryland.org.

*Please note that only opportunities containing all information referred in BVU's Skills-Based Volunteer Opportunity Template will be placed in the "Skilled" category on www.volunteercentral.net from this point forward.

Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.

Information for our nonprofit partners

Business Volunteers Unlimited and Volunteer Central are excited to pass on information to help your organization take advantage of Disney's 2010 promotion encouraging volunteerism.

"Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." was created to reward volunteers around the country with a complimentary Disney Parks pass in exchange for a day of service. Any nonprofit organization can participate as long as the agency registers on Disney's website and agrees to verify volunteer participation within 72 hours of their service. Individuals can begin signing up for volunteer activities on January 1, 2010.

To register for the program, visit http://vop.handsonnetwork.org, follow the instructions, and enter Referral Code 1QYT8XP when prompted on the registration form.

You are not required to list volunteer opportunities on the Disney site for volunteers to receive their complimentary passes. When you register for the program, you will be provided with the opportunity to have your listings from the Volunteer Central website automatically integrated with Disney's site. Please note that regardless of how you post opportunities, each volunteer must register at www.disneyparks.com (starting January 1) in order to participate.

Disney has provided an extensive document detailing the program, available from http://www.handsonnetwork.org. Page 6 of this document outlines the ways volunteers can sign up for opportunities and receive credit for participating in the program based on your agency's verification.

Some specific project criteria are listed below. The volunteer experience:

Can support organizational events, but individuals cannot be asked to directly solicit donations.
Does not qualify if the project is conducted on an individual's property and is for personal gain rather than meeting a community need.
Can not exclusively be a training or an orientation, even if the training is a prerequisite for volunteering. The opportunity must primarily be service (not education).
Cannot be a part of a religious service or ceremony and will not be evangelical in nature.
Cannot be work on a political campaign to elect a candidate for a position.

For more information, contact support staff at HandsOn Network: http://www.handsonnetwork.org/disney/cpsupport.

Martin Luther King Day 2010
One last reminder! Remember to register your volunteer opportunities for January 18th at Volunteer Central with "MLK Day 2010" or "Martin Luther King Day 2010" in the title line! www.volunteercentral.net

Business Volunteers Unlimited (BVU) is the primary resource for recruiting, developing and organizing community and business volunteers in the Greater Baltimore area. Through BVU's Volunteer Central, individuals can find opportunities to lend their time and talent to organizations that are working to improve the community.

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