"Network NewsFLASH" from the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network

Greetings Volunteer Network Members,

We're very excited to report that WTIU has completed their video profiles of each of the 10 Be More Award recipients this year. They have done a wonderful job capturing these honored volunteers in their own words and in action doing what they do! Those video interviews are posted online now. View them here.

Be More event photos are also online and downloadable. Check them out!

~Bet, Lucy & Mercedez
The City of Bloomington Volunteer Network

News from the Network

May Volunteer VIP Session - May 17

Successful Group Projects and Project Leaders

Be ready for the crowd! And maximize your efforts with these best practices for successful group volunteer projects. Mix, mingle and learn with your VIP peers!

DATE: Tuesday, May 17
TIME: 3:30-5 p.m.
LOCATION: American Red Cross (upstairs conference room - 411 E. 7th St.)

RSVP your attendance here

Upcoming Events & Trainings

Register for the IU Student Involvement Fair - Sept. 7

The IU Student Involvement Fair Committee is pleased to invite non-profit agencies to the 2011 Student Involvement Fair! The mission of the IU Student Involvement Fair is to provide students with the opportunity to make contact with a wide variety of student organizations, university support services, and community organizations in order to encourage active involvement and enhance their IU experience.
Click here to download the registration form.
Deadline to reserve a table: 8/19/11.

Call for Presenters - 2011 Governor's Conference on Service and Volunteerism - deadline June 1

The 2011 Governor's Conference on Service and Volunteerism will be held on October 12th - 13th at the Sheraton at Keystone Crossing in Indianapolis. The conference will be chaired by the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) on behalf of Governor Daniels. As in previous years, the purpose of the conference will be to provide a forum where Indiana volunteer coordinators, nonprofit leaders, national service members and service-learning participants, can engage in meaningful dialogue, exchange best practices, receive meaningful training, establish partnerships, and celebrate accomplishments. If you are interested in presenting at the conference, please fill out the Request for Presenters (RFP) form. The RFPs are due by June 1st at 12 a.m. (midnight) EST.
For more information on the Governor's Conference go to: http://www.in.gov/ofbci/2389.htm
For a RFP form go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2011GCSVRFP

Save the Date - Because Kids Count Conference
Dec 6-7, 2011

Because Kids Count - a conference for those who impact children and youth
Tuesday, December 6 and Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Indiana Convention Center | 100 South Capitol Avenue | Indianapolis
Registration opens late summer 2011.

One of the Midwest's largest conferences designed especially for youth workers, teachers, counselors, youth ministers, nonprofit administrators, civic leaders, and others who work with and on behalf of children.
About the 2011 Conference
        * Nationally-known speakers and session instructors
        * 60+ educational workshops on topics you want most:
                  o Working with kids
                  o Parent involvement strategies
                  o Fundraising
                  o Nonprofit management
                  o And more!
         * New! Advanced Leadership Institute on nonprofit management
         * Practical resources in the Vectren Resource Center
         * Continuing education credits at no additional cost

Grants, Funding & Recognition Programs

Women Excel Bloomington Awards

The Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations for the Women Excel Bloomington Awards for individuals who excel in areas like leadership, community stewardship or vounteerism. (deadline May 2) and the newly created "10 Under 40" Awards (deadline June 3) which will recognize young professionals between the ages of 21-40 who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in our community and/or in their workplace. Through their actions or initiatives these young professionals serve as an inspiration, helping others to excel. Let's show those remarkable individuals that their contributions are noticed and appreciated!
Download the nomination forms by clicking the links below (pdf):

"10 Under 40" Awards nomination form (deadline June 3)

Women Excel Bloomington Awards nomination form (deadline May 2)

Book of Golden Deeds Award - deadline May 15

The Exchange Club Northside Bloomington is looking for a Book of Golden Deeds Award recipient. They would like for your organization to nominate someone in the community who exemplifies volunteerism.

The Book of Golden Deeds Award is an Exchange Club program that honors a worthy person or group which donates time, talent and energy to help those in need. Many times fine citizens of our community do numerous good deeds which go unnoticed. The Exchange Club Northside Bloomington would like to publicly recognize these generous people. The recipient of the Book of Golden Deeds Award will be presented a special plaque to commemorate the occasion and a news release will be sent to the local media.

In selecting your candidate, please keep in mind that the only criteria for receiving the award is that the nominee must have made significant contributions to the community. Please send your nominee's name, address and your reasons for making the selection, prior to May 15, 2011, to:

By email: jburks@ocsbank.com

By mail: The Exchange Club Northside Bloomington
C/O Janet Burks /Owen County State Bank
3419 W State Rd 46
BloomingtonIN 47404

Volunteer Resources & Materials

Value of Volunteer Time Announced

Independent Sector Announces New Estimate for Value of Volunteer Time

Independent Sector (IS) announces that the 2010 national estimate for the value of a volunteer hour has reached $21.36, an increase from $20.85 per hour in 2009. Indiana: $17.61

The valuation of volunteer time provides one way to measure the impact millions of individuals make with each hour they dedicate to make a difference. IS has also updated the breakdown for the value of volunteer time in states and territories in 2009, which can be found on the IS website. The highest value of volunteer time in 2009 was $32.79 in Washington, D.C.

New statistics for Bloomington are also included in the Volunteering in America report. View them here.

To access the numbers for every state and learn more about the hourly value of volunteer time, visit http://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time.

Cruise Ship Passengers to Volunteer in Caribbean Ports Utilizing Innovative New Charity Christened 'Hope Floats'

Bill and Cathleen Huckaby from California have created a non-profit charity that links future cruisers with well-researched charities on the islands of St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados. Cruise passengers ages 12 and above can choose to help with service projects in any or all 5 ports. Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Red Cross, environmental groups and animal shelters are just a sample of 20 choices available for volunteers that will last 4 hours each day.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/03/prweb5160984.htm

Book Excerpt

When Everyone's a Volunteer: The Effective Functioning of All-Volunteer Groups

From Chapter 4 (Attracting New Members)
By Ivan H. Scheier

A long time ago, I'm told, the words "volunteer" and "welcome" were closely related. They still are, as an issue: who to include (vs. exclude) in our groups, and how to do this. It's a special concern for all-volunteer groups, since they tend to lack formal rules and structures for deciding who's in, who's out, and who does what. The result often looks to the outsider like a small "insider" clique. The insider, on the other hand, feels overburdened, martyred and lonely. From any viewpoint, anemia of the membership is a chronic ailment of all-volunteer groups, always serious and sometimes fatal.

By contrast, the case for healthy inclusiveness goes like this: When we include more people...

we are more likely to be truly representative of our cause or mission and less vulnerable to the charge of elitism or snobbery.
we have more members to distribute work among.
other things being equal, we have more clout for advocacy and more access to money and other resources.

...Membership size, diversity, and strength should not be weakened by unjustified limitations on admittance. The first step in attracting new members is to become aware of such limits and eliminate them.

On the other hand, hanging out the "Everybody Welcome" sign may sound nice but is, for one thing, very impractical. No group can actually afford to outreach actively to everybody. Nor should they be asked to. Rather, we should target relevant people who buy into our mission/purpose, can help implement it, and can access our activities or programs.

How do we do this?...

Become aware of and confront unjustified exclusiveness; and
Be suspicious of mere rhetoric, however eloquent. Look at what your group does, not what it says.
It's much easier to involve people if you have a real mission/philosophy and can communicate it clearly.
People will be attracted by the prospect of genuine input in setting project goals and by a good track record in achieving goals.
Try to think of your group, and also present it, as a vehicle within which the prospective member can help to achieve some desired things she or he couldn't achieve alone (and which also happen to be important to the group).
Offer maximum choice, within the framework of your mission, in range of job content, style, setting and locale. "Our way is the only way" is the ultimate turn-off. "Do it your way" is more respectful and effective.
The most attractive message/style is: "Tell us the things you like to do and do pretty well, and we'll find a way to use these talents on behalf of our group's goals." Next most attractive is: "Here are the (volunteer) jobs we have, but how you get the work accomplished is up to you." This challenges the conventional wisdom of cast-in-stone job descriptions.
Rarely do people want to cast their lot with a fly-by-night roller-coaster of an organization. Maintaining continuity, even on a bare bones budget, is important.
A gratifying number of people enjoy networking-the process as well as the outcomes. The effective all-volunteer group does a lot of internal networking, and does it well.

Permission is granted for organizations to reprint this excerpt. Reprints must provide full acknowledgment of source, as provided: Excerpted from When Everyone's a Volunteer: The Effective Functioning of All-Volunteer Groups, © 2003, Energize. Can be purchased in the Energize, Inc. Online Bookstore at http://www.energizeinc.com/store/1-116-E-1.