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Recognition Idea
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Volunteers are an Important Piece
Every October I organize a breakfast banquet for our volunteer Sunday School teachers. Last year my theme was "An Important Piece." I made silk corsages with a puzzle piece glued on, decorated the tables with scattered puzzle pieces, and gave them a photo frame hand-decorated with antique buttons and puzzle pieces. - Submitted by Anna BordersShare Your Recognition Idea
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| Volunteerism Quote |
"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor is given by what he gave."
- Calvin Coolidge
Submitted by Joe HammontreeShare Your Quote |
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Energize Volunteer Management Update
November 2010
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 November Hot Topic:
When Volunteers Resist Change
If everything in the world is changing, how can volunteering be the only thing that stays the same? Of course, it cannot and has not. We are all identifying ways to respond to new situations, usually requiring a fresh approach to volunteer work design. But we need to address openly what is lurking in our minds: How will I get past resistance from current volunteers? They like the status quo. Susan looks at unreasonable and legitimate causes of resistance and suggests ways to introduce and guide change that volunteers will own.
Read this Month's Hot Topic
You can subscribe to the Hot Topic as a podcast or RSS text feed - or listen to the audio online.
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Celebrate IVMDay and Read e-Volunteerism for Free, November 1-7!
 Happy International Volunteer Managers Day (IVMDay)! This event is celebrated annually on the 5th of November, and there are all sorts of activities planned around the world this week to bring attention to our profession.
Energize joins in recognizing leaders of volunteers with a very special offer. Colleagues in volunteer management can get FREE 48-hour access to the journal e-Volunteerism during the week of November 1 through November 7. During this week only, nonsubscribers can read articles, search the archive of over 350 articles from contributors around the world, and exchange ideas with the authors and other readers!
As we reported last month, e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community has been redesigned to commemorate ten years of publication. Take this opportunity to check out the journal's new look and increased functionality. It's now easier to read, research, and respond!
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Plan Ahead for International Volunteer Day on December 5th - and IYV+10
Not to be confused with IMVDay, the United Nations' International Volunteer Day (IVD) is celebrated annually on December 5th. Largely unrecognized in North America, IVD is important in many areas of the world. See the IVD site for ideas about celebrating the event and what colleagues are planning for next month.
This year, IVD has extra meaning. It marks the launch of "IYV+10" in 2011 - the tenth anniversary of the 2001 International Year of Volunteers, which also coincides with the European Year of Volunteering. IYV+10 will be an opportunity for people all around the world to join a global effort to reinvigorate the spirit of volunteerism. Both efforts are planning exciting programs and research, well worth following. Of course Energize will keep our Update readers informed throughout 2011.
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Give Books to Everyone at Your Next Event
Last month we announced the publication of Leading the Way to Successful Volunteer Involvement: Practical Tools for Busy Executives by Betty B. Stallings with Susan J. Ellis, noting that it enables readers to implement the key concepts in Susan's classic, From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Successful Volunteer Involvement - the 3rd edition, which was released earlier this year. (Save money and get the "Executive Set" - both books at one special price!)
Because Betty and Susan are so determined to help leaders of volunteers educate their executives, we want to make the books as widely available as possible. If you are planning a workshop or conference in the coming year, ask about your options for a special "conference license" to give an electronic copy of either or both of these books to every participant at your event at greatly reduced cost.
Or, if you want to explore purchasing copies to distribute to everyone in your network, bulk discount rates apply, too.
For more details, please explain what you would like to arrange and give us your name and contact information in an e-mail to info@energizeinc.com.
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New in e-Volunteerism
We are adding a new section to the Volunteer Management Update, starting now. Each month we will list articles just posted to the most current issue of e-Volunteerism. Journal subscribers will continue to receive individual e-mails as soon as an article is available, but non-subscribers can learn what's new here.
On October 15th we launched Volume XI and introduced a totally new look to the journal. Articles immediately available in this issue are:
Several more articles will become available over the next weeks, including Micro-Volunteering: Quickies, Quandaries and Questions by Mike Bright of Help from Home in the UK.
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Susan's Tip of the Month:
Let's Build OurSharedResources.com
Last year, Tony Goodrow of Volunteer2 gave our field a wonderful, free opportunity. He launched OurSharedResources.com (can also be reached through .org), described on the site as:
OurSharedResources is a free service where those who work in the field of volunteer management will be able to add useful resources and others in the field will be able to access them. With many people contributing a little we avoid re-inventing the wheel time and time again. Resources can be:
- Downloadable, real-world examples of forms, manuals or position descriptions
- Templates and tools for creating resources
- Tips, ideas and how-to resources
Think about it. How often have you wanted to see a sample of something? Look at someone else's position description, volunteer manual, or recruiting materials? In principle, the Web gives us extraordinary access to such important documents, but only if we are willing to share them with each other.
At the moment, OurSharedResources has 404 different items posted (browse them here). That's a great start, but it's not enough! A repository is only as good as the quantity and diversity of materials offered.
Note that OurSharedResources is a unique site that supplements existing volunteer management sites such as EnergizeInc.com. We produce or gather factual, provocative, or innovative resources and annotated links useful to leaders of volunteers. But we do not collect samples and examples, and do not plan to. That's because such shared materials serve a different purpose than outright education. They
- Illustrate practices and techniques with real-world applications
- Give colleagues a starting point for designing their own variations of needed forms and tools
- Show a wide range of approaches to mutual challenges - not all of which will be good or right for everyone, yet may offer the seed of an interesting idea to adapt
- Provide "ammunition" for convincing superiors that others in the field are already doing something they resist
Something that would generate a lot of interest is seeing one another's job descriptions for the role of leader of volunteers. Yes, your job description! How are different agencies presenting our role to prospective hires, funders, etc.? What titles are in use? What qualifications are sought? Right now OurSharedResources has only a single VPM job description on file. Please consider adding yours. (You can remove all real-name references and do not have to mention salary.)
Once you've taken the plunge, see if you could share:
- Volunteer application forms
- Permission slips, confidentiality statements, legal waivers
- Orientation and training materials
- Recruitment materials
- Recognition items
- Survey and evaluation tools
- Monthly and annual reports
As you add items, think about the value to you if many other people were adding to the repository, too.
Tony wants to make the site useful to the volunteer community, including welcoming materials in different languages. Contact him through the site to give suggestions of any sort.
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About Us
Energize empowers and inspires leaders of volunteers worldwide. Our specialty is creating and selecting the most relevant, innovative resources in volunteer management. We're advocates for the power of volunteers and for the recognition of the leaders who unleash it.
Energize, Inc.
5450 Wissahickon Ave. C-13
Philadelphia PA 19144 USA
Phone: 215-438-8342
Fax: 215-438-0434
info@energizeinc.com
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Material may be re-posted or
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