Three years of grim economic news has been coupled with an extraordinary influx of volunteers into nonprofits. Though deeply impacted by the recession, our clients continue to report significant "upturns" in their volunteer numbers and, better, in the skills and experience those volunteers bring and are willing to share. Along with reduced budgets and increased demand for services, nonprofits have been facing the unexpected challenge of responding to this incoming tide of volunteers. To us, this convergence of economic constraints and abundant volunteers is an unprecedented opportunity to transform the place of volunteers across the nonprofit sector. Progressive organizations and leaders will gain the most from this trend - now and in a brighter economy - by integrating and supporting entrepreneurial volunteers.

Jill Friedman Fixler was interviewed on Senior Lifestyles, the radio magazine of "Life After 60" with David Krock. Listen to the Audio Files.

by Jill Friedman Fixler and Beth Steinhorn

Everyone familiar with our work knows that we strongly encourage all nonprofits to begin organizational change with small steps rather than wholesale change, and that we firmly favor pilots over organization-wide roll-outs. Pilots enable both staff and volunteers to innovate new programs, increase risk tolerance, practice new skills, learn from mistakes, and share successes in ways that inspire others. Pilots are a key strategy in successful organizational change – but what else can tilt the scales towards success?