skilled volunteers

Earlier this summer, we launched our new name, "JFFixler Group" (and shared a bit about the importance of branding) - but our name isn't all that's new! JFFixler Group adds new resources and new services to our longstanding tradition of customized consulting, training, and publications.  Our latest addition is our new book, Boomer Volunteer Engagement: Facilitator's Tool Kit by Jill Friedman Fixler and Beth Steinhorn, published in partnership with VolunteerMatch.

Branding is all the rave in our consumer-based, emotionally-driven society. From cars to computers, clothing to food, everything in our society-- and in life for that matter-- has a ‘brand'.  You have a brand. Your organization has a brand.  So what is a brand and why is it so important in enhancing your volunteer program? In this post, we'll take a look at what branding is and how it can enhance your volunteer efforts ten-fold.

By Josh Fixler, JFFixler Associate

A few weeks ago, Beth Steinhorn wrote a post about the Millennial Generation. She asked me to respond to it, since I have a unique perspective on the subject. I am, after all, a Millennial. I was born in 1984, putting me on the front edge of that generational line and I strongly identify with the label.

Websites are the portal to your organization. It's where your current volunteers can go for the latest news and where your potential volunteers can become familiar with -- and ultimately, engaged with -- your organization. So, having a powerful and effective homepage on your site is crucial to making your first impression one that is a lasting impression. We asked our colleague Monique Cuvelier of Talance, Inc. to share some tips about strengthening your organization's homepage. And, of course, we believe you have volunteers in your midst with skills and interest to help you implement all of these recommendations!

What compels a large, successful non-profit to re-imagine the potential of volunteers to build organizational capacity? "The economy" may be an obvious answer, given the increasingly fierce competition for philanthropic dollars... But our recent time on the ground with one of our Canadian clients revealed motivation that predates the economic woes and commitment that we believe will position the organization to become, in their words, the "charity of choice" in their country.

Baby boomers have been rewriting American culture for decades. Now, as the first wave of retiring boomers leaves the work force, they are redefining yet another great American institution – volunteerism.

More than half of non-volunteers 55 and older express interest in volunteering, with many viewing retirement as a time to begin a new chapter in their lives, according to the report “Great Expectations: Boomers and the Future of Volunteering.” Professionals and women aged 55 to 64 are most likely to be interested in volunteering, the report says.

Read this post by Guest Blogger Robert Rosenthal of VolunteerMatch.

With so much attention over the past few years focused on Baby Boomer volunteers, it would be easy to overlook another tremendously abundant resource of volunteers: The Millennial generation. The Millennial generation is comprised of those born in the late 1970s through the mid-1990s and is characterized as the generation that has come into adulthood with the turning of the new millennium. Millennials are currently in their teens and twenties – and are just as socially conscious – and just as numerous as their parents’ iconic generation, the Baby Boomers.

“Ownership” and “doing things the way we’ve always done them” were two of the few items listed when asked, “What might staff have to let go of in order to embrace a more fully collaborative culture of volunteer engagement?” What’s to gain by embracing such a model of volunteer engagement? The list was much, much longer. It was part of an honest, lively conversation between about 65 staff and volunteers at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) this week.

The current influx of volunteers is all the talk in our world. We have written about how we believe this is a tremendous opportunity for strategic engagement of skilled volunteers. But, how does an organization move from facing the crowds of volunteers at its proverbial door to actually selecting and placing those candidates who can have greatest impact? The interview is key!

The past year has seen unprecedented attention and support for volunteerism and service (see blog from September 2, 2009) and, next week, there’s something else new: More than 60 TV shows will feature storylines that somehow incorporate volunteerism. According to the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), the stories during next week’s shows will spotlight the power and personal benefits of service. This initiative is unprecedented in its scope and scale; never have so many networks and shows joined together to integrate volunteerism into their storylines. If inspired by what they see on their reality shows, sitcoms, hour-long dramas, soap operas, and talk shows, TV watchers can then log onto the EIF’s newly launched website www.iParticipate.org to connect to volunteer opportunities in their own community.

What does this mean for volunteer engagement professionals and the nonprofit community?