Volunteerism is a defining characteristic of the Not-For-Profit sector, in that it sets us apart from the other two societal sectors. It is usually thought of as a virtuous, selfless enterprise on the part of the volunteer….yet my experience, both as an organizational leader and as a volunteer, is that this is not true. […]

While researching email tips for non profits I discovered Kivi Leroux Miller’s blog about non profit communications. One of her articles presents 15 Places to Find Article Ideas for Your Nonprofit Newsletter which includes some creative places around the office and otherwise to find newsletter ideas.
So after reading Kivi’s post I decided to put […]

Did you learn to swim by reading a book?The answer of course is no, even if you did read about the different strokes, breathing methods and different types of kicks. Sooner or later, you actually had to get into the water.
In the realm of leadership development, the same principle applies. You can take […]

This week I’ve come across several great blog posts and articles related to volunteering. Whether you work for a non profit and manage volunteers or are a volunteer yourself, these insights could be quite thought provoking.
Oh Where, Oh Where Have The Volunteers Gone? from Roger Carr of the Everyday Giving Blog. He highlights […]

Earlier this month I began serving as Board President for a local organization, Christian Women’s Job Corps. This is my second year on the board and before that I supported its fundraising efforts. Even though I’m surrounded by information about non profits and fundraising even I started looking for some advice. Here […]

Are you reactive or proactive when it comes to recruiting new Board members? Reactive recruiting can leave you with more problems than solutions. Unfortunately, reactive recruiting is the way that many Boards go about bringing new people in. They wait until it’s time to have new members in place and then hastily recruit friends […]

When working on any volunteer project, you certainly couldn’t do it without the dedicated help from your team of volunteers. Whether it is a school, church or organization project, your volunteers are critical to the project’s success. Volunteers handle every aspect of a project or an event. Volunteers have many different skills and talents to […]

Many of the questions that were submitted to the fundraising survey that we recently conducted had to do with volunteers. Getting, keeping, inspiring, organizing and other help with volunteers for your group — were all mentioned quite a few times.
Some of the specific questions I’ll plan on answering either individually or with articles in […]

Do you thank your volunteers, donors and members in the same way — year after year? Would you like to come up with some fresh ideas that have worked successfully for other organizations?
121 Recognition Ideas for Donors, Volunteers and Memberspublished by Stevenson, Inc. offers you 121 valuable ideas that you can put into action […]

Kim Klein of Grassroots Fundraising Journal is offering web based training on how to get your board members “on board” with your fundraising efforts. (pardon the pun!) Another semainar in April will be particularly relevant for those who are doing large campaigns this year or planning for the future (such as capital campaigns.)
Boards […]