Engaging Volunteers » volunteermatch

New Webinar Series: Social Media and Volunteer Engagement

Robert Rosenthal — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:52:10 +0000

With Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter beginning to challenge search engines as the primary source of information for many people, it’s clear we’re moving into a new era for the Internet. In the future, many volunteers will discover your opportunities through their social network — not Google.com.

At the same time, social networking tools provide volunteer coordinators with effective new means to communicate with volunteers — especially after disasters.

What do you need to know about social media as a volunteer program manager? How can you use sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to promote your volunteer opportunities and recruit volunteers? What organizatons are using these tools effectively to promote their volunteer programs and coordinate supporters?

Join VolunteerMatch’s Victoria Pacchiana on March 23 for a new live VolunteerMatch Web training that will offer an introduction to social media and some of the most popular sites. You’ll also learn about the social media tools available in your VolunteerMatch account that help you promote your volunteer opportunity on other social networking sites. Victoria is our Online Communications Manager, and coordinator of our own social media networks. (Twitter: @vmconnect)

New Webinar: Social Media and Volunteer Engagement
Tuesday, 3/23, 2010
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PT
Cost: Free!
Register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/365372585

Don’t forget: VolunteerMatch has more than a dozen other great Webinars for volunteer coordinators and nonprofit professionals. Click here for the entire list.

Exceptions to the Rule, Part 1: You Don’t Have to Be a 501c to Use VolunteerMatch

Kevin Johnson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:07:19 +0000

When it comes to the safety and privacy of the volunteers, we don’t joke around. That’s why our policies on who can use VolunteerMatch.org are some of the strictest in the business.

Today our Web service is used by some 75,000 participating organizations. And while 9 in 10 of our member organizations are official 501(c)s, not all are. In fact, not only are some not tax-exempt, some of our organizations are actually for profit! With this post, I thought readers would appreciate an overview on the exceptions.

The Process In Place

Unlike some volunteer recruiting services and billboards, not just anyone can create a VolunteerMatch account and then immediately start posting “Help wanted” ads on VolunteerMatch. Not only would this create a situation ripe for fraud, it could lead to instances where volunteers are taken advantage of.

To review these applications, we have a state-of-the-art system which we call myself, my co-worker Dee, and our team of volunteeers.

Each week, around 200 organizations join the VolunteerMatch network, and our crew of Community Support folks are responsible for making sure the organizations are who they say they are, that they have a mission that benefits the community, and that they are not involved in shady business that could hurt our community of volunteers.

If we can say so ourselves, not only are we thorough in our jobs, but we are insanely committed to working quickly. Typically our turnaround time for an organization to be approved (or asked for more info) is less than 48 hours. It’s not fool-proof — no screening system could be — but it helps our network of volunteers, companies, and other business partners all breathe easier knowing that systems are in place to ensure a strong and healthy community.

Exceptions to the Rule

After more than decade in business, VolunteerMatch has added some important exceptions to our policies, and lots of organizations might benefit from knowing more about this.

There are three types of organizations which we broadly speaking allow in as exceptions.

Certain organizations without 501(c) status
Certain for-profit organizations
Government agencies & schools

In coming posts, I’ll take a look at each of these exceptions to help clarify how and why we accept certain organizations that don’t fit the standard definition of “nonprofit.” First, however, let’s look at how and why certain organizations without 501(c) status can use VolunteerMatch.

Exception #1: Organizations That Aren’t 501(c)

As our policy states, there are three instances where we’ll allow organizations without 501(c) status to use VolunteerMatch.

If your 501(c) status is pending.

If you applied and you’re still waiting to hear back from the IRS, we’ll take all your verifying documents for now, and then request you follow up with your official 501(c) papers later on. Simply put, some organizations, particularly new ones, are on a knife edge financially — they may not last long without the help of great volunteers. We don’t want to penalize organizations that have a pressing recruitment need but who are waiting for the IRS to get back to them.

If you’re operating under the fiscal umbrella of a sponsoring organization.

If another 501(c) has officially taken your organization or program on as a fiscally sponsored organisation, you can submit paperwork from them attesting to their support and begin using VolunteerMatch. While this requires a bit more paperwork to process, we recognize that fiscal sponsorship is an increasingly popular way for mission-based folks to save money while making a difference.

If your organization is a for-profit company that is collaborating with a nonprofit.

Lots of organizations work closely with for-profit partners and vendors to accomplish goals — especially in special event management and production. If a company is involved in a specific volunteer event or opportunity such as an AIDS ride, fun run, or conference, and they can submit the valid EIN of the partner nonprofit, we will approve their use of VolunteerMatch.

One final note…. not surprisingly, in each of these exceptions, we actually require more paperwork and documentation to approve the organization than otherwise. If you want to be an exception to the rule, we’ll gladly help you get into our network… but we’re keeping an eye on you for everyone’s sake.

Coming up next week, I’ll take a look at how and why certain for-profits can use VolunteerMatch to recruit volunteers. In the meantime, if you have any questions about who can use VolunteerMatch and how, please don’t hesitate to let us know at support@volunteermatch.org.

After Haiti: 4 Things Organizations Involved in Disaster Preparedness Should Be Doing at VolunteerMatch

Robert Rosenthal — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:38:28 +0000

(Note: The following post was written for organizations that recruit and manage volunteer disaster relief workers. If you would like to volunteer, visit www.volunteermatch.org.)

The urgent stories coming from Haiti are having an impact: Visits from volunteers who want to get involved in the Haitian relief effort helped make last week the busiest at VolunteerMatch.org in nearly five years.

For organizations that do disaster preparedness and relief work, the days and weeks following major disasters are critical times. As the crisis in Haiti shows, the need for independent sector organizations to work with affected governments to save lives, care for the sick, house the homeless, and help lead the long haul toward recovery is massive. If you work with one of the hundreds of other emergency response and recovery organizations in our network, there is no better time to demonstrate the importance of getting involved than right now.

Here are a few tips for making the most of VolunteerMatch for organizations that are involved in disaster preparation:

Update your opportunities to make them discoverable and relevant right now.
Use keywords like “Haiti” and “disaster” to make sure your listings are coming up in important searches.

Emphasize the importance of training as a stepping stone.
Many prospective volunteers aren’t aware how important is to be trained. A message such as “This training is an important step to being deployed during future crisis.”

Remind volunteers that most emergencies are local.
Few communities are completely spared of disasters. If your focus is one local emergency response and recovery, you can use Haiti (or any international disaster) to remind prospective trainees that getting preparedness training in areas like trauma treatment, rescue, coordinated response, and many other important skills are important for helping out in our own backyards.

Use your tools.
Within your VolunteerMatch account are some important tools that can help you save time and recruit more effectively – two things that are even more important before and after emergencies:

Email All allows you to send email communications to everyone who has ever referred to your opportunities. Even if referrals never became official volunteers, during an emergency you may want to activate those folks as a network for getting things done.
The Syndication Tool lets you avoid duplicate data entry while keeping your own Web site updated with VolunteerMatch listings. Use the tool to create a code snippet you can give your Web master. Once it’s in place on your Web site, your VolunteerMatch listings will automatically show there.
Custom Questions lets you prescreen referrals with questions of your choice. If a referral requires specific skills, ability, or experience, you can ask those questions up front.
Document Manager lets you automatically attach important forms, waivers, or training materials to your emails to prospective referrals.
If you have active social networks, use the Social Media icons at the end of the listing process to easily send out links to your VolunteerMatch listings.

(Note: Some of these tools come with our free Basic account; some require a Community Leader account ($8.95/month). Click here to see the different account features.)

The list above is just the start of how nonprofits can use their VolunteerMatch account more effectively to engage disaster and emergency volunteers. We’d also love to hear your ideas for how to do this.

(Photo credit: Flickr / CC BY 2.0)

Be the Face of Volunteering: Submit Your Organization’s Photos and Help Us Promote Service and Volunteering in 2010

Hilary Lawson — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:44:48 +0000

Connecting good people with good causes usually makes for some pretty great photo opps, and if you’ve captured some stellar shots showing your volunteers in action, we’d like to see them.

Each year, we use images submitted by our members in a wide variety of ways to illustrate the impact of service in the community. Some go into our annual report or become part of our Web site. Others make it into our newsletters or press releases.

We need your help to make sure we’re telling the whole story! If you have fabulous images you can share with us, we will put them to good use inspiring volunteers to get involved.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

Exciting, dynamic, and fun photos with bright, vibrant colors
Images that are fairly large and easy to read when condensed to a smaller size
Photos that demonstrate the values of volunteering — images of working together, using skills, spreading joy, being active, and being part of a large and diverse community are just a couple of examples
The many different faces of volunteerism – young and old, black and white, skilled or unskilled, we all have a role to play as volunteers. We want to see everyone in action.

Have some photos you’d like submit? Send a low-resolution copy to me at hlawson@volunteermatch.org and I’ll be in touch with the next steps. Thanks for putting a face to volunteering!

Photo credits courtesy VolunteerMatch organizations (counter-clockwise from left):

Christian Appalachian Project / Christina Amenta
Summer Camp counselor Mark Anderson volunteers at Camp Shawnee, a ministry of the Christian Appalachian project in Eastern Kentucky

Hilltop Homework Help Center / Scott Weaver
Miss Emily is one of Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Homework Help Center coordinators. Students are encouraged to come to the library to complete their homework projects.

The New Children’s Museum / Angela Carone
“The Painted Bug,” 2008, Woods Family Studio (Wet/Art Studio) The New Children’s Museum

Tropical Adventure Foundation / Isaac Garcia Gutierrez
Volunteer Francesca Licata with a resident of the Santa Luisa Retirement Home on the Talamanca Indigenous Rseservation in Bambu, Limon, Costa Rica

2010 Webinar Calendar: 13 Great Ways to Strengthen Your Volunteer Program

Robert Rosenthal — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:16:12 +0000

Ready to get even more serious about your volunteer program in 2010? We’ve just posted our calendar of free Web-based trainings for the entire year ahead.

There are thirteen topics in all — and the list is sure to grow as the year begins. Sign up today to reserve your spot.

So what’s new for 2010? Plenty. Not only is our training calendar bigger than ever, it really does have something for all skills levels and all program types.

If you manage just a handful of volunteers, or hundreds, VolunteerMatch Webinars will help you succeed in your job and help your organization succeed in its mission.

For 2010, topics include:

Introductory Level

VolunteerMatch 101
Best Practices for Recruiting Online
Introduction to Community Leader
The New Volunteer Manager’s Toolkit
The CVA Credential: A Mark of Excellence
Successful Volunteer Interview Strategies
Single Days of Service: Make It Work
Social Media and Volunteer Engagement

Advanced Level

Engaging Pro Bono and Skilled Volunteers
Egnaging Difficult Volunteer Transitions
Making Volunteer Engagement Everyone’s Job
Boomer Volunteer Engagement Webinars
Sustaining the Collaboration

Click here for details and dates:
http://www.volunteermatch.org/nonprofits/learningcenter/

About VolunteerMatch Trainings

All our trainings are conducted live by experienced teachers and volunteer managers, and are held in an open format so attendees can ask questions and get the answers they need.

It’s easy to participate. All you need to attend is a computer with speakers and an internet connection, and they’re absolutely free!

Women Of Worth: The Contributions of Women

Robert Rosenthal — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:42:32 +0000

Today L’Oréal Paris’ honored ten women for exceptional achievements and tireless volunteerism efforts as part of its annual Women Of Worth campaign.

L’Oréal’s list of inspiring women is here. All ten are having an amazing impact in their community, and of course all ten are demonstrating the leadership and commitment of women in the nonprofit sector — an industry already packed with powerful and effective women.

Did you know more than 80% of visitors to VolunteerMatch are female? It’s true, and the strange thing about this stat is that it doesn’t really reflect the overall volunteering trend in the U.S.

Most studies, to be sure, show that woman volunteer at a higher rate than men, but just slightly. For example, a report we just co-released with Fidelity® Charitable Gift Fund, puts the rate of monthly volunteering at 54% for women and 43% for men.

So what is it about VolunteerMatch that so appeals to women? Whatever it is, we’ll take it. We’re amazingly proud to support our own “women of worth.”

Nick Hart Interview with Greg Baldwin

Robert Rosenthal — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:20:12 +0000

VolunteerMatch’s Greg Baldwin recently appeared as a guest on a podcast by Nick Hart. Hear what Greg had to say about the spirit of service in America, and what organizations and volunteers are doing to help strengthen our communities:

New Study: Volunteers Give 10x As Much Money As Non-Volunteers

Hilary Lawson — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:45:35 +0000

Want to grow your organization’s donor base? A great place to start is by investing in volunteers.

That is one of the core findings of a new study released today by Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund® and VolunteerMatch. Specifically, people who volunteer donate ten times more money than those who do not give their time. Furthermore, two thirds of those who give their money donate to the same organization they volunteer for.

This is great news for nonprofits — and it should be a wake call for development professionals, foundations, and consultants too. Not only should volunteers and donors no longer be viewed at separate entities with separate needs, but by giving volunteers more insight into what you do and who it helps, you can greatly increase the chance that they’ll give money.

The study marks the beginning of a new alliance between VolunteerMatch and idelity Charitable Gift Fund®. The collaboration will allow visitors to www.charitablegift.org to search VolunteerMatch’s network for volunteer opportunities, creating a perfect outlet for this generous demographic to donate their time and money all in one easy place.

According to the study, 30% of those who don’t volunteer simply can’t find the right fit for their skills and interests. Together, organizations, VolunteerMatch, and Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund® are doing our part to help change this. You can see a few of our other key partners here.

Turning Good Intentions into Action: Hollywood vs Google

Greg Baldwin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:33:46 +0000

How New Media has Changed the Landscape of Volunteer Engagement

Thursday night was a big night for the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s iParticipate campaign. With unprecedented support from the industry, volunteering themes were written into some of America’s favorite prime-time shows.

It is an extraordinary example of what amounts to product placement for the greater good, so why isn’t it working?

This is a difficult and awkward conversation to have in a nonprofit world which often measures success by an organization’s appearances, not its impact. Nonprofits tend to operate in a place a bit like Garrison Keillor’s fictional Lake Wobegon where all the organizations are above average – particularly if you ask them.

iParticipate is new to Lake Wobegon, but it should come as no surprise that they too have quickly established themselves as an above average neighbor. In many ways they deserve that reputation.

If five years ago someone promised to organize a project that would write volunteering into the storylines of major TV shows, most would have considered it a well intentioned but impractical endeavor.

Last night the impractical became the possible as script writers put their spin on a changing social landscape.

Participating shows included:

Private Practice ABC – The practice brings their experts to a teen shelter to provide free check-ups for all the homeless teenagers.

30 Rock NBC – Kenneth volunteers at an animal shelter. He was never allowed to have a pet growing up so he decides to adopt all of the dogs.

Parks & Recreation NBC – The Parks team volunteers with Kaboom! to refurbish a playground.

The Office NBC – The group discusses volunteering.

This new reality is a reflection of how much the world has changed and how conversations about making a bundle have thankfully given way to conversations about making a difference.

But despite the best of intentions and millions of dollars worth of promotion and PSAs yesterday’s star-studded TV event didn’t work as planned.

How do we know? Well we’ve been waiting and preparing for what was promised by organizers from Entertainment Industry Foundation and Service Nation to be a massive spike in volunteering activity flowing from the campaign’s online home iParticipte.org. The plan was to use the unique star power of Hollywood to convince viewers of the importance of volunteering and drive millions of people to the new website iParticipate.org where they could find thousands of local volunteer opportunities pulled from sites like VolunteerSolutions, Craiglist, 1-800-Volunteer.org, Idealist and VolunteerMatch.

But the wave of new energy and excitement didn’t quite make it to shore.
Last night VolunteerMatch received a total of 874 new visits as a result of the campaign or what will likely translate into between 15 to 20 new volunteers.

Many will say as a nonprofit we ought to be grateful for whatever new volunteers we can find or explain away the results as just another example of how hard it is to convince people to volunteer, but we see it differently.

Part of the reason we do is that yesterday was an otherwise busy day at VolunteerMatch. As is pretty typical of a Thursday, we had a total of 33,250 visits, which if you are doing the math, means that about 98% of visits came from someplace other than the TV. Really? So where are they coming from?

The answer of course is Google and the long-tail of the internet. That is how much the word has changed, but not everyone is ready to believe it.

Without promotion or convincing or celebrity appeals, 14,376 people were on Google yesterday looking for volunteer opportunities and found VolunteerMatch. You might say, sure, but how many of them went to Google because they saw the campaign on TV? That’s tough to know exactly, but last Thursday we had 13,787 visits from Google.

That means that without any expensive PSAs, or TV production, or powerful sponsors, or celebrities, or any real extra effort at all, Google out performed Hollywood on Thursday 16 to 1.

That’s the world we live in. So what’s the lesson here? Should celebrities stop talking about volunteering? Is Google taking over the world?

No I don’t think so. I think the real lesson here is simple. The world has changed, and we need to catch up. New media, not old, is the future of volunteer engagement and if TV campaigns aren’t the secret-sauce of expanding volunteer engagement, let’s spend some time together looking at the facts to figure out what is.

But to do that we’ll need to move out of Lake Wobegon first — preferably to a place with lots of web engineers and where everybody has an above average appreciation of measurement and impact.

See you there.

Special Report on Summer of Service at VolunteerMatch: How Did We Do?

Robert Rosenthal — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:51:08 +0000

This summer, VolunteerMatch was one of many organizations supporting the Obama Administration’s United We Serve – Summer of Service campaign.

The stated goal of Summer of Service was to kick off a sustained campaign to help to make volunteerism and community service a part of the daily lives of all Americans.

So how did we do? What happened?

After taking a close look at our metrics and usage patterns in search of measurable results, the VolunteerMatch team has published a report on the activity in our network. The report answers a number of key questions:

How many interested volunteers did we attract?
How many nonprofit organizations were involved?
What opportunities were volunteers most interested in?
Above all, what was it worth to the nonprofit community?

The results may surprise and encourage you. It is just one perspective, but from where we sit America is looking a lot more helpful than most of us had planned on.

Click here to download the PDF report.