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Guest Post by Mimi Mills

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three part series about Southern Maine Community Organizations Active in Disaster (SMCOAD). Part I focused on the mission and history of SMCOAD. Part II focused on the successes of SMCOAD, as well as lessons learned. Part III discusses how to get involved.

Start with just one of these suggestions to get prepared and get involved in SMCOAD!

Individual
• Volunteer! – register as an emergency volunteer at www.VolunteerMaine.org
• Attend a training to be a prepared volunteer.
• Share preparedness information with your family and neighbors
• Ask about the emergency plan at your child’s school or family member’s nursing home.
• Develop a family disaster kit and emergency plan. Remember, the first 72 (hours) are up to you!
• For information on developing a family emergency plan, go to: www.redcross.org or www.ready.gov.

Workplace
• Join a COAD group
• Start a call list for your organization.
• Network with other organizations in your area and in your field.
• Work with others in your organization to develop an internal emergency plan. For information and checklists, go to: www.redcross.org or www.ready.gov.
• Encourage employees to prepare their families and have back-up plans in place.

Community
• Learn what the needs are in the community and how your organization could help. (Can you offer meeting space? case management? food preparation/ delivery? emergency funding? generators? etc.)
• Participate in community emergency exercises.
• Start a COAD.
• Assist with community planning and response.

For Your Information:

SMCOAD meets every other month in various locations throughout York and Cumberland Counties. For more information contact:

York County:
Mimi Mills, Director of Volunteer! York County
United Way of York County

Mimi Mills has been Director of Volunteer! York County at the United Way of York County since May 2006.

by Chris Wolff

A successful volunteer placement relies so heavily on good, targeted recruitment. Of course we all could use the help of a volunteer, and having that extra set of hands is so important to help initiatives move forward. But sometimes our eagerness to get a person in place can make us forget that there are so many things that need to happen before we are able to fully utilize a volunteer resource.

Recruitment of volunteers begins with a need. This varies widely from organization to organization, and could be something as simple as having an extra set of hands for one day/month to assist with clothes sorting or a mailing to something as complex as help with the drafting of a comprehensive plan or legal language for the formation of a non-profit. Whatever the need may be, it is important to think through the project.

Drafting a solid position description is the first step toward successfully recruiting the right person to volunteer with your organization. The position description should be as detailed as possible and include the following information:
• Organization Mission, Goals and Objectives: The position description should provide a brief description of the organization, including the mission statement so the volunteer can understand the bigger picture of the organization and how their project may help achieve overall organizational goals
• Project Description: This is probably the most important part of the position description because it provides the information about what the volunteer will be working on during his/her term of service. It helps to set clear expectations during the recruitment phase. As much as possible, the position description should include a role description within each project area.
• Timeline for the Project: Is this a one-time volunteer opportunity or an ongoing long-term need? It’s important to provide a rough outline of a timeline for the volunteer so they will know if they are successfully working toward expected goals, and for them to feel a sense of achievement.
• Nature of the Work: Can the project be completed in person, or can the project be completed remotely via computer or phone
• Supervision: Someone will need to take on the role of volunteer supervisor. It is important to ensure that one person will serve as the person who will provide guidance and support for the volunteer. The supervisor will need to be available to meet on a regular basis with the volunteer. The position description should address communication strategies between the supervisor and the volunteer. In some cases, it may be helpful to create a “social advisor/supervisor” who will help orient the volunteer to the community- to make sure they meet other people outside of the organization in order to feel connected to their new community, and to make sure the volunteer gets invited to dinners and is aware of community events that may be of interest.
• Orientation Plan: how will the volunteer be oriented to the organization, co-workers, touring the facility, learning about the community?
• Recruitment Criteria: Depending on the volunteer need, you may be looking for someone with a sophisticated skill set (planning or legal experience, teaching experience, computer skills, etc.), or just someone who is physically fit enough to help out with trail construction or a beach clean-up. Whatever the need, it is important to think about the skills the volunteer should have coming into the position, and what skills may be able to be trained during the volunteer service. If you are looking for a gregarious, extroverted person to help develop fun activities for nursing home residents, you probably don’t want to recruit someone who is most comfortable sitting behind a computer or working in a research lab. You can’t train someone to extroverted.

Once a solid position description has been created, then it is time to think about recruitment. Some organizations decide to do targeted recruiting depending on the need. For example, if you are looking for someone to help with the archiving of historical or library resources, you may want to look for volunteers through universities or schools who have museum or library science degrees. Whatever the recruitment strategy, it is important to provide as much detail from your position descriptions so the potential volunteers are well-informed with the projects and their role within the projects. You don’t have to include all details, and perhaps you can link back to your website for further details. However, this is the first chance to “sell” your volunteer opportunity, and to attract the candidates that are the best fit for your opportunity.

Once you’ve received applications for your position and have picked the candidates you would like to follow-up with, it is important to decide how you will interview the candidates. If it’s important to get a feel for their personality, sense of humor, and overall fit into your organization, it may be important to think of ways you can conduct an interview that isn’t intimidating- perhaps, meeting over coffee, or starting with a tour of your organization or meeting different people. Sometimes, sitting at a conference table with 5 board members can be very intimidating, and you may not get a good impression of your candidate. Think of ways to make the interview relaxed and comfortable.

You also may want to provide contact information for past volunteers so the candidates can get the “real scoop” about the challenges and rewards of the position and the organization. It is so important to try to provide as much information about the organization, expectations, culture, and challenges up front before the volunteer commits to accepting your position. There are always going to be unforeseen challenges that arise, but volunteers will appreciate the honesty and respect demonstrated by being candid and clear about expectations before they make a long-term commitment.

Laying the groundwork of a solid position description, and communicating clear expectations during the recruitment and interviewing stage will help to ensure a solid volunteer placement. The volunteer will feel that they have a strong sense of purpose and will understand where their role fits into the overall mission and goals of the organization.

Chris Wolff is Community Development Director at the Island Institute.

Guest Post by Rochelle Runge

Editor’s note: This is the first in a four part series.

When I hear people talking about “problem volunteers” and how to deal with them I immediately think of prevention. There are many ways to structure your program to prevent issues associated with problem volunteers. In my view, dealing with problem volunteers begins with writing solid volunteer position descriptions. Equally important is communication, providing quality training and orientation. These are all common components of a successful volunteer program.

A well written and targeted position description will assist you in attracting and selecting the best volunteer for the position. The description serves to inform the volunteers so they can self select based on their skills and interests. Along with effective interviewing skills, thoughtfully prepared position descriptions will help avoid problems that can arise when a volunteer is improperly placed. Often a problem volunteer is a volunteer who is in the wrong position.

Some questions you should ask yourself before writing a volunteer position description:

How will the volunteer be used within the organization?
Why do you need a volunteer?
What are you expecting of the volunteer?
Who will manage the volunteer?

Be sure to include these key elements as well:

Position/Title
Goal of position
Worksite
Major duties
Length of commitment
Qualifications sought
Training required/provided
Prerequisites/skills
Supervisor/Point of Contact
Travel required
Benefits to the volunteer

As you write your position description consider using action words to get your point across succinctly. Try to use short sentences and bullet points that convey specifically what you’re looking for, for example:

• Records minutes at each meeting and provides printed copies within two weeks to board members with minimum errors.

The position description is one of the first things a potential volunteer may encounter with respect to your program. It needs to be professional, enticing, and thoughtfully prepared. When a position description is specific it conveys clear expectations, which is another form of prevention. Like employees, volunteers need to know what is expected of them in order to perform and be successful!

Rochelle Runge is the Public Relations Representative for the Maine Commission for Community Service.

Bessie Wright is completing her AmeriCorps position and has been hired on as the Watershed Coordinator at Penobscot
County Soil and Water Conservation District. Yesterday’s post was her last as a Featured Blogger. Thank you for adding your voice to this blog, Bessie, and best wishes in your new position!

by Bessie Wright

My work with volunteers is sporadic. Often I’ll bring a group together for a single day project and won’t see them again for months. This gives me a lot of “down time” between spurts of volunteer activity and I try to use that to my advantage as well as the advantage of the volunteers. I view each lull in a program as an opportunity for re-evaluation.

After every big project I ask myself the following:
- Did everything go as planned?
- If not, what didn’t go as planned and was that a bad thing?
- What, if anything, went poorly and why?
- How do I make this more worthwhile for the volunteer?
- How do I make this easier for the volunteer to effectively complete?
- How do I change this project next time so I get closer to the results I need?
- How can I make this better?

These are questions that every program coordinator (volunteer based or not) should be asking. More importantly, program coordinators need to act on the results of project evaluation. Sometimes taking the time out of a busy schedule to actually change things is the hardest part. I’m lucky that my programs have natural breaks in the schedule. Most coordinators may have to make the time, but program re-evaluation is well worth it.

Bessie Wright is an AmeriCorps member serving with the Maine Conservation Corps.

Programs and projects are always changing. A constantly shifting society, diverse volunteer groups, new technologies and new funding sources force volunteer-based programs to be flexible. By continually re-evaluating programs that inevitable change can be focused, timely and well planned.

Guest Blog by Mimi Mills

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three part series about Southern Maine Community Organizations Active in Disaster (SMCOAD). Part I focused on the mission and history of SMCOAD. Part II focuses on the successes of SMCOAD, as well as lessons learned. Part III discusses how to get involved.

SMCOAD, Two years later:

Successes:

SMCOAD is a viable, collaborative and highly function network that now supports County systems during times of disaster or emergency. 211Maine is the source to receive, refer and record all disaster related calls for both immediate help from volunteers and long term help in meeting essential unmet needs.

• • Hundred’s of individuals and families have been helped that otherwise would not have received help and perhaps may never had recovered.
• • SMCOAD network covers both York and Cumberland Counties.
• • SMCOAD supports another viable network, Long Term Disaster Recovery Committee (LTDR) that serves three counties, York Cumberland and Oxford.
• • United Way’s of York County and Greater Portland, SMCOAD partners, are in agreement with York County Emergency Management to provide a Volunteer Reception Center to recruit, screen and deploy “unaffiliated” disaster volunteers.
• • SMCOAD received grant funding from Maine Commission for Community Service to sustain SMCOAD activities and share this experience through a state-wide Americorp/VISTA grant.
• • SMCOAD article and manual in final draft. This work can be shared with others that wish to start a COAD in their town or region.
• • SMCOAD received national recognition for Project TAHS, Technical Assistance in Homeland Security.

Lessons Learned:

• • Networks make a lot of sense. They build capacity, they are a great source of information and a community can achieve more by working together.
• • Network partners trust each other and can be more creative as they understand that “give and take” is essential to any good network.
• • Networks take time. It is often difficult for potential partners to know how they may serve or benefit from a network.
• Network resources vary from time to time and event to event. It is a challenge to maintain a log of available resources.
• Networks should be dynamic, with many sources but also be comfortable with some uncertainty and changes.
• Finding leadership and a home for this network has been a challenge.

Post by Jodi Freedman

It seems that Penny and I are on the same wavelength. I just read her blog from June 10th about rising fuel costs. My thoughts have been circling around how much I keep hearing about the cost of gas and cutting down on travel. At the same time, I just used my webcam to see my 6 month old nephew in California. So, my question is how can we use the technology that exists and is available to many of us to keep our volunteers engaged?

Now more than ever, volunteer managers are going to need to be creative. Can you use your volunteers via the internet, so that they are in fact telecomuting to their volunteer positions? Are there ways to make the opportunity move closer to the volunteer, such as representing your organization at a program or fair in their area? This would save you and the volunteer on gas costs!

I certainly don’t have the answers, but I think that we are all going to have to start looking at volunteering through a different lens.I am curious to hear how everyone is meeting this challenge. In an ideal situation, maybe we could buy our volunteers vespas so they could commute for less!

Jodi Freedman is a Major Gifts Specialist at the Maine Chapterof the Alzheimer’s Association.

Guest Blog by Mimi Mills

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three part series about Southern Maine Community Organizations Active in Disaster (SMCOAD). Part I focuses on the mission and history of SMCOAD. Part II focuses on the successes of SMCOAD, as well as lessons learned. Part III discusses how to get involved.

As a result of the major flooding in northern Maine this spring, many organizations have expressed interest in Southern Maine Community Organizations Active in Disaster (SMCOAD). They want to know how they can prepare, respond, join or start a COAD in their community. These folks are more and more convinced that, as a community, they do need to have a viable and trusted network to address issues and are looking to SMCOAD for answers. SMCOAD advocates that community wide preparedness and participation is essential to a community’s ability to recover from a disaster.

What is Southern Maine Community Organizations Active in Disaster?

SMCOAD is a collaborative of community organizations or individuals representing businesses, organizations, agencies, schools, municipalities, and clubs that recognize the importance of being organized and able to respond in the event of an emergency or disaster. SMCOAD is not a “first responder” entity but SMCOAD does work in partnership with County and local Emergency Management Agencies. SMCOAD is a collective group of community organizations and individuals working together to help minimize the effects of an emergency or disaster on their local community.

SMCOAD has four primary objectives:

• To establish relationships and create trusted networks.

• To promote workplace, family and volunteer preparedness.

• Map the SMCOAD network; manpower (volunteermaine.org), materials (who have what & where) and money/ resources.

• Support Volunteer Reception Center and Long Term Recovery Committees

A Brief History of SMCOAD:

The SMCOAD began shortly following the Mother’s Day Flood in York County in 2006. Immediately after the flood, emergency response systems were activated and people were removed from harm’s way. First responders worked together to serve those in need. As first response subsided and recovery and long term needs became the priority, it was immediately apparent there was not a solid system in place to support the essential needs of those affected by the floods. Pre-planning and networking would have helped recovery efforts run more smoothly with more defined roles and resources. Volunteer networks with their abundant human and administrative resources as well as corporate/community networks are well positioned to organize and respond effectively. The first meeting of SMCOAD was held as a forum, Volunteer Response During Disaster: Preparation, Practice & Action, and served as informational and a call to action. More than 66 people from 45 organizations and businesses attended.

Mimi Mills has been Director of Volunteer! York County at the United Way of York County since May 2006.

by Margaret E. Puckett

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Leadership Institute in Volunteer Management Coaching Seminar held at the University of Maine campus in Orono. Now, training seminars can be a mixed bag – some are good and some are not so good. As a die-hard “cup is half full” kind of person I’ve generally found something of value in almost all of the training seminars I have attended over the past 35 years. But I would have to say that last week’s seminar was significantly different from any other training I have ever had.

The literature for the event said the trainer – Louise Franck Cyr (a Community Development Specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension) – “is widely known and has an excellent reputation for being a dynamic and inspiring trainer.” What an understatement! I would categorize this training seminar to be perhaps the best training seminar I have ever attended. It was a truly awesome experience! Insightful and inspiring, Louise’s powerful presentation was jammed packed with great information and wonderful techniques. I’m still trying to mentally process everything I learned and experienced. I would certainly encourage anyone to attend her training if they have the opportunity.

There were far too many “Ah …” moments during the two day seminar to recount them all in this blog entry, but I would like to share with you one that really caught my attention. It was while we were talking about establishing relationships with our volunteers. There were two questions Louise recommended we ask every volunteer. I had never thought about asking either question, but it made so much sense to me, I now wonder why I had never thought about asking those questions before.

The first question was “If I had a difficult subject to discuss with you, how would you like me to approach you?” How many times could a difficult discussion with a volunteer be much less difficult, and more successful, by having those answers?

The second question was “How do you learn best?” Well, we all know everyone learns differently. How much more sense does it make to ask your volunteers how they learn before you start trying to teach them?

Whether establishing a new relationship with a volunteer, or cultivating a better relationship with a current volunteer, it just makes sense to ask these two basic questions. After all, who knows the answers better than the volunteers themselves?

Margaret E. Puckett is Volunteer Services Coordinator at Saint Joseph Hospital in Bangor, Maine.

by Penny Kern

This weekend it hit me how much volunteering is going to change because of fuel prices. Twice this past week, I had the opportunity to get involved in statewide volunteering that I would have LOVED to have participated in. Twice I’ve had to turn it down because these opportunities were in Orono–more than 150 miles from my house, one way. At $4.24 a gal for gas and no one to foot the bill but myself, I had to say no. How will your organization face this crisis? Are you, as an organization, ready to help volunteers actually be able to do what you need them to do or can you turn to the Internet and phone calls to make things still work?

Penny Kern is a retired volunteer manager from Aroostook County.