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By Anne Schink

In reviewing some literature I received recently about retirement, I came across some statistics that will probably affect volunteering rates. Post a comment to share what you think.

The article noted that many people are planning to delay retirement due to concerns about whether they can afford to retire or not. 76% of those between ages 35-54 expect to work at least part time after they retire. Since we have spent a lot of time thinking of ways to engage those upcoming boomers in volunteering, this may prove to be a sobering statistic. Will people who delay retirement or work part time have the time and energy to volunteer in our programs?

In a report by the Taskforce on the Aging of the American Worker, February 2008, they noted dramatic changes in Labor Force Participation Rates since 1950. In 1950 86.9% of men and only 27% of women under 65 were working. This was an era when many women made a career of being a volunteer leader. It is also the source of the stereotype of a volunteer as a white haired, middle class, suburban woman.

By the year 2000 that rate had changed radically. In 2000 67.3% of men and 51.8% of women under 65 were working. Many men had retired at a typical age, while the rate of women in the workforce continued to grow, nearly double what it had been fifty years before.

In 2005 the numbers again showed a major shift, particularly among women. 74.5% of men and 62.7% of women under age 65 were participating in the labor force. Many men had decided to stay longer in the workforce, and women continued to grow as the share of the workforce.

If these trends continue, do you think this will affect your volunteer program? Since we have much conflicting data regarding who volunteers, it may or may not affect our programs. For instance, considerable research continues to show that working parents are often those who volunteer most regularly.

In this difficult economy are your volunteers likely to cut back on their volunteering unless they can get reimbursed for their expenses? Or are they likely to want to be ‘paid’ on a contract basis for small projects, which they perceive as ‘consulting’ jobs as opposed to traditional volunteering. Even if they aren’t paid market rate for their contributions, they may want to receive a token payment for what they regard as professional services. Are you prepared for these new roles? Have you created positions that would attract those professionals and experienced workers? Or are your volunteers still considered those ‘sweethearts’ who come to your office to ‘help out’?

With fully 33.5% of men and 23.7% of women still working after age 65 in 2005, you may want to re-think how you perceive volunteers in your organization. On the other hand, many Americans are certainly enjoying their retirement. In fact, the majority of them! Let us know how you are readjusting your program to reflect these realities.

Anne Schink is a featured blogger and is the Project INVEST Coordinator for the Maine Commission for Community Service.

by Carla Ganiel

I always look forward to seeing Seth Godin’s blog in my google reader. It is full of lessons about marketing that apply to many other areas of organizational management, including the management of volunteers.

Take, for instance, this recent post in which Seth explains what “hygiene” means in the context of marketing:

Not just being clean, of course, but being in an environment in which certain requirements are met. All the farm-fresh groceries in the world won’t make you happy if your kitchen is filled with bugs. A high-paying job that delivers a screaming boss, no job security and a home life fraught with tension isn’t a stable place for most people. Not because the money isn’t there, but because basic “hygiene” needs aren’t being met.

Thanks to Seth, I’m beginning to think about whether the organizations I work with have any hygiene problems that might negatively impact volunteer recruitment and retention. What about your program or organization? Are there any areas you can think of that might need a little cleaning up?

Carla Ganiel is a featured blogger and a nonprofit management consultant from Tremont, Maine.

By Wendy Cattell

I’ve administered the York County portion of VolunteerMaine.org for around eight months. In those eight months I’ve learned that to use a website effectively, you have to have some level of comfort with the site and how it works. At first, yes, I was intimidated. There are a lot of great features and information on this site, so many that when I list them off I always forget one or two. It took time (and some training) before I was at ease with most of it.

To have a level of comfort takes time and regular use/practice. Athletes don’t get better because they hope for it, but because they practice and train. Not that you have to spend five hours everyday to be a genius on the site, but once every two weeks or once a month is a good start.

This is probably my best bit of advice: jump right in and try out the site. Explore what it has to offer. If something goes wrong, it can be fixed. If there’s a question, some one has the answer (though it may take time to get the answer.) This is a learning experience, embrace the chance to grow. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had a computer all your life, or you’re still new with it, don’t get discouraged. To use the phrase, “everyone starts from somewhere,” but not everyone has a chance to call up support.

My next best pieces: make sure others know how to log on. Because no one stays in the same spot forever, it’s a good idea to have multiple people involved. Keeping others aware of site activity ensures that when some one leaves a position, some one else can pick it up, even if it’s temporary. Other than that, it’s all about what you need

Wendy Cattell is an AmeriCorps VISTA at the United Way of York County and a guest blogger.

By Trudy Hamilton

It’s been a wet and cranky summer, so far. I don’t mind a little rain, but this has been ridiculous! And, it makes me cranky, I found out. So, today’s blog is about my latest crank…giving volunteers ownership of the work we are asking them to do.

Ever had that supervisor that gave you a task to do, and then proceeded to tell you exactly how to do it, rather than letting you figure out your own best way? How did it make you feel? Ever had that supervisor that gave you a task to do, then set you on your merry way to figure out the best way to do it? How did that make you feel?

Volunteers have to be allowed the same latitude that we would like to have. Give them a task, let them take care of the details, and make sure to follow up. Here’s an example:

Your agency has a program that requires field work in many areas. The idea is to get coverage for these areas to share information, or perform a service. Your desire is to have volunteers help you with this program. In theory, a great way would be to make a list of the areas that need coverage, let your volunteers sign up for the areas they would like to go to, and let them take care of the rest. Let them set the dates and time, do the publicity, and carry out the event when it is convenient for them. The volunteers have more ownership in the program, and are more likely to return to help the next year. The program coordinator does just that, coordinates and follows up.

All too often, however, the program coordinator sets the dates, times, locations, and assigns the volunteers. Is a volunteer that is told when they must cover a location going to be a volunteer who is happy to return next year, or will they simply find another project to volunteer their time with?

My second stand on this soapbox is about knowing, for sure, how your volunteers are treated by their supervisors. I once read that the person who needs to know the most about an agency (besides the ED) is the Manager of Volunteers. How else can they know which programs need volunteers at peak times? I would suggest that the Manager of Volunteers also take the time to act as a volunteer in a few programs your agency operates each year. Take the training (how well prepared are you?), sign up for some of the work (how does the supervisor convey schedules, or are you allowed to set your own), and is the supervisor making sure that the volunteers are getting the support and materials they need to do their job? This will allow you to do some troubleshooting with a program, and make practical suggestions for improvement.

What do you think?

Trudy Hamilton is Volunteer Manager at Seniors Plus and is a featured blogger.

By Danielle Arbour

I have to admit when I first became the Volunteer Coordinator for the Bangor Humane Society I was skeptical about having children volunteer. Even with an adult it seemed risky – what if they stuck their hand in a cage while no one was looking? What if they wandered off and opened a kennel housing an aggressive animal?

Today I’m grateful I didn’t turn my back on the children who wanted to volunteer for us. I realized as I was giving a 9 year old girl a tour of our building this morning that the young volunteers we have may just be some of the best. They are passionate about the animals, always searching for a way to make their lives better, more comfortable. The kindness and caring they show amazes me and their willingness to learn new things and ask questions is refreshing. I love training our young volunteers. Watching their eyes light up at the sight of all the animals and asking how they can help. They never hesitate to make a suggestion or note when an animal seems to feel depressed or sad. Their energy rubs off on all of us and, I think, makes our typically stressful working environment a little less so.

Danielle Arbour is the Volunteer and Events Manager at the Bangor Humane Society and a guest blogger.

How many times have your good hearted, responsible volunteers failed to follow through on schedule? Your tried-and-true volunteers may miss a deadline or fail to show for a committee meeting. Some new recruits may neglect to return paperwork that you emailed them weeks ago. Are these people really worth your time as a Manager of Volunteers? There’s a good chance that the answer is, “YES!” A little bit of follow up could go a long way.

Perhaps they simply forgot, got tied up in their busy home life, or unexpectedly worked overtime all week at their day job. Whatever the reason, it pays to follow up with volunteers on a regular basis. Take this task in stride, and try not to think of it as “hand-holding” or “a high maintenance nightmare.” Remember that volunteers are typically busy folks with numerous obligations. Reminding people of their specific commitment or interest in your organization is par for the course.

My first mentor in managing volunteers claimed that it often takes three communication attempts to truly reach people with information. In the spirit of this wisdom here are three simple ways to follow up with volunteers:

1. In person or on the phone- The most direct and personalized contacts usually bring about the most realistic and effective responses.
2. A personalized email or old fashioned snail mail letter- A great follow up “in writing” for reference to have on hand, and for those introverted types who’d prefer to process the written word.
3. Easily accessed online calendars or bulletins- These are great follow up tools for scheduling ongoing volunteer tasks or managing a large group. There are many online versions of free calendars that you can update and send a link to your volunteers, of course the most obvious is to use the resources found on www.volunteermaine.org.
There are many other sites that are also available and user friendly like Google calendars.

Follow up, Follow up, Follow up with your volunteers and indeed the third time may be a charm.

Christy Monroe is a featured blogger.

How many times have I heard parents of teenagers use those words when referring to their loving teens? Having survived three teenaged sons, I’m sure at some point one member of my family or another could have benefited from an ‘attitude adjustment’ at some time or another. I’m sure my sons would have, at that time, said either my husband or I could have easily adjusted our attitude to meet theirs. Looking back for any of us who are managers of volunteers, our training ground very easily began with living with teenagers or being a teenager. Some of us have done both. What does this have to do with attitude?

There aren’t many things in this world over which we have control. The one thing amazingly, is our attitude. Rhonda Byrne says in the now famous book, cd, or dvd versions of ‘The Secret’, that ‘gratitude attitude’ is how we should begin each day. It’s often difficult to get people to realize the only control we have in life is over our own attitude. Even those loving teens over whom we believe we have control, will make choices which are not in keeping with what we believe should have been their choices. In working with staff or volunteers of a volunteer program, there will be many occasions where our own attitude about a decision or choice someone else has made with which we don’t agree may be the determining factor of the outcome. Does someone else actually ‘make you feel’ a certain way? No, we choose to feel the way we feel. In working with volunteers and staff, it is sometimes very difficult to help them realize that they too, choose to feel the way they feel about a particular situation. The statement “when you said ______, you made me feel_________” is definitely a difficult one to deal with for everyone involved.

The sun isn’t shining today….nor has it been in sight for many days now. We could choose to be upset about that which probably doesn’t make us feel any better. Or we could decide that there are greater issues with which to be concerned. We could even find ourselves happy that we have the rain so that we are not worrying about fires, drought or any other adversity created by having no rain.

What situation are you going through that changing your attitude would make your life easier? You do have a choice. Conveying a ‘gratitude attitude’ to your staff and volunteers and living it, will truly become infectious and will make the job a little easier.

Ann Swain is the Director of the Orono Senior Companion Program and a featured blogger.

A recent search on keepmecurrent.com turned up more than 30 articles about volunteers! Julia Davis recently wrote an article entitled Volunteering benefits people and animals alike that mentions volunteermaine.org!

Have you ever wondered who wins a Grant Competition? Why did “they” win and what was the process? We have an opportunity for those of you who have always wondered about these questions. The Maine Commission for Community Service will be administering its triennial Grant Competition during November and December 2008 and is looking for Peer Grant Reviewer volunteers.

We are looking for a diverse group of peer reviewers with expertise in one or more of these categories of service work: national service, volunteer management, volunteer program design, and service delivery in the areas of education, mentoring, literacy and tutoring, human needs, energy conservation, environment, housing, nonprofit management, emergency management, and public safety. Click here for additional information:

If you have been a Peer Reviewer in the past and would like to do it again, please re-submit your application in our new format.

If you wish to be considered, complete the online peer review application using the link below.

All applications must be received by September 20, 2008 to be considered. Reviewers will be selected and notified during October.

*NOTE: If you work for or serve in a program funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service you may not serve as a reviewer.

You can be a part of the Grants Selection Process and help choose Maine’s AmeriCorps programs! Please consider volunteering for this worthwhile project that will make a difference to many people in our great state! This is an excellent opportunity to see how a Grant Competition actually works!

Have any of you volunteered in the past as a peer reviewer? Make a comment to this post and let others know what you thought!

Harold Shaw is a guest blogger and the new Grants Program Officer for the Maine Commission for Community Service.

I don’t know how many times I have heard from our volunteers, “thanks for letting me be here.” I am astonished and humbled whenever I hear that. But these people really mean it. They feel privileged to be a part of this institution. They learn and grow and stretch their abilities in ways they never thought of doing before. They help people enjoy a visit, they make an artifact clean and ready for display, or they put a disorganized collection into order and feel so good as a result. As a volunteer manager, I try to keep that intangible benefit of feeling useful in mind whenever I recruit, supervise or just check in with volunteers. If a project or volunteer position doesn’t give someone a sense of purpose and accomplishment, no amount of mugs, pins, or parties will keep them coming back.
Volunteering seems to help people in unexpected ways. Some of our volunteers have overcome anxiety disorders, extreme shyness, or low self esteem. Others have learned to edit catalogs, work with power tools or determine the best way to clean old linens. These may or may not be skills used in everyday life but they give volunteers more confidence and pride. They see the results of their efforts and can tell others of their contributions. And they might now know how much torque a hand drill really exerts! I don’t see our volunteers bragging but I do see them proudly claiming their connections here. And that’s as it should be. So do whatever you can do in your volunteer positions to create purpose, a sense of accomplishment and get the project done. Your volunteers will thank you for it. And that’s a great feeling.

Kris Weeks Oliveri is a guest blogger and the Coordinator of Volunteers at the Maine State Museum in Augusta.