SITE

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.

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.

This language has been thrown around a lot lately, and, probably like some of you, I ignored it or then tried to guess what it was. I just knew it was ‘hot’. And since I’m not, I decided I could let someone else take care of it. That is, until a recent retreat where a Social Marketing expert provided us with excellent training and introduced a website that is available to anyone. The website guides you through a process where you can create your own social marketing plan, using the templates and information provided on the website. Check it out!

Social marketing is aimed at behavior change. i.e. wearing seatbelts or quitting smoking. While most of us think of ‘marketing’ as strategies to make you buy something, social marketing seeks to identify strategies that will affect your behavior. The introduction to the online course notes that ‘marketing recognizes that communication, advertising and education can lead to awareness and knowledge, but they aren’t the only factors that affect behavior change. Social marketing looks for interaction between the factors. Social marketing depends on a deep understanding of the consumer.’

The program stresses the importance of thorough market research as a means of getting to know your customer and what really motivates them. Much of the program walks you through the process for identifying barriers to behavior change, for determining potential benefits for changing behavior, for recognizing the competition from alternatives, for isolating the factors that really influence behavior, and for understanding the exchange between choosing one alternative over another.

Other chapters deal with the traditional ‘4 p’s of marketing’—product, price, place and promotion. The goal of this model is to identify the intersection of these factors to target specifically the message that will reach the desired audience, will create behavior change, and that will succeed over time.

The stories and anecdotes in the material are primarily based on health issues, but the material applies to any effort to change behavior. Since the program was developed with federal fund through the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the materials are available to anyone interested in using them. If the link above does not work, go to the website and enter Social Marketing in the search box. You will get there eventually!

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

For more than 20 years, the Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism has provided learning and networking opportunities for Maine’s volunteer administrators and program managers. It is the only professional development conference tailored exclusively to the needs and challenges of leaders in the state’s volunteer sector.

This year’s conference is October 14 at the University of Maine, Orono. We are excited about our keynote speaker, Jean Twenge, PhD. She delivers talks across North America on today’s young generation, based on her research and her book, “Generation Me.” Additionally, Dr. Twenge will facilitate a workshop on managing programs with multi-generational volunteers.

The Blaine House Conference also will sponsor an all day seminar focusing on the legal and economic impact of volunteers. This seminar is tailored to the lawyers who advise volunteer programs or their sponsors as well as Managers of Volunteers. Another series of workshops facilitated by the Nonprofit Risk Management Center will address planning and risk management aspects of engaging volunteers in community work.

To supplement our menu of workshops, we are looking for experts from the field to provide additional workshops based on themes developed from past conference participant evaluations. The workshop themes include: Motivate & Engage Volunteers; Advocate Within Your Agency (for your volunteer program); Build Community Partnerships; Leverage Volunteers as Fundraisers; Manage Risk; and Maximize Technology. We are particularly interested in workshops that will appeal to experienced volunteer administrators/managers.

Information on the 2008 Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism and how to submit a proposal can be found here. Presenters whose proposals are selected will receive a complimentary registration to the Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism.

Mark your calendar for October 14, 2008 for the Blaine House Conference. Whether you attend as a presenter or a participant, it will be a great opportunity to gain new skills and network with other volunteer administrators/managers.

The Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism is sponsored by Maine Commission for Community Service and University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

by Julie D. Mulkern

Most of us can say easily that without the support of our peers and the professional organizations to which we belong, we would not be nearly as successful with our programs. This is largely because we are part of a uniquely non-competitive field. The volunteer management world is a well of resource-sharing.

Professional organizations allow for a congregation of intelligent, like-minded professionals that are immersed in the inner workings of their industry to gather and provide participants with access to a variety of opinions and ideas. The Volunteer Maine site is a perfect 21st century example!

Currently, I am a member of the Maine Society of Directors of Healthcare Volunteer Services (MSDHVS). Membership in this group has been invaluable to my growth as a volunteer manager. This group represents volunteer directors in healthcare organizations all across Maine and boasts literally hundreds of years of experience in volunteer management. This diverse constituency provides a wealth of information for new or seasoned volunteer managers.

Membership in a professional organization exposes you to new opportunities and people that could help you now and in the future. You’re developing a network in which you’re meeting like-minded people from other organizations that face similar challenges and who may be able to provide insights into solutions that have worked for them.

In the process you are reaping the benefits of: increased credibility, broadened knowledge, potential career opportunities, and last but certainly not least, lifelong friendships.

Julie D. Mulkern is the Manager of Volunteer Resources & Development at Spring Harbor Hospital, an inpatient psychiatric hospital in Westbrook, Maine.