SITE

by Alec Hartman

Digital cameras make photography easy these days, and many, many people take good pictures. So, what makes a photograph really interesting and lifts it above the level of others?

Personally, I don’t think it’s the number of pixels your camera has or how many lenses you use. Someone with a point-and-shoot camera can take a remarkable photo. I believe it’s in the eye of the photographer. You need to see the world from a different perspective. You need to look at the world as if you’re looking through the frame of a camera.

Many everyday slices of life come alive when you focus on them. Sometimes it’s seeing something small that most people miss, sometimes it’s catching the drama of a split-second, sometimes it’s seeing the humor in something right there in front of you.

How do you develop that split-second skill, that ability to see drama or humor? First, take lots and lots of photos. You’re using a digital camera, right? There’s no cost in snapping the shutter. For anyone over 30, this goes against how they’ve always used cameras. When you have to pay for film and then pay for each and every picture you develop, you approach photography differently. Many people say to me, “You must be incredibly patient to get photos like this! Do you wait for hours to catch just the right image?” This is the old way of taking pictures. When I see something that interests me, I take picture after picture of the same scene. It’s not unusual for me to take hundreds of photos of the same thing, one right after the other, changing the angle, the shutter speed, the color balance, and the light exposure. After you’ve taken thousands of photos in this way, you learn which speeds, angles, light levels, etc. work in which way, and give which effects.

Also, this experience sharpens your eye and shows you how things look to the camera. As you develop this skill, you develop the ability to look at the world and see it in snapshots.

Click below to see examples of Alec’s work:

Angel and Spider
Dancing Bear
Asleep

If you are creative, you’ve got an advantage over other people, but even if you don’t consider yourself naturally creative, you can develop your creativity by using your camera often and in many different places.

So keep your camera handy and work it hard! You’ll be surprised what you can capture.

Alec Hartman of Alec Hartman Photography is a guest blogger.

Editor’s Note: Try out some of Alec’s suggestions and submit your photo in the “Volunteers in Action” Photo Contest! We invite you to submit any photo depicting volunteers serving the community. Entries are due by March 17, 2010. Winning entries and honorable mentions will be displayed at the State House during the Governor’s Volunteer Service Awards on April 22, 2010. For contest rules and information on how to enter, click here.

By Josephine Cooper and Carl Lakari

Last month, we featured a blog from Project AWARE Coordinator, Carl Lakari. This month, we are featuring a letter from one of their youth volunteers, Josephine Cooper.

I want to share with you a letter from one grateful youth volunteer. Read it, find inspiration, share it with your networks … and please remember the potential that exists in our youth. Carl Lakari, Project AWARE Coordinator

Letter from Josephine Cooper, Age 15, Saco, Maine

Project AWARE is an organization that encourages young people to lead in their communities. For me it has done just that. When I joined the Project AWARE Players in 2005 it gave me a chance to use my creativity to better myself and others around me. I am given the opportunity to speak to young people and adults alike, about the importance of an alcohol and drug free lifestyle, and encourage natural highs, and making a difference.
This is my fifth year being a part of the Project AWARE Players. When I was in the sixth grade, I became the director of the Project AWARE Player Juniors. As a sixth grade student I was given the opportunity to write skits pertaining to issues that I was concerned about. Then, present them to students and adults in a creative and fun way. Throughout middle school, I continued to gain self-confidence and a feeling of leadership through the Project AWARE Players, which now serves to my benefit every day of my high school, and one-day adult life. I now provide artistic direction for the Project AWARE Players.
In the summer of 2008, an opportunity arose, which has proved one of the most influential and unexpected of my life. I attended the Project AWARE Summer Film Institute. There, I was able to use my love for film to make more of a difference than I would have ever dreamed. Another Project AWARE Players member and I created a one-minute PSA about the importance of parent role modeling. This is a topic, which affects everyone’s life, and isn’t sufficiently discussed. Several months after the PSA premiered, my partner and I were confronted with a proposition from Project AWARE, to make our PSA into a movie! After a year of planning, writing, casting, and a lot of learning, the shoot for the 30-minute film began. For a week and a half I, a high school student, got the opportunity of a professional director. I worked with a professional camera crew, and professional actors. Everything I had ever learned about leadership was put to the test. I blocked scenes, called action, and watched the magic of film come to life on the monitor.
Never before have I felt so proud. Not only did I get to direct, but I got to act as well, and prepare for the career I hope to someday pursue. I can’t think of a better experience than to be given the chance to not only wear the director’s hat, but that of a writer, producer, and actor as well. It was an exhilarating process, and amazing hands on experience. I became a leader of an entire film operation, all ultimately geared towards making a difference about an issue I feel is of great importance, while being supported by Project AWARE.
Not only have I learned a remarkable amount, and had such great opportunities from being a member of the Project AWARE Players, but I have also met some of the greatest people I could ever hope to encounter in one lifetime. Project AWARE has supplied me, since I was young, with role models. I have grown up with people to encourage me to make a difference, and follow whatever dreams I may have. Also, people to show me the importance of a drug and alcohol free life, and to teach me that there are so many wonderful things out there to spend my precious time doing, rather than wasting it with unhealthy decisions. To this day, I think back on all of the amazing people I would have never met without Project AWARE and the Players.
How many teenagers have the opportunity to speak to a room full of organization heads, and school faculty, about the issues they feel important? How many young people are given the chance to educate children about the importance of healthy choices? How many people in general learn to really be a leader, and express themselves in a creative and meaningful way? Thanks to Project AWARE, these are all things I can proudly say, I have done.

Josephine is one of many youth “volunteers” at Project AWARE .

Carl Lakari is the Project Aware Coordinator and a guest blogger.

By Martin J Cowling

In a few weeks time, the Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism will convene under the theme: Compassion-Action-Change.

As I prepare my presentations for the conference, I have been reflecting on these three words and particularly the word: Compassion. What is its meaning? What does it mean for our not for profits? For our communities? Our nations?

In Nick Hornby’s 2001 novel “How to Be Good”, he tells of a character who decides to be “good” to the utmost extent. His goodness becomes sickening and suffocating. This is not the sort of compassion we are looking for.

What is the compassion we are looking for?

Compassion is not a term we often hear in business or government. Even in the not for profit sector, it is not always welcome. The word seems to cut across much of how we are told that we “should” behave in these fields. We are told that we are supposed to be “tough, unyielding, undeterred, competitive and focused.” As a result, compassion, for many sounds like a soft or as passive word.

Compassion is the human emotion prompted by the pain of others. The feeling often gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another’s suffering and therefore ultimately to altruism. The basis of compassion is therefore: “Do to others what you would have them do to you.”

This is a value therefore that is fundamental to our societies. Far from being a passive word, compassion implies strength, courage and determination to act. It is definitely neither a sickening or suffocating term.

There are many many volunteers across the globe who show compassion through their own lives.

I was recently visiting a couple who have taken in children into their home. Children abandoned by parents who are unable to care for them. This couple opened up their home and their lives to children who need love, care, good modeling and an education.

In the severe fires that swept Australia in early 2009, volunteers took in and protected Koalas that had been burnt by the fires. In New Orleans volunteers took in the cats and dogs that were stranded in that city.

Compassion drives “Doctors Without Borders” volunteers in Africa operate on people impacted by natural disasters and war, often under the most terrible of conditions. These examples are compassion in action.

When people come to us to volunteer, motivated by the compassion they feel to a person/people/cause or issue, how do we deal with this?

Do they find an organization motivated by compassion? Or do they experience something which undermines that compassion. When people hear about your board meetings, attend your internal meetings or read your internal emails, memos and notices, do they see an organization that’s very soul is one of compassion?

Do they find organizations that help people live out this compassion that they feel? I was working with a charitable organization where one volunteer said to me “I wish we treated each other as well so we treat the clients”. That’s an indictment on that not for profit and its culture.

Do incoming volunteers find organizations that reward compassion? In most volunteer based organizations we reward the volunteers for the number of hours, they complete or how many years they have served. Do we ever reward volunteers on how they live out the values of our organization? Is the “Volunteer of the Year” chosen because they turned up a lot or because their life exemplifies the values wee are seeking?

Our volunteer involving organizations were generally started by people with compassion. How do we maintain that compassion in the future legions of people who follow? Three simple ways?
1. Lets talk about our values including the compassion of the founders
2. Let us deliver our services with those values
3. Let us reward these values

I would be interested in your feedback on how you do this and how we can support each other to do this.

Martin J Cowling is the CEO of People First -Total Solutions and the Keynote Speaker at the 2009 Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism.

By Trudy Hamilton

I’ve discovered over the years that many volunteer programs are steeped (sometimes simmered to the point of curdling) in hallowed traditions and graces ranging from souvenir recognition memorabilia to elegant recognition events to awards named after someone from long ago that no one remembers, except once per year when the award in their name is presented. Now, think of the changing economy each agency is facing. Add to this the fact that the holidays are just around the corner. I know, it is still August, yet I received my first Holiday Card catalog of the season this morning!

So, where am I going with these thoughts? In the past, the agency did the annual recognition event, one for each county, the usual Thank You, and holiday cards. In two years, we’ve moved to one event for all volunteers to attend, kept the cards, increased the informal Thank You’s, and tried to provide memorabilia unique to the program the volunteer was associated with. Driven, in part, by strategic planning, in part due to budgetary concerns, and in part to have change for the sake of change, I’ve been asked to put together a strategic, year-long recognition plan for this agency. Something boilerplate, that can be undertaken by all staff equally, and to be equally enjoyed by all volunteers.

At first, this challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity to institute positive change! On the surface, it seemed like a matter of putting together a list of terrific recognition ideas, and sharing that calendar with the staff who supervise the volunteers. I was excited to have the opportunity to develop standards and expectations for recognition overall. Consistency and conformity would reign supreme! I was giddy to have the chance to put together lists of different recognition ideas, from the free, frequent and informal to the costly and creative celebration.

After mulling ideas over in my head for quite some time, the rest of the story arrived. Those thoughts that niggle in the back of your mind, until they are keeping you awake at night! Was it a good idea to take the creativity and individuality away from staff? After all, they are the ones carrying out the recognition. Can a “boilerplate” design be crafted for volunteers? For every volunteer who finds events distasteful, there are those who think it is the highlight of their volunteer year. For each volunteer who thinks a holiday greeting card is a waste of agency resources, there are those who enjoy displaying them with the rest of their holiday greetings. Even worse, those who have received greeting cards for years, and may think we’ve simply forgotten about them!

Can a better mousetrap be built? How about a plan that focuses on educating staff about volunteer motivation and helps them determine what the volunteer might appreciate? How about providing choices for recognition, and welcoming staff to avail themselves of those choices, or come up with ideas and suggestions on their own? By providing this information, as well as clearly communicated expectations and accountability, I might be on a path that is more enjoyable and rewarding for both staff and volunteers! We’ll see how it works out.

In the meantime, please share your own thoughts, policies, plans, and traditions about recognition by commenting on this entry.

Trudy Hamilton, CVA is the Manager of Volunteer Resources at SeniorsPlus and a featured blogger.

By Suzanne Gastaldo

Successful management of volunteers is key to securing funding. What better way to justify your bottom line. We employ a mere 2.5 full-time positions, but oversee 140 volunteers who successfully implement our mission, fundraise, strategize and direct our organization. Prove you can manage volunteers successfully - audit their time and document it. This type of data tracking and reporting - total annual volunteer hours gives your organization credibility whether you are standing in front of a group to ask for funds or to include in a grant appeal.

Next, understand that no two volunteers are alike. A volunteer over 67 years old has a different agenda then a 25 year old. Maybe your organization has traditionally used all retirees as ours had. The historical demographics of our Literacy Volunteers have been graduate degree/professionals that have retired in Maine and want to give to our communities. They have the time, commitment and even resources to supplement the organization. Well they are the perfect volunteers…..so do you turn away the 30 year old with children in school? Rethink the profile. Restructure your organization to capitalize on available volunteers of all ages.

A balance turns out to be just what is needed. The younger volunteers often offer shorter stints, but they offer new technological ideas, they are sometimes more suited to certain learners. We are offering them training, career experience, and incite into the world of illiteracy. They can develop a new passion for adults who can’t read. We are helping to create a new society. Think globally. The younger unsettled volunteer can require more time but their gains in association with your organization are so valuable. Their next step may be more insightful and more meaningful for the next target of their volunteerism. When you have a great organization that is well run, organized, and successful – it benefits everyone to share the experience. You may be surprised with the unexpected results.

Lastly, volunteers need to be empowered. Allow the volunteer time to create his or her unique experience within your organization. It is when they are free from constraints and rules coupled with appreciation and support for their individuality that they develop as a volunteer who may surprise everyone in the direction they bring your organization. Successful managers keep an open mind. Do you want to learn more about our organization? www.tricountyliteracy.org

Suzanne Gastaldo is the Adult Literacy Volunteers Program Director for Sagadahoc, North Cumberland, and Lincoln Counties in Maine and is a guest blogger.

By Paula Burnett

Come on down! Be a volunteer contestant! Select a door! What is behind door #1, door #2, or door #3?

Ok, the volunteer has selected your door (agency). Now it is time to “make a deal” to cement this relationship and keep that volunteer coming back. Ahhhhhhhh, retention is the real name of the game. How many times each day do volunteers consider themselves unnoticed, unappreciated, unrecognized, and just leave? It happens all the time…more than you may realize. The deal is volunteers are not staff, which volunteer supervisors sometimes forget, and the reasons for being a volunteer vary from the sheer joy of doing an activity to a feeling of belongingness to leaving a legacy for future generations. Smiles, thank you’s, sincere feedback, and listening to their suggestions on a regular basis go a long way in terms of retaining volunteers and recruiting new volunteers via their comments to friends, family, and other community members. Put yourself in the shoes of your volunteer’s experience at the site….how would you like to be treated and remembered?

Here are a few volunteer testimonials for why Senior Corps volunteers choose to serve. These are gentle reminders for all of us in volunteer management.

Door #1 Senior Companion Program - “After I retired, I really didn’t know what to do with myself. I really felt depressed and useless, often looking out the window and wondering why I felt so down. Someone told me about SCP so I decided to volunteer. I don’t know that I would be here today if I had not gotten out and started to help other people. I have purpose and enjoy visiting others. Some days when it’s hard to get going, I think of the people who are waiting for me to visit and it really gets me moving. Somebody really needs me.” - Ed Morrissey

“Doing what I am doing has made my life so much better.” - Kay Newman

Door #2 Foster Grandparent Program - “I have grown in many ways. The students and teachers make me feel special every day…It’s been a privilege for me to be a part of FGP. We don’t have the responsibilities the staff has, but I believe we help so they can do what they need to do as they teach the kids to be intelligent, responsible adults. They [the children] are our future; we need to take care of them. They will need all the help we can give them.” – Prudy Turner

Door #3 Retired and Senior Volunteer Program – “Volunteering is fulfillment for my heart and allows me to meet the needs of my community.” - Edith Hussey

In conclusion and celebration of Senior Corps Week, I would like to take this time to encourage all volunteer managers to review the promises, trainings, and tasks that were set forth for their volunteers when the volunteers started serving. In other words, have you lived up to the DEAL you made with your volunteers? Perhaps, it is time to make a new DEAL.

Paula Burnett is a RSVP Director at the UMaine Center on Aging RSVP and a guest blogger.

By Tudy Hamilton

With the start of a new year, and a new administration, there seems to be lots of energy and hope around “change”. Change is happening all around us, and I challenge you to get involved! We can either direct change or be directed by it.

Our very profession is undergoing changes, as we speak. Volunteer Management is starting to be viewed as a career path, rather than an add-on to an already full job description, or an “other duties as assigned”. Get involved in promoting is as a full time job. Make sure your colleagues, you community, and your agency know exactly what Volunteer Management is, and the positive impact it carries.

Most professionals have professional associations. Get involved in one near you. If there isn’t an association in your area, work with those in your area to start one. Don’t wait for one to magically appear. Associations take time and effort to build and maintain, but they are well worth it. Where else can you find a group of people that share both the joys and sorrows of what you do? Take turns hosting meetings and planning trainings.

Advocate for funding! Check out those stimulus packages, and government budgets. Get involved by contacting your elected representatives and advocate for Volunteerism! You may have the very argument or fact that they are lacking to sway them in your favor.

Celebrate your volunteers. Your organization may not have its own formal awards to recognize volunteers, but there are plenty available. Get involved by nominating your volunteers for the Governor’s Service Awards, MetLife, American Red Cross Heroes, 6 Who Care, or your own community awards.

Remember, as you carry out your daily activities, that we are in a position to set the stage for the future of Volunteer Management in our communities. The choice is simple: get involved now because you’ll be affected later.

Tudy Hamilton is the Volunteer Manager at SeniorsPlus and a featured blogger.

By Danielle Arbour

We all know around the Christmas how easy it is to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season. Especially this time of year it seems as though we are all scraping the bottom of the barrel to find enough to buy for all on our list – so what to do for the volunteers in your life? Non-profits are feeling the pinch just a much, if not more, than the rest of us. Especially those, such as the Bangor Humane Society who rely on private donations for over 60% of our funding, know that if our donors are struggling, we will be too. Generally we like to recognize those we care about (for me my volunteers are absolutely included in this category) but how do we do it when there is little to no money available? After the countless hours devoted to helping our organization succeed and all I can do is pat them on the back and say “Thank you and Merry Christmas”.. is this enough? Should it be? Or should I find a way, no matter what our financial situation, to spend money on these people as a way of showing our appreciation.

As I’ve said in previous blogs, volunteers are invaluable and I often wish I could give them a gift each time they give to us, but is a simple Thank You enough? Are there do it yourself projects? A simple card?

But this leads me to yet another question – do you do something for all the volunteers on your list? Even if they only volunteer once every few months? Do you do more for those that give 10 hours a week versus 10 hours a year and if so, how do you decide?

Whatever decision I make concerning the recognition of my volunteers, I hope I do such a great job at telling them how much they are appreciated each day that they know how important they are. I look forward to hearing from you all!

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

By Anne Schink

Unsung Heroes Get Applause

While most of us know of organizations that use volunteers, very few of us know which of those organizations actually have an official Manager of Volunteers. November 1st is designated as International Volunteer Managers Day as a way to recognize the work they do to ensure that volunteers are recruited to fill real needs, that they are properly supervised, recognized and rewarded.

If you are a Manager of Volunteers who is feeling underappreciated, lift a glass to yourself on this day to recognize the work that you do, often quietly in the background, to ensure the smooth functioning of the volunteer program in your organization. We know you are there! We know the work you do and we celebrate you!

As a promise to yourself to honor all you do, take a moment to read a Blog, or find an article on a subject you need to learn more about, or buy a book on managing volunteers that will increase your sense of professionalism, and know that the work you do matters. Happy International Volunteer Managers Day!

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

By Chris Wolff

For many organizations, a new program year has just begun. New volunteers have been recruited. You’ve been working with your host site supervisors- those who are chosen to manage your volunteer on a daily basis. For some organizations, you rely on a single volunteer to help out on projects. For other organizations, you recruit a cohort of volunteers who are either placed together or dispersed at several sites.

People generally volunteer because they believe in civic engagement or the mission of the organization. They want to feel a part of a larger cause and feel that their work is contributing directly to meeting the mission of the organization. Some projects require volunteers to work independently, while others require the volunteer to work as part of a team. It’s important for your volunteers to feel connected to the organization and feel welcomed and a part of your team. It’s also important for your volunteers to feel connected to a larger volunteer service network whenever possible. These connections will foster a greater sense of connection and will lead to higher volunteer retention.

There are many ways to ensure that your volunteers feel connected and appreciated. Having your volunteers participate in a formal volunteer orientation or training from the beginning will allow them to meet other volunteers and make connections. The orientation can be a day or a week depending on your budget and the level of training your volunteers will need. The orientation should provide a solid foundation for your volunteers to meet each other and learn about the different projects being accomplished. Team-building activities are great ways for people to get to know each other. When I conduct my orientation with new Island Fellows, my primary goal for the orientation week is that the Fellows will form a solid cohort and know that they will have other people to contact for advice, support, or just a place to stay on their travels. Don’t structure the orientation with a busy agenda. Make sure there is enough down-time for socializing, playing games and music, and just getting to know each other.

After the orientation, it is important to form communication networks where your volunteers can share their ideas, ask for advice, get support, and just have a friend to call upon if they are feeling lonely or frustrated. I’ve found, with most people in their 20’s and 30’s that they use their Face Book or My Space accounts to share communications with other volunteers. I’ve also created a listserv for Fellows where they can ask questions and get feedback from other Fellows and program staff. Fellows can use the listserv to ask about professional development and training needs. Since the Island Fellows are placed remotely, they also use the listserv to share their favorite books, movies, or cooking recipes for those long winter nights. Netflix is a lifesaver! Just knowing others are out there experiencing the same challenges can help ease the isolation and loneliness at can accompany remote placements.

If possible, it’s nice to schedule a mid-winter retreat or gathering for volunteers, even if it’s just a day together to receive further professional development or recognition. The winter months can be challenging, and providing an opportunity for fun can help lift spirits and energize your volunteer. Encourage your volunteer to seek out professional development as much as possible. Many conferences and trainings provide scholarships for volunteers. Adult education programs provide affordable computer and technology training. There may also be a chance to mentor with other volunteers to provide professional development.

As a manager, you may want to start the ball rolling on a listserv for your volunteers. Start by sharing your favorite books, movies, upcoming professional development opportunities. Encourage your volunteers to host geographic potluck dinners and invite other volunteers over. I try to schedule regional training opportunities for Fellows since they are placed from Bar Harbor down to Portland. My hope is that by gathering people together regionally, they will form a geographic cohort.

Start your program strong by building your cohort of volunteers. Make them feel appreciated and valued, and provide them with as many opportunities to get together with other volunteers as possible. By building a strong cohort, you will have stronger volunteer retention.

Great team-building resources:

Quicksilver: Adventure Games, Initiative Problems, Trust Activities and a Guide to Effective Leadership, Karl Rohnke

Affordable Portables: A Working Book of Initiative Activities & Problem Solving Elements, Chris Cavert

Team-Building Activities for Every Group, Alanna Jones

Team Challenges: 170+ Group Activities to Build Cooperation, Communication, and Creativity, Kris Bordessa

Cowtails & Cobras (A Guide to Ropes Courses, Initiative Games, and Other Adventure Activities), Karl Rohnke

Chris Wolff is Community Development Director at the Island Institute and a featured blogger.