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by Ann Swain

In all parts of our world, there are many people with the greatest desire to offer their expertise in a volunteer capacity. In preparing for retirement, I often ask the prospective retiree, ‘do you have a plan?’ If they don’t indicate a plan for their retirement, I will always suggest volunteering. However, there is a population in our world who may not have expertise in any particular area, but they truly have heart. They want to give back, but they don’t even know what to give back or how.

Our expectations of the ‘ideal volunteer’ may need to be rewritten. Our expectations may in fact, not be reality. It all depends on where we are in the world. The day a prospective volunteer walks in your door with the desire to ‘give back’, even if they don’t know what that really means, they may end up being one of the best volunteers you have ever had. They may not be able to read beyond a sixth grade level, or at all for that matter. But they have heart and desire to give to their community. It may have taken all their inner strength to walk through your door and offer themselves beyond what is comfortable. Look beyond your expectations and see.

Expectations and reality don’t always match, and that’s not a bad thing.

Ann Swain is a featured blogger and the Director of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Senior Companion Program.

by Jen Lobley, M.ED, CVA

Having been with UMaine Cooperative Extension for almost 10 years working in the area of 4-H Youth Development, I now find myself with a new challenge. I have recently been named Statewide Extension Educator for Volunteer Development.

Cooperative Extension provides research-based information from the Land-Grant University through a variety of educational programs to local people. Cooperative Extension volunteers play a unique role among volunteer agency programs in that they can extend the reach of Cooperative Extension into every Maine community and help provide a link between the Land Grant University and the people seeking out information. Did you know that 7,987 Extension volunteers devoted more than 151,428 hours to their communities last year? These volunteers are working in a variety of areas including: youth development, horticulture, coastal and freshwater water quality monitoring, environmental work, nutrition education, senior companion programs, sustainable coastal community programs, and parenting education.

I am excited about the challenges this new position will bring as I begin to work to create a volunteer delivery system which will increase our organizational capacity to engage more volunteers. This in turn will help provide long-term program sustainability and expand Extension’s economic, social, and environmental impact on the state of Maine. In the process of getting this work underway, I have set three goals for myself:

1. Make training and resources available for Extension staff members that enable them to gain skills and confidence in building volunteer capacity. Helping staff understand the foundational components of a volunteer system and then helping them create volunteer programs that are reflective of current trends in volunteerism will make up a large part of my work. Trends such as episodic volunteerism, virtual volunteerism and catering to the Boomer generation are all areas to be aware of and consider as we design volunteer opportunities.

2. Utilize research to build effective training opportunities and educational programs in which volunteers will be educated and empowered to assume or accept service or leadership roles. I believe volunteers are the heart of Cooperative Extension. They have played a critical role in the 95 year history of Extension here in Maine and will continue to actively do so in the future. However, the volunteer of today is different than the volunteer of yesterday and this will impact how we work with them.

3. In the near future, Extension will be viewed by other organizations around Maine as a place to find research-based volunteer development trainings, opportunities, and resources that they can access and adjust to fit their individual needs. I envision Extension collaborating with the Maine Commission for Community Service and other groups to help build new partnerships and tap new community resources to expand volunteerism. Just think of the endless opportunities!

So that’s a lot to accomplish, huh? You might be wondering where on earth would she start? The real work will begin internally within Extension. Although I have a general sense of the various programs we offer, I will need to spend time learning about current volunteer engagement within our various program areas and spend time on needs assessment. I am also forming an advisory group. By having an advisory committee to provide input into determining priorities,long-range goals, policy and procedure, I believe a better volunteer system will emerge than if I were to try implementing something alone.

I know demands on our staff in terms of time are tight. As I develop training opportunities I will need to keep this in mind. I will work to develop and provide easily digestible “chunks” of information including monthly Volunteer Management Minute trainings (narrated video clips lasting five minutes or less with a few PowerPoint slides), a series of volunteer management tips that will be emailed out on a regular basis, and create an internal web page for staff members that will host a variety of or resources. (I must note that I am very fortunate to have a VISTA volunteer helping me get these projects started!)

I am proud to work for an organization that supports having a position that is focused completely on volunteer development. Our administration truly understands the value of volunteers. I will make every effort to communicate the importance of volunteers both within and outside the organization- not just to our volunteers, but to paid staff, executive committees, funders, local officials and administration. This truly is an exciting time to be working in the volunteer development profession and I look forward to the work ahead!

Jen Lobley is the Extension Educator for Volunteer Development at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and is a guest blogger.

By Noble Smith

D-Day Has “Commeth”

Some will view this day in panic, dash for the white gloves,
Or seek a preacher’s script, determine whether a magician
or a witch doctor approach would be most successful!

It is none of the above!
It is a win-win partnership for everyone!

A couple of brief off-the-cuff comments made by captains of industry during training and rehearsal sessions as they tried to set the stage for volunteer training and enrichment on D-Day.

The late John T. Dorrance, former Chairman of Campbell Soup and Chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s major capital campaign in the 80s wasted no time to described what should be in a solicitor’s mind when ringing the doorbell of a prospect’s home:

“Remember the ‘four birdies’

The purpose of the visit is to ask for money!
Talk opportunities, not needs!
Stay sensitive to what your prospect is thinking while you are
talking! Begin, be brief, beat it”

The late Cyrus Vance, former Secretary of State and Chairman of one of WNET’s early capital campaigns, stated at a Board/volunteer solicitation training session:

“When soliciting, be aware of a prospect’s motivations. Make a sincere effort to identify what moves your potential donor and tailor your approach accordingly. Good old common sense and individual sensitivity are two keys to a successful solicitation.”

During a year-long effort to preserve valuable environmental lands in suburban Philadelphia, Christopher Asplundt, Chairman of Asplundt Tree Service and Chairman of the Pennypack Land Preservation Trust, clearly made his points at the final volunteer solicitation training session:

“Never close the deal and ask for the bacon unless you can answer any and all objections, reservations and concerns!
Philanthropic giving needs an atmosphere of optimism and universality!
Finally, remember that the greatest sin in the pursuit of philanthropy is not asking!”

Many of us in the development field adhere to the D-Day mentality since planning and rehearsal play such a dominating role in any successful fund-raising endeavor, whether it is for annual unrestricted support, capital and endowed needs or programs of estate planning.

Hours and hours of behind the scenes initiatives, and prospect research with the ultimate goal of setting in motion a process that will match the right cultivators and solicitors with the right prospect asking for the right amounts and for the right projects and programs. These exercises are not the purview of development personnel alone, but must be the joint task of staff, Board and volunteers working as a team.

The same planning scenarios apply also for annual giving programs and estate planning initiatives, although some of the components might appear in different hues and formats. However, always keep in mind that planning is 90% of any fund-raising success platforms.

Noble Smith is a former Commissioner and the President of Noble Smith Associates (Development and Marketing Consultants) and a featured.

Sarah Ryan, Ph.D.

When it’s time to give the talk about “increasing diversity” to staffers, volunteers, donors, or board members, it can be tough to find the words. Drawing upon social science research and best practices from the public sector, I suggest the following talking points…

1. Humans seek comfort in sameness; public servants seek justice through diversity.
For a host of reasons, we tend to gravitate toward the people most like us. Communication scholars call this the principle of “homophily” or sameness. Homophily can help ease tensions, minimize misunderstandings, and make people feel more comfortable (e.g., when they don’t feel the need to explain their cultures to colleagues). We seek homophily without even thinking about it most of the time. But when we do stop to think, most of us realize that we also value diversity, complexity, and the productive discussions that arise out of misunderstanding and explaining. We want our nonprofit organizations, our volunteers, and our donors to be diverse. So, we cast out our nets for heterophilous, or diverse, people. Still, attracting and retaining diverse volunteers, staffers, and donors is difficult. We need to start by inviting them…

2. Diverse people must be invited to participate or they won’t know they’re welcome.
The idea of inviting in diversity comes from renowned arts marketer Donna Walker-Kuhne. She is perhaps most famous for assisting George C. Wolfe in transforming New York City’s Public Theater into a multicultural destination for the arts. George wanted the audiences at The Public to be as diverse as the folks waiting for trains at subway stops. Donna articulated the steps that enabled him to reach his dream. She wrote down her activities, methods – even to-do lists – in “Invitation to the Party: Building Bridges to the Arts, Culture and Community” (2005, New York: Theatre Communications Group). In a nutshell, Donna argues that people must be invited to participate in cultural events and volunteer work, or they will think they’re unwelcome. She suggests transforming institutions around the practice of inviting…

3. Inviting is a strategic, thoughtful activity that requires dedication and follow-up.
When we commit to increasing the diversity of our organizations, we realize that we must extend invitations to people who have not traditionally donated, volunteered, or supported our events. The good news is: we usually know who these people are! A quick comparison of a donor list with the local phonebook is a great start. From the research, we also know that African Americans and Hispanics are frequently overlooked as donors and volunteers. The marginalization of these or other groups of people arises from a number of misunderstandings and stereotypes. These assumptions are rooted in subconscious homophily, translated into “people like me will give time and money to the organizations and activities I value.” We need to consciously shift this line of thinking to “people different from me might value and support the same things I value and support.” We need to test out this idea by inviting diverse people to participate in our activities and following-up with them regularly.

Invitational campaigns can begin at any time. But, they require a deep commitment to cultivating diversity. Still, as Donna Walker-Kuhne suggests, if we invite people to the party, they will come. And it will be a much better party!

Sarah Ryan, Ph.D., is from the Department of Communication at The University of Texas at El Paso and is a guest blogger.

By Elizabeth Cole

My nephew is going through the why phase. You know, the phase where you can’t go more than three minutes without some existential discussion?
“Auntie Liz, Why do ants live in the dirt?”
“Because they like to.”
“Why do they like to?”
“Well… It’s always the same temperature and it’s easy to dig in.”
“Why is it easy to dig?”
“Um… Well, because it’s softer than, say, concrete.”
“Why is it softer?”

For those of you who read this blog regularly, you may remember that I wrote last a piece last month introducing the concept of coaching. So why am I opening this post with an anecdote about domestic bliss, toddler style? Well, as it turns out, my nephew is preparing for a promising future as a volunteer manager.
Supervisors of volunteers who use a coaching model ask open-ended questions, helping their volunteers to discover answers and solutions on their own. As a “coach,” you will typically help your team members to solve problems, make better decisions, learn new skills, or otherwise progress in their role. Not every question should be treated as a coaching opportunity, but with a little coaching, your volunteers’ performance will improve dramatically.

One proven approach to coaching is the GROW model. GROW is an acronym standing for Goal - Current Reality - Options - Will. The model is a simple yet powerful framework for structuring a coaching session.

1. Establish the Goal: First, with your volunteer, you must define and agree the goal or outcome to be achieved. You should help your volunteer define a goal that is specific, measurable and realistic. In doing this, it is useful to ask questions like:
“How will you know that you have achieved that goal?”
“How will you know the problem is solved?”

2. Examine Current Reality: Too often, people try to solve a problem without fully considering their starting point and miss some of the information needed to reach the most effective solution. Useful coaching questions include:
“What is happening now?”
“What is the effect the result of that?”

3. Explore the Options: Help your volunteer generate as many good options as possible. By all means, offer your own suggestions. But let your volunteer start and do most of the talking. Typical questions used to establish the options are:
“What else could you do?”
“What are the benefits and downsides of each option?”

4. Establish the Will: Your final step as coach is to get you volunteer to commit to specific action. In so doing, you will help the volunteer establish his or her will and motivation. Useful questions:
“So what will you do now, and when?”
“What could prevent you moving forward?”
“And how will you overcome it?”

A great way to practice using the model is to address your own challenges and issues. When you are stuck with something, you can use the technique to coach yourself. By practicing, you will learn how to ask the most helpful questions. Write down some stock questions as prompts for future coaching sessions.

Elizabeth Cole is a guest blogger and an AmeriCorps VISTA at the Maine Commission for Community Service.

By Anne Schink, CVA

I recently taught a class for managers of volunteers and it was interesting to see who actually showed up for the class. We had an executive director (the only paid staff) of a local land trust, an office manager of a nonprofit that was almost entirely run by an all-volunteer board, a department director of a housing complex, an event planner from a local business development organization, a brand new staff member of an animal rescue organization, and three staff members of a large youth-serving organization. I point this out only as a reminder that who we define as a manager of volunteers varies widely from organization to organization. On the up side is the fact that organizations of all types and sizes recognize the importance of volunteers in achieving the organization’s mission.

Clearly no one job description would cover this disparate group of participants. Yet many of their concerns were the same. While they all expressed the desire to increase the effectiveness of their volunteer programs, their expectations about what these people would do and what kind of people they were trying to attract was all over the map. Most of them had a mental picture in their heads about who was ‘typical’ for their organization. It took some stretching for them to see that they might have to re-think their vision if they were going to attract tomorrow’s volunteers.

In a recent Webinar I attended, the presenter said that tomorrow’s volunteers wanted the four F’s in their volunteer assignments—Flexible, Fast, Friendly, Focused. That goes for Board members, volunteers functioning as external consultants, behind the scenes administrative support, or direct service positions. No one, in any generation, is signing on for life these days. Flexible means that the position is shaped to match the volunteer’s schedule, not the other way around. Fast means a quick response to their initial inquiry and a quick turnaround in placing them. If you don’t catch them the first time they try to reach you, they will go elsewhere. Friendly means that you need to welcome them, make them feel part of your organization, and give them a meaningful role working with others. Focused means deadlines, time limits, and real measurable outcomes.

This may fly in the face of more traditional ways of creating a volunteer program, but it is a reminder that this is an ever-changing landscape. Having clearly defined job descriptions is the foundation of a sound volunteer program, but the experienced, adaptive manager of volunteers will make the changes required to build a creative program that meets a wide variety of interests and personalities.

Anne Schink, CVA is a Consultant in Volunteer Management and a featured blogger.

By Noble Smith

You think that you know all the earthly sins in the world, particularly those surrounding the Art of Asking, well what are the three most flagrant ones in all of philanthropy?

You are right if you immediately uttered -
“I forgot to ask the prospect for financial support“,
“I didn’t ask for a specific project, amount or need“, and
“At the last moment, I had another event to attend and did not visit the prospect personally - just sent a little hand-written note.”

In nine out of every ten solicitations that are not successful, these three items are, at least, one of the main reasons for failure and no bacon!

Many, many solicitors do do their homework, rehearse their visitation, but when confrontation is at the doorstep, the orderly and essential process enters the mental round basket.

Every seasoned and successful fund raiser knows that 90% of any fruitful solicitation is planning with only 10% being the actual face to face opportunity to encourage and motivate a “lively suspect”. Tactics, strategies, relationships and associations, partnering - these words, and many like them, are all an integral part of that planning process - leave any of them out and you become more than a charter member of “The Half-Asked Society”.

You have never heard of “The Half-Asked Society” (THAS) - a very unwelcomed introduction to you. THAS is the demon, the curmudgeon of fund raisers, the jester who warned you not to make the same mistake twice and, THAS, unfortunately, is one commodity that will assist you in applying for Chapter 11. It is the resting home for staff, Board members and volunteers who do only 10% planning and 90% fund-raising, who let panic reign over common sense and organization, and who are consistently late for their prospect appointments.

If you are not planning, you are not fund raising!

Planning is the quintessential element for elevation to that promised land of successful fund raising, whether it is for annual support, capital needs or for planned and estate giving. Everyone needs to be involved not just the CEO, CFO, and the other institutional Os - an essential degree of involvement for staff, Board members and most importantly, volunteers.

All serious potential prospects (I call them suspects) must be thoroughly convinced that the non-profit has completed its homework, has structured itself in a business-like manner and knows how to get the most out of each buck. Without that level of confidence, the organization is just building expanded membership in “The Half-Asked Society.”

So as you begin to master the art of asking and to avoid membership in THAS, thorough planning is quintessential AND matching the right suspect with the right solicitor for the right funding objective and for the right amount of support is mandatory.

Next Blog - a detailed outline of what works in the successful art of asking!

Noble Smith is a former Commissioner, President of Noble Smith Associates (Development and Marketing Consultants), and a featured blogger.

By Sarah Ryan, Ph.D.

If your nonprofit doesn’t have a second life presence, are you doing a disservice to your clients? Probably not. If you don’t provide economic data on your website, are you failing your donors? Maybe so. These questions point to the difficulty of strategic communications planning in the digital age. The good news: You already have (most of) the tools to make the right decisions!

Nonprofit leaders, volunteers, and supporters can help their organizations succeed through effective external communications – digital or otherwise. And, the criteria for making decisions in the digital world are almost identical to those for newspaper, radio, and billboard campaigns. Yes, you might have to debate things like “Twitter vs. Blog (or both!)”, but your options should be judged based upon how well they serve your audience and your mission. With those two criteria in focus, decisions become much simpler. Let me demonstrate…

A nonprofit client came to me very concerned about second life. Other nonprofits in the neighborhood had a presence in the virtual world, offered clients the chance to chat via avatars, and hosted online socializing events. “We need to be doing this,” I was told. “And soon.” When I asked “Why?”, the organization’s community outreach director mumbled something like “…because the Jones’ are doing it.” I actually found this to be a compelling argument – no organization wants to lag behind its community or competitors. But the core mission of my client was assisting small businesses, mostly immigrant-owned, in succeeding. Having been a small business owner, I could not imagine wanting to create a pretend me and interact with pretend others in cyberspace while trying to juggle face-to-face meetings with clients and vendors, budgets, etc. So I asked, “Did any of your clients ask for this?” Silence. And I advised, “At your next big gathering, ask your clients what they need and want from you online. Maybe it’s second life. More likely, it’s a page with all of the business forms they’re always hunting for. I’m guessing it’s not virtual socializing. I bet you’ll find that that’s a waste of time and resources for this audience.” I offered that advice both because of the audience and the organization’s mission…

Some organizations, like my client, assist a select group of people in achieving specific goals. The people and those goals are central to the mission and are the basis for making almost all decisions (e.g., does X get our clients closer to Y). Other organizations – most nonprofit organizations, I’d argue – have a broader mission. While a nonprofit might protect animals in a certain jurisdiction, for example, it might also aim to educate a wider audience about animal cruelty. While a 501(c)(3) might support a single arts institution, it probably also champions the power of the arts to promote peace and tolerance in the broader world. When broad-missioned organizations ignore new technologies, they fail to fully realize their potential, or keep their promises. If an arts leader, for instance, laments that fewer people (than ever!) are visiting her museum in this down economy, she needs to bring the museum to them via the organization’s website, Twitter (e.g., pithy quotes from artists), blogs, etc. If she has to pay for underutilized physical spaces (e.g., empty galleries because there is no money for school bussing…), her digital showcases can actually save money while increasing the number of constituents served. Maybe. Of course, nothing substitutes for viewing a piece of art or watching a performance up close. But when the audience doesn’t show, the institution must find other ways of fulfilling its mission. New technologies not only fill gaps, they can take information, art, and client service-delivery in interesting and meaningful new directions.

So, the criteria for judging an external communication strategy are still service to the audience and mission. Nonprofit leaders, staffers, and volunteers should begin digital communications conversations by asking, “what does our audience want, need, and desire?” and finish with “does this forward the mission of our organization?” In the digital age, it is important to reach out to audiences in more ways than ever before. But not every tool or site or activity is right for every organization. There are costs associated with unnecessary communication strategies – time, money, burnout – as well as with underutilized digital technologies – loss of clients, educational opportunities, and potential revenue streams, declining prestige. Digital strategies are exceedingly important for large organizations in major markets such as New York City, where “cutting-edge” is a mission, not a vision. But smaller organizations and individuals working for good shouldn’t feel obligated to jump on every e-bandwagon. Just like always, they should focus on doing what they do best for the people they serve – in person, on the radio, or via frenetic tweets.

Sarah Ryan, Ph.D., is from the Department of Communication at The University of Texas at El Paso and is a guest blogger.

By Michael A. Aiguier

Recharging our batteries. Rekindling the passion. Getting your groove back. Whatever you call it, finding ways to remind ourselves of why we do what we do is necessary to enable us to do the best job possible.
Volunteering outside of the realm of what we do for work is helpful, because it not only gives us insight into what our volunteers are going through when they come to us, but how other volunteer managers are dealing with their volunteers. I have found many situations where there are things I should be doing differently, either because the people I am volunteering for are doing the same thing I am doing and I don’t like it, or because I am not doing something they are doing that I find makes my volunteer experience more enjoyable.

I also like to write out the affects that the volunteer coordinating I am doing helps the community. Not a formal thing for a report or advertisement, but a semi-fictional story about someone we might have helped through the work we do. Sometimes changing the way we think about the effect we are having can change the way we think about ourselves. A little ego stroking is not a bad thing when it can make us more effective agents of positive social impact.

Watching entertainment that has inspired us in the past to do what we do is always something that helps me. I am an easy mark for films about social injustice being righted and people taking action when others wouldn’t. I don’t know if you saw the film “The Way We Get By” about troop greeters in Bangor, ME, but I empathized completely with a Mr. Knight in the film when he talked about life having meaning only because it made other people’s lives a little better. I know I am not getting it exactly right, but the sentiment is the same.

Preparing to speak to others also helps, because we have to put the best light we can on our work. If we can’t figure out what to tell others about why what we do is important, we should re-evaluate what we are doing. How did we get involved? Someone communicated to us effectively what the issue was and how it might be solved. This is the true way to keep us going, because when we can see enthusiasm for what we do in others, it brings us back to where we were when we first got involved. That makes us want to be that person again. We might not be the best orators, I know I am not, but reaching one to two people about our efforts will create the sustainability that we are all looking for.

So, in conclusion, let me encourage you to find something else to do, work up your resume, kick back on the coach and watch some movies and brag about yourself a lot more. You deserve it.

Michael Aiguier is an AmeriCorps VISTA serving at the United Way of Eastern Maine and a guest blogger.

by Carla Ganiel

I’ve seen some big changes since my last post. A couple of weeks ago I moved to Washington, DC to start my dream job in national service. While I was gearing up to make this change, and before I landed the dream job, I consulted life coach Louise Franck Cyr for some advice.

At one point Louise asked me what I would do if I won the lottery. I replied, a bit sheepishly, “probably nothing.” I figured I started working at the age of ten, and I’ve been working or going to school pretty much continuously since then. So what I’d really like is a break.

Louise said, “What if you gave yourself a year to do nothing?”

“That would be great,” I said, “except I have this little problem of needing a job and a roof over my head.”

Louise clarified. “Sure, you have to work, but what if outside of work you gave yourself the gift of a year? No other commitments. Just resting and taking care of yourself.”

It sounded like an interesting—and attractive—proposition, but I put it on the shelf as I worked on landing the dream job. Now, though, I find myself in a brand new city where nobody knows me. I have no commitments and no expectations. There is not a single person or organization here that wants something from me. At the same time, I’m still figuring out what I want out of this new life I’m in the process of creating. If this isn’t the perfect time to give myself that year, I don’t know what is.

So that’s what I’m going to do. (This will, therefore, be my last blog post, by the way.)

One thing that’s sure to happen during the next year is that I’ll slowly be getting to know my neighborhood and my new city. Although I’ve promised myself not to make any commitments for a full twelve months, you can bet that I’ll be spending some of this time shopping for someplace to make a difference when the time is right.

I bet you’ve got people in your community right now who are shopping for volunteer opportunities. What are you doing to reach them? What is the message you are sending them? Is it a hard sell? A sob story? We spend a lot of time thinking about how we can find and recruit new volunteers, but I’m not sure we devote as much attention to the bigger picture of how we are framing the major issues our programs seek to address and how we are positioning our organizations in the community at large.

I’m not talking about marketing. I’m talking about messaging. Right now I don’t want anyone to ask me to volunteer. I want someone to bring clarity to the chatter that finds its way to my newspaper, television and internet. Learn how to control that conversation and the marketing will take care of itself…and maybe a year from now someone like me will want to buy whatever it is you’re selling.

Carla Ganiel is a Grants Officer with the Corporation for National and Community Service and has been a featured blogger since the inception of the VolunteerMaine.org blog! Thank you for your support and wonderful insights Carla!