Issue #13 - September/October 2008

Mission: The Volunteer Centers of Michigan strengthens, develops and connects volunteer centers throughout the state.

Vision: The Volunteer Centers of Michigan ensures all volunteer centers have the capacity to positively impact every Michigan community and their citizens through volunteerism.

VolunTourism (or Voluntourism) combines the nonprofit sector and tourism sector. The primary purpose is to serve, to learn about the host community and its people. It is not simply to have an alternative to a standard vacation; rather, it is a chance for volunteers to use their skills and interests in an unconventional setting to benefit others (adapted from www.VolunTourism.org and www.GlobalVolunteers.org). 

Voluntourism is a growing trend nationally and globally. According to the Volunteering in America 2008 report, in 2007 more than 3.7 million Americans (about 6% of the total volunteer force) volunteered more than 120 miles from their homes.

Unique Projects
When planning service opportunities, consider the things that set your city or town apart and have an allure forvoluntourists. Examples include:

• Atlanta: working around Civil Rights
• New Orleans: long-term recovery and cultural preservation
• Gulf Coast: wetlands restoration
• Detroit: urban renewal

Voluntourism Lessons Learned - shared by HandsOn New Orleans:

• Empower volunteers with a sufficient orientation and training for the project, so they are able to effectively complete tasks, but also learn a new skill and be able to process and reflect on their service.
• Give volunteers enough information about the long term plans for the projects they are working on and how they fit into the big picture so they know how important their work is, even if it seems tedious.
• Community meetings are a great way to communicate information, decompress, celebrate success, reflect on the experience, and to create a community feeling that makes people take pride in the organization and its mission.
• The cost of housing volunteers is great, but it can also be turned into a good revenue generating program. If you can afford to make it as cheap as possible when beginning you will have greater turn out of volunteers. If you are successful at creating the "community" or "family" feel, you will get volunteers to buy into the program. If you can get them to feel like they belong taking ownership then you can raise the price as time goes on and the dedicated will be willing to pay.
• Cleanliness is essential in communal living space. Make it a priority or suffer the consequences of sickness and volunteer disapproval. Encourage all volunteers to participate in the daily activities of the housing site including signing up for chores.
• Determine a focus area, either geographic or programmatic, for volunteer projects and clearly explain it to volunteers during orientation, during project assignments, and on site.
• Large groups of volunteers seem to always slow down after lunch. It is a good idea to design a day of service to have a smaller scope of work in the later part of the day.

ServiceNation Summit, Sept. 11-12 in New York City, will bring together 500 leaders of all ages and from every sector of American life —from universities and foundations, to business and politics—to celebrate the power and potential of citizen service, and lay out a bold policy blueprint for addressing America’s greatest social challenges through expanded opportunities for volunteer and national service.

The Summit will begin with a presidential candidates' forum the evening of September 11, where Senators McCain and Obama will speak in depth about their views on the role of citizenship and service in post-9/11 America. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will welcome the attendees when the proceedings continue the following day, and the summit will conclude with a keynote address by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier this year became the first governor to create a cabinet post dedicated to service and volunteering.

The ultimate goal of the ServiceNation Summit, which will also promulgate a Declaration of Service that all Americans will be invited to sign, is to inspire an America in which, by 2020, 100 million citizens will volunteer time in schools, workplaces, and faith-based and community institutions each and every year (up from 61 million today), and that increasing numbers of Americans annually will commit a year of their lives to national service.  that engages one million Americans a year in full-time service by the year 2020. For more infromaiton about the summit or about ServiceNation visit: http://bethechangeinc.org/servicenation

ServiceNation Day of Action – September 27, 2008
HandsOn Network is proud to be a part of ServiceNation. Our affiliates are taking the lead on the Day of Action in communities around the nation. will organize a national Day of Action on Sept. 27, to engage tens of thousands of Americans in events across the country that will showcase the power, potential and impact of service. To date, 891 events have been created in 50 states. Visit your local affiliate or sign up to host, or find events to attend, at events.servicenation.org. Find out more at http://www.handsonnetwork.org/featured-partner/service-nation

The Michigan Participation Project (MPP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative dedicated to expanding the role of Michigan’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in voting and elections. We provide training, materials and other resources designed to help nonprofits integrate voter registration, voter education, and voter mobilization work into their ongoing activities. Why would your nonprofit want to help your staff, board, volunteers, clients and constituents vote? What are the benefits for you and the people you engage and serve? Why are nonprofits good vehicles to encourage participation?  Why nonprofits?  Don’t political campaigns already do this work? With several answers as well, the bottom line is that:
1.  Nonprofits have inherent assets making them strong civic intermediaries to encourage voter and citizen participation
2.  There are strong reasons for nonprofits to increase voting in their communities and promote democracy, including benefits that extend beyond this or any one election. Here are some ideas and answers from the numbers, experts and experience.  If we’re missing something, let us know. In the meantime, we hope you agree the reasons are compelling, hopeful and a call to action.  Our work in 2008 and beyond has enormous potential to help ourselves, our communities and the nation. For more information visit The Michigan Participation Project.

HandsOn Network Affiliate Membership. 
The Affiliate Membership Application you received earlier this summer is due to the National Office on or before September 30, 2008.  All affiliates of either legacy membership, Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network or HandsOn Network, with active membership status as of July 2007, must complete the application to maintain active membership after October 1, 2008.  All current affiliate membership benefits expire as of October 1, 2008, and all organizations interested in continuing affiliate membership must complete the application. If you have questions regarding the Membership process, contact Megan Latimer in Affiliate Advancement at mlatimer@handsonnetwork.org or 404-979-2733.

Is the rising cost of gas a crisis or an opportunity for volunteering?
Here is a thought provoking article from Susan J Ellis giving her take on the situation.  This article is also available as a podcast - www.energizeinc.com/hot/2008/08june.html

Save the Date: Michigan Dropout Prevention Summit
Volunteer Centers of Michigan and other lead partners will be convening the Michigan Dropout Prevention Leadership Summit on October 20, 2008 in Lansing, Michigan. The Dropout Summit will bring attention and focus to the issue of dropout prevention in the state of Michigan. This summit will also identify current and potential areas of community and statewide collaboration. The summit will also support the production of action plans, both state and locally, that will keep youth focused on finishing high school and potentially moving on to higher education. This summit is intended to build a sense of urgency, secure a commitment of action from leaders, and result in follow-up action plans that will strengthen current efforts and begin new strategies to reduce the number of young people who drop out of school. For more information contact: Diana Algra, VCM Executive Director at 517-492-2433.

Volunteer Management Certification Series
The Volunteer Center of Southwest Michigan is repeating its popular and now newly revamped Volunteer Management Certification Series. The Volunteer Center is delighted to continue offering this training opportunity to paid and volunteer staff members who manage volunteer programs for their organizations. The Center will offer the program, using a combination of videotapes from the University of Colorado’s Volunteer Management Certificate Program and sessions from the Points of Light Foundation Volunteer Management Training Series. The videotapes feature nationally-known, professional, veteran trainers in the field of volunteer management. All sessions will be led by Nancy J. Clark, a former volunteer center director with many years of experience as a college instructor. Each session will be interactive and include time for sharing among the participants. Space is limited so call 683-5464 or 983-0912 or e-mail me at volunteer@volunteerswmi.org to reserve your spot today.

Volunteering in America (2008) offers comprehensive data on volunteering trends, retention, and the growing voluntourism movement, with state and city rankings and profiles - all at a new interactive website: www.volunteeringinAmerica.gov

YSA Among National Organizations Selected to Lead 2009 King Day of Service
The growing movement to make the King Holiday a national day of service will get a powerful boost from the leadership of seven national organizations selected for King Day of Service grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Building on the momentum from last year, these organizations will activate their networks, reach out to new partners, mobilize volunteers, and provide cross-sector leadership for the annual King Day of Service, which next year falls on January 19, 2009. Youth Service America will receive $100,000 to engage up to 15 lead agencies in YSA’s Semester of Service, which is designed to engage 25,000 students between the ages of 5 and 25 to serve at least 70 hours during the school semester. These lead agencies will also be invited to participate in YSA’s Global Youth Service Day training institute to prepare for Semester of Service activities. Learn more about King Day of Service and read the full release at: http://www.mlkday.gov/

Pay It Forward Mini-Grants for Youth: (Deadline: September 15)
These funds go to one-time-only, service-oriented activities that young people would like to perform to benefit their school, neighborhood or greater community. Projects must contain a "pay it forward" focus. They are based on one person doing a favor for others, who in turn do favors for others and so on for exponential results. Eligibility: K-12 youths. Submit applications at: http://payitforw ardfoundation.org/educators/grant.html

Prudential Spirit of Community Awards: (Deadline: October 31)
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, sponsored by Prudential Financial and administered by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, recognize middle and high school students for volunteer community service. Eligible applicants include any young person in the United States who is in grades 5-12 and has engaged in a volunteer activity that occurred at least partly during the 12 months prior to the date of application. For more details, visit: http://www.prudential.com/spirit/

Nestle Very Best in Youth Program (Deadline: November 20)
http://www.nestle-verybestinyouth.com/AboutVBINY.aspx.

Free Grant Searching Tool: https://www.nozasearch.com/
A new service from NOZA, Inc. allows your nonprofit to search through an online database of over 800,000 grant records — at no cost and without even registering. This is a free version of NOZA's prospect research service, a searchable database of over 25 million records of donations made by private individuals and companies to U.S. based nonprofits. NOZA's easy-to-use site allows you to search for grants by name, cause, donor, region, or year, or amount; search results are clearly displayed and easy to sort. Moreover, its online folder system allows you to organize and save records to return to later.
 
Google launches tool portal for nonprofits: http://www.google.com/nonprofits/
Google for Nonprofits is a site designed to educate charities about the search giant's suite of Web-based tools. Essentially, it's a lineup of links to Google's various applications and tutorials for using them, but with a charitable spin. A link to YouTube is accompanied with "broadcast your cause to the world's largest online video community." Google Groups come with a suggestion of "communicate easily to staff or volunteers and encourage discussions among supporters."The Google for Nonprofits page also highlights special initiatives for nonprofits, like free advertising through the Google Grants program and transaction fee waivers on the Google Checkout service, along with success stories and testimonials for each Google application.