Issue #8 - November/December 2007

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.

Promoting Long-Term Volunteerism through Episodic Events  

Communities are in need of volunteers all year long who are dedicated to making a difference. Currently, more than 20 million people volunteer each year through the Points of Light & Hands On Network’s Seasons of Service and United Way’s Day of Caring. These days of service are designed to promote volunteering and connect people with opportunities to serve year-round. National days of service also provide Volunteer Centers with the opportunity for project-oriented problem solving, planning, teaching, researching, networking, and increased community awareness.

This year Michigan’s Volunteer Center network engaged countless volunteers in Days of Caring and Seasons of Service events. Some examples of noteworthy events from within our network include:

In East Lansing at the Capital Area United Way, over 220 volunteers participated in two Days of Caring that took place on September 21 and 22. Volunteers were sent out to a wide variety of projects at various nonprofit organizations in the tri-county area.  Examples of projects included landscaping, painting, a neighborhood cleanup, and sorting food. 

The Greater Ottawa County United Way kicked-off their Annual Day of Caring Campaign on September 20. Over 600 volunteers were mobilized to complete projects throughout the community such as building ramps, reading with kids, painting homes, cleaning parks, and much more. Paulina Lawton, United Way’s Volunteer Center Director, said, “This year our Day of Caring volunteers saved the community over $45,000.” According to a United Way official, “the real successes are what our volunteers and staff are doing on a daily basis, working to get to the root causes of issues in our community and approach them with targeted solutions.”

On October 20, the Albion Volunteer Center celebrated “Make a Difference Day” by organizing several community events. Harrington and Washington Gardner elementary schools worked together to coordinate a coat and cold weather clothing drive, while members from Albion’s college organized a city-wide food drive and leaf raking for the elderly. Many local businesses, nonprofit agencies, schools, and student organizations collaboratively shared their efforts and resources to successfully collect 1,500 pounds of food for the city’s food pantry and donated 109 articles of winter clothing to an area thrift shop.

These and other episodic or short-term events can encourage new people to “try out” our organizations. Unfortunately many volunteers will come and go without developing a connection or commitment that could lead to ongoing or long-term volunteering.  The good news is that after people have experienced an enjoyable and successful volunteer effort, they often return wondering what they can do next. Volunteer Centers can turn a single-day of service into an ongoing habit of community involvement by implementing the following retention strategies:

• Career Enhancement
• helping volunteers acquire new skills and relating these skills to the marketplace
• providing opportunities for advancement by building in 'career' ladders
• resume writing and job interviewing classes
• Recognition
• showing your appreciation often, in many ways, and in ways that are individual-specific
• Meaningful Work
• periodic orientations that link volunteer assignments to the broader mission of the organization
• making the work meaningful and never wasting their time
• making good matches from the start
• creating positions which are diverse in tasks
• Personal Growth
• letting them grow with the program
• giving them opportunities that they wouldn't get outside of a volunteer position
• Respect
• treating volunteers as staff by inviting them to attend staff meetings instead of manning the phone, placing a volunteer on your management team and giving them a voice within the organization
• accepting their recommendations/taking their advice

Volunteer Centers like all nonprofits struggle with the best ways to use data to represent their effectiveness in solving community problems.  For the past year the Volunteer Centers of Michigan network has been collecting our data in a web-based reporting system.  This system is allowing the Volunteer Centers of Michigan to represent the collective impact of Volunteer Centers throughout the state.

This data shows that in the 2006-2007 fiscal year though collective effort:

• Volunteer Centers connected 21,602 citizens to volunteer opportunities
• Volunteer Centers served 2,930 nonprofit organizations through volunteer matching and management training
• Volunteer Centers connected 914 business to volunteerism

This data also enables your local Volunteer Center to more effectively tell the story in your community by sharing your numbers with local stakeholders.  Using data to enhance your success stories can assist you in:

• Making your case to local and national funders
• Leveraging more support for collaborative initiatives
• Gaining media attention and community support for your programming
• Utilizing impressive numbers within the framework of your success story will attract new supporters for the Volunteer Centers and solidify support from long-term stakeholders.

Making your data work for you is one of the Volunteer Centers of Michigan’s main goals over the next year. If you have any questions about data relating specifically to your center, please give me a call and we can talk about the best ways to utilize your data in your community.

Molly Hilligoss
Program Specialist
Volunteer Centers of Michigan
mhilligoss@mivolunteers.org
517.492.2455

Bank One
The Bank One Corporate Contributions focuses on supporting nonprofit organizations in three areas: 1) Community Asset Development – which includes initiatives that encourage, sustain and develop economic self-reliance in supporting financial literacy programs, development of and access to affordable housing, economic development of communities, and job training for disadvantaged populations and communities, 2) Youth Education – provides young people with the skills they need to succeed in work and in life, such as supporting early childhood programs that help young learners develop the literary skills they need to succeed, promote partnerships among schools, parents and community agencies, and support education initiatives designed to help students gain access to college, and 3) Community Life – supports arts giving, civic enhancement and programs that add cultural enrichment and issues related to diversity.

Contact:
Lesley Slavitt
One Bank One Plaza
IL1-0356
Chicago, Illinois 60670
312.732.2495

Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation
The Teammates for Kids Foundation accepts proposals for grants from nonprofit organizations that specialize in working with children. Grants from the Foundation support the on-going work of operating organizations that help needy children in the areas of health, education and inner-city services. While there are no minimum or maximum amounts, most grants range from $10,000 to $50,000. The Foundation's giving cycle is semi-annual.
For more information - http://www.touchemall.com/. Deadline: February 1, 2008

Youth At the Center Grants
Youth Service America (YSA) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice are offering $2,000 grants to help organizations replicate successful youth engagement experiences.  Successful applicants will involve youth in addressing the world’s most pressing social issues, such as climate change, hunger, disease, nutrition, literacy, disaster relief, poverty, and more. Applicants should plan to use Global Youth Service Day as a primary vehicle to engage youth in the issue addressed. The grant can be used to promote participation in Global Youth Service Day 2008 and 2009. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to pursue funding for an effort that takes place over a multi-year period.
For more information - http://www.YSA.org/awards. Deadline: November 30, 2007

Dollar General Community Grants
Dollar General’s community grants program provides support for nonprofit organizations committed to the advancement of youth literacy initiatives. Financial support will be provided to schools, public libraries, and nonprofits within twenty miles of a Dollar General store to implement or expand literacy programs for beginning, below grade-level, or learning-disabled readers.
For more information - http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=187500032. Deadline: February 5, 2008

Google Alerts
Stay informed about when your center is mentioned on the web. Google provides a daily alerts service free of charge that is easy to set up and extremely beneficial for your center's outreach efforts. Visit www.google.com/alerts and set up your alerts today. In the space provided, enter keywords that you wish to track. For example, entering "Volunteer Centers and Michigan" would run a daily search of news coverage of the Volunteer Centers within our network. These results are then emailed to you, providing you with links to any website that mentioned Michigan's Volunteer Centers on the previous day. Set up one or several Google Alerts today, and help better maintain relationships with newsmakers in your area.

SurveyMonkey.com
Distributing surveys is a great way to get feedback on your affect in the community. Creating and analyzing these surveys, however, can be a complicated process. SurveyMonkey.com is a resource that makes this process easier, and more manageable. Available free to users targeting audiences of less than 100, SurveyMonkey could be your answer to simplifying the survey process. Check it out at www.surveymonkey.com.

Shawn Welker is the newest AmeriCorps*VISTA representative to serve the Albion community. Shawn works with the Albion Volunteer Service Organization and his position is specifically targeted toward Youth at Risk. Shawn is currently working to develop the VolunTEENS program and says that although VolunTEENS has existed in Albion, he is looking to expand its numbers and to offer more opportunities for young leaders to be a visible force in their community. Shawn will be contacting over 70 local businesses and organizations to secure sponsorships for individuals in VolunTEENS, as well as for help in planning large group service-learning projects. Shawn believes that volunteering offers teens a chance to connect with their community and to develop essential leadership and interpersonal skills.

Besides working with Youth at Risk, Shawn is responsible for planning events that coincide with National Days of Service. Recently, Shawn successfully organized community-wide Make a Difference Day events. Currently, he is planning events for National Family Volunteer Day on November 17. Shawn is planning various projects, which will include a community-wide clean-up, a Habitat build, and making Thanksgiving decorations for the Soup Kitchen. Shawn hopes to help his community and address poverty related issues by “developing and mobilizing resources that create long-term, sustainable benefits at the community level.”