en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/907129 Comments by @rtwrks http://handsonblog.org/2010/11/09/learning-from-playing-tag/#IDComment108830251 I think it is amazing to see how many people are getting engaged. I would also look at how any commitments people are making when they visit. Tue, 9 Nov 2010 15:02:08 +0000 http://handsonblog.org/2010/11/09/learning-from-playing-tag/#IDComment108830251 http://handsonblog.org/2010/05/12/service-nerd-fantasy-panel-discussion/#IDComment75065821 I'll be a Fantasy Panel Discussion Reality attendee! Great post from the opening photos to the gLee nod! Wed, 12 May 2010 14:23:53 +0000 http://handsonblog.org/2010/05/12/service-nerd-fantasy-panel-discussion/#IDComment75065821 http://handsonblog.org/2010/05/10/can-volunteering-solve-real-problems/#IDComment75061289 Thank you for sharing this. Like you I had a very negative reaction to this chapter. To look around and say that volunteering has done nothing to improve our communities is like saying that farmers don't provide food. No community, regardless of how small, has not been impacted by acts of kindness of its residents. From visiting the ill to helping at the school's bake sale when pushed I think everyone has given of themselves in one way or another. However, this does bring up some interesting points with regard to the definition of volunteering and there are some things that nonprofits can learn to be more effective in utilizing volunteers. 1- Defining volunteering is hard to do. Most people think of it as formally giving of your time and resources to a cause. But when approached from a broader perspective, helping out your neighbor when they're moving, visiting a church member that is ill and home bound, or helping out at your kids schools are all forms of volunteering, regardless of how informal the steps were to get there. When look at volunteering in the broader sense, one can quickly see that communities thrive on volunteering and a willingness to help out a fellow neighbor. 2- Combating surface projects that don't address the root. Yes there are limited resource for non-profits preventing them to often be able to do both the direct service and advocacy effectively without becoming a "jack of all trades master of none." However, as with most things you if one changes their perspective it makes sense. I'm a big believer in the "you've got to get them engaged" approach to building volunteer programs. Yes painting the hallways in a school may not improve the test scores of the students, but it is still a very import piece in the scheme of things. a) painting is accessible to most people regardless of skill-level, thus allowing volunteers to make that first step to be introduced to the school or cause. Having them there provides that opportunity to engage them in education about your school needs, which hopefully gets them to come back, which will eventually lead them along the path to becoming an engaged citizen. b) having a freshly painted or nicely landscaped school does impact the quality of life for the students, increasing their pride in the school, which helps provide an overall more positive attitude by all, and thus does increase test scores and improves behavior issues. So yes, the direct service project might not be able to address the root cause directly, but without that entry way into the organization's mission, we'd never be able to amass enough passionate volunteers that can then become maintain the direct service while allowing the opportunity for others to become the advocates or project leaders for the tasks that do address the root cause. 3- One thing that your post does mention that gets my blood pressure rising is the lack of collaboration between non-profits or service providers. In my last month at HandsOn Northeast Georgia I was faced with just this instance. An individual contacted me about wanting to get their service listed in the newspaper through our Blueprint partnership with them for their new ESL program. Being the good community resource that I was, I engaged them in a dialog and asked if they had contacted the local Literacy council that provides support and networking among the various ESL and GED providers and if they had looked at supporting one of the other existing ESL classes in need of resources. I was told that they didn't want to work with the other programs because "we can do it better" and was then asked what resources I could provide them to get started with fund raising and volunteer recruitment. It's situations like these that deplete all of our resources because the pie is now being shared with one more person at the nonprofit table. Tales like this are a dime a dozen and I believe is the reason that our organizations are not able to amass the committed volunteers needed to do the necessary advocacy to address the root causes. Thanks for starting this dialog. When does the book “The Soul of a Citizen: Volunteering CAN Solve Our Problems” come out? Wed, 12 May 2010 13:46:53 +0000 http://handsonblog.org/2010/05/10/can-volunteering-solve-real-problems/#IDComment75061289 http://handsonblog.org/?p=320#IDComment63367533 thanks for sharing Jessica. I think the challenge is getting the need out to the people. Just having an open on-going call to volunteer at the food bank is great, but people get the sense that someone else will do it. As technology allows for more real-time needs/alerts to be sent out people respond quicker. a few years ago the local homeless shelter was on the verge of closing because funds weren't coming in. They put the word out on the paper and within a few weeks collected enough donations to keep the doors open (and they still are). Now why did those donors not come forward before and help prevent the need in the first place- because there wasn't that sense of urgency or feeling that a donation would really make a difference. I'm glad this person responded to the call for the food bank, but the bigger question might be- why wasn't he already planning on going to help or why didn't he know about the need for volunteers in advance? Sun, 21 Mar 2010 20:21:19 +0000 http://handsonblog.org/?p=320#IDComment63367533