When you think of volunteers, think of retired professionals who can help your organization build capacity.
Continue readingDon’t Neglect a Goldmine of Talent, Yours for the Asking
Rethink Your Volunteer Strategy
Are you using your volunteers in the most effective way?
The nature of volunteering has changed. Younger people are looking to get something out of their volunteering experience – they are asking “what’s in it for me?” rather than “how can I serve?” Instead of shying away from this reality, nonprofits would be wise to re-imagine their volunteer programs as braintrusts, rather than “more hands on deck.”
Volunteers can provide access to free knowledge and resources to help your nonprofit become more effective in what your are doing. For example, instead of calling on volunteers to help put address labels on your newsletter, you can get someone to help you create an online newsletter system that will have more value for your organization over the long-term.
NONPROFIT WAKE UP CALL: How can you re-invent your organization’s use of volunteers to help you maximize your organizational effectiveness?
Volunteering Gets a Boost on CNN
Nonprofits and volunteering are in the news again. CNN online featured a story about a man who was laid off from his Wall Street job and decided to volunteer to work with baboons in Africa. Volunteering was positioned as a good way to spend time between jobs: contributing to society, moving outside of your comfort zone, gaining new skills and perspectives, and potentially reducing your living expenses.
WAKE UP CALL: How is your nonprofit taking advantage of the recession to attract highly-qualified volunteers to help bring about needed change.
UJA-Federation MAP Program Celebrates 25 Years
Last night, the UJA-Federation held a reception celebrating 25 years of its Management Assistance Program, its internal volunteer matching service to provide help to its 150 funded agencies.
MAP consultants have worked on more than 1,100 projects for UJA-Federation beneficiary agencies. Services have included strategic planning, board development, marketing, branding and creative services.
Red Rooster Group has provided pro bono branding services through MAP. The branding we did for ENGAJE!, a joint educational venture to help foster awareness of Jewish values to early childhood teachers was featured in MAP’s 25th Anniversary program. In addition, I was featured in a video of MAP consultants discussing their experiences.
For the ENGAJE! initiative, we created a logo and stationery items, brand manual, as well as invitations and program guide for their successful launch event. We are pleased that these items were selected as showcase examples to be featured in MAP’s 25th Anniversary brochure (shown above).
Links
- Howard Adam Levy was a featured volunteer for UJA’s MAP program. Read the spotlight here.
- Red Rooster Group has donated more than 3,000 hours of pro bono services to nonprofit organizations. Read more about our commitment to the nonprofit sector.
- See more of our work for The Jewish Education Project.