ENERGOZE-Newsletter -April 2016
Susan tells the true story of how a photographer friend’s talents are being wasted by an appealing volunteer project…and why this has important implications for designing all kinds of volunteer work. Read this month’s Hot Topic.

 

You can subscribe to the Hot Topic as apodcast or RSS text feed – or listen to the audio online. Also, you can browse the archive of Susan’s Hot Topics (since 1997!).
Recognition Resources

SAYING THANK YOU TO VOLUNTEERS…IN APRIL AND YEAR-ROUND
In the United States and Canada, April brings National Volunteer Week, this year on April 10-16. Click on the country name to find how each nation is celebrating this year – themes, social media links, and free resources. Even if your organization does not plan

any recognition activities in April, there is no reason not to use the national events to draw attention to the importance of volunteers. Learn about other Special Days/Weeks Related to Volunteerismaround the world in the Energize “Directory for the Profession.”

This is also a good time to review the many resources on our Web site that are available to you year-round for showing appreciation to volunteers and others who contribute so much to your work.

  • Quotables – Thanks to our site visitors, we have an enormous collection of quotations about volunteering, categorized for you to find the right saying for the right occasion. In addition, we have compiled humor, parables,poems, songs, and stories for you. Everything you need to prepare speeches and presentations sharing insight about the value of volunteers!
    If you like having this resource available at no cost, please “pay-it-forward” and add your favorite quote or story, using the submission form on the site.
  • Learn about Recognition in our A-Z Volunteer Management Library. Many articles, links to sites, and a range of shared ideas from colleagues, too.
  • Books on Recognition in our Online Bookstore – from skits to entertain a crowd, to charming cartoons, to fresh ideas.

What’s New in e-Volunteerism?

NEW THIS MONTH AND FROM THE ARCHIVES
Volume XVI, Issue 2 of e-Volunteerism, our international, subscription-based journal, is coming to the end of its quarter; Volume XVI, Issue 3 will begin on April 15th. As always, all previous journal issues are available to subscribers online in theArchives.
Free Access this Month:  
From the Archives 
 
Family Feud: Relatives, Co-Workers and Friends as Volunteers (Vol. V, Issue 4, July 2005) – The notion of families volunteering together is one that has a lot of intrinsic appeal and a lot of value. But Steve McCurley and Susan J. Ellis examine the subject from a slightly different perspective: the potential conflicts that arise when individuals with close outside relationships – spouses, siblings, relatives, close friends, co-workers, fellow church members – are volunteering “inside” the same organization but those “outside” relationships, either positive or negative, begin to affect volunteering behavior.

From the Current Issue

Points of View 
Could A Robot Do the Job of A Volunteer Manager? The BBC ran a series of news stories on the development of robotics, following up a study by researchers that predicted about 35 percent of current jobs in the UK are at high risk of computerization over the next 20 years. As a bit of fun the BBC asked, “Will a robot take your job?” and provided an online tool to help people answer this question. Rob Jackson and Susan J. Ellis offer some opinions on whether leaders of volunteers should fear a robot takeover.
Subscriber Access Only:

(Subscribe for a full year or 48-hour access)
New Postings Since the Last Update
Revisiting the Imperial War Museum North: Still Engaged in Innovative Programmes for Nontraditional Volunteers  When it opened in July 2002, the Imperial War Museum North (IWM North) in Manchester, England, unveiled an ambitious community volunteering project: the museum had recruited over 100 local residents, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, to work towards vocational qualifications in the museum prior to its opening, building confidence, gaining experience, and increasing employability. Fourteen years later, author Danielle Garcia reveals that IWM North continues to build a reputation as a major cultural institution, a community collaborator, and a leader in engaging what many would consider ‘nontraditional’ volunteers in service that blends self-help with accomplishing important work.

New Issue to Launch on April 15th 

Volume XVI, Issue 3 will contain articles on a wide variety of subjects, including mediating conflict involving volunteers, designing work for volunteers with cognitive disabilities, Web resources for victim services, a Points of View commentary questioning the many studies of volunteer motivation, another practical Training Design, and much more.

You can subscribe to e-Volunteerism for a full year or for 48-hour access. Note that subscribers have full access to the Archives of all 15 previous volume years.

 

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