Smarter Impact Starts Here
What is Strategic Volunteer Engagement?
What is strategic volunteer engagement - and why does it matter? Driven by the power of volunteer energy and grounded in comprehensive research, the Initiative for Strategic Volunteer Engagement launched to answer this exact question. By providing practical...
Dear VQ… How can I inspire our team to plan for volunteers?
This morning, an email arrived from a volunteer manager I've known for many years, and she shared this request: I'm reaching out to see if you have any simple resources that I can use during a team meeting to do a little training/informational session on working with...
Drumroll, please! Landmark Research on Volunteer Engagement & Funding
Today was a longtime coming. After years of meetings, dialogue, presentations, advocacy, (and yes, maybe even some proverbial hair-pulling in frustration), today was the launch of the Initiative for Strategic Volunteer Engagement and the release of landmark research...
Introducing our Book Group Facilitation Guide!
When we first conceived of the book, Transforming Disruption to Impact, our goal was to spark conversation about the innovations and adaptations that have been vital to sustaining the power of volunteers despite the many disruptions we have all experienced in recent...
Rethinking Service Days – Join our Conversation
MLK Jr. Day of Service 2023 is right around the corner, with all its potential and promise. Yet, are you stuck trying to recreate a model of service from 2019 or earlier? If so, I encourage you to rethink and reimagine. In a January, 2021 VQ blog post, I shared shared...
Mattering: The Growing Volunteer Motivator
The sticky note on the side of my desk reads, "Making a difference is a way to know you matter." Uncharacteristically (and regrettably!), I didn’t write down which colleague or friend said that while on a conference call, but I know that, as soon as I heard it, I...
Reduce the Recruitment Challenge: Feedback Key to Gen Z Engagement
As workplaces struggle to hire and retain employees, nonprofits and other mission-driven organizations have parallel concerns regarding recruiting and retaining volunteers. In fact, the term “concerns” doesn’t really cut it. The cries we hear from the field echo more...
4 Reasons to Embrace Gen-Mix Volunteerism
From lockdowns to mask-wearing to vaccination, COVID-19 has been one of the most polarizing issues of our time. Among these stark divisions—arising from perceived vulnerability to the virus, both in health and economic terms—is the one between the generations. This...
New Book Convenes Voices Across Sector
Imagine you had the ability to invite the leading thinkers in volunteer engagement, corporate engagement, philanthropy, nonprofit leadership - along with volunteers, too - to a dinner party to reflect on the challenges of the last few years and share their ideas and...
Strengthening Your “Internal Partner” Muscles
Whether delivering services, providing pro bono support, governing as a board member, or sending advocacy emails, volunteers play vital roles in mission-fulfillment. Regardless of where leaders of volunteers fall on an org chart, their success relies not only on...
