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 recommendations for funders and nonprofit leaders, the Initiative’s goal is to transform the future of volunteerism with greater investment in strategic volunteer engagement. In that spirit, the Initiative has shared some exciting news.
Just today, the Initiative has released Activating the Power of Strategic Volunteer Engagement for a Better World: A Conversation Starter for Funders and Nonprofit Leaders. Within these pages, you will find resources and practical steps to bolster your collective efforts in cultivating stronger communities. As a volunteer, I serve on the leadership team for the National Alliance for Volunteer Engagement, and we have partnered with the Initiative for Strategic Volunteer Engagement to sponsor the recently released research on the state of engagement and to develop the resources contained in this new conversation guide. I and the others on these teams hope you’ll be inspired to start conversations on the impact of strategic volunteer engagement so we can move missions forward, together.
What’s Inside the Guide:
Action Steps for Funders
- List volunteer engagement as a funding priority
- Encourage nonprofits to holistically capture volunteer contributions by asking impact-driven questions in grant proposals, applications, and evaluations
- Ask for updates about volunteer impact and dilemmas during check-in conversations, site visits, and grant reports
Action Steps for Nonprofits
- Formalize volunteer engagement as an organizational priority by building it into the strategic plan
- Include a volunteer engagement professional on the organization’s leadership team
- Share the ways volunteers contribute to program or operational success in grant requests
Read more and Download the Conversation Guide today!