Volunteers bring to us their commitment, enthusiasm, reputation, and relationships. As development professionals, what we can give them is the benefit of our knowledge and experience. To make our volunteers effective (which will keep them coming back), we need to ensure that they: Know the organization and its purpose Understand the case for support and […]

Identifying fundraising volunteers and leaders amidst your corps of volunteers is no simple process. Not all will have the ability or desire to be effective fundraisers, so when you identify someone who is willing and able, seize the opportunity. Of course, not everyone who volunteers to assist with fundraising will possess all of the ingredients […]

The Role of Volunteers in Development Contrary to some notions today, volunteerism is more important than ever. In a time when more and more fundraising efforts are partially or completely dependent on professional staff, the notion of volunteerism in development may seem impractical or even anachronistic. Admittedly, managing a corps of volunteers can be just […]

 Organizational Success The most recent data reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that 62.6 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once in the 12 months that ended September 2013. However, this volunteer rate was the lowest it has been in the past decade, declining 1.1 percentage points to […]