Author Archives: jcravens

About jcravens

Jayne Cravens is an internationally-recognized trainer, researcher and consultant. Her work is focused on communications, volunteer involvement, community engagement, and management for nonprofits, NGOs, and government initiatives. She is a pioneer regarding the research, promotion and practice of virtual volunteering, including virtual teams, microvolunteering and crowdsourcing, and she is a veteran manager of various local and international initiatives. Jayne became active online in 1993, and she created one of the first web sites focused on helping to build the capacity of nonprofits to use the Internet. She has been interviewed for and quoted in articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, as well as for reports by CNN, Deutsche Well, the BBC, and various local radio stations, TV stations and blogs. Resources from her web site, coyotecommunications.com, are frequently cited in reports and articles by a variety of organizations, online and in-print. Women's empowerment and women's full access to employment and education options remains a cross-cutting theme in all of her work. Jayne received her BA in Journalism from Western Kentucky University and her Master's degree in Development Management from Open University in the U.K. A native of Kentucky, she has worked for the United Nations, lived in Germany and Afghanistan, and visited more than 30 countries, many of them by motorcycle. She is currently based near Portland, Oregon in the USA.

Another person’s take on microvolunteering

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The most popular blog I’ve ever written was Microvolunteering is Virtual Volunteering. It was my effort to make sure those who really care about quality volunteer engagement continue to advocate for volunteering, no matter what form it takes, to be results-oriented and beneficial to both the organization and the volunteer – whether it’s volunteering that takes just a few minutes, or just once with an organization, or over months, or over years.

Orange in the U.K. has jumped on the microvolunteering bandwagon, creating a smart phone application that is supposed to allow people to microvolunteer. But many of its claims regarding what microvolunteering is and what it can do are outlandish. Luckily, I don’t have to write a blog debunking their claims – this blog which does an excellent job of doing so, in much kinder terms than I usually use.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: microvolunteering can benefit – and has benefitted – many organizations. But it’s also not worth the enormous amount of prep and supervision time required for many organizations, just as one-day group volunteering events aren’t always worth the prep time and supervision for many organizations.

The first step in deciding if microvolunteering / episodic volunteering, group volunteering, teen volunteering, family volunteering or any other specialized volunteering is right for your organization is for your organization or program to think carefully about what is in it for you, the organization or program. What benefit are you looking for? Volunteering is never just to get work done. Instead – or in addition – volunteer engagement is about:

  • measurable results regarding participant or community awareness of a particular issue, program or your organization
  • candidates for longer-term volunteering in more substantive activities regarding service delivery
  • cultivation of donors
  • activities that fulfill your organization’s mission (the group volunteering experience results in activities that reach part of your organization’s mission)
  • reaching diverse audiences you aren’t reaching, or aren’t reaching well, otherwise

And the second step is thinking about how you will know if you are achieving these results! Those two steps are critical before ever embarking on volunteer engagement, no matter what kind of engagement you are thinking about!

The Unofficial Web site re: your organization/program

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The Internet took away much of the control regarding information – what’s available and who controls it – that organizations and individuals had enjoyed previously. One of the results of this anyone-can-share-information platform is that there are many unofficial web sites for nonprofits, government agencies, NGOs and other mission-based organizations.

Look up a specific USA national park or state park on Google, for instance: you will receive a long list of web sites that offer information about that park’s features, accommodations, programs and more – but which is the *official* web site? It can be hard to find it amid the unoffical ones. And consider this: is the official web site as good as some of the unofficial ones?

You can go to the Peace Corps web site (which is excellent) and learn how to be a volunteer. You can also go to several unofficial web sites for advice, like Peace Corps Online, the “Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteer,” or this one by contributors to the Unofficial Peace Corps Volunteer Handbook. Why do these unofficial web sites exist? What information do they provide that the official web site doesn’t? How does the Peace Corps feel about them? You might be surprised at the answer to that last question!

 

Unofficial web sites for nonprofits, government agencies and NGOs pop up for a variety or reasons. Some of these unofficial web sites are nothing but online ad farms; the goal is to use the well-known name of the nonprofit to get people to visit the web page and then click on advertising, for which the web site creator gets money (sometimes as little as a penny per click). But some unofficial sites are set up because someone feels passionately about a subject and feels the official web site does not provide all the information that is needed. Often, these people wrote the organization and suggested this or that change/addition be made. Maybe they got the standard, insincere Thank you for your email. Your suggestion will be taken into consideration. blah blah blah. Maybe they got no response at all. And months later, when nothing changes on the web site, they decide – hey, I’m going to do this myself!

Unofficial web sites may provide important information regarding your organization that isn’t available on your official web site. They may provide better information that what’s on your web site. In either case, they can be drawing traffic away from your official web site – or, in fact, they can be generating more traffic to your official web site and programs.

What should you do if you discover there’s an unofficial web site about your organization, a specific program at your organization, about volunteering with your organization, etc.?

  1. Determine why the site exists. Is this an ad farm, or is this an individual who cares deeply about your organization and wants to help people connect with it? Which it is will determine how best to approach those behind the site – if at all.
  2. If you cannot find a “contact us” link on the unofficial web site about your organization, go to the WhoIs database and see who owns the site; you will be able to find email addresses there for the site administrator/owner (as well as a postal mailing address).
  3. If the site is merely a verbatim repeat of what you already have on your web site, offering no different or additional information, write the site administrators and request they take the information down. Remember: for whatever you write, YOU own the copyright, and you have the right to demand your copyrighted information be removed. Welcome the administrator to link to your site, as an alternative, but make it clear that over-quoting is copyright violation.
  4. If the site implies that it is somehow officially-affiliated with your organization, write the site administrators and tell them this will need to change. Offer a sentence or two that you would like on the site that will clearly disclaim any official ties between the site and your organization. If no change is made and the site continues to portray itself as someone officially-affiliated, have your legal council write a letter.
  5. If the site provides inaccurate information, contact the organization and say so! Be specific!
  6. Is the site in response to a lack of information on your web site? If so, remedy the situation! You can ask the site administrator for permission to use his or her material on your site, offering him or her a thank you for that permission, or, you can create your own information that you believe fills in the gap on your own web site. Whether or not you remedy the situation will be determined by the Internet community; if they like your new information, they will replace links to the other web site to your own. If they don’t, expect that unofficial web site to remain high in Google searches.
  7. Does the site address subjects that your organization is not allowed to, because of legal/liability issues, or because it’s not directly related to your organization’s mission? As long as there is no violation of confidentiality policies, nor violation of the law, you may need to stay hands off. But not being able to include such information on your own web site doesn’t mean you can’t have a partnership with that official site. For instance, this unofficial web site for Peace Corps members, Peace Corps Online, is referred to by the Peace Corps official web site. And you will note unofficial volunteering web sites listed at the end of this blog that, I suspect, the parent organization or government agency is quite happy about.
  8. Is a thank you in order? Be honest: does the web page or web site drive people TO your web site? Is it well-written? Is it factually-correct? Does it address subjects that your organization is never going to do, for whatever reason? If your answer is yes to any of these, you need to write the administrators and thank them for the page or site, however much it hurts to have some of your information control taken away from you. It’s up to your organization to decide if this web site information needs to be incorporated into your official site, or if it’s actually a good thing that it’s outside the official fold. Either way, create a good relationship with the person or people behind this site. You might even be able to bring them into the fold as a volunteer!
  9. Educate staff and volunteers about this unofficial web site. Is it appropriate for them to refer people to these unofficial pages, for instance?

With all that said, I should note that there are two organizations I have created unofficial web pages for.

One is a for-profit organization that has an online questions-and-answers forum. The same questions about volunteering and community service get asked again and again. So I created unofficial pages that answer these FAQs. I have Google ads on the site that have generated enough revenue to pay for all of my web site expenses (which in this economy, was something I very much needed!). People, especially young people, that use the forum are getting their questions about volunteering answered more thoroughly than ever before as well. I still can’t believe this for-profit company didn’t think of doing it themselves.

The other is for a nonprofit organization. My page is regarding my favorite program that this nonprofit undertakes. IMO, the organization does a lousy job of helping its target audience access that program. Six months ago, I created an unofficial page to help people access that program – and it now ranks second in a Google Search on the program topic.

On a related note, see

Online Fan Communities Work to Save the World

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Even back in the 1990s, there were thousands of online communities for people who wanted to to share information and excitement about a particular television show, movie, sports team, celebrity, hobby or literary genre. Back then, instead of via Facebook or a YahooGroup, it was via USENET or American Online. Just as offline communities and groups will often “pass the hat” at their gatherings for a good cause, or participate in the occasional one-day group volunteering event, Internet-based fan groups came together online or in person back in the 1990s to improve their communities, promote a cause or generate funds for a nonprofit organization. Often, these fans engaged in philanthropy with no prompting from any charity or formal organization. I highlighted some of those fan-based online volunteering efforts. while at the Virtual Volunteering Project in 1999.

I’m not at all surprised that the practice is continuing: the recent National Conference on Media Reform in Boston, organized by the non-profit organization Free Press, featured the panel “Pop Culture Warriors: How Online Fan Communities Are Organizing to Save the World.” This blog details one effort:

The Harry Potter Alliance is a group of devotees worldwide who have hocus-pocused their shared love of the Potter books and movies into genuine social activism. As their website declares, they use the power of the Internet to “work with partner NGOs [non-profit, non-governmental organizations] in alerting the world to the dangers of global warming, poverty, and genocide. Work with our partners for equal rights regardless of race, gender, and sexuality. Encourage our members to hone the magic of their creativity in endeavoring to make the world a better place.”

The Alliance mobilized its fanbase to win a $250,000 grant from Chase Community Giving, beating out more than 10,000 other charities in a Facebook competition. They’ve donated more than 55,000 books to school libraries around the world, including the Mississippi Delta and Rwanda, and are helping to build a school library in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Five planeloads of supplies were sent to Haiti after last year’s earthquake. They’ve registered first-time voters and even petitioned Time Warner to make Harry Potter chocolates Fair Trade: that is, chocolate not made — or cocoa beans harvested — under inhumane conditions, such as starvation wages or child slavery.

The audio of the conference session on online fan communities is here.

If you are a nonprofit organization looking to increase diversity among your volunteering / supporter ranks, find out if there are fan groups in your area. Find them by searching on YahooGroups, GoogleGroups and Meetup.com. Also ask your current volunteers – and ask them to, in turn, ask their friends and family members – if they are a part of an online fan-based community and if that community would be receptive to message about volunteering at your organization. Create a written pitch just for the particular group you want to approach, inviting them to learn more about volunteering with your organization, or inviting them to attend a particular event or activity. Food banks, for instance, could put out word that those hosting viewing parties of a particular TV show could encourage attendees to bring food donations for the food bank. Or an environmental group hosting a trail or beach cleanup could get the word out about the event to fan-based groups. Or a school-based mentoring program could let a local chapter of a fan-based group know about the need for mentors, how easy it is to be involved, the difference mentors make, etc.

As noted in the article I wrote originally about online volunteering by fan-based groups,

  • For annual events: “People should keep in mind that these kind of events start off slow. You shouldn’t try to start huge. Let support build. Let the word get out. It will get bigger every year.”
  • Have a lead person or official chairperson who is well-recognized within the online community to lead communication activities with the group on your behalf. They want to hear from one of their own, not an outsider.
  • Talk to the group before the event about the recognition it may receive. If they are going to show up in their Star Trek uniforms for your one-day volunteering event, get their permission before you have local news reporters come out to film them – no one wants to be made fun of for their passions!

If you are a fan-based group looking for a nonprofit or NGO to support, engage in a conversation with your membership about what that organization should be: some members may already be affiliated with an organization and others may want to join them. Or they may know that a person affiliated with whatever you are following – a TV show, a book, a movie, a sports team, a singer, etc. – is already affiliated with a charity your membership like to add their support to.

And remember: this group will talk after the event or volunteering activity, online, in the online community, about their experience. Work with the group’s leadership to ensure that you hear feedback that can help you improve activities in the future, that might look great on your web site, or that simply might energize your organization to engage with this community again.

Also see Finding Community Service and Volunteering for Groups.

Six cool things for Friday

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Some cool things for Friday:

  1. Did you miss the live webinar yesterday on Using Social Media to Support, Involve and Recruit Volunteers? Then enjoy this recording of the event (slides and audio). And continue the questions and discussion at the TechSoup Online Discussion Forum re: Volunteers and Technology.
  2. Japan crisis showcases social media’s muscle – not the usual social-media-can-do-anything article; it stresses the human expertise that is needed to make it worthwhile in a crisis.
  3. Press Release: Virtual Volunteering – Google Earth’s 3D Geo-Modeling Community Lends a Helping Hand. Great example of online volunteering / virtual volunteering!
  4. News video and article: Upgrade Your Life: Amazing free software – so rare that the mainstream media talks about the excellent, robust tech tools out there that are free and/or open source and will provide people, nonprofits and governments the resources they need for word processing, spread sheets, accounting, database management, presentations and more. Since January 2008, I have used FOSS software for my office software needs (word-processing, slide show/presentation development, spreadsheets, simple databases), as well as for email, for browsing the web, for creating graphics, for altering graphics and photos, for design of various printed publications, to develop material for and manage my web sites, and on and on. I blog about this frequently.
  5. “Nonprofits and grant makers alike should begin to factor the perpetual cost of upkeep into the amount they set to raise before they break ground. Consider it insurance on your purchase.” Really enjoyed this article or blog or whatever about the importance of thinking about facility upkeep in nonprofit budgeting. Save it and include it in your budget proposal for donors who might sniff about funding non-program/administrative costs.
  6. Three years in, the effort known as the Global Network Initiative, a code of conduct intended to protect online free speech and privacy in restrictive countries, has failed to attract any corporate members beyond the original three — Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. Who hasn’t signed? Facebook and Twitter, among others. Here’s more in the New York Times.

What you say vs. what you do re: volunteers

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You say volunteers are more than just free labor at your organization… but your annual report talks only about how much money volunteers saved (by showing how many hours they contributed and what this would have been in paid staff time otherwise).

You say you want committed volunteers that exude quality… but then you don’t respond to their emails or phone calls promptly, if at all.

You say you don’t have time to do this or that… but balk at the idea of allowing volunteers to take on any of those tasks.

You say you want steadfast, fully-invested volunteers… but you respond to every idea they have with, “At this time, we can’t address that/allow you to do that” or “We’re forming a committee to look into that – it’s employee only, however. Check back with me in six months.”

You say you want to engage more professionals as volunteers… but you don’t/won’t create volunteering opportunities in which those professionals might be interested.

You say you want your volunteers to represent the diversity of your community, or to reach under-represented groups… but you are unwilling to change your recruitment methods to reach different groups. “But this is how we’ve always done it!” or “I don’t have time to input every volunteering assignment into VolunteerMatch.”

You say you want volunteers to participate in decision-making… but you don’t invite volunteers to planning meetings, and don’t offer possible strategies up for discussion at volunteer meetings or on your online community.

You acknowledge that the best way to keep volunteers long-term is to create lots of short-term, “quick win” opportunities that keep them hooked… but you don’t create these short-term assignments regularly to attract new volunteers.

You want everyone at your organization to involve and value volunteers… but, as volunteer manager, you don’t push to work with staff regularly to help them create volunteer opportunities that support their work, or, as executive director, you don’t ask staff members to include their involvement of volunteers in their annual performance plan.

You say you want to be as valued at your organization the fundraising manager… but you don’t regularly, precisely show to all employees and the board how volunteers are as essential to the organization as financial donors.

You say you are a modern organization… but you still think of volunteers in terms of real volunteers and online volunteers.

One organization inspired this blog in particular, but to be honest, I’ve seen all of the above at dozens and dozens of organizations. You could substitute the word member for volunteer and it would read the same.

Now you be honest. Have I described your organization? Is what you say about volunteers at your organization matched by what you DO?

Innovation, Security Haiti, & the Humanitarian Response Index

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Four resources regarding work in aid, development, and humanitarian response that caught my attention recently:

(1)

As of January 2011, at least 45 evaluations are known to have been done of various aspects of the international response to the Haiti earthquake. ALNAP’s latest report provides a mapping and analysis of these evaluations, to help support the ongoing efforts by agencies working in Haiti. ALNAP has worked with the OECD-DAC Evaluation Network, the UN Evaluation Group to produce this paper and this blog represents some of the key findings that may be of interest to ALNAP members.

(2)

ALNAP recently facilitatied a workshop on Supporting Innovation in Humanitarian Organisations. A blog about the workshop is here, along with an excellent comment that says, among other things: “I have seen a number of organisations not engaging their field staff so as to findout if their innovative ideas will apply on the ground.” What are your thoughts about how humanitarian organizations do or don’t encourage/cultivate innovation? Join the discussion. 

(3)

OCHA’s has released its latest report: To Stay and Deliver: Good practice for humanitarians in complex security environments

Former U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland comments in the preface of the report, “The last 10 years represent one of the worst decades ever in terms of attacks on humanitarian workers and lack of humanitarian access. When people in need are deprived of assistance because relief workers are attacked or blocked, we are not faced with a political or diplomatic ‘problem’ – we are faced with an outrage and a criminal act under international and national laws.”

The report also includes a chapter on the opinions of national staff, working for International NGOs, which often remains a forgotten aspect of this debate. This article from Reuters Alertnet discusses some of the issues raised by this chapter.

(4)

The 2010 Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) has been released by DARA, “an independent organization committed to improving the quality and effectiveness of aid for vulnerable populations suffering from conflict, disasters and climate change.” The HRI aims to identify and promote good donor practice and contribute to greater transparency, accountability and impact in humanitarian action.

Among other things, the HRI 2010 report raises concerns about the politicisation of aid, where donor governments are undermining neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian assistance in order to meet political, economic or security interests. In Somalia, for example, some humanitarian workers were worried that anti-terrorism legislation of some donors like the US would mean they would be criminally liable for any aid delivered in areas controlled by the Al-Shabaab group. “Humanitarian workers – including representatives from donors own aid agencies – are being placed in an awkward position, where other parts of government are pushing them to implement programmes that go against good practices and quality standards. In some crises this is causing significant stress for people trying to do their best in already difficult situations,” sayssays Philip Tamminga, Head of the HRI initiative.

Read the People in Aid commentary about the latest HRI here.

Download the HRI report here.

Microvolunteer Idea: Review a Nonprofit

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There is something you can do right now, right this moment, to help increase the awareness about a nonprofit organization you have volunteered with, or been a part of: write a review of such at Yelp.com.

Links from other web sites increase awareness about a nonprofit, and can increase traffic to the nonprofits web site. This higher online profile may lead to more volunteers and more financial support. In addition, nonprofits can use such comments from clients, volunteers, donors and others in funding proposals, internal reports, memos, even brochures and web sites. Your comments may help justify a grant or donation, the continuation of a program, or a request for additional staff.

Here’s an example: a review I wrote for Knowbility in Austin, Texas.

Be honest, and note in your review your relationship with the organization (if you were a volunteer, say so!). After you submit your review, post about it to your social networking sites: your Facebook profile, your MySpace profile, your Twitter feed, your blog, etc. Heck, use old-fashioned email and let people in your address book know about your review as well!

If you have a negative comment about a nonprofit, be fair and share it with the nonprofit first, directly, and give them a chance to respond. Don’t use Yelp or any other review web site to write a negative comment you haven’t already discussed with a nonprofit, and think very carefully about what point you want to make in posting a negative comment.

And nonprofits, if you are worried about people posting criticism of your organization, learn how to handle online criticism – your response can lead to an even better reputation!

Free Manuals on Preparation for Disaster Recovery

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In light of recent events in Japan, someone posted information about this publication on one of the many online groups I’m a part of: a free disaster recovery manual, How to Help Your Community Recover from Disaster: A Manual for Planning and Action available free for download.

[ July 2017 update: the aforementioned links to this resource have been corrected. It was originally published in 2010 at http://www.scra27.org/resources/disasterresources/scra_manual_final5810pdf ]

Chapters cover the steps required to understand the potential effects of disaster, organize the community, assess its needs, make an action plan, choose a strategy or strategies for intervention, reach out to various constituencies, track results, and share lessons learned. This is a USA-focused manual, but it’s easily adapted to a variety of settings.

The 104-page text, published in 2010, is grounded in psychological principles closely linked to disaster recovery. It was created by the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) Task Force on Disaster, Community Readiness, and Recovery Department of Psychology, “a diverse group of researchers, evaluators, and community practitioners.”

One of the sections I like best is Part VI on “Types of Communities and Outreach to Diverse Groups,” which talks about non-obvious communities-within-communities – those who may not be reached by the usual community communication channels. Too often, this type of manual never discusses hard-to-reach individuals and communities within a neighborhood, town or city, like immigrants, people with low-literacy, religious minorities, people who have isolated themselves from neighbors and even the government, and others. Some of these groups are more visible than others, and in thinking about how to address community needs after a disaster, you have to know who makes up your “community.” Unlike many other how-to manuals regarding community work, this manual bluntly discusses the necessity to assess and discuss levels of mistrust among various individuals and groups, to recognize and understand differing cultural beliefs and practices, the necessity to “build authentic human relationships” with a variety of community representatives, and disaster planning for people with disabilities.

(I once asked a fellow aid worker in Afghanistan how our agency was working to reach various under-represented groups in our rural organizing and capacity-building governance work, including women. He replied, “It’s not our job to try to reach those groups. We’re only obligated to work with official leadership. To do otherwise is to not be culturally-respectful.” That comment still burns me.)

A criticism of the document: it mentions spontaneous volunteers, but doesn’t talk about what to do with them or how to respond to them. In disaster situations, the last thing you want are unaffiliated, untrained volunteers handling chainsaws, interacting with or transporting children or other vulnerable people affected by disaster, and engaging in other activities that could, at least, lead to misunderstandings and missteps and, at worst, lead to harm. See this blog on dealing with spontaneous online volunteers, who often overwhelm nonprofit and government offices after a disaster.

People in Aid also has a fantastic primer for organizations who want to develop their own emergency resources for sudden on-set disaster response.

[ July 2017 update: People in Aid is no more! And its wonderful disaster management wiki is gone as well. Luckily, you can still find it by cutting and pasting this URL into archive.org: http://www.peopleinaid.org/interactive/Wikis/MPE/Home ]

Ofcourse, the best preparation for disaster is getting people into disaster-response training programs now, such as through the American Red Cross.

Also see Volunteering To Help After Major Disasters – my own resource which has been rather popular recently (this is a monetized page on my site, so I’ll be donating the money I’ve raised beyond my monthly goal for April to a Japan-focused charity).

Setting criteria for quality volunteering abroad programs

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The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) and Planeterra, a non-profit foundation dedicated to sustainable community development and environmental conservation through travel, are collaborating to develop a set of criteria that will help international voluntourism providers plan and manage their programs in a responsible and sustainable manner.

The research project will incorporate a global survey program to be undertaken in May 2011 and stakeholder meeting, which will be held Sept. 19-21 during the upcoming Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference organized by TIES in Hilton Head Island, SC. TIES will produce the final draft for expert committee review and publication in early 2012.

If your organization places volunteers in developing countries, you should contact the project organizers immediately and get involved in this initiative. If you have ever served in such a program, you should contact this initiative as well. Let your voice be heard!

Also see:

  • A listing of the more-than-30 member organizations of the International Volunteers Program Association (IVPA) that is a good place to find reputable volunteer-for-a-fee programs.
  • For people in the United Kingdom, there’s the Year Out Group, an association of gap-year-abroad organizations that meet certain standards in order to be a member. The Year Out Group does not however organize or arrange year out programs, but it’s a good place to find reputable programs.
  • Reality Check: Volunteering Abroad: a detailed resource for those who dream of volunteering abroad. Provides a great deal of detail on what you need to do to make a great candidate for the PeaceCorps, VSO, UN Volunteers, etc.
  • The realities of voluntourism: use with caution: Voluntourism is really awful and really good. I’m totally against it and I support it. Confused yet? This opinion piece is my attempt to explain why voluntourism sometimes works and why, very often, it’s dreadful.
  • Vetting Organizations in Other Countries, for those who are negotiating directly with an organization in another country.
  • Hosting International Volunteers: More and more local organizations in developing countries are turning to local expertise, rather than international volunteers, to support their efforts. However, the need for international volunteers remains, and will for many, many years to come. This resource provides tips for local organization in a developing countries interested in gaining to international volunteers.
  • transire benefaciendo: “to travel along while doing good.” Advice for those wanting to make their travel more than sight-seeing and shopping.

Groups for “young professionals” exclude me

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I love networking. I love meeting people, hearing about the work of others, telling others about my work, finding ways to work together, learning things I didn’t know, sharing my knowledge, being challenged, challenging others, and on and on. Especially if red wine or beer is involved.

But, apparently, a lot of professional networking groups do not want me: I’m too old.

Consider a group here in Portland, Oregon, for example: it’s for young and emerging nonprofit and public sector professionals in the area. Or another group in Detroit, described as mobilizing young professionals to get the energy up at nonprofits and to bring new ideas to fundraising and outreach.

I find this again and again all over the USA: groups focused on technology, on nonprofits, on some aspect of nonprofit work (the environment, the arts, children, etc.) that say, explicitly, “this group is for young professionals who….” Because, you know, what the heck does someone over 40 know about the Internet? Or innovation? Apparently, we don’t try new things, we’re not risk takers, we’re not daring, blah blah blah.

The descriptions on the web sites and online communities of these organizations make it clear I am not wanted. It’s not just that I’m hurt to be left out of such groups and excluded from the networking and learning I so enjoy; I also think it’s sad that these groups isolate themselves from knowledge, skills and a diversity of viewpoints that group members might find particularly valuable, regardless of age. These “young professional” groups also contribute to the stereotype that people over 60, or over 50, or over 40 — take your pick on which group you want to stereotype — don’t have fresh ideas, aren’t tech savvy, aren’t innovative, do not like to learn and have nothing to offer.

I hear a lot about how traditional volunteering leaves out people under 35. I’ve been hearing about that since I was 30, actually. And I do see it in many organizations, hence my work over the last 15 years trying to get organizations that engage volunteers to create a diversity of volunteering opportunities that will appeal to a diversity of volunteers. I get that some groups have left out “young professionals,” and that these groups are trying to address that. But the solution is not to create an exclusionary group where no one but “young” professionals are welcomed.