Category Archives: Community / Volunteer Engagement

Analysis of a Mentoring Program for Youth that Went Online Because of COVID-19: Feedback from Mentors

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I came across this case study, Mentoring in the Time of COVID-19: An Analysis of Online Focus Groups with Mentors to Youth, by Michelle R. Kaufman, Kate Wright, Jeannette Simon, Giselle Edwards, Johannes Thrul and David L. DuBois. It was published: 28 July 2021 in the American Journal of Community Psychology. 

This study explored the experiences of mentors to youth during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Six online focus groups (OFGs) were conducted with 39 mentors. Using Facebook groups, moderators posted questions and prompts, and mentor participants responded using textual comments. Mentor help involved routinely connecting with mentees and providing academic support.

Some things that stood out to me:

  • The success of the online mentoring program came largely because these mentors and mentees were already interacting offsite, they already had a relationship, and the mentors were trained about what a meaningful mentoring relationship looked like and about the issues mentees might be facing at home (witnessing domestic violence, substance abuse, etc.). The research found that virtually connecting with mentees can be difficult for mentors without prior, organized planning. All of this is something I learned in researching online mentoring programs for the Virtual Volunteering Project.
  • Mentor concerns for their mentees varied, including mental health, school, family finances, and access to instrumental support and food. In short: mentoring requires much more than uplifting messages.
  • Just as I learned in researching online mentoring programs for the Virtual Volunteering Project and, later, The LAST Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, online mentors need specific and ongoing ideas for things to do online with their mentees. One of the most popular pages on the old VV Project web site was a list of ideas for online mentors to do with youth.
  • The digital divide is still VERY much an issue for mentees and their families. Mentees’ access to technology and privacy were the biggest challenges faced.

And then there was this, which was also not surprising: members of the focus groups used for this research said they really wanted an online community to help them learn from each other, give each other support, etc. Excerpt:

Mentor Support Groups

Across the board, participants agreed that an online support group for mentors would be incredibly helpful. Sharing ideas, discussing experiences, and connecting with other mentors about their own stress and anxiety would provide a much-needed outlet and resource during such unprecedented times. Some participants stated the OFGs felt helpful in this way:

Seeing everyone’s responses here has reminded me that we’re not alone in our work/struggles in being a mentor. (female, Illinois)

Others expressed that continuous collaboration with others could provide encouragement and strength, contributing to their own health as well as their effectiveness as mentors.

A support group where we can join together to share thoughts and experiences with one another. What if the group included mastermind sessions where, as a team, we examined our experiences to identify possible solutions and to be reminded that we are not alone? (female, Maryland)

I haven’t been shy about sharing how much I loathe thrown-together online mentoring programs during COVID: most that I’ve seen spent lots of time creating a web site that celebrates the program’s founders, but have scant information on how mentors will be trained, how success will be measured, what mentoring resources they are relying on to guide them, etc. – and nothing on safety. It’s nice to see research that backs up we (Susan Ellis and I) learned back in the 1990s, and continued to promote for decades.

cover of Virtual Volunteering book with hands raising up various Internet connected devices

If you want to dig far deeper into the factors for success in online mentoring programs, those establish meaningful relationships with mentees – not just feel-good quickly “cheer up” messaging for a few minutes ever week but are, rather, based on the proven practices of traditional, face-to-face mentoring initiatives – you will not find a more detailed guide anywhere than The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. It’s available both as a traditional print publication and as a digital book.

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

When you have to say no to candidates for volunteering, let them know about volunteering elsewhere.

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graphic by Jayne Cravens representing volunteers

Someone posted to one of the many online communities I’m on. She’s with an organization that promotes awareness about a particular health issue and her program involves volunteers that have that particular health issue. She said the nonprofit was “relaunching its volunteer program after years of chaos and mismanagement.” She noted:

We are a global nonprofit and we have more volunteers than we have assignments for. My concern is this: in relaunching our volunteer program and disappointing people who want to be useful to our organization but there are not roles for them. Most of our volunteers are also patients who suffer from (this) syndrome and they want to feel like they are connecting to other people in their community. It’s a delicate balance between wanting to engage people who suffer from this very debilitating condition and making sure we have the right volunteers for the projects. Therefore, how do you successfully run this volunteer program with a large number of volunteers and still manage to obtain quality candidates?

I responded:

This is a more common problem than you might think. Many Habitat For Humanity programs have far, far more people that want to volunteer than they can possibly accommodate. Same for a lot of food banks, in non-COVID-19 times. It’s a big issue for most online volunteering matching services – there are far, far more people who want to volunteer online than there are roles and tasks available on services like the UN’s Online Volunteering service. I know that when I post an online opportunity to VolunteerMatch, I have to take it down in about 48 hours because I always get more than enough applicants.

Many Habitat chapters limit the number of times a person can volunteer in that chapter in a given time, in order to make sure as many people as possible get to volunteer. They say this upfront so that people understand why they don’t get to volunteer EVERY time there is a build. That means keeping track of how many times each person volunteers in a given period.

Another option is to let volunteers know about other places they can volunteer while they are waiting for an opportunity with your nonprofit. Those that are good at keyboarding might like to participate in the many historical transcription projects available through the Smithsonian or the Library of Congress. I have a list of all these (and MANY more) here:
http://www.coyotebroad.com/stuff/findvv.shtml

Here is a list of online volunteering opportunities – could you create some of these roles or activities at your program, to expand the number of opportunities for volunteers?

Many programs that struggle to recruit volunteers are astounded that there are programs that have “too many” volunteers, that have to turn away people that want to volunteer because they already have more than enough and that don’t have enough roles and tasks for volunteers. The reality is that volunteer recruitment is relatively easy; it’s much harder to respond to volunteer applicants quickly, onboard new volunteers quickly and provide new volunteers the support they need, and THOSE are the reasons most programs that don’t have enough volunteers don’t have enough volunteers.

If you don’t have enough assignments for all the people that want to volunteer with your program, consider having a list ready of places to refer them to, and make it clear, when referring them elsewhere, if you are telling them that they shouldn’t expect to get to volunteer with your program any time soon, or ever, or if you are giving them options they can do but that, someday, you will use their information on file to contact them about immediate openings.

For people that want to volunteer onsite that I cannot accommodate at whatever organization I’m working at (they lack the skills I need, there are no openings, etc.), I refer them to:

You could do the same: compile a list of these programs or similar programs in your own community and be ready to refer any volunteers you turn away to these resources, so that people can get into volunteering as immediately as possible. It promotes your nonprofit as one that cares about the larger community, not only its stated mission, and one that cares about volunteerism, in general, overall, and not just for its own organization. It leaves the person with a positive view of your organization, even if they cannot be a part of it right now. Compiling this list of places to refer volunteer candidates you cannot accommodate is a great task for a volunteer, by the way…

If you are a program that is in need of volunteers, consider contacting your local Habitat for Humanity or large, well-known food-giving program that you think might have more than enough volunteers and asking them if they would consider referring the volunteers to you that they have to turn away. This is especially true if you can accommodate or need a group of volunteers; group volunteering gigs are some of the mostly highly-sought after by potential volunteers.

Do you do this already at your organization? Or is there something that prevents you from doing so? Comment below:

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

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Volunteer Bill of Rights – a commitment by a host organization to volunteers

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graphic by Jayne Cravens representing volunteers

I ask this on the volunteer subreddit and got just one response… maybe I will have better luck on my own blog.

In 2010, Robert Egger, the founder of the nonprofit DC Central Kitchen, proposed a national Volunteer Bill of Rights. In an interview, he said, “If a program can’t tell a volunteer what they accomplished, allow them to talk to any staff member, provide financial data or allow a volunteer to rate their experience or provide feedback—then volunteers should feel free to call them out.”

His Volunteer Bill of Rights, which he implemented at DC Central Kitchen, included the following:

  • The right to work in a safe environment.
  • The right to be treated with respect by all staff members.
  • The right to be engaged in meaningful work and be actively included regardless of any physical limitation.
  • The right to be told what impact your work has had on the community.
  • The right to ask any staff member about the organization’s work.
  • The right to provide feedback about your experience.
  • The right to receive financial information or an annual report.

In 2019, the Association for Women in Communications created its own Volunteer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. In their document, they said that it is a Volunteer’s Right to:

  1. To be assigned a task that is worthwhile and challenging.
  2. To receive the orientation, training and supervision needed to do the job.
  3. To feel that your efforts have real purpose and contribute to the organization’s mission.
  4. To receive useful feedback and evaluation on the volunteer work that you perform.
  5. To be treated with respect and as an equal partner within the agency.
  6. To be trusted with confidential information necessary to carry out your assignment.
  7. To be kept informed about relevant matters within the organization.
  8. To expect that your time will not be wasted because of poor planning or poor coordination by the organization.
  9. To ask any questions that will clarify a task or assignment.
  10. To give the organization input or advice on how to better accommodate the needs of present and future volunteers.

And they said it is a Volunteer’s Responsibility to

  1. Not to take on more responsibility than you can handle.
  2. Meet time commitments or to provide notice so alternative arrangements can be made.
  3. Perform the tasks assigned to you to the best of your ability.
  4. Provide input on ways your task might be better performed.
  5. Follow organization policies and procedures.
  6. Respect those confidences entrusted to you.
  7. Be open-minded and respectful towards opinions shared with you.
  8. Notify the organization in advance of absences or schedule changes that may affect them.
  9. Accept reasonable tasks without complaints.
  10. Communicate and work with others in the organization if the task calls for it.

I would add that I believe a volunteer has a right to:

  • Ask for a description of a role or task in writing, detailing time commitments, responsibilities, impact of the service to the organization, etc.
  • Ask why a role, or certain roles, are reserved by the organization for volunteers (as opposed to paying people for their time and expertise), and get an answer that is not “because we can’t afford to pay people.”
  • Expect a role to be fun and/or personally fulfilling and/or professionally helpful.
  • Complain and be treated with respect if complaining when an organization has not fulfilled its responsibilities to the volunteer, in terms of providing a safe environment, being treated with respect, addressing harmful and or toxic behavior, provided with appropriate preparation and support for a role or task, information-sharing by staff, what a role is versus how it was described initially to the volunteer, etc.
  • Say no and withdraw from a role without penalties to future volunteering or program participation if a role the volunteer has successfully undertaken changes substantially later in terms of the amount of time required, the responsibilities, the training required, etc.
  • Not face any financial burdens to volunteering in their own communities (where they live geographically) or online, in terms of having to pay a prohibitive fee to the organization in order to volunteer.

What would you add? Or reword? Or do you even think such a Bill of Rights is necessary? And when I say necessary, I mean that nonprofits sign on to it, post it, and voluntarily adhere to it (or try to) – not a legal document, just a promised MO. Please add your ideas in the comments section below.

And what might prevent you, as a volunteer-hosting organization, from implementing such a Bill of Rights for your volunteers? Please comment below!

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

Why aren’t you reaching out to young people via Reddit?

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It’s been a mantra for at least two decades now, probably more, among those who promote volunteer engagement: we must do a better job engaging young people!

And, yet, managers of volunteers, as well as consultants who try to help them, seem to avoid spaces, online or onsite, where they could cultivate these younger volunteers.

Reddit is a good example. As of July 2019, Reddit ranked as the No. 5 most visited web site in the USA and No. 13 in the world. Users tend to be significantly younger than other online communities like Facebook, with less than 1% of Reddit users being 65 or over. Statistics suggest that 74% of Reddit users are male. Most of the niche online communities I’m a part of are overwhelmingly female; that’s why I use Reddit, to provide some gender balance in my online life regarding nonprofits, community development, volunteerism, etc. It also helps me understand what people outside of the nonprofit, volunteerism and humanitarian worlds are saying about nonprofits, volunteering and humanitarian issues.

The community on Reddit for discussions about volunteerism has reached 10,000 members. I did a poll last month, trying to get an idea of member ages. Just 262 responded, not even a 3% return. But I do think it’s a representative sampling, and it clearly shows that almost 60% of the members are 18 to 28, and 36% are either 30 to 49 or under 18.

I regularly ask colleagues to answer a question or offer advice on the community on Reddit for discussions about volunteerism. I regularly ask organizations like VolunteerMatch and the Points of Light Foundation, via Twitter, to post their announcements there. They never do. Here is an audience of young people asking questions about how to volunteer, how to do specific types of volunteering, how to make their volunteering more sustainable or effective, and I can’t get the people claiming to want to reach young people to, well, reach them.

Also see:

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

Global Award for Volunteer Leadership – nominations due Sept. 30

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In honor of the lifetime contribution to the global volunteer sector, International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) has instituted the Kenn Allen Global Award to recognize an individual whose volunteer leadership has had a transformative effect on their community, country or region. The Award will provide a one-time stipend of $1,000 to be used for professional development by the volunteer. The Award will be made annually, on November 1st. Nominations for this year’s award must be made by 17:00 ET on September 30.

To be eligible for consideration for the Kenn Allen Award, the nominee shall:

  • Be a current volunteer.
  • Have provided significant enthusiasm, assistance and specific expertise to an organization or cause as a volunteer.
  • Have shown initiative and leadership in his or her efforts.
  • Have exemplified his or her dependability.
  • Have received no remuneration for services directly associated with his or her volunteer duties.

More information and nomination form here.

“mandated telecommuting” has lessons for “mandated virtual volunteering”

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In the early days of the Virtual Volunteering Project back in the 1990s, I used telecommuting manuals, combined with guidelines and best practices for working with traditional, onsite volunteers, to develop the initial materials to advise organizations on how to create roles and tasks for online, remote volunteers.

I’m reminded of that as I read Deriving Long-Term Strategic Advantage from Mandated Telecommuting, a December 17, 2020 article from the American Management Association.

Here’s an excerpt:

Rapid changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic gave leaders little time to make strategic decisions in preparation for the anticipated recession, while forced telecommuting added significant challenges and pressures. Executives were forced to reboot established policies and practices even as they fought to keep businesses afloat…

…there are opportunities for companies to emerge from this crisis stronger and more agile, especially among those that can quickly adapt to the realities of remote work. The most successful leaders in this new era will prove able to fully embrace the new normal, strategically reorient their management practices, and drive efficiency through more purposeful meetings, while ensuring that any fears about the future of work don’t hinder potential and progress…

Even as leaders anticipate the business environment “returning to normal,” they need to accept that the new world will likely look very different from the one before. Significantly, remote work will be much more accepted, even preferred, as organizations and leaders begin to acclimate…

Adjusting to this new reality is less about making telecommuting work during self-quarantine, and more about determining how it will best function even after the pandemic is behind us. This will require that leaders understand the development of telecommuting-focused policies and practices as more than just temporary measures. Such thinking will help them adapt in ways beyond learning how to conduct videoconferences, as just one example. They’ll benefit from considering the much larger picture, including how to engage employees, ensure productivity, build and sustain culture, and maintain focus, all while people continue to work from home.

End excerpt.

This could so easily be rewritten for the nonprofit world:

Rapid changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic gave leaders at nonprofits, public sector agencies and other mission-based programs little time to make strategic decisions in preparation for the anticipated recession, while forced telecommuting for staff, virtual volunteering for volunteers and remote engagement with clients and the community added significant challenges and pressures. Executives were forced to reboot established policies and practices even as they fought to keep their programs afloat…

…there are opportunities for nonprofits, public sector agencies and other mission-based programs to emerge from this crisis stronger and more agile, especially among those that can quickly adapt to the realities of remote work and remote engagement. The most successful leaders in this new era will prove able to fully embrace the new normal, strategically reorient their management and engagement practices, and drive efficiency, while ensuring that any fears about the future of work don’t hinder potential and progress…

Even as leaders anticipate the work and program delivery environment “returning to normal,” they need to accept that the new world will likely look very different from the one before. Significantly, remote work and remote engagement will be much more accepted, even preferred, as organizations and leaders begin to acclimate…

Adjusting to this new reality is less about making telecommuting, online engagement and virtual volunteering work during self-quarantine, and more about determining how these will best function even after the pandemic is behind us. This will require that leaders understand the development of telecommuting-focused, virtual volunteering-focused and remote engagement-focused policies and practices as more than just temporary measures. Such thinking will help them adapt in ways beyond learning how to conduct videoconferences, as just one example. They’ll benefit from considering the much larger picture, including how to engage employees, volunteers and clients/the community, ensure productivity, build and sustain culture, and maintain focus, all while some people continue to work from home and online/remote engagement continues with clients and the community.

It’s a terrific article – just remember how to translate it for the mission-based world. Virtual volunteering will continue at all the thousands of organizations where it did before the pandemic – let’s hope organizations new to the concept, who embraced the concept so late, will realize virtual volunteering has made them stronger, more agile, and better prepared for new generations of volunteers.

cover of Virtual Volunteering book with hands raising up various Internet connected devices

If you want to deeply integrate virtual volunteering into your program and expand your engagement of online volunteers, such as in an online mentoring program or other scheme where online volunteers will interact with clients, you will not find a more detailed guide anywhere than The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. Purchasing and readin the book is far, far cheaper than hiring me as a consultant or trainer regarding virtual volunteering – though you can still do that!

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site or my YouTube videos and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Fans of Superheroes Are Acting Like Superheroes

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Back in the 1990s, I noticed online communities of fans for the X-Files, Xena, Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, other TV shows and various entertainers and sports teams engaging in volunteering, activism and philanthropy. It was more than virtual volunteering: it was the creation of intentional communities, where fans used their passion and sense of fellowship to support a variety of good causes. I noted that many of these online groups weren’t directed by any formal organization to engage in philanthropy; the fans decided to engage in these activities on their own.

I wrote and published an online article about it in July 1999: Fan-Based Online Groups Use the Internet to Make a Difference. My article includes examples of such groups at that time, with comments from members regarding their online philanthropic activities and what makes them successful.

That DIY fandom-for-good spirit has continued online, and I’ve paid attention to one of those more recent efforts in particular: The Harry Potter Alliance. The HPA has raised money for various causes and lead campaigns to create awareness about hunger, bullying, child slavery and more. The group also has the Granger Leadership Academy, named for the Harry Potter character Hermione Granger, and the Wizard Activist School, which create programming and workshops aimed to inspire and train members in a variety of topics, including feminism, environmental issues, fighting racism, social justice, conflict resolution, leadership styles, goal-setting, and on and on.

We founded the HPA in 2005 with a simple idea: what if fans used their passion and creativity to make activism more fun and the world a more loving, equitable place? For almost sixteen years that idea has driven hundreds of thousands of fan activists to organize protests and charity drives, to write letters and make calls, to donate books and time and money to make their communities better for all.

The Harry Potter Alliance is changing its name to Fandom Forward, and it’s now for fans of Avatar, Star Wars, Percy Jackson, Doctor Who, Marvel, DC and, of course, Harry Potter – and most everything else out there in the sci-fi / fantasy / superhero world. Its purpose is to turn fans into “heroes.”

We use the power of story and popular culture to make activism accessible and sustainable. Through experiential training and real life campaigns, we develop compassionate, skillful leaders who learn to approach our world’s problems with joy, creativity, and commitment to equity.

As it became more and more clear that our community had grown even bigger than the boy who lived, we started talking to friends from all corners of fan organizing about how to move forward together. We talked to you, our community members, about what you wanted to see next. Over 1,000 of you weighed in, and the answer was overwhelmingly consistent: this place we’ve built? It doesn’t belong to just one fandom. It’s for anyone who believes in the power of stories and fans to change the world. It’s for everyone, and our name should reflect that. 

Fandom Forward even offers its own virtual volunteering management guide. My favorite advice from the guide is section 4, on cultivating leadership among volunteers. The entire section is terrific. I like this especially:

Default to trusting volunteers. This is a big one, and something that is hard for a lot of people to grasp. After doing this for 15+ years, however, we whole-heartedly believe in the idea that you can and should default to trusting your volunteers. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should give anyone access to your organization’s most sensitive information. But if you have a task that needs to be done that involves giving a volunteer an organizational log-in to a website, give it a try! We’ve found that most people can be trusted. If anything goes wrong, you simply remove the volunteer from that task or the organization. However, most times it will go right.

I’m fascinated by this and other fan-based efforts for many reasons: because I’m a fan myself of many of these stories, because I love seeing the Internet used for good, because there are frequent stories and studies claiming that there is a decline in young people wanting to volunteer – stories and studies that ignore these efforts – and because of complaints that younger generations aren’t joining traditional civic groups like Rotary, Optimist, Lion’s, etc. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: younger generations ARE volunteering, ARE getting involved in their communities – but they are doing it in different ways. Maybe the local civic group didn’t bother to create any social media channels to talk about their work, haven’t updated their web site in years, and have spent more time complaining about declining numbers than trying to do an honest assessment of why that is happening. Maybe the local fire station makes it clear that only career first responders are the superheroes and volunteers are just there to roll hoses and serve coffee, or doesn’t make it crystal clear how a person would become a volunteer first responder. Maybe these groups need to pay more attention to Harry Potter fans.

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site or my YouTube videos and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Me as a volunteer? More frustrated than ever.

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I’m a consultant regarding volunteer engagement (among other things). And one of the ways I keep my skills sharp and I keep learning and evolving, is by volunteering myself, both online and in traditional, face-to-face assignments.

In October 2011, I wrote a blog called How to get rid of volunteers, based on a really bad experience I had as a volunteer.

In February 2012, I wrote a blog called I’m a Frustrated Volunteer., based on more bad experiences as a volunteer.

In May 2018, I wrote a blog called Still trying to volunteer, still frustrated, based on even more bad experiences I’ve had as a volunteer.

And now, in 2021… I’m still here and still frustrated. The upside is that it helps me to keep creating what I think are practical, highly-relevant guidance for successfully engaging volunteers. The downside is… I don’t like being repeatedly frustrated, and it’s a reminder that volunteering is NOT always the uplifting, inspiring experience so many say it is.

I saw this meme and it hit so close to home regarding my own volunteering experiences in 2021 I almost burst into tears.

Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer care.

When I express interest in volunteering with a nonprofit or program, I’m excited. I’m energized. I’m inspired. I’m highly motivated. I’m ready to help regarding a cause that I’m feeling strongly about. And very often, I’m hoping for a long-term experience. I’m hoping to volunteer for months, maybe even years, not just a few times. I’m hoping to enjoy myself.

Too often, I leave a volunteering experience that I’ve wanted to be a long-haul after a year or less, feeling overwhelmed, taken advantage of, ignored and/or under-appreciated. And I haven’t enjoyed myself. At all.

As I read the message in that image, I immediately thought not just about my own experiences as a volunteer, but also how many programs have lost fantastic volunteers because of not being clear about expectations, or changing those expectations, or asking too much of a volunteer’s time, or not welcoming and showing appreciation for a new, enthused, passionate volunteer, or otherwise “pushing.”

For this latest experience, I joined a county advisory board regarding the arts. It was a really nice experience the first year, though quarterly meetings were always in-person and held in places that were extremely difficult to get to via public transport (that’s how I get around weekdays, pre-COVID). The second year of my volunteering service was dominated by the global pandemic, and suddenly, we were allowed to do something our host organization assured us was absolutely impossible and not allowed: have meetings online. At the end of 2020, I was asked if I would consider being chair and thought, hey, what the heck, I should step up and do this for one year.

At my first meeting as chair, the bomb was dropped: our government host organization was dropping our board as a responsibility and we would move under the fiscal sponsorship of a nonprofit. At that first meeting, it was said several times, “Things won’t really be changing.” That proved to be a gross misstatement: my required time commitment skyrocketed as I realized a whole host of new processes would have to be researched, developed, proposed and voted on by the board members in a very, very tight timeframe. I went from meetings once a quarter to two or three times a month, and dozens of emails a week – sometimes dozens of emails in one day. Lots of steps in the transition hadn’t been identified by the previous host and the new host, and as I asked questions for clarification, more and more work to do got revealed. I was no longer a part of an advisory group; I was a full-fledged board member of a brand new nonprofit that the board had not asked to be a part of. And I was the chair. And that is NOT what I signed up for when I agreed to volunteer.

My passion wained quickly. My excitement evaporated. My energy and motivation have been squashed.

How did this happen? The people who created this substantial change:

  • did not consult with the volunteers who would be told to take on the responsibility.
  • were in denial that it was a substantial change.
  • have not taken a volunteer management 101 workshop or read any of Susan Ellis’ books.

Yes, I’m still a frustrated volunteer. I still haven’t found a volunteering experience since returning to the USA that’s been what I’m looking for. I still haven’t really had fun volunteering since 2009. But I’m so happy to have yet another experience that will help me as a consultant regarding volunteer management.

Other blogs inspired by my volunteering:

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site or my YouTube videos and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Busco información en español sobre cómo trabajar con voluntarios

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graphic by Jayne Cravens representing volunteers

Busco información en español sobre cómo trabajar con voluntarios. Información sobre apoyo y gestión de voluntarios. Puede enfocarse en un país de habla español (España, México, etc.) o en una comunidad de EE. UU. Pueden ser libros para comprar o información gratuita en línea.

He encontrado esta guía gratuita de HacesFalta. La información sobre cómo trabajar con voluntarios comienza en la página 64. La sección tiene cuatro páginas

También encontré este consejo para los padres, para participar en las escuelas.https://kidshealth.org/es/parents/school-esp.html

Y Claves para la Gestión del Voluntariado en las Entidades no Lucrativas de la Coordinadora de Organizaciones No Gubernamentales para el Desarrollo de la Comunidad Autónoma de La Rioja (CONGDCAR) en España.

Y “La Importancia de la Participación de los Padres en las Escuelas.”

Y La Guía del Voluntariado Virtual.

Y La entrada de Voluntariado en Wikipedia.

Mas?

(Perdóname por mis malas habilidades en español)

21 May 2021 actualización: El canal de YouTube de La Plataforma del Voluntariado de España. La PVE de es una organización no gubernamental que coordina la promoción y difusión del voluntariado y la acción solidaria a nivel estatal, una actividad que en nuestro país desarrollan casi 3 millones de personas. Uno de los objetivos principales de la PVE es la sensibilización social sobre el voluntariado a través del arte y la cultura.

Does your web site make people cry?

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drawing of two people, one using a smartphone and one using a desktop computer

I’m an advocate for accessibility on the World Wide Web. I’m not a web designer, but I am a human, and just as I want every person to be able to easily enter a public building and see a movie, get a passport, buy a meal, enjoy artwork, get medical care, complain to the management, etc., I want every person to be able to access the critical information and services they need via the Internet. Accessibility isn’t just nice to do in a web site design – it’s a sign of respect. It’s a human right. And a site that doesn’t try to be accessible is, to me, a sign of profound disrespect.

Just how distressing and painful an inaccessible web site can be was brought home for me recently: an elderly neighbor needed to put her sweet, beloved 12-year-old dog down. She was heartbroken. It was important to her for this procedure to be done in her own home, so she could be there at the moment of his death – something she couldn’t do in a vet’s office because of COVID-19 precautions. She booked an appointment through a company that specializes in euthanasia for pets at home via phone. Then she went online to pay. Her only Internet access is through her Android phone. She went through the very lengthy online form four times, and four times, she got to the end and there was a frowny face and the words, “Show you are human.” She didn’t understand what it meant. She clicked everywhere she could think of, hit return over and over and, each time, would have to go back and start all over. She was in tears by the time she texted me, begging for help.

I had to make the appointment for her on my Apple laptop, and I was confused by the form several times – it often wasn’t clear which field box went with which field box description. When I got to the end of the form, I was presented with a captcha – that’s what wasn’t working on her smartphone when she was trying to pay. By the end of the process, we were both even more stressed out – we had wanted to focus that day on saying goodbye to a beloved friend, and instead, we were both emotionally drained by an inaccessble web site.

How many older people have been in the same position because of an inaccessible web site? How many people have been urgently trying to make an appointment, pay a bill, get critically-needed information, and have been frustrated and even demoralized by an inaccessible web site? How many web sites have literally made people cry?

These accessibility recommendations from the State of Illinois are a good place to start in making a web site more accessible. 

And the keyword #WebWeWant on Twitter is a good one to follow.

Also see:

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