Engage Library

Pets are therapeutic for people of all ages. But as aging pet owners and their families can attest, age and disability often restrict elderly or seriously-ill pet owners from seeking veterinarian services and general assistance for their pets. Some people even refuse to enter…

When it comes to professional football in America, most people associate “special teams” with players who take the field for kick-offs, punt returns and kicking an extra point. But for the Miami Dolphins, an American football team based in Florida, “special teams” means so much…

For nearly two decades,the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies research group has conducted comparative research on volunteer work and the nonprofit sector. This year, in conjunction with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and in collaboration with…

This Training Design presents a thought-provoking, high-level exploration about the volunteer management field and its future. According to those who attended the recent presentation of this material by author Katherine H. Campbell, Executive Director for the Council for…

In April 1973, the Saturday Review published a special business supplement, “Can the Businessman Meet Our Social Needs?” In this series of essays, noted business authority Peter F. Drucker and then New York City deputy mayor Edward K. Hamilton debated the pros and cons of this…

The last decade has witnessed an incredible growth in volunteering by youth, with several countries operating intense schemes to generate and foster youth volunteering efforts. We first looked at volunteering by youth in the January 2004 edition of Along the Web. In this issue,…

The next time you have a few volunteer program managers together, here’s an interesting exercise question:  “How many of you have volunteers working side-by-side with you to do what’s needed for successful volunteer engagement – beyond helping with clerical work?”  When we ask…

In this issue of Along the Web, author Steven McCurley takes a quick trip through recent reports and studies on volunteering from Japan, Canada, the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad, Tobago and Northern Ireland. Then, to make sure that no one feels…

In late 2009, Volunteering England established a Volunteer Rights Inquiry to look into a rising number of volunteers who were complaining, sometimes very publically, about their treatment by their volunteer-involving organizations. After nearly 18 months of confidential…

e-Volunteerism readers raved about Part 1 of Erin R. Spink’s presentation on "Volunteer Engagement: Defining the Future of the Profession."  Posted in the last issue, one reader called it "a brilliant, educational and provocative article,” while another noted that it “challenges…

How can texting a friend raise significant funds to help patients and families who are battling brain tumors? The answer is simple for Judy Zocchi and Olivia Questore, the two driving forces behind “Text for 10,” a unique fundraising event to benefit Monmouth Medical Center’s…

In March 2011, 10News in San Diego, California, ran a story with the following headline: “Habitat For Humanity Charging Local Volunteers: Group Forcing Local Volunteers To Pay Before Helping Build Homes.” The resulting controversy revealed both facts and opinions about “passing…

In this issue, Rob Jackson’s feature story about volunteer rights describes and analyzes the unique Volunteer Rights Inquiry led by Volunteering England from 2009 to 2011. In this special, companion Voices presentation, Jackson interviews two key participants who were deeply…

The volunteer base has changed over time. It has moved from volunteers with long-term commitments to welcoming the diversity of youth, families, baby boomers and employer-supported volunteers – and required us all to adapt our volunteer management practices.  In this Research to…

To be effective and to thrive in upcoming years, volunteer programs must learn to engage Millennials, that slice of population also referred to as “Generation Y” and generally born somewhere between the mid-1970s to the early 2000s. As this generation assumes its role in the…

Consider the term that has become popular in recent years in English-speaking countries: “volunteer engagement.”  Do you really know what it means? Surprisingly, despite its widespread use, there was no research on volunteer engagement until 2008. In this two-part e-Volunteerism…

An important international event on the global volunteering agenda kicked off 2011: the 21st World Volunteering Conference in January, sponsored by the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) and hosted in Singapore. The conference marked 10 years since the world…

In February 2010, United Way of King County in Seattle, Washington, launched an intensive volunteer management capacity-building model in partnership with Executive Service Corps of Washington. Called the Volunteer Impact Program (VIP), it was designed to help food banks and…

If your organization still hasn’t fully embraced the Internet to support and involve staff and volunteers, this Training Design is the key to bridging your organization’s digital divide. Jayne Cravens, who directed the Virtual Volunteering Project and helped pioneer the concept…

In work-oriented societies, it can be confusing when people do something for no remuneration when that ‘something’ appears to be neither part of their livelihood nor part of their leisure. In simplest terms, the question asked by the average person in such societies is: Why work…