Strategic Volunteering

Unemployed? Start Volunteering!

2012-02-20T16:24:00.007-05:00

http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/sections/career-wise/

International Business Times just published their "5 Things You Should Be Doing if You're Unemployed" - and do you know what they listed as #1? That's right...volunteer! Even the author of this article emphasized the need to volunteer strategically. Volunteering in an area that builds your skills sets relevant to your career goals makes you more attractive to potential employers in this very competitive job market. According to the IBT article, "By volunteering somewhere relevant, you’ll keep your skills fresh while enhancing your resume."

Here is a link to the 3-step Action Plan for Strategic Volunteering for those ready to get started. Good luck!

Are you currently utilizing volunteer experience while job hunting? If so, I'd love to hear about your experience and results.

Volunteer Your Way to the C-Suite

2012-01-01T15:35:00.008-05:00

Attention, professionals! It's official, volunteer leadership experiences provide excellent training for your executive aspirations. According to a recent article from Forbes, serving in a volunteer leadership role can hone the skills necessary to be an effective, high-level leader in any organization.

"One of the most powerful ways for younger managers to understand and experience the type of leadership needed for the C-Suite is to do volunteer work early in their careers. This is because the type of leadership at the top is akin to being a leader of volunteers, it is not about carrots and sticks but about persuasion and getting people to grasp and follow your vision." - Karl Moore, Contributor to Forbes

Has a volunteer leadership role enhanced the skills you bring to your leadership trajectory? It sure did for me - in fact - I'm positive it's a large reason why I'm a CEO today. What are your thoughts?

View the full Forbes article here ("Volunteering - A Great Way to Learn Executive Leadership")

Volunteering to Enhance Your Degree

2011-10-18T14:14:00.003-04:00

My example of "Meet People. Valuable People" - volunteering with the Georgia Tech Alumni Association afforded me the opportunity to meet Dr. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Here's a great article from the executive section of Financial Post about the reasons that strategic volunteering can enhance your degree. Great food for thought!

Top 3 reasons cited by the author, Rhiannon MacDonnell:

1. Meet People. Valuable People.
2. Practice the Skills You Have
3. Learn the Skills You Want

View Article Here

I've spoken to students in Atlanta many times about utilizing their volunteer leadership experiences as marketable skills on their resumes. It's a great way to supplement any paid work and/or internships, and typically paints a very well-rounded picture of a potential employee.

Attn: Volunteer Managers - No More Coffee Meetings

2011-08-11T17:51:00.005-04:00

Today's post is a result of a recent conversation with a fellow nonprofit executive director. He was seeking advice on recruiting and managing effective volunteer teams. I gave him an overview of my top volunteer management tips, with #1 being: have potential volunteers complete an application. A completed application not only shows an initial commitment on behalf of the volunteer, but a carefully crafted one can save you a ton of time in the long run.

Think about it, a strategically designed volunteer application can replace the numerous coffee meetings we typically have in order to interview and potentially place volunteers. Instead of spending an hour each with 20 potential volunteers, you can simply spend 30 minutes to an hour reviewing information and making the appropriate assignments. You just saved 20+ hours of your valuable time - and are likely making a more educated decision to boot!

Need an example to get your started? View the volunteer application I created for WIT's Strategic Volunteering program.

Guest Post: The Education of the Misinformed Superior

2011-07-21T11:03:00.006-04:00

Today's post comes to you courtesy of Amy Dawson. She's heard my strategic volunteering pitch many times and has some great advice on "selling" your volunteer commitments to your manager. Thanks, Amy!

The Education of the Misinformed Superior

One of the many reasons volunteering is essential to building your career is to gain leadership experience in areas you don’t have in your full-time job. But have you ever considered what to say in an interview, pitch for a new client, or to a boss who dismisses your volunteer role?

Let’s face it — not every boss or potential client understands how volunteering keeps your career skills sharp, and might dismiss them as, well, not as significant as accomplishments in your full-time job. So it’s time to educate these folks to what we already know: volunteer roles aren’t easy. In fact, they are more difficult than your 9 to 5 job in oh-so-many ways. First, you are wrangling people whose paychecks do not depend on a job well-done. Motivating these people to prioritize a volunteer project to the top of their to-do list is as easy as convincing Harry Potter that Voldemort is just a misunderstood fellow in need of a nose augmentation.

Working with vendors is no easier, since your non-profit is almost never their biggest money-maker. And not snapping off the neck of, say, a printer who misspoke and won’t have your printed invitations until two weeks after your mailing date takes serious restraint.

And so, you are forced to sharpen your skills with lots of setbacks, difficult personalities — and 27 different people certain their way is the right way. When it comes to learning to be an effective leader, leading a volunteer committee is superior to all others. (Trust me, I’ve been on the board of the PTA and the Junior League.)

So, here is what you say to anyone calling into question the significance of a volunteer position: “This volunteer role is a key success in my career because I {insert volunteer leadership role here like “led the committee} to successful completion {this is where we want to insert numbers and results like “increased enrollment in program by 75 percent} by motivating a team of volunteers with limited time and resources. I accomplished this project through excellent organization, persuasion and leadership skills, and expanded my skill set in the process. Additionally, I expanded my network and used my time and resources to give back to the community.”

So, wrangle as much responsibility as you possibly can out of your volunteer assignment. Push to expand your role. Then do a blow-the-barn-doors-off job. Show you work well under pressure. Keep track of measurable results. Keep copious notes of all of your volunteer accomplishments. Learn to become a leader. Then ask your volunteer coordinator to write a testimonial for what a great job you did.

After all, you deserve much credit for donating your time — and your ability to communicate how you are making a difference builds your career, one wrangled volunteer at a time.

Amy M. Dawson is a newspaper columnist, writer and public relations strategist. She has volunteered for more leadership positions over the years than she cares to count. Amy writes about successfully merging life and work at amymacpr.blogspot.com. See more of her articles at amymacwrites.com.

Preparing Your Nonprofit Organization to Meet the Need: Volunteer Application

2011-07-05T10:09:00.004-04:00

As a followup to my earlier post on preparing your organization to meet the growing demand by strategic volunteers, this entry focuses on the volunteer "guide" and application. Many of you have asked for real-life examples of these tools in action, so here you go!

Strategic Volunteering attracts top-level corporate volunteers to assist with WIT programming.

At Women in Technology (WIT), they employ strategic volunteering and have incorporated it into all areas of their volunteer program: promotion of opportunities, application process, selection, training, and succession planning. Here are links to the WIT materials so that you may create something similar for your organization...

WIT Volunteer Opportunities Guide

WIT Strategic Volunteering Application

We worked with a website developer to feed the results of the volunteer application directly into our database, but you could have yours go to a spreadsheet, Google docs, etc. It is important not to let the technology issues stand in your way of implementing a robust strategic volunteering program and on-boarding/application process. When WIT started, we used a blank PDF volunteer application and asked applicants to email or fax back their completed form. It still does the trick!

Whatever format you choose for the volunteer application, be sure to include the following elements:

Employer: helps your development folks create a pipeline of potential support (support dollars often flow as a result of employee involvement in a nonprofit)
Availability: crucial to determining the initial commitment of the applicant and their match to potential roles
Interests (this section was quite an evolution for me over the years): having applicants name specific potential roles and rank them is an immense help in the matching process; it also ensures that thought has gone into their application
Areas of Strength and Development: this is probably the most foreign concept for volunteer managers; specific to strategic volunteering, we want to know what skills a volunteer brings to the table and those areas where we provide an opportunity for them to use this experience as a professional/personal development tool (that's the whole point, right?!)

Preparing Nonprofit Organizations to Meet the Needs of Strategic Volunteers

2011-05-22T20:35:00.005-04:00

Just a few moments ago, I completed the PowerPoint slides for my workshop presentation at the National Conference on Volunteering & Service (NCVS) in New Orleans on June 7th. While I typically concentrate on helping professionals utilize the strategic volunteering concept to advance their career goals, this workshop gives me the opportunity to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations to meet the need of those interested in applying this concept.

Why should strategic volunteering matter to nonprofit organizations?
This program helps organizations remain relevant and competitive in the volunteer community. You can provide a significant ROI for volunteer time and talent and differentiate your organization amongst a vast pool of options. Utilizing this program within my own nonprofit, I find that it helps increase our recruiting and retention of volunteers. We strive to provide meaningful volunteer placements and clearly link those to their professional goals.

Your organization is also provided an opportunity to enhance your corporate relationships. One of the golden rules that we learn in the nonprofit world is that engagement leads to financial support. Strategic volunteering provides a unique way to both engage and support corporate volunteers.

Getting Started
If you don't have one already, your organization should create a volunteer application. Having an application process helps with the placement process and "weeds out" those with only a mild interest in participating. My theory is that if a potential volunteer will take the time to complete and return an application - that volunteer is MUCH more likely to have an effective level of engagement when placed in a role.

Of course, volunteers can't make informed decisions if they don't know what volunteer opportunities are offered by your organization, so be sure to make that information readily available. Consider including your placement process, volunteer program philosophy, important deadlines, job descriptions, corresponding time commitments, and paths to leadership.

In my workshop, I'll go into more depth about the process of developing the tools to succeed - including the development of the "skills matrix", a useful tool for matching professional skill-sets with nonprofit volunteer needs.

You Want Me to Take Time to Volunteer?!

2011-04-05T17:25:00.004-04:00

The issue of work-life balance has been coming up in conversation with my peers more and more lately. In fact, I'm moderating a panel discussion on the subject later this month. One common theme I'm hearing is the concern that there "isn't any time to volunteer" - of course, I have an opinion on this issue.

Like almost anything else in life, when we "don't have any time" to dedicate to something it's typically because it's something that we don't really want to do anyway. We find time for the things that matter to us and find excuses (and rightfully so!) for those that don't. It's a matter of aligning the many demands and requests put upon us with our values and priorities.

This alignment is essential when it comes to volunteer opportunities. In contemplating balance, I've learned that it's not living a series of perfectly balanced moments, but rather an overall balance life. Part of my balance comes from volunteer service and ability to use my skills and experience to positively impact my community. I "make" time for the causes and opportunities that fit my personal and/or career goals, and I'm trying to say "no, thank you" more often to those that don't match my criteria.

When we don't prioritize our volunteer commitments, we burn out! Have you ever gotten overwhelmed and thrown in the towel on your volunteer roles - or at least threatened to do so? Instead of burning out on volunteer work - take the time to evaluate where and how you spend your time. After all, your volunteer commitments are a pull on your "free" time and require sacrifice of your time and use of your talent.

Align your volunteer roles with your personal values today to banish burnout and better meet your goals!

Don't Quit Your Day Job

2011-03-30T19:56:00.005-04:00

At some point, almost all of us have wondered "what if?" when it comes to a new career path or entrepreneurial opportunity. I went through a phase years ago when I thought that I wanted to be an event planner. I had dabbled in some small-scale event planning and wedding coordination activities for friends, considered myself organized and creative, and thought it would be a good outlet for my talents and interests. So, when given the chance to chair a major fund-raising gala for a local nonprofit organization, I jumped at it! Long story short, after managing multiple nonprofit galas and fund-raising events, I realized that (for me) event planning is a nice place to visit - but I don't want to live there. Thank goodness I had the chance to "try it before you buy it" through volunteering. I came away from those experiences with a back-pocket full of great skills, but also the very important realization that it wasn't the career choice for me. Strategic volunteering, when used to its full advantage, can be like the grown-up version of an internship....giving you the virtually risk-free chance to explore career opportunities.

I'm Going to the Big Show!

2011-03-08T19:33:00.005-05:00

Fun news! I was notified today about my selection as a presenter at the 2011 National Conference on Volunteering & Service hosted in New Orleans this June. My workshop will focus on helping organizations utilize the concept of strategic volunteering. With over 4,500 people expected to attend, this is going to be so exciting!

Here's my official workshop description:

Strategic Volunteering: Preparing Your Organization to Meet the Demand (1866)
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: MCCNO Room: 355
Description:
Opportunities for volunteers to align their professional development with their community service efforts are increasingly in demand. Learn what potential volunteers are looking for in strategic volunteering opportunities and how you can effectively structure your program to meet this demand. Get an insider's look at how to set your volunteer opportunities apart from others offered in your community and leverage the potential to create new corporate relationships...remember, the support dollars often follow great volunteer experiences! Leave with actionable next steps and templates to get you jump started.

About NCVS: Convened by Points of Light Institute and the Corporation for National and Community Service, the annual event provides attendees with an opportunity to learn, connect and be inspired through a wide range of exciting and informative plenary sessions, workshops, special events, service projects, exhibits, specialized corporate tracks and more. As the world's largest gathering of volunteer and service leaders from the nonprofit, corporate and government sectors, all are invited to join us in New Orleans. If you or your organization deals with volunteers in any capacity, this is an event you do not want to miss!

Aligning the Volunteer Application with the Opportunities

2011-01-12T20:38:00.003-05:00

I've spent many hours over the past 4 years working to refine the process of effectively matching interested volunteers to the most appropriate placements. After several iterations, I completely changed up the application that my organization uses to do this - a refresh for 2011, as it were. My aim was also to align the application with the concept of strategic volunteering, help applicants walk themselves through the discovery/goal alignment process, and make it easier for volunteer managers to find the right fits.

Here's the result: http://www.mywit.org/system/contents/12/original/WIT_Volunteer_Application_2011.pdf

What do you think?

Linking your year-end performance review to your volunteer strategy

2010-12-15T20:29:00.002-05:00

As we head into 2011, many of us will experience some kind of performance review at work. When presented with the "opportunities for improvement" - what do you do? Obviously, one option is to request formal training, but budgets do not always cover your total need for professional development. This is an ideal opportunity to discuss potential strategic volunteering roles with your manager.

Map the skills you wish to hone to volunteer opportunities in your community. Bring back a plan including your role, how it enhances your development plan, and what (if any) time may need to be invested during work hours. Don't forget to include the added bonus of expanding your network!

Now you've got a plan to gain the skills you need to advance in your career - and you look like a superstar for taking ownership of your professional development.

Turning Your Volunteer Experience into a Nonprofit Career

2010-11-04T13:33:00.003-04:00

I had the chance last week to lunch with a new friend interested in pursuing a career in the nonprofit sector. We discussed strategies for organizing her resume/experience with a combination of professional and volunteer experience tailoring it to her desired role. (functional vs. chronological resume) I also had the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of moving from the corporate world to the nonprofit sector.

Ever considered the move? I highly recommend the book Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector by Laura Gassner Otting. I was introduced to Laura when asked to serve as a case study for the book, and I think her final product is fantastic. It's a must read for those contemplating the move.

You can find the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Career-Transitioning-Nonprofit/dp/1419593412

Laura's website: http://www.nonprofitprofessionals.com/about_us.htm

Quick Tip for Success - Get Recommended for Your Volunteer Jobs on LinkedIn

2010-07-21T18:08:00.005-04:00

I've mentioned it before, but I think it's worth repeating...be sure to post your significant volunteer roles on your LinkedIn profile. Not only does it build your positive online brand, but it also adds valuable experience to your overall career snapshot. Simply add your current and/or past volunteer roles to your online profile - then take the extra step of asking your volunteer managers and peers to recommend your work. As a nonprofit leader, this is something that I can give back to my volunteers and enjoy doing so.

Special Article: Reinventing Your Career

2010-07-12T13:20:00.002-04:00

Thought not specifically focused on volunteering, I wanted to share this article created in collaboration with Amy Dawson of AmyMac PR and recently featured by Womenetics. Keep in mind if you desire to make a transition, strategic volunteering opportunities can be invaluable. These opportunities can keep your skills current and provide "experience" to fill any resume gaps.

http://www.womenetics.com/my-careerlife/495-4-steps-to-your-new-career

Chic Perspectives Radio Interview

2010-03-30T10:42:00.004-04:00

Fela Strickland-Smith, Jamie Graham, Elizabeth Gordon (host), Heather Rocker, and Mary Lou Heastings

This week, I had the opportunity to join Elizabeth Gordon in the studio for her Chic Perspectives radio show. Joined by some of my favorite women in technology, I had the chance to talk my role at Women in Technology (WIT) and the power of strategic volunteering to build your network.

Take a listen to learn more - and get bonus career advice from the other WIT panelists. Good stuff!

Listen to the radio show here.

Wall Street Journal Promotes Strategic Volunteering for Job Search

2010-03-01T18:59:00.002-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised to read an article in today's Wall Street Journal promoting the use of strategic volunteering for those in job search mode. As the author notes, this methodology of volunteering can provide valuable contacts and networking opportunities. If you or your friends are in job search or career transition - remember to utilize strategic volunteering as one of your avenues for success.

Link to article: http://blogs.wsj.com/laidoff/2010/03/01/using-strategic-volunteering-to-help-with-the-search/

The Importance of Volunteer Training Programs

2010-02-11T12:14:00.006-05:00

I currently have the opportunity to serve as the lead volunteer trainer for the Junior League of Gwinnett & North Fulton Counties. We call our program Junior League University, but the premise is not unlike many other volunteer training efforts - to teach our members/volunteers how to grow their leadership skills for the betterment of themselves and our organization. While many volunteer placements offer "on the job" training (which you know I advocate strongly), the concept of servant leadership and the intricacies of managing people that don't "have to" work for you can create a gap in skillsets for nonprofit volunteers.

Because I've managed volunteers for over 15 years, I know that the most important thing you can offer your volunteers are the tools to help them succeed in their role. In almost every case, volunteer leadership training is required for successful outcomes. And if you are in a volunteer leadership role, you should be proactive and ask if the organization offers any training to assist in your role.

As a volunteer, you reap multiple rewards for taking advantage of training opportunities offered to you as part of your role within a nonprofit organization.

Gives you the tools to have a better/more effective volunteer experience
Typically offers leadership lessons that translate easily to the workplace
It's FREE training! Why not take advantage?

One of the training modules I've lead this year for both Junior League University and the Georgia Tech Young Alumni Council focused on "appreciative leadership" and "the art of delegation". While this combination of skills is crucial for successfully leading volunteer teams, it's also incredibly valuable to anyone leading teams in the workplace. Every lesson from those training sessions not only moves the organization forward, but it gives the volunteer leader tools to use in any leadership situation.

And don't forget - be sure to highlight the training you've received as part of your nonprofit service on your professional and volunteer resumes!

Volunteer Impacts on Your LinkedIn Profile

2009-12-14T09:31:00.001-05:00

Looking for an effective way to enhance your brand on LinkedIn? Post your volunteer "jobs"! That's right - add your volunteer roles (especially those involving leadership) to your profile. This helps you in a variety of ways:

1. expands your visibility by including impacts you're having both in and outside of the workplace
2. gives you the opportunity to gather recommendations for your work outside of your professional role
3. makes it evident that you have a commitment to community/nonprofit support
4. highlights your initiative and accomplishments - nice complement to your professional successes

You can include both current and past roles giving yourself the opportunity to create a very robust online profile - and enhancing your personal brand!

The Volunteer Interview

2009-11-10T19:18:00.004-05:00

Now that you have reviewed your development goals and are well on your way to finalizing your volunteer resume - are you ready for the interview? Part of your responsibility in being a strategic volunteer is finding the right fit for your desired engagement. What nonprofits are right for your goals? Here are a few questions you can ask to aid in your evaluation.

Does your organization:

have a volunteer manager?
regularly post open volunteer assignments?
indicate leadership opportunities in volunteer roles?
have a leadership/career path for volunteers?
provide general and/or skill-based opportunities?
provide long-term and/or short-term assignments?
require a volunteer application?
have a volunteer placement and/or removal policy?
provide training for volunteers?
value the role of volunteers in your strategic plan?

While this list is by no means all-inclusive, it will definitely help you identify the organizations that can best accommodate your strategic volunteering goals and foster your nonprofit leadership journey.

Your Strategic Volunteering Action Plan - 3 Steps You Can Take Today!

2009-10-29T14:53:00.004-04:00

Last week, I enjoyed the opportunity to speak to the Cbeyond Women's Network about strategic volunteering. I always love talking to this group because they are wonderfully engaged in their leadership development and growth. Kudos to all of the CWN members!

We talked about the concept of strategic volunteering, how it affected me personally, and how to formulate an action plan for next steps. There were a few key "takeaways" that I believe everyone can benefit from - so here goes.

Quantify the impact of your volunteer service. Don't limit the value of your volunteer service to a line-item on your bio. Take the time and energy to really think about your impact on the organization and/or your community. Work with the organization's leadership to set metrics for your volunteer projects and track their progress.
Here's an example:
Served as volunteer training director for XYZ nonprofit. Collaborated with board of directors to compile training materials and create a "career path" for current and future organization leaders. The creation of the new training system resulted in a 25% increase in knowledge retention and reduction in volunteer leader turnover of 30%.
Set yourself apart from the crowd - combine your professional and volunteer skills to create your Volunteer Resume. This addresses the complication of approaching an organization with your offer to volunteer and their inability to know the best place to utilize your skill sets. Be sure to include your project impacts! And if you want to be a high-level volunteer leader or board member, it's a bonus to include references. As a volunteer coordinator, if someone came to me with his/her volunteer resume including a statement of which skills they want to further develop and/or acquire - I would do a happy dance and then immediately work to place them on a great project, program, or event team.
Use your performance reviews and goals to help set your volunteer strategy. That's right - haul out that last review from your manager and take a look at the areas where you either need improvement or could gain a competitive advantage in your workplace. When you line up your professional goals with your volunteer goals - you start to get some serious traction. And this is where you can get buy-in from your company if you need to take time from work in order to serve in one or more volunteer role. Remember, strategic volunteering = FREE leadership development training!

Volunteers and Your Strategic Plan

2009-08-18T16:19:00.003-04:00

I'm currently working with a local, all-volunteer nonprofit to develop and deliver their training curriculum. Part of that training for their leadership, of course, includes the review of the organization's strategic plan and the contributions of the various teams to the annual plan. Your organization can have the most impressive strategic plan on paper, but unless your teams put an annual plan in place to support those goals (and measure their progress on a regular basis)...it doesn't mean a thing!

If you're volunteering: ask the organization to share with you their strategic goals and how your team is supporting those goals and the mission this year. Use the team's progress toward the strategic goals as part of your personal success story.

If you're utilizing volunteers: be sure to share the strategic goals of your organization on a regular basis and give periodic updates on how the various volunteer teams are impacting your annual and strategic plans. You may even go one step further and help each team create a success story that they can add to their professional bios -- or compile these success stories and use them in your annual community service/philanthropy reporting.

Volunteering as Networking

2009-08-05T09:42:00.006-04:00

With the downturn of the economy, many people approached me (in both my professional and volunteer leadership capacities) to help them find things: mentors, connections, jobs, etc. While I haven't had the bandwidth to personally help with all of these requests, I do have one consistent piece of advice - Volunteer! Why? Because your volunteer networks can become your job and mentor seeking networks. When looking to transition into the nonprofit sector as a profession, I had to evaluate who could serve as a reference for me regarding these specific skill sets - and it almost always came back to my fellow volunteers, past and present.

Want to see if a volunteer network could benefit you? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Outside of work, where am I involved?
What is the list of people that I could call today for a favor or introduction?
Could the leaders of organizations for which I volunteer serve as a reference for me?
Have I tracked the impacts of my volunteer service/projects? (this is a BIG one, and I'll go into more detail in an upcoming blog post)

By looking at the individuals in your volunteer network, you greatly open up your networking possibilities. It's never too late to start - find a volunteer opportunity that fits (strategically) with your goals and utilize that opportunity to expand your possibilities.

Strategic Philanthropy and Building Your Brand

2009-06-30T16:50:00.009-04:00

I had the opportunity last week to serve in a consultative role for a corporation looking to get more strategic with their philanthropic activities. The issue sparking the conversation is not uncommon: companies put dollars and/or volunteers into their communities but don't seem to get the level of expected visibility for their efforts. Why? Most likely because they aren't making the kind of impact that is going to get attention by the media (which, let's face it - drives visibility by the community). In this case, the company was doing some great things, but they were spreading out their volunteer efforts and donations without a true plan in place. As the CEO of this company realized during our conversation - you have to put together a business plan for strategic philanthropy just like any other business initiative.

Being deliberate with the allocation of your community relations resources can positively impact both your branding and outreach. Developing a plan to align your business mission with where you'll place your employee volunteer hours and dollars can make all the difference - and develop an interesting media angle. In the technology arena? Bring volunteers into a local nonprofit to develop or enhance their technology plan. In the biotech industry? Donate time and dollars to build a new science lab at your local high school or college. You meet your community mission by giving back - while also promoting your business line/brand.

The same can go for individuals. Are you volunteering at mutiple nonprofits without a plan behind it? If you want your personal brand to reflect a certain skill/trait, then consider volunteer placements that will help you build on that brand.

Selfish thinking? Not at all...just strategic!

The Gist of Strategic Volunteering

2009-06-17T12:31:00.002-04:00

Welcome!

The aim of this blog is to help individuals, corporate organizations, and nonprofits learn about the concept of Strategic Volunteering and how to utilize the practice to meet their goals. My advice and recommendations are based on over 15 years of experience as a "serial volunteer" - and subsequent leadership experience in various organizations. I often talk about my strong belief that volunteer opportunities can be excellent professional development opportunities. You just have to know what to look for, where to go, and how to get in the right placement. And for nonprofit organizations, you need to know how to structure your volunteer development and management to accommodate these goals.

In a nutshell, it's about making the most of your limited time and energy while making an impact in your community. It's a win-win-win situation!