The Essential Volunteer Handbook

The Essential Volunteer Handbook provides all the help you will need to find a rewarding volunteer experience in your local community. Easily read in one sitting, information is provided on locating and selecting opportunities that will make a difference while helping you grow as a person. The author shares philosophical insights, useful information and great stories about what you can expect from your helpful work and how it may change your life for the better.

Completely revised and expanded, the ultimate guide to starting—and keeping—an active and effective volunteer program Drawing on the experience and expertise of recognized authorities on nonprofit organizations, The Volunteer Management Handbook, Second Edition is the only guide you need for establishing and maintaining an active and effective volunteer program. Written by nonprofit leader Tracy Connors, this handy reference offers practical guidance on such essential issues as motivating people to volunteer their time and services, recruitment, and more. Up-to-date and practical, this is the essential guide to managing your nonprofit's most important resource: its volunteers. Now covers volunteer demographics, volunteer program leaders and managers, policy making and implementation, planning and staff analysis, recruiting, interviewing and screening volunteers, orienting and training volunteers, and much more Up-to-date, practical guidance for the major areas of volunteer leadership and management Explores volunteers and the law: liabilities, immunities, and responsibilities Designed to help nonprofit organizations survive and thrive, The Volunteer Management Handbook, Second Edition is an indispensable reference that is unsurpassed in both the breadth and depth of its coverage.

Completely revised and expanded, the ultimate guide to starting—and keeping—an active and effective volunteer program Drawing on the experience and expertise of recognized authorities on nonprofit organizations, The Volunteer Management Handbook, Second Edition is the only guide you need for establishing and maintaining an active and effective volunteer program. Written by nonprofit leader Tracy Connors, this handy reference offers practical guidance on such essential issues as motivating people to volunteer their time and services, recruitment, and more. Up-to-date and practical, this is the essential guide to managing your nonprofit's most important resource: its volunteers. Now covers volunteer demographics, volunteer program leaders and managers, policy making and implementation, planning and staff analysis, recruiting, interviewing and screening volunteers, orienting and training volunteers, and much more Up-to-date, practical guidance for the major areas of volunteer leadership and management Explores volunteers and the law: liabilities, immunities, and responsibilities Designed to help nonprofit organizations survive and thrive, The Volunteer Management Handbook, Second Edition is an indispensable reference that is unsurpassed in both the breadth and depth of its coverage.

Written by over 200 leading experts from over seventy countries, this handbook provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of the latest theory and research on volunteering, civic participation and nonprofit membership associations. The first handbook on the subject to be truly multinational and interdisciplinary in its authorship, it represents a major milestone for the discipline. Each chapter follows a rigorous theoretical structure examining definitions, historical background, key analytical issues, usable knowledge, and future trends and required research. The nine parts of the handbook cover the historical and conceptual background of the discipline; special types of volunteering; the major activity areas of volunteering and associations; influences on volunteering and association participation; the internal structures of associations; the internal processes of associations; the external environments of associations; the scope and impacts of volunteering and associations; and conclusions and future prospects. This handbook provides an essential reference work for third-sector research and practice, including a valuable glossary of terms defining over eighty key concepts. Sponsored by the International Council of Voluntarism, Civil Society, and Social Economy Researcher Associations (ICSERA; www.icsera.org), it will appeal to scholars, policymakers and practitioners, and helps to define the emergent academic discipline of voluntaristics.

CD-rom includes appendices and instructor materials such as roll call forms, PowerPoint presentations, and note-taking sheets for students.

A comprehensive guide to civic participation and the best opportunities for volunteering. We are proud residents of the land of the free and the home of the brave, but how often do we actually get involved and do anything to make a difference? The lifeblood of democracy is volunteering, and Make a Difference teaches readers how to get in the game and help! Volunteers are needed in record numbers. People are in trouble, and they are turning to volunteer organizations in their communities and faiths for help. Millions of Americans—middle class, working class, professionals, and business executives—have experienced the loss of a job, a home, or a business, small farm failure, a personal bankruptcy, or a loss of pension or retirement income. And millions more are only a layoff, illness, divorce, or accident away from falling into poverty. But YOU can help! Make a Difference is a comprehensive collection of more than two hundred community service opportunities and experiences. More than a simple resource guide, this unique handbook includes interviews, anecdotes, and commentary from the top people in nonprofit and service fields. The book ties together the strands of volunteering, community service, and civic engagement. Blaustein focuses on two critical questions: “How did we get into this mess?” and “What can be done to turn things around?” His answer to these interconnected questions is volunteering, community service, civic engagement, and citizen participation. They are good for you, vital to those being served, and healthy for your community and our country. Here’s what YOU can do to help!

This handbook covers an introduction to volunteer management, planning for a volunteer programme, creating motivating volunteer jobs, recruitment, screening and interviewing, orientation and training, supervision, and volunteer and staff relations.