Responses to:
Wouldn’t It Be Nice to Really Know….
Posted on 28 June 2006 by Myia Johnson,
Harris County, Guardianship Program,
Volunteer Program Coordinator,
Houston, TX USA
The Corporation for National & Community Service recently published a study that reports on some of the questions posed by Ms. Ellis.
It's called "Volunteering in America: State Trends and Rankings 2002-2005" and is available for download in pdf format on the AmeriCorps website: www.americorps.org
Posted on 16 June by Jayne Cravens, Insane Consultant,
Bonn Germany
I'd so love to see research on all of the topics below, across various sectors.
From Individuals about Their Civic Engagement…
- have you used your work, home, or school computer as part of your volunteer service? If yes, how?
- what kinds of volunteering do you wish you could do that you haven't been able to?
- if you could give an organization one piece of advice regarding working with volunteers, what would it be?
From Organizations…
- do you call those who work at your organization without pay "volunteers", or do you have another name for them? (advocates, evangelists, mentors, etc.)
- do any of your volunteers ever use their work, home, or school computers as part of their volunteer service? If yes, what do they do? And approximately how many have done so?
- do you contact your volunteers by email? if not, why not?
- do you have complete information on your organization's web site about volunteering at your organization? (steps in how to become a volunteer, application form, details about orientation/training, etc.) If not, why not?
For organizations not in North America, and excluding Australia New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland (all the developed English-speaking countries):
- what are the biggest barriers in your country to organizations involving more volunteers?
Posted on 8 June by Donna Lockhart,
The RETHINK Group,
Consultant,
Ontario Canada
This is a great topic. In Canada we have great data available and it's growing, as mentioned in the other responses. I see the challenge in 3 areas, managers of volunteers: 1) are not trained in conducting research, analysis and interpretation; 2) nor in the application or "the SO-What" does this mean to our volunteer programs; and 3) they do very little strategic planning!
As a private sector consultant, I just applied volunteer data and local population stats to examine capacity building for breakfast programs in schools/rural and urban communities. The programs were targeting people in the least likely population sector to volunteer, so they had recruitment challenges. We used this information and the population profile to build some new approaches.
Posted on 6 June by Natalie Lue,
COPA,
Volunteer Manager
Toronto Canada
Volunteer Canada does a national survey on volunteerism which captures most of the data you mentioned in the article.
They survey volunteers and organizations that use volunteers.
Volunteer programs specifically funded by public foundations (such as United Way) are required to complete annual reports on their programs including total volunteer hours and types of volunteer activities.
Volunteer Canada also did a national survey on volunteer management - who does it, what agencies hire them, salaries, educational backgrounds, pros and cons of the job, etc. They compiled data and developed a profile of volunteer managers. I'm sure the findings would be very similar to volunteer managment in the U.S. This and other statistics can be found at www.volunteer.ca
Posted on 5 June by Audrey Suhr,
National Aquarium in Baltimore,
Dir Vol Svces & Special Projects,
Baltimore, MD USAGreat topic! In assessing one's own programs, it would certainly be helpful to know national stats, and how stats compare within and between specific non-profit fields. For instance, valid retention figures (deactivated volunteers' years of service); ratio of paid organization's employees to volunteers (raw numbers, and FT equivalents); ratio of volunteer office employees to total volunteers; ratio of the organization's number of regularly scheduled vol individuals and hours worked to that of episodic volunteers, etc.
Posted on 5 June by Fataneh Zarinpoush,
Imagine Canada,
Senior Research Associate,
Toronto Canada
This is a great topic and I am just wondering what you think about the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP). This survey is developed through a partnership of federal government departments and Canadian nonprofit and voluntary organizations (i.e., the Imagine Canada, Canadian Heritage, Health Canada, Human Resources Development Canada, Statistics Canada and Volunteer Canada). The first wave of this national survey was in 1997 and the latest report (2004 survey)was just released (http://www.givingandvolunteering.ca).
Posted on 5 June 2006 by Alan York,
School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University Dr Ramat-Gan Israel
Your basic thesis is correct, in my opinion, though I believe that Gallup and the Voluntary Sector now run regular volunteer surveys. These are based on two or three questions only, but smaller surveys and researches ask all the extra questions, some of which you mention.
Don't forget informal volunteering, short-term and long-term, outside of any organization. This may be the main form of volunteering among lower SES people.
Posted on 5 June 2006 by Kathleen Richardson,
Southeast Steuben County Library,
Volunteer Coordinator,
Corning NY USA
We periodically do informal surveys and find wording is important. If the survey is not worded correctly, we end up with answers based on too many different perspectives to get a true picture. Statistics on age ranges, towns of residence, hours volunteered, etc. go to our Director, Board members, towns, and others who financially support us. Statistics are also used in grantwriting for the library and for the volunteer program itself. We also use statistics from www.independentsector.org.
Posted on 4 June 2006 anonymously ML, Vancouver Canada
This is a very interesting and complicated subject and I'm so glad you are posing some new questions. I'm involved with a number of community policing centres in Canada which offer various volunteer-run programs. Aside from the usual collection of numbers, we really need to know how effective the programs are and if they're making a difference. Crime stats don't tell us the true story as many don't report minor crimes anymore, or the police take all the credit. If anyone has ideas on how to measure such outcomes, please advise. Thanks, ml
Posted on 4 June 2006 by H Roberts,
PLNJ Inc.,
President,
NJ USA
I wonder to what extent grants, and monies distributed year after year to programs that barely operate well, play a decisive part in why data is lacking. Who will bite the hands that feed us?
When I began working for non profits I was amazed and underwhelmed by the number of local programs, national "affiliate" chapters and "system-based services" that did little to change the status quo. With a few years under my belt, I also believe you raise a two-sided argument. Those that fund should also make accountability and priority.
Further, (IMO) chain of command politics should have limited as well as recordable influence over social service. Often the added frustration comes in realizing just who "we" are accountable to.
Great hot topic!
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