Not all Millennials are hipsters. The millennial (M) generation, 18 to 34-years-old, often get a bad rep from older generations. The more-biased ones scoff that they are a tech-obsessed, scarf wearing, coffee snob group that has lost all sense of character and meaning. Ironically, Millennials contain an intense desire for meaning and dream of being […]
We are mere weeks away from one of the country’s most entertaining sporting events of the year — the NCAA Men’s Division I College Basketball Tournament. And with the excitement creeping ever so close to its usual heart pounding fun, VolunteerMark wants to get into the action. More like get into the madness. With that […]
Individuals of the millennial generation are not the only people interested in social impact. Employers and employees of all ages are attracted to opportunities to serve their communities. Thus, it comes as no surprise that employers prefer to hire individuals who are passionate about creating community impact and motivated to serve as volunteers. Articulating your […]
I have to be a hero to help. I have to be perfect to be useful. I have to have my act together. We might not realize we believe this, or that it holds us back from offering our help, but I’m convinced that too often it is. Last week we introduced Tate Williams […]
Tate Williams, field director for the Global Orphan Project, chuckles just enough to create tiny ripples in his cup of coffee. The laughs come from an attempt to articulate his experience of receiving a “clear, direct and urgent call from the Lord” to go to Haiti. It happened in January 2010, right after an earthquake […]
Welcome to the family — Mother’s Refuge: We want to take just a minute to introduce the newest organization to the VolunteerMark family — Mother’s Refuge. The Independence, Mo., based nonprofit gives teenagers an opportunity to deliver their babies in a safe, loving home and prepare them for a life of independence and success. As […]
“Go home Andrew.” That was the joke the VolunteerMark CEO and I had going for several weeks. I met the VolunteerMark team, Andrew Stanley and Venkat Dulipalli, in a shared startup incubator space. They stuck out to me from the rest of our neighbors because they were so incredibly nice. Andrew and I quickly fell […]
There is no way around volunteer orientation. Whether it’s a quick tour of the facility or signing a stack of liability papers, every nonprofit organization has a mandatory process for new volunteers. However, as many helpers and even organizations will bemoan, these orientations can be boring, tedious and waste valuable work time. It’s an needed […]
For the first time ever, we will be hosting a Hashtag Hangout on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The Twitter chat will last from 12-1 p.m. and will be focused on working with volunteer groups. Whatever tips, questions or comments you can bring to the discussion will be greatly appreciated. If you’ve never participated in a Hashtag […]
Nonprofit Neighbors Rewind: Working with Volunteer Groups. We had a great group come together earlier this month, including several volunteer managers, coordinators and recruitment officers. Our regulars were present, which is always wonderful, plus it was nice to see some new faces from Ronald McDonald House of Kansas City, Serve KC and the Johnson County […]