It takes a special person to work in the non-profit world. That person must be creative, resilient, tenacious, big-hearted, and, above all, resourceful. Even in the best of times, non-profits have to consistently scrap, beg, barter and cajole funding to serve its clients and pay its staff, and that level of stress can lead to […]
Oh April. The month of buttery yellow daffodil heads peeking out of the snow, baby chicks wobbling around the farm and the collective sigh of millions of Americans as they prepare their tax returns. But while there’s no love lost for the IRS, they do offer a surprising number of deductions for volunteers. Here’s a […]
National Volunteer Week—April 15-21—is a little less than a month away. Established in 1974 by President Nixon, this week encourages Americans to volunteer for one of the many deserving nonprofit programs in our country. In addition, it’s a perfect opportunity for organizations to formally recognize the hard work and effort of their own volunteers. While […]
Millions of individuals in the United States choose to give their talent, time and skills to help causes they believe in, and most nonprofits’ ability to operate and grow depend on that free labor. But even when your labor comes from the heart, managing different personalities and schedules is challenging. Effective volunteer management is […]
Texas Humane Heroes (TXHH) has a noble and ambitious vision: find a loving home for every pet in need in Texas. With 2,526 animals saved in 2017, they’re well on their way to achieving that goal. Like most non-profits, those achievements couldn’t happen without a dedicated staff of employees and volunteers. In the month of December […]
People consider the idea of volunteering for many reasons. Some retirees like to fill their time with meaningful work. Often, students need to fulfill a class credit. Others are simply looking for experiences that help them “give back” in some way to their community, place of worship or from a sense of responsibility. Whatever your […]
My wife and I visited Aspen, Colorado last week for leaf-peeping season. While on the way, we planned to stop at the Hot Springs Pool in Glenwood Springs. Year round, visitors to the Springs seek respite in the 3.5 million gallons of 124 degree Fahrenheit water that emanate from the Earth daily. I was inspired […]
Hi there! I hope this week finds you well – the past few weeks have been exciting ones for us out here in Kansas City. Fall has been gracing us with some beautiful weather & beautiful colors, and after an insanely exciting season, our very own Kansas City Royals, long the underdogs in the MLB, […]
These past weeks, between the podcast and several blogposts, we’ve had some highly meaningful discussions about ways that we can recruit dedicated volunteers to our causes. I can’t thank all of you enough for getting involved in these conversations – I’ve absolutely loved being a part of it, and have learned a great deal from […]
We’ve been having a great discussion via the blog and podcast lately on paid volunteer programs – this is a benefit program run by local and national businesses designed to get their employees volunteering in the community. On Friday I chatted about strategies that we as volunteers can use to take advantage of these programs […]