November 2011

• New Job Posting
• Celebrate International Volunteer Day!
• Calendar Events
• Did you know NOVAA grants scholarships?

Program Meeting - Episodic Volunteering
Thursday, November 17, 12:00 - 1:30 pm, First United Methodist Church

Staff from Hands On Greater Portland will discuss episodic volunteering and the new and improved Hands On Greater Portland website.

As a NOVAA member you have access to a number of benefits including the opportunity to apply for scholarships to help you participate in professional development activities that will further your skills as a volunteer management professional. As you think about the trainings, conferences and workshops you might want to attend in the new year, remember that NOVAA might be able to help.  

For more information visit www.novaa.org Awards page and download the Scholarship form. 

 

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Essential Health Clinic is hiring a Volunteer Coordinator. Visit www.novaa.org and login to the NOVAA members-only section to find the complete posting under Classified Ads.

Caitlin Burke

December 5th is International Volunteer Day! For this day, and as the end of the year approaches, you may be looking for opportunities to recognize your volunteers. There are many ways, internally and externally, to celebrate the contribution individual volunteers have given to your organization. From a volunteer recognition party to a volunteer wall of fame to internal awards, the ideas are endless. Energize Inc and Oregon Volunteers are great places to go for more ideas! 

But what about recognizing volunteer groups?

Nowadays, more people are volunteering not as long-term individual volunteers but in groups, such as an employee team, school group or a family, for short term assignments. Increasingly, non-profits are finding that they need to restructure their volunteer programs so that their programs include short-term projects for groups. (A great summary of this trend is a study by CASA for Children titled “Emerging Trends and Issues in Volunteerism and Volunteer Management”.) With this increase in groups volunteering their time, volunteer managers may find that they are searching for ways to recognize the work done by these groups.

Although our initial search indicated that there is less information online about recognizing the work of volunteer groups than there is for individuals, we did find a few awards that you can apply for to recognize your outstanding group of volunteers. But these are just a drop in the bucket! If you have ideas and experience in recognizing volunteer groups, start a conversation on the NOVAA facebook page. 

 

Click here for award nomination ideas.