About Us
Welcome to the Energize “News from the Volunteer Field” Blog!
This blog is a place for leaders of volunteers to share and talk about timely, noteworthy events, resources, programs, and people in volunteerism. Connect (rss feed) with this Blog to keep informed about:
- Trends or events having an impact on volunteering
- New ideas in volunteer management
- Free or low-cost materials for leading volunteers effectively
- News-to-use in daily work with volunteers
Monthly “Hot Topic” Essays in Volunteer Management
Energize President Susan Ellis’ Monthly Hot Topic – one of the most popular areas of our site – focuses on a timely and provocative issue in volunteerism and remains open to readers’ comments for an entire month. A link to the current month’s Hot Topic will always appear at the top of the new Blog.
The Blog will grow in value and importance as you contribute comments and other news items deserving attention.
About Energize, Inc.
For over 34 years, Energize has been training, consulting, and publishing resources for leaders of volunteers and organizations involving the community as partners in their work. We empower and inspire leaders of volunteers worldwide and advocate for the recognition and support of the volunteer management profession.
Connect with Energize, Connect with the World of Volunteerism
The “News in the Volunteer Field” Blog is just one of the ways to stay connected with us. We offer the following ways to learn about our resources and the volunteer world:
Monthly Energize Update
A start-of-the-month e-newsletter with timely information and new resources, plus a "quick tip" on volunteer management by Susan J. Ellis.
Volunteer Management Book Buzz
A mid-month e-newsletter about books and other resources on a different volunteer management subject area each month.
New Product Announcements
Special announcements when Energize releases a new volunteer management product or resource; only 3-6 per year.
Facebook
“Like” us on Facebook to connect with other leaders around the world to talk about volunteering facts, suggestions, tips, and special offers from Energize.
Twitter
“Follow” us on Twitter for volunteer management news, short and sweet and on the go!
Long-Time Followers of Energize Will Notice Change
We have moved to this blog format for greater flexibility and posting speed, combining and expanding two previous Energize services: the Book Blog, which focused on volunteer management publications, and the weekly posting called “Volunteer Management News from the Field.” All previous Book Blog posts and news items written in 2011 have been converted to Blog postings here; news items prior to 2011 have been archived so that all that useful accumulated information remains available to you.
For First-Time Vistors to Energize, Inc.
The www.energizeinc.com Web site is the largest in the world for leaders of volunteers, offering more than 1200 free pages of information, links, and other resources. Here is what you will find:
- The Volunteerism Resource Library is chock full of annotated links to accessible articles, free electronic publications, and Web sites with solid information on any one of 95+ subjects related to volunteer management or the field of volunteerism. New material is added every month.
- The Online Bookstore where you can purchase over 80 books on volunteer management, from four countries.
- Sources for Information and Exchange around the world, including other periodicals, professional associations of volunteer managers, national and regional volunteer centers and similar resources, volunteer-related online discussion forums, blogs, podcasts, tweets and more! This is also where you will find a very long list of Websites Where You Can Post Volunteer Opportunities in countries on every continent.
- Events, Courses and Awards is where you will find a calendar of conferences and workshops on volunteerism, by country (we heartily invite you to post your event, too); a list of academic courses, both at a school or online, including for-credit, non-credit, and certificate programs; dates for global and national volunteer recognition events; and information about awards to volunteers for which you can apply.
- A popular area is Quotes and Collective Wisdom, where site users share all sorts of favorite quotations, stories, humor, parables, poems, songs for colleagues to use in speeches and presentations. Also in this area are real-life suggestions from colleagues on a variety of subjects, including "Great Recognition Ideas" and "Recruitment Insights."
- Finally, we offer a Job Bank for volunteer management positions (postings are free), both paid and volunteer internships, and a Marketplace area where vendors offer products and services targeted at volunteer program managers.
In addition, we publish the international online journal, e-Volunteerism, and offer the online volunteer management program, Everyone Ready