Infrastructure

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U.S. Nonprofits, Please Speak Up: Have You Shared in the Pro Bono Billions?

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Tue, 03/06/2012 - 14:59

At the end of February, there was a spurt of articles renewing attention to an initiative started a few years ago, “A Billion + Change.” The campaign was launched by the Corporation for National and Community Service and is now housed and managed by the Points of Light Institute. The gist of the current news is how much time has been given and continues to be pledged, as well as how much money the corporate volunteers have “saved” nonprofits. But try as we might, we can’t seem to find interviews or other accounts from the nonprofits actually benefiting from the pledges.

It’s Déjà vu! The Corporation for National and Community Service Budget Request is Off Track Again

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Thu, 02/23/2012 - 20:56

In June 2011, Paula Beugen wrote a guest Hot Topic for Energize titled, “Is the Corporation for National and Community Service on the Right Track for Volunteerism?”  She cogently cautioned that CNCS’ proposed budget was not supportive to the vast majority of volunteer-involving organizations in this country, particularly by the programs they slashed or reduced. We are once again on the brink of eliminating what some of us feel are the most important elements of the 2009 Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (Serve America Act).

November 6, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 11/06/2011 - 00:00

Volunteer2 (volunteer2.com), provider of popular volunteer management software, has created another free online resource for the volunteer field:  the Mission Points ROI Calculator, designed to help measure the “Return on Investment” associated with engaging volunteers at an organization.

Most organizations value the contribution of volunteer time without assessing its true worth.  The concept that a report documenting more and more volunteer hours appears better does not take into consideration what gets accomplished during those hours – and what if that time was actually wasted?  Further, the most popular method of measuring the ROI of volunteer engagement is calculating the wage replacement value of the number of hours contributed by volunteers.  This simply furthers the questionable idea that hours equal cash equal impact.  

The Mission Points ROI model treats the number of volunteer hours consumed by an organization as an expense.  It also allows measurement of desired outputs

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