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Are Brits Leaping to Volunteer Their Extra Time This Leap Day?

Submitted by Cara Thenot
on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 19:22

Some citizens in the UK are choosing to spend their extra time this 2012 Leap Year volunteering in their communities. The company EasyFundraising launched a campaign “urging companies, employees and the all people of Britain” to designate February 29 Leap Day to supporting a good cause.

How to Use and Add More Events to VolunteerMatch’s 2012 Volunteer Engagement Calendar

Submitted by Cara Thenot
on Tue, 12/20/2011 - 22:14

Thanks to Engaging Volunteers, VolunteerMatch’s informative and focused blog, for starting Google calendar with dates and ideas for motivating volunteers throughout 2012. You can download the calendar by clicking on the tiny “Google Calendar” button at the bottom of the calendar on their blog post.

November 13, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 00:00

As the European Year of Volunteering draws to a close, a flurry of conferences and special events have been taking place, including some for special audiences. On November 10-11, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which promotes and coordinates Catholic charity, brought together about 160 bishops and representatives of charitable organizations from 25 countries to discuss volunteering in conjunction with the European Year of Volunteering. Speaking at the event’s closing session, Pope Benedict XVI said:

Through volunteer work, Christians become signs of God's love in the world . . . Especially at a time of serious economic crisis, moral uncertainty and social tension, Christian volunteers show "that goodness exists and that it is growing in our midst" . . . The pope thanked the European volunteers and "the millions of Catholic volunteers who contribute, regularly and generously, to the church's charitable mission throughout the world."

As he wrote in his first encyclical, "Deus Caritas

September 18, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 09/18/2011 - 00:00

Punchbowl (www.punchbowl.com) is a free site for start-to-finish party planning where hosts can design personalized online invitations, get party ideas, find party favors, and more. There is an option to upgrade to get access to premium designs, however all of features are included in the free version of the site. Not only are the services offered genuinely helpful in planning an event, the site also has resources volunteers might enjoy at any time.

One feature of the site is digital greeting cards with some really unique elements. They have look and feeling of traditional paper cards with the ease and immediacy of online correspondence. The recipient gets an animated envelope, which “opens” to reveal the card. There are hundreds of free cards to choose from and then you personalize your special greeting with accents like envelope liners, custom postage and rubber stamps – and of course with a written message from you and photos if you wish. Check out the page of digital thank you

August 28, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 08/28/2011 - 00:00

Sewa Day (http://www.sewaday.org), scheduled for September 25th, is an international day of volunteering "where thousands of good-hearted people across the world come together to experience the joy of giving (sewa) in its truest sense."  As the Sewa Day Web site explains, sewa, also spelled seva, is a word in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit that means “an act of kindness without expectation…The term invokes a spirit of community and selfless service for a just and fair society.”
 
It is a bit hard to trace the origins of this day of service.  The international site is sponsored by Sewa UK but you can select from a long list of other countries also commemorating the day.   Throughout the site are references to “Be the Change” (seemingly unconnected to the U.S.-based organization of the same name).  “Be the Change” was an annual event sponsored by SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together) to foster leadership and community engagement.

June 12, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 06/12/2011 - 00:00

12 June: Volunteering Queensland, based in Brisbane, Australia, is doing some very innovate things. One example is their "channel" on YouTube, on which they post brief stories each week on volunteer-related news. Their latest 5-minute show highlights the workshop Susan Ellis conducted two weeks ago and gives the flavor of the event with short interviews and shots of the participants. It will all look familiar! What’s fun is that there are five different accents in the clip: only one native Australian, Susan’s American sound, and three immigrants to Australia from eastern Europe, Ireland and Scotland. Australia is very diverse. The venue is an ecological study center at a local university.

This sort of use of social media models what any organization can do with some creativity and volunteers or paid staff with the right talents.

April 24, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 00:00

24 April: Last chance to advocate for FY11 volunteering and service-learning!  Let the White House and Congress know your disappointment that most anything that is not stipended service has been slashed from the Corporation for National and Community Service budget.
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Enormous thanks to Paula J. Beugen, Minnesota colleague who has long served as our field’s legislative watchdog, for the following summary of what is happening on the Hill. A federal government shutdown was averted on April 8, 2011 when a seventh short-term continuing resolution was passed by Congress. Subsequently, a FY11 spending plan was passed in time for the April 15 continuing resolution end-date. FY11 ends September 30, 2011.

According to an April 12, 2011 article by Suzanne Perry, in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, "In addition to specific funding cuts, all non-defense programs would be trimmed across the board by 0.2 percent." Later in the article Perry wrote, "The budget for the

April 10, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 04/10/2011 - 00:00

10 April: Volunteering Ireland has partnered with abstract artist Máiréad de Bláca to exhibit a series of paintings based around the concept of volunteerism. The exhibition, “Volunteering Is” opened on April 7th at European Union House in Dublin. Proceeds from the exhibition will go to Volunteering Ireland, the national coordinating body for the European Year of Volunteering (EYV 2011).  This is only one of the creative events being held in Ireland during EYV2011.  See more at http://eyv2011.ie/whats-happening-during-eyv/. 

For information on all EYV events in participating countries across the continent, start at http://europa.eu/volunteering/.   Follow the European Year of Volunteering 2011 on Facebook, too.

March 20, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 03/20/2011 - 16:56

20 March: Energize normally posts news related only to volunteering, but the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan is of such magnitude that the immediate need is for money. As with all such disasters, the affected area first needs people skilled in search and rescue and emergency relief. Mounting that effort is costly and donations now will help keep the necessary supplies and equipment coming. Later, when rebuilding starts and continues for years, volunteers of all sorts will be most welcome.

GuideStar (www.guidestar.org), the organization that gathers and publicizes information on American nonprofit organizations in order to inform prospective donors, has just posted a special Web page for Giving to Disaster Relief and Recovery in Japan. They list legitimate relief organizations committed to helping Japan in the current crisis – with links to enable online donations.

The page also provides sensible “Tips for Giving to Disaster Relief and Recovery” that are worth

February 13, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 02/13/2011 - 20:57

13 February: Global Youth Service Day (www.GYSD.org) is an annual campaign that celebrates the millions of children and youth who improve their communities each day of the year through volunteering and service-learning – and mobilizes thousands of service projects during the weekend it runs each April. Global Youth Service Day is the largest service event in the world, and the only day of service dedicated to children and youth. GYSD is celebrated each year in over 100 countries. In 2011, Global Youth Service Day will be April 15-17.

In 1988, Youth Service America (YSA, www.ysa.org) and the Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL, now part of Idealist.org) organized the first National Youth Service Day, then called, “A Day in the Life of Service.” Nearly 1,000 programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated. By 2000, YSA adapted the United States model to go international and founded Global Youth Service Day.

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