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Volunteering by Migrants: One Step toward Social Inclusion

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Thu, 01/19/2012 - 21:55

Increased migration – by choice or by force – throughout Europe has created economic and social concerns in many countries.  Last year, through the impetus of the European Year of Volunteering, Portuguese academic Henrique Pinto invited a range of scholars and practitioners to write articles about the connection of volunteering and migration for a special theme issue of Migrações Journal, “Migrantes e Voluntariado.”  It was published in December 2011 with half the chapters in Portuguese and half in English.

Volunteers Prove the Printed Book is Not Dead. It’s Free.

Submitted by Tristan Dahn
on Mon, 01/16/2012 - 20:28

Situated on a small side street off of a busy commercial lane is an unassuming warehouse.  Inside, however, one finds a bustling scene.  Community members, such as libraries, publishers, authors, and individuals, drop off donations of unwanted books, while volunteers sort them and shelve them.   Everyone is welcome to come during open hours to take as many as they’d like, for free.

Sticky-note Lovers Rejoice! Highlighter Addicts Delight!

Submitted by Tristan Dahn
on Thu, 08/18/2011 - 00:00

Commenting and Highlighting is Now Possible in e-Books Purchased from Energize!

A few weeks ago we frustrated one of our customers and, happily, she wrote to tell us about it!  She loved having the cheaper and quicker option of the e-book format, but really wanted to be able to highlight text and note comments to herself. To accommodate her, we altered the files on her copies of the books so that  she could use those useful functions.

This got us thinking.  Shouldn’t all our e-book customers have access to those tools?  Of course!  So we’ve gone ahead and opened full access to commenting and highlighting in all e-books now sold in the Energize bookstore!  Try it out.  If you’ve purchased an e-book from us in the past and would like the new version, drop me a line at: tristan@energizeinc.com with your name and, if you have it, your order number, and I can send you the new version.

Please note: commenting and highlighting are only available in Adobe Reader version 6 and later.

We Want You! . . . To Submit Your Reviews

Submitted by Tristan Dahn
on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 00:00

Hello!  If you’ve been a long-time, or a particularly observant follower of the Energize Book Blog, then you may have noticed that the last couple blog posts have been by somebody new: me!  I’m Tristan, and I’ve been with Energize now for about four months.  I’m taking this moment to introduce myself, because, as the new Bookstore Manager here at Energize one goal I have is to make the bookstore more reflective of our buyers and readers.

Chances are, if you’re checking out the Energize Book Blog, then you’ve probably already read some of the books available in our online bookstore.  But, did you know that you can also leave your own comments and reviews for each book?

This is your chance to recommend one of your favorite books on volunteer management.  Better yet, use a review as a way to talk about one of your organization’s major accomplishments, and how a book aided in achieving it.

In upcoming months, our bookstore homepage will be featuring books readers recommend, along with

Inspiration from the Speeches of Marlene Wilson

Submitted by Tristan Dahn
on Mon, 06/13/2011 - 00:00

There is a lot of discussion in the volunteer management world about the reasons why people chose to volunteer. Trying to pinpoint these reasons can be difficult. After all, there are as many reasons as there are volunteers! But for all the thought that goes into looking at the volunteers’ motivations, it can be easy to overlook an equally crucial factor: volunteers’ inspirations. These inspirations come in many forms; a book one has read, or an event in history, but more often than not they come in the form of a person. A volunteer manager’s job is not simply to coordinate and administrate, it is to inspire those that do our work. Marlene Wilson reminds us of that through the speeches collected in her book, Visionary Leadership in Volunteer Programs.

Visionary Leadership is a collection of speeches from Marlene’s over thirty years of writing, consulting, and presenting. Since the publication of her seminal 1976 work, The Effective Management of Volunteer Programs, which was the

Look! Up in the Sky!

Submitted by Tristan Dahn
on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 00:00

It’s a bird! It’s a plane!  No, it’s Carol Weisman’s fantastic new book, Fundraising Superheroes!

Aimed at short-on-time board members, Carol offers hundreds of tips on how to more effectively raise funds for your organization.  These ideas are presented in short, digestible, one page articles  accompanied by colorful and humorous illustrations.

Best of all, many of her pointers are immediately actionable.  You can open up to almost any page and, by the end of the day, have added some new piece to your fundraising puzzle.  Others, such as an event which needs to be planned or the setting up of a system to track donor’s gifts, may take slightly longer, but are presented in a simple way and “can-do” attitude, which might be exactly what you need to push you into action.

The superhero theme, humorous writing style, and colorful illustrations make the reading fun.  You may just find yourself turning off the television to read about organizational fundraising!  Gasp!

March 27, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 16:58

27 March:The Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies (CCSS) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have announced the release of a new manual to help statistical agencies around the world track the amount, type, and value of volunteer work in their respective countries.

The Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work (68 pages, PDF) – available free of charge – is a unique, internationally sanctioned guide to generating reliable, official data on volunteer work using a common definition and approach. Previous research by CCSS has found that even conservative estimates of the value of volunteering is roughly double the value of donations of cash and other contributions by individuals, foundations, and corporations. Their press release on the release of the Manual is titled “Counting the Volunteers the World Counts On.”

Supported in part by the United Nations Volunteers, the manual includes a definition of volunteer work as well as a cost-effective means of

Volunteer Recognition During Tough Financial Times

Submitted by Lindsay Liprando
on Fri, 03/11/2011 - 00:00

National Volunteer Week in the US and Canada (April 10-16, 2011) is fast approaching. Many organizations provide recognition during this week through banquets or gifts such as lapel pins or tote bags…but what do you do when the budget’s been slashed and you can barely afford a pizza party, let alone a banquet?

As wonderful as parties and special gifts are, there are many meaningful ways to provide low-cost (or no-cost!) recognition. One great resource for ideas is Energize’s Collective Wisdom area on volunteer recognition. Another is Bill Wittich’s book, 77 Ways to Recognize Volunteers. At only $5, this e-book can fit into any budget, and it provides tips for both formal and informal recognition that you’ll use all year long. Below, you’ll find a few of my favorite tips from this book.

If you have a creative recognition idea that you’d like to share, be sure to post it in the comments! We’ll also add it to our Collective Wisdom pages.

Excerpted from 77 Ways to Recognize Volunteers

Book Excerpt – Time-Tastic!

Submitted by Lindsay Liprando
on Wed, 01/19/2011 - 00:00

One of the concerns we hear most often from volunteer managers is – “I just don’t have the time!” … for exploring new technologies, developing positions for highly-skilled volunteers, professional development, and the list goes on. If you feel this way, Time-tastic! Time Management for Nonprofit Leaders might be able to help.

As author Karen Eber Davis states in the introduction:

Today’s market offers an array of time management advice…Why add another time management book? Well, time management is different in the nonprofit world for a number of reasons, including high expectations for relationships, stewardship issues, and the general scarcity of resources. Not only is time management different, it is more critical and often requires more skills.

We’re excerpting three of our favorite tips here for blog readers.  To learn more about the book and get more time management advice for nonprofit leaders, visit www.kedconsult.com

Exercise No
Save time by saying “no” to tasks before

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