Shaping Your Organization’s Future
This session demystifies the strategic planning process. Participants will review an 11-step strategic planning process–spending time in small groups completing a SWOT analysis and envisioning a new future for their organization. The “future activity” will provide a structure for and encourages participants to identify and discuss creative ideas for their volunteer organizations.
Dallas, TX
Sept 20, 2012
School is almost over and if you’re like me, you are starting to count the days before summer vacation. What constitutes the perfect vacation is as varied as the individuals planning it, but most folks agree that it’s a time devoted to rest, relaxation, recreation, and travel.
Right now my 50-something sister is headed to a motorcycle rally in bright Texas sunshine and 90+ degree heat. Nothing in my wildest dreams would describe three days of limited air conditioning during a national holiday on the back of a motorcycle as a vacation!
So, what’s your definition of a vacation? In the early 90’s, a cause-marketing team thought it would be a good idea to combine service with tourism and invented a new term–voluntourism. This new kind of vacation which includes volunteering for a charitable cause has gained popularity in recent years and a number of websites have sprung up which make it easy for you to find something worthwhile to do during your time off.
GVI offers you once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to combine adventure, culture and the chance to make a lasting difference on long-term projects in over 20 different countries.
In recent months the world has witnessed several tragedies: the current flooding in the Midwest, a rash of tornadoes in the South, and an enormous earthquake in Japan. These events, on the heels of Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil spill, and the earthquake in Haiti, serve as reminders that disaster could be just around the corner and can happen in almost any community. If your region were hit by calamity, is your organization prepared to help? Have you thought about the strengths your agency can bring to the table — and how they fit in with the community’s emergency response plan? For this article we’ve reviewed a couple of resources that can help jumpstart a conversation within your organization regarding disaster readiness.
FEMA has released a publication called “Are You Ready?” that covers the basics of disaster planning. Their suggestion is to start by assessing the likelihood or risk of various types of catastrophe. The booklet even contains a worksheet that you can fill out to help you with this task. Much of the document is geared toward individual families but can easily be adapted for organizations. For instance, the section on maintaining family communication can easily be changed to maintaining organizational communication. One specific suggestion is to create cards with contact information for every member of the family, or, in this case, every member of the organization. Once again, the key is taking suggestions for civilians and reworking them to fit your organization.
Another great resource is The Points of Light Foundation’s publication “Ready to Respond.” The booklet serves as a guide for readying volunteer organizations to be responders in catastrophic situations. However, even if your agency is not a responder, the document still has some very useful information. For instance, there is an easy-to-use checklist to complete to assess an organization’s readiness. These are issues that any agency should be thinking about, just in case.
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In an earlier blog article, we explored the advantages volunteerism can bring to individuals by providing them experience that can be applied to the work world. As such, make sure you continue to examine the motivations attached to the volunteers who are landing at your door. You’re probably seeing some people who are drawn to your volunteer opportunities in an effort to keep current skills sharp or learn new ones to advance beyond their present job. Others may be seeking management experience or want to acquire an entirely new skill set in order to transition into a completely different field. As you work with career-minded volunteers, this is your chance to give back in return, by offering some resume tips.
For these, we turn to a wonderful article from energizeinc.com entitled “Helping Volunteers to Market Their Experience on Their Resumes” by Mary Agnes Williams. Here are some of the highlights:
Williams suggests that organizations may want to go the extra mile as an appreciation of their volunteers and host a resume workshop for them. Because, in addition to those who are volunteering specifically to gain new skills, she also points out that you may have another group of people who don’t even realize it’s acceptable to put volunteer experience on their resume. A great way to jog a volunteer’s memory to all the duties s/he performs — and to assist him or her with resume writing — is to hand out a new copy of his or her volunteer job description. Of course, managers at your agency can also offer letters of recommendation to outstanding volunteers to accompany the newly-honed resumes.
