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Are You Ready for the Next Wave?

Are You Ready for the Next Wave?. Navigating the Waters of Skills-based Volunteerism Nancy Long, Executive Service Corps of Washington Allison Carl White, Seattle Works. Purpose: To develop practices that support successful skills-based volunteerism. Key Outcomes

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Are You Ready for the Next Wave?

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  1. Are You Ready for the Next Wave?

  2. Navigating the Waters of Skills-based Volunteerism Nancy Long, Executive Service Corps of Washington Allison Carl White, Seattle Works

  3. Purpose: To develop practices that support successful skills-based volunteerism Key Outcomes At the end of this session you will be able to: • Identify factors important to a successful match • Assess readiness to use highly skilled volunteers • Develop a scope of work for SBV • Learn about using volunteer brokers

  4. We will discuss • What is skills-based volunteerism? • What is different about managing SBV? • How to match vols with opportunities • Assessing your orgs readiness • Scoping/contracting • Using volunteer brokers • Promising practices - 20s/30s & over 50

  5. The Experience Dividend Seattle Works • Member of HandsOn Network • Mission focuses on people in their 20s and 30s • Seattle Works community is mostly young professionals

  6. Experience Dividend • Executive Service Corps of Washington • Capacity building including consulting, coaching, leadership development, training resources • All ages, but strong boomer participation • 70% in workforce; 30% retired • Professionals from business, education, nonprofit, government

  7. Skills-based Volunteerism Definition: Using the professional skills of volunteers to build organizational strength and increase nonprofit capacity. …volunteers with specialized skills …pro-bono work …highly skilled volunteers

  8. What’s different? “You don’t need to know where you are going. Just keep walking.”

  9. Reinvent Volunteerism • Skills-based volunteers – Not a “program” • Project-based—Driven by scope of work • Unpaid or stipended staff role • Volunteer is an active participant • Agency describes the outcome • Volunteer contributes to how the outcome is reached • Enhanced experience if: • Paired with learning • Diverse/Intergenerational

  10. Benefits of SBV • Access to needed management skills/expertise • An outside perspective on strategic issues • Helps solve organizational issues that staff are not able to take on • Volunteers = ambassadors • May lead to new donors

  11. Professional skills needed by nonprofits include: • Accounting & Financial Services • Planning & Org. Development • Technology • Human Resources • Program development/evaluation • Marketing & PR • Facilities planning and management

  12. What are the barriers? Results of theCommunity Experience Partnership Assessment • Philanthropy is providing very little support for volunteerism of any kind, particularly SBV or older adult engagement • Volunteer management is underfunded and underdeveloped

  13. Focus for Today • NFPs do not have a conceptual basis for understanding how to match people with substantive volunteer roles • NFPs need to assess their own readiness to use SBV and act to increase readiness. • Need to learn to “contract” with volunteers • NFPs need to tap into volunteer brokers

  14. Matching Volunteers Square peg in a round hole? Determining a good “fit”

  15. Typology Exercise • Choose a partner • One plays the role of the volunteer • One plays the role of the agency • Read the description of the agency and the profile of the volunteer and attempt to find a likely volunteer assignment

  16. Contracting with SBV • Identifying the right person/team • Assessing volunteer skills • Willingness, motivation, and availability • Fit with the cultural and work style of the people with whom they are working

  17. Contracting with SBV • Defining the project • Scope of Work (what, how, to what end?) • Deliverables (products/outcomes) • Timeline • Resources needed • Accountability/Evaluation process

  18. Contracting with SBV • Scope of work: • Problem to be solved • What will be done/ by when • Generally how it will be done • Where will the resources come from • Deliverables • Products of the work, incl. interim products • Outcomes • Accountability/Evaluation

  19. Contracting Exercise • Develop a scope of work for role you defined • Problem to be solved • What will be done • Generally how it will be done • Where will the resources come from • Develop a list of deliverables • Products • Outcomes

  20. Assessing Readiness for SBV Supplement to the Volunteer Management Audit (Energize Inc./Susan Ellis) Sample standard: We insure that specialized volunteers are given the staff support and resources needed to accomplish their projects.

  21. Readiness Assessment: Example • Receive limited directions & supervision. Sometimes needs to supply their own…needed to accomplish their project. • Introduced to staff members, and given support from the Vol. Coordinator. Basic supplies provided. • Assigned to a project coordinator who ensures that the volunteer has access to the information, staff contacts, supplies, and whatever else is needed… • Work with a project coordinator at the senior mgmt level, who develops the contract that will guide the work and provides access to…

  22. How can you efficiently and effectively access skills based volunteers? ….Use Volunteer Brokers!

  23. Volunteer Connectors • Portals: a connector organization that helps an employer who has volunteers to deploy or an individual who wants to volunteer identify the right volunteering opportunity, often through the use of a website. • Brokers: a connector organization that plays an active role in matching the volunteer with a community need, in some cases remaining involved to ensure that the volunteer relationship is working well and the community need is being met.

  24. What is a volunteer broker? • A 'volunteer broker' matches the volunteer with a community need. • The advantages of brokers are: • More efficient for vol and org • Able to identify broad array of opportunities • Able to match from a broad pool of vol • Understand sector-specific needs • Understand employer goals

  25. Working with SBV over 50 • 10,000 people turn 60 each day • Highly educated population = increased volunteerism • 48% of working adults over 45 are volunteers • Few expect traditional retirement: 80% plan to work beyond 65… • …but 57% say it's very important that they have work (paid and unpaid) that • gives them a sense of purpose • keeps them involved with people • and helps them improve their communities

  26. Working with SBV in their 20s/30s • Give options • Be flexible and clear about expectations • Engage in smaller projects to build commitment • Be open to how the work gets done • Appreciate their technology knowledge and experience

  27. Questions • Do you feel more prepared to work with SBV? • What are the biggest barriers?

  28. Contact Information Nancy Long, Executive Director, ESC execdir@escwa.org 206.682.6704 www.escwa.org Alison Carl White, Executive Director, Seattle WorksAlison@seattleworks.org 206.356.1313www.seattleworks.org

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