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Title: Volunteers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them by Helen Little ISBN: 1-928892-01-9 Publisher: Panacea Pr Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (8 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Best of the Leading Books, But Not the Whole Picture
Comment:
There are upwards of a 100 fairly good books on managing volunteers, and of those I selected four based on the information provided by Amazon and its readers, who now represent a critical mass of useful guidance. Of the four books, this is the best. If you buy only one, this is the one. (The other three were Vineyard & McCurley's "Best Practices for Volunteer Programs", Lee & Catagnus, "Supervising Volunteers", and what may be one of the originals (from 1994), Susan J. Ellis' "The Volunteer Recruitment and Membership Development Book." These latter three are reviewed in their own spaces.)
This book by Helen Little, as good as it is, would normally lose one star because it fails to provide an index or a guide to other readings (including web sites) in niche areas of volunteer management. However, it does provide excellent forms for each step of the volunteer management process and these are all downloadable from a given web address, so we'll call it even.
By way of larger context, this book, and books on volunteer management in general, are valuable not only for organizations that use volunteers as a resource, but for those who would manage citizen activism, as well as teen-agers with chips on their shoulders and a reluctance to bear down on chores.
While others have outlined volunteer "needs" and how to address them, Helen Little does it best. The 12 basic needs--applicable to neighborhood mobilization, regional political campaigns, and teen-ager "work for respect" programs--are very well and concisely listed: 1) specific manageable task; 2) task that matches motivation; 3) good reason for doing the task; 4) written instructions; 5) reasonable deadline; 6) freedom to complete the task; 7) everything necessary to complete the task; 8) adequate training; 9) safe, comfortable, friendly environment; 10) follow-up; 11) opportunity (for the volunteer) to provide feed-back; and 12) appreciation, recognition, and rewards.
As I read this thoughtful book, comparing what volunteers need at each step of the way--and the more advanced comments by the author on how to plan for succession at every level of the organization from neighborhood to national, I kept thinking to myself: "traditional political parties are dead." Both the Democratic and Republican parties are violating every single tenet of this excellent work on how to attract, motivate, and activate citizen-voters. It remains to be seen if our neighborhoods might yet self-organize. This would be a good book for anyone thinking about organizing any endeavor of free spirits, at any level of play.
Rating: 5
Summary: New Knowledge & New Insights Found in Book
Comment: I have worked in the not for profit world for over 25 years as an association executive. I have also served on the Board of the Cerebral Palsy Center for the Bay Area for over 20 years. In each experience, the importance of finding and retaining and inspiring and engaging volunteer leaders is the factor that contributes to successfully achieving vision and mission. In the not for profit world, we are here to serve. The pressure to be the best at meeting the needs of those we serve never ends; the demands stretch our hearts and our minds; but in the not for profit world new knowledge, new ideas, new approaches, best practices, quality, and innovation can help meet important needs, and can even save a life. This book will inspire organizations seeking the best and brightest leaders, and is equally capable of inspiring the leaders we seek for our organizations. Well done and long needed by the field.
Rating: 5
Summary: It will turn you around!
Comment: I hate to read books like this. Every once in a while I come across a book that is so helpful it stands me on my head. Really! After reading this book I felt a lot more confident to deal with thw 100+ volunteers I have in my organization. I would recommend this book to anyone who is responsible for volunteers.
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Title: Volunteers Wanted by Jo B. Rusin ISBN: 0966517520 Publisher: Magnolia Mansions Press Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: The Volunteer Recruitment (And Membership Development) Book by Susan J. Ellis ISBN: 0940576252 Publisher: Energize, Inc Pub. Date: 01 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The (Help!) I-Don'T-Have-Enough-Time Guide to Volunteer Management by Katherine Noyes Campbell, Susan J. Ellis ISBN: 0940576163 Publisher: Energize Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Best Practices for Volunteer Programs by Sue Vineyard, Steve McCurlely, Steve McCurley ISBN: 0911029494 Publisher: Heritage Arts Pub. Date: 28 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: What We Learned (The Hard Way) About Supervising Volunteers (Collective Wisdom Series) by Jarene Frances Lee, Julia M. Catagnus, Susan J. Ellis ISBN: 0940576201 Publisher: Energize Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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