| Profession in trouble? What's an Organization to do? Hi. I'm Emilie, this month's guest blogger, an AL!VE Board member, the VP of AL!VE programs, and the chair of our Advocacy and Leadership Committee. And I'm worried about the state of our profession. Yet, I'm also quite optimistic. Let me explain. What's to worry? There are many, very competent and strong volunteer management professionals - and I am privileged to count most of them as my colleagues and friends. Yet, I worry that our profession is somewhat stagnant, not growing or developing either in numbers or in practice. It seems that there is still the perception that volunteer management is Enter body here... Profession in Trouble? What’s an Organization to do? Hi. I’m Emilie, this month’s guest blogger, an AL!VE Board member, the VP of AL!VE programs, and the chair of our Advocacy and Leadership Committee. And I’m worried about the state of our profession. Yet, I’m also quite optimistic. Let me explain. What’s to worry? There are many, very competent and strong volunteer management professionals – and I am privileged to count most of them as my colleagues and friends. Yet, I worry that our profession is somewhat stagnant, not growing or developing either in numbers or in practice. It seems that there is still the perception that volunteer management is neither a professional nor a professional career choice. For many, being a volunteer coordinator or manager is something that one falls into or it is a stepping stone to what is considered to be a “real” professional career, like fundraising. Or, volunteer coordination is a point of entry into employment in a particular organization. When I talk to people starting out in volunteer engagement about their career goals, growing in the profession of volunteer management is rarely mentioned. It seems that we haven’t convinced leaders in the nonprofit sector of the value of professional volunteer management. If these leaders do not consider volunteer resource management to be a profession, it follows that many people new to the field also do not consider their work to be professional. Indeed, it seems that we are very good at preaching to the choir about how important our profession is to organizational and institutional capacity building as well as to the individual in society. We know that what we do is important, that it is unique, that it adds value to an organization, that it transforms individuals, that it is a profession in the truest meaning of that word. And we are increasingly competent in advocating for our volunteers, for our programs, for our positions – within our organizations. But it seems that we are not getting this word out successfully to leaders in other fields. How do we convince leaders outside of our field to acknowledge, respect, and support our profession? How can we take advocacy for this profession outside of this profession? What’s to celebrate? Celebrate us! We are competent and strong volunteer management professionals! We work passionately at all levels to support each other through local, regional, national, and international professional networks. We share our best practices and encourage each other to develop these, including how to advocate. There are certification programs and scholar-practitioners developing the field. We are continually getting better at what we do, including developing a theoretically based foundation for volunteer management and leadership. What’s to be done? This is a start. It is good. As a profession, we have the commitment; we have the organization and it’s AL!VE! We have the passion, confidence and resources to advocate for our profession. (See AL!VE Mission Vision and Values). But we need more if this profession is to grow and thrive. We need the ideas, experience, dedication, and involvement of AL!VE members to get the work done. From joining the discussion to joining AL!VE to joining AL!VE’s Advocacy and Leadership Committee, getting involved will build the future of our profession. Published: 03/25/13 |