| VOLUNTEERS LOST, OR GAINED? TWO WAYS OF SEEING THE SAME THING - Guest Blogger AL!VE Partner William Henry, Executive Director of Volunteers Insurance Service Association For its recent study, "Rural Volunteers: A Vital Force on Fertile Ground," the Minnesota Association For Volunteer Administration conducted a number of interviews with volunteer-based nonprofit organizations. Just as the famous drawing below can be seen either as a young woman or an old woman, the researchers found that volunteer managers in the state's lakeside communities had looked at one demographic shift and interpreted it in very different ways. VOLUNTEERS LOST, OR GAINED? TWO WAYS OF SEEING THE SAME THING - Guest Blogger AL!VE Partner William Henry, Executive Director of Volunteers Insurance Service Association For its recent study, “Rural Volunteers: A Vital Force on Fertile Ground,” the Minnesota Association For Volunteer Administration conducted a number of interviews with volunteer-based nonprofit organizations. Just as the famous drawing below can be seen either as a young woman or an old woman, the researchers found that volunteer managers in the state’s lakeside communities had looked at one demographic shift and interpreted it in very different ways.  Some organization assumed that part-time residents in those communities would not be reliable, and therefore had not tried to engage them. But organizations that had reached out to those part-timers found them more than willing to get involved, for whatever time they were living there. The researchers also found that no assumptions could be made about the availability of volunteers who were unemployed. Although some people in that situation spend all their free time looking for paid employment, others see volunteer work as a way to gain experience that can lead to paid employment. According to the Corporation For National and Community Service, Minnesota traditionally has been among the leading states in the percentage of the population that volunteers. Guest Blogger AL!VE Partner William Henry, Executive Director of Volunteers Insurance Service Association To learn more about our AL!VE Partner CIMA Gateway for AL!VE members – www.cimaworld.com/alive The inexpensive solution to volunteer protection Published: 07/12/13 |