VIP Impact: Homeless Garden Project volunteers helped bring in $105,000!

During the month of December, VIP Fellow Kelly Mercer recruited over 50 volunteers to run the Homeless Garden Project’s holiday store. The holiday store, located in middle of downtown Santa Cruz, featured a range of products made by Homeless Garden Project volunteers and trainees from herbs, flowers, and other materials grown on the HGP farm. Some of these items included soaps, lavender bath salts, chocolates, candles, wreaths, jams and more! HGP also enlisted the help of local artists to sell jewelry, paintings & prints, as well as other home and garden items.

Over the span of 5 weeks, volunteers clocked over 1,000 hours and helped the Homeless Garden Project raise over $105,000 in sales! This was Kelly second year working on this project as a VIP member. The staggering success and growth of this multifaceted project is not only a testament to Kelly’s hard work and dedication to HGP, but also shows the significant impact Americorps VIP has on local human services agencies.

Way to go, Kelly and the Homeless Garden Project!

Inside the HGP Holiday Store

Keep that New-Year Motivation Alive!

Nonprofits everywhere see new volunteer faces come through the door every January as individuals reflect and make the decision to serve their community in the hope of the fresh new year.  It's an exciting time, and we all know how great it feel to get caught up in the hope of a fresh start.

The only problem is... that new year's motivation often leads to quick burn out.  With the excitement and hope New Year's Day behind us, all of our well-intentioned resolutions take the fast track to the back burner.

Help your volunteers stay motivated to serve!  Give them the tools to stay excited for the service they give now, and they'll be much more likely to stick around.  Check out Inc.'s article on self-motivation for some tools to give your volunteers, and check out your own motivational skills with this test from Mind Tools.

Do you have any tools for keeping volunteers motivated?  How do you keep their excitement alive year-round?  Let us know in the comments!

Volunteer in Pajamas!

It's January and we all know what that means: it's the coldest month of the year.  We're all bundling up in jackets, coats, and gloves to get out of the house in the morning (or maybe just a light sweater for all of our Los Angeles friends who are enjoying breezy 70-degree weather this week?).

Unfortunately, the cold doesn't exactly invite would-be volunteers out of their homes and into the community to spend their time.  Cozy houses and running heaters just seem all that much more inviting in the winter months!

So what is a volunteer manager to do?  With projects abounding and volunteer motivation at a stand still - the answer is volunteering from home!

For most nonprofits, this isn't the most popular thought.  Projects are easier to manage and quality is easier to control when it happens on-site or at the organization's headquarters.  Many projects do not include pieces that even have the option of completion off-site.  However - offering opportunities to volunteer at home can be a gateway into real commitment and passion about your cause.  It's also a great way to get extra projects done and increase the ability for more diverse community members to participate in your cause.

Opportunities to volunteer off-site allow volunteers to feel comfortable and do the work on their own schedule.  You can engage volunteers who are not available during business hours.  Those who cannot travel or do not wish to leave their homes can still lend a hand.  You can create connections without finding extra space or time to use.

Here are some ideas on creating and managing opportunities to volunteer at home:

• List applicable projects.  Your at-home volunteers won't be constructing any fences or handing out food - but chances are, there is something that can be done at your organization by a commited set of off-site hands.  How about:



  Volunteers can make crafts for clients from home

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• Event promotion: making flyers, calling radio stations and newspapers
• Publicity: writing blog articles, running social media outlets, stuffing envelopes
• Project preparation: making meeting agendas, planning details, requesting donations
• Crafts: knitting hats or scarves, creating thank-you notes for volunteers or staff, assembling care packages for clients, creating something for clients to use or something to be sold at a fundraiser
• Fundraising: contacting family and friends, creating fundraiser promotional materials
• Data entry: creating databases of information or transferring information from paper to computer systems
•  Market your virtual opportunities.  If you have an opportunity that can be done from a computer - why limit it to your community?  Might as well open it up to the world!  There are a number of sites out there that specifically promote virtual volunteering opporunities (like Sparked, which promotes microvolunteering opportunities - short volunteer projects that can be done from a computer).  VolunteerMatch also has a category in their listings for virtual volunteering. 
• Market your from-home opportunities. Some from-home opportunities will require delivery of materials (like returning a physical finished project to your office) - you'll probably want to market these close to your headquarters.  Market these like you would market any other opportunity, but some especially great places to market off-site opportunities are:
• Retirement communities.  Off-site volunteering can be a fun way to get involved for those members of retirement communities who are limited in access to transportation.
• Schools.  Maybe you have a 'service learning' project a whole class can complete together without the hassle of transporting students away from school?  Teachers often welcome this idea!
• Neighborhoods and apartment complexes.   Make sure your marketing emphasizes the ability to do the volunteer from right where the people are - at their home!
• Manage your project.   Off-site volunteering requires your trust of the volunteer to complete their work in a timely, quality manner, without close supervision - so managing these volunteers will look different than for other volunteers.  Here are some ideas on supervising those off-site volunteers:
• Email or talk on the phone regularly.  Schedule a time to check in with the volunteer once a week to check in, answer questions, and ensure projects are being completed.
• Set deadlines and stick to them.  Just because a volunteer can work from a casual place, doesn't mean you should expect them to be undependable.  Make your expectations clear, just as you would with any other volunteer.  If they consistently are unable to turn in projects that you need completed, they probably are not a good fit for volunteering at your organization.
• Check project quality.  Take a good look at the projects you get back, especially for the volunteer's first few projects.  Communicate with them about whether or not they're meeting your organization's needs.
• Send appreciations.  Make a special call just to thank the volunteer, send an e-card, or get their address and send a letter.  You could even publicly appreciate the volunteer on your organization's blog or newsletter.  Let them know that their efforts make a difference!

Do you have any experience leading from-home volunteering projects?  Any good tips to share?  Let everyone know in the comments!

VIP Impact: Encouraging Words from a VIP Partner

Here are some encouraging words we received recently from David Seyms, Safe Routes to School/Ropes Coordinator for the Napa County Office of Education:

"Napa Safe Routes to School has been instructing students how to ride their bikes and walk to school safely for over three successful years. This school year we are participating in the VIP program and have seen amazing results regarding the community impact of our program in only four months time. VIP has recruited parents and community leaders as volunteers to help increase awareness and community participation in our Safe Routes to School programs. As a direct result we are seeing more students walk and bike to and from school, thereby increasing their daily exercise, reducing car emissions around the school and making their communities and safer and healthier place to live."  

Way to go, Napa VIP team! We're so glad to hear about the difference you all are making in your community. 

Be thankful for new volunteers - and show it!

Have you had some new volunteers get themselves involved in your organization in the new year? As school schedules change and new year resolutions have been brewing in the last few weeks, you may ave seen a bit of a surge in response to your recruitment efforts.  If this is the case - congratulations! BUT, don't stop working now.

If you want volunteers to come and stay, make them feel appreciated early on.  There is no one way to make a volunteer feel appreciated.  In fact - many feel most appreciated from individualized acts of recognition.  One volunteer may love your verbal "thank yous," but another might want more formal recognition to truly feel valued.  Maybe you have a volunteer who needs to hear the thanks from a client to feel the difference they are making, or maybe they'd rather hear it from the executive director. Try asking your volunteers how they like to feel appreciated. Or, try having your volunteers fill out a survey that includes their preference for appreciations when they fill out an application or interview.

If you're not sure what to do for appreciations, go with a hand-written thank you note.  Check out the HandsOn Blog for some great tips on writing personal thank yous that your volunteers will love.

VIP Impact: Steven's Hope for Children

This story comes from VIP Amber Lara, serving with our partner Steven's Hope for Children

We at Steven’s Hope have had the great pleasure of recruiting a number of long-term volunteers in the fields of marketing, accounting, and event planning. We have recently been in the process of reorganizing the organization to spread responsibility, and in that effort we have been developing teams to handle many of the non-profit’s day-to-day operations. These operation teams, which consist primarily of diligent volunteers who dedicate two or three hours per week to the organization, work to cover such areas as event development and planning, finances, marketing, operations of our Children’s Boutique, and fundraising.

Since these volunteers have begun taking on many of the day-to-day tasks at Steven’s Hope, the non-profit’s co-founders have been able to focus their efforts into facilitating many of the organization’s long-term programs and goals. This allows us to focus on problem areas such as fundraising, which in this difficult economic time is essential to the survival of the non-profit.

In addition to the day-to-day day team building, we also held a highly successful event on Sept. 10^th, 2011. Steven’s Hope’s annual One Tough Run is a moderately difficult 5k run which benefits our non-profit directly, helping us to continue our programs designed to assist the families of seriously ill or injured children. This year, the event brought together 109 volunteers for the day, many of whom arrived enthusiastically at 5:00 AM on that Saturday morning. Many of the volunteers thanked me for the opportunity to give back to those families and asked me to please let them know of any other ways that they could help. 

One Tough Run - a Steven's Hope event that brought out 109 volunteers!

Nonprofits and Social Media

"It takes too much time."
"It's just not worth it."
"People might say negative things about us."

These are all things you might hear nonprofit staff say about social media.  And well, they might have a point.  There are pros and cons to social media use for sure.

But, as more and more of the world looks to social media for news, information, and even for volunteer and other giving opportunities, nonprofits have to keep up to gain the attention and involvement they seek in today's world.  Successful campaigns from nonprofits like Charity:Water and the Truth project show that social media can be well worth the effort and can even expand your nonprofit's reach.

See the Nonprofit Quarterly's recent article for some great reasons why social media is worth it and see some tips for getting the most out of social media use.

From a Volunteer: Reading with KorehLA has long-term impact

Every Thursday I looked forward to the sound of Marshale, my KOREH L.A. reading partner, sprinting down the hallway of her school to greet me at 1:00PM in the front office of Crescent Heights Elementary School. Each time, Marshale welcomed me with a hug. Then, she’d giggle, bury her face in her hands and lead me to the library. Together, we’d sit side-by side on the floor of her library’s reading corner.


Each session, Marshale  chose  a book from her library’s shelves to read together that day. Most often it was an “Amelia Bedelia” book. From time to time, I’d bring a special book from home that I thought would interest her. Her favorite book from my collection was Queen Rania’s “The Sandwich Swap."


During one session, Marshale took out her cell phone from her backpack (when the librarian was not around) and asked me if she could take my picture. She wanted to program my picture into her phone. She asked for my phone number, too. That same night, she called. While I heard mostly giggles on the other end of the phone, it simply warmed my heart to know that she really had no reason to call, except that it was her way of reaching out to me.


Back at school, Marshale began to enjoy reading. I could see it in her eyes. Her confidence was building, too.


Not only did Marshale learn from me, but I learned from her. She taught me how to do a dance called the “dougie”. She told me I “dougied” better than her mom.


 In May, I got a call from Marshale’s mom with the news that her family was moving. Marshale would be changing schools mid-year. An instant sadness came over me, but I soon realized that I was just thankful to have been able to spend the time that I had with her. Our last session came sooner than we had both expected, or wanted. During this time, I gifted her with my copy of “The Sandwich Swap.”


Just this fall, I received a homemade book in the mail from Marshale. She had created and illustrated a book about prepositions at her new school. Each page highlights a particular preposition and has a phrase that demonstrates its proper usage. Sweet illustrations accompany each page. The first page, for example, highlights “Outside” and says “The Ball is Outside” while the second page highlights “Around” and says “Around the flower there were puddles.”


When I called to thank Marshale for the book, she could not wait to tell me that she had just received her first report card. She proudly informed me that she was getting an “A” in reading at her new school! Marshale will always have a very special place in my heart. I trust that I will be lifelong friends with Marshale, and my wish for her is that as she matures into a young woman, to always remember her newly acquired love for reading.  

VIP Resolution: Leave your legacy

This year, let's resolve to leave a legacy - one that will last far beyond this year, or even this decade.  Let's make volunteer systems and constructs that will last in our nonprofit partners.  As a VIP Fellow, get started early in leaving behind instructions and explanations of what you're doing for those who come after you.  If you haven't already started, now's a good time to begin!

Take these 4 steps to prepare to leave your legacy later this year:

1. Get a labeled binder.  Or any other, labeled place to store your knowledge.  The most important thing in leaving a legacy is to leave a record (paper or digital), label it well, and make sure that everyone at the organization knows where to find it.  Information most often gets lost in transitions because it either isn't recorded or isn't left where it can be found.  Get around both those problems by making your binder, file, computer folder, or portfolio ready now.
2. Record your contacts.  Knowing who to contact or where to go is a big part of recruiting volunteers - so make a spreadsheet of every place or person you contact.  Include contact info for: volunteers, community centers, businesses, schools, or anyone else you contact over the year.  If you can, leave notes to explain who the person is and why you contacted them.  Highlight the places and people who were most helpful for you.
3. Develop instructions.  You recruited volunteers - so how did you do it?  Who did you contact?  Where did you go?  What was your interview process?  What do you do to recognize volunteers? Make a step-by-step instructional packet for every successful effort you made... don't make the next person relearn all of the lessons you learned this year!  Give them a clear-cut instruction guide for success.
4. Collect resources. If you read a helpful article, copy it and leave it in your binder.  If you attend a helpful training, takes notes and leave them in your binder.  If you make recruitment flyers or volunteer sign-in sheets, leave them in your binder.  Make a habit of collecting all the useful information you use and the resources you create and organizing it all in a helpful way.