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.