The Universal Benefits of Volunteering


Book Description

With its unique ability to fulfill personal and professional goals, social needs and corporate objectives, volunteering is much more than its own reward. But just how much more depends on the thought and planning that go into the process. That's why, as more and more nonprofits and for-profits pool their resources in volunteering partnerships, the development of an effective approach to the design and management of these programs is essential. This comprehensive book/disk set provides not-for-profit leaders, for-profit business executives, individual volunteers, community leaders, and others with the systematic, hands-on guidance they need to maximize the benefits of volunteering for everyone involved, from front-line volunteers to community members. Focusing on the crucial concept of "return value," the workbook offers solid practical advice on recruiting, training, and retaining today's volunteers. It examines volunteer program planning and implementation for both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. And, most importantly, it ex-plores how these entities can forge strategic alliances that match the nonprofit need for motivated, business-wise volunteers to the corporate desire to boost staff teamwork, time management, and other key skills. The workbook comes complete with easy-to-follow procedures and checklists, plus worksheets and sample documents that are also included on the IBM-compatible disk. Simple to use and ready to implement, The Universal Benefits of Volunteering is an invaluable how-to tool for tackling a full range of volunteering challenges. "A practical, well-designed publication that can help to increase volunteering and philanthropy through educating individuals on both the joy of serving others and the significant personal value that can be derived from the experience." —Patricia F. Lewis, ACFRE President and Chief Executive Officer National Society of Fund Raising Executives "The Points of Light Foundation applauds the work set forth in The Universal Benefits of Volunteering. It is a valuable tool to help people connect through volunteer service." —Robert K. Goodwin President and Chief Executive Officer The Points of Light Foundation "A practical publication that can assist individuals, not-for-profit leaders and business executives to increase volunteer participation through enhancing the full value of the experience." —R. William Taylor, CAE President American Society of Association Executives The Universal Benefits of Volunteering offers a practical approach to designing, managing, and participating in today's volunteer programs. From recruiting, training, and retaining volunteers to establishing meaningful nonprofit and corporate volunteering partnerships, this comprehensive book/disk package contains essential hands-on guidance for not-for-profit leaders, corporate executives, and others who are working to make a difference through the field of volunteering.







Hoping to Help


Book Description

Overseas volunteering has exploded in numbers and interest in the last couple of decades. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people travel from wealthier to poorer countries to participate in short-term volunteer programs focused on health services. Churches, universities, nonprofit service organizations, profit-making "voluntourism" companies, hospitals, and large corporations all sponsor brief missions. Hoping to Help is the first book to offer a comprehensive assessment of global health volunteering, based on research into how it currently operates, its benefits and drawbacks, and how it might be organized to contribute most effectively. Given the enormous human and economic investment in these activities, it is essential to know more about them and to understand the advantages and disadvantages for host communities. Most people assume that poor communities benefit from the goodwill and skills of the volunteers. Volunteer trips are widely advertised as a means to "give back" and "make a difference." In contrast, some claim that health volunteering is a new form of colonialism, designed to benefit the volunteers more than the host communities. Others focus on unethical practices and potential harm to the presumed "beneficiaries." Judith N. Lasker evaluates these opposing positions and relies on extensive research—interviews with host country staff members, sponsor organization leaders, and volunteers, a national survey of sponsors, and participant observation—to identify best and worst practices. She adds to the debate a focus on the benefits to the sponsoring organizations, benefits that can contribute to practices that are inconsistent with what host country staff identify as most likely to be useful for them and even with what may enhance the experience for volunteers. Hoping to Help illuminates the activities and goals of sponsoring organizations and compares dominant practices to the preferences of host country staff and to nine principles for most effective volunteer trips.




Productive Aging


Book Description

"Will 69 million baby boomers suddenly drop out of the workforce when they turn 65? It is difficult to imagine this generation, with its talent, education, and experience, idling away the last thirty years of life."—From the Foreword, by Robert N. Butler, M.D., The Mount Sinai Medical Center Old age has been historically thought of as a period of frailty and dependence, yet studies show that with the help of advances in health and medicine, current populations will live longer and remain healthier than previous generations. As average life expectancies rise, traditional concepts of retirement need to be reconsidered on all levels—from government policy to business practice to individual life planning. In this volume, leaders in the field of gerontology explore these changing conditions through the concept of "productive aging," which has been developed by leaders in the field to promote older adults' contributions to society in social and economic capacities. Productive Aging: Concepts and Challenges treats the implications of productive aging for the discipline of gerontology and for society in general. The first section defines the principles, historical perspectives, and conceptual frameworks for productive aging. The second section takes a disciplinary approach, treating the biomedical, psychological, sociological, and economic implications of a more capable older generation. The third section considers advances in theories of gerontology, and the fourth section suggests future directions in practice, theory, and research. Contributors: W. Andrew Achenbaum, University of Houston • Scott A. Bass, University of Maryland-Baltimore • Vern L. Bengtson, University of Southern California • James E. Birren, UCLA • Francis G. Caro, University of Massachusetts Boston • Carroll L. Estes, University of California-San Francisco • Marc Freedman, Civic Ventures (co-founder of Experience Corps) • James Hinterlong, Washington University • James S. Jackson, University of Michigan • Jane L. Mahakian, Pacific Senior Services • Harry R. Moody, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation • Nancy Morrow-Howell, Washington University • Philip Rozario, Washington University • James H. Schulz, Brandeis University • Michael Sherraden, Washington University • Alvar Svanborg, University of Illinois-Chicago and Goteburg University, Sweden • Brent A. Taylor, San Diego State University




Volunteering


Book Description

This book (VOLUNTEERING: PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS) will help you to understand all aspects of volunteering. It highlights strongly many benefits of volunteering for both volunteers and volunteer-seeking organisations. There are many valuable benefits for volunteers that nobody can take from them; benefits such as respect, confidence, learning and, best of all, the love and care of fellow human beings. Voluntary work is achieved by people willing to give up their free time and willing to take a risk on achieving a nice experience through, for example, helping destitute people. Further it is a work that demands love, affection, patience, dedication and courage, which means volunteering will teach us new things that change our lives. Although nobody can earn and get money from volunteering, but it produces a feeling of self-worth and earns them respect and favour which are for more valuable. One guarantee of any volunteering experience is that you are likely to meet lots of new people and, more significantly, people that share many of your ideas and interests.




Investing in the Health and Well-Being of Young Adults


Book Description

Young adulthood - ages approximately 18 to 26 - is a critical period of development with long-lasting implications for a person's economic security, health and well-being. Young adults are key contributors to the nation's workforce and military services and, since many are parents, to the healthy development of the next generation. Although 'millennials' have received attention in the popular media in recent years, young adults are too rarely treated as a distinct population in policy, programs, and research. Instead, they are often grouped with adolescents or, more often, with all adults. Currently, the nation is experiencing economic restructuring, widening inequality, a rapidly rising ratio of older adults, and an increasingly diverse population. The possible transformative effects of these features make focus on young adults especially important. A systematic approach to understanding and responding to the unique circumstances and needs of today's young adults can help to pave the way to a more productive and equitable tomorrow for young adults in particular and our society at large. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults describes what is meant by the term young adulthood, who young adults are, what they are doing, and what they need. This study recommends actions that nonprofit programs and federal, state, and local agencies can take to help young adults make a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. According to this report, young adults should be considered as a separate group from adolescents and older adults. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults makes the case that increased efforts to improve high school and college graduate rates and education and workforce development systems that are more closely tied to high-demand economic sectors will help this age group achieve greater opportunity and success. The report also discusses the health status of young adults and makes recommendations to develop evidence-based practices for young adults for medical and behavioral health, including preventions. What happens during the young adult years has profound implications for the rest of the life course, and the stability and progress of society at large depends on how any cohort of young adults fares as a whole. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults will provide a roadmap to improving outcomes for this age group as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.




Satisfied Volunteers


Book Description




Volunteers


Book Description

Who tends to volunteer and why? What causes attract certain types of volunteers? What motivates people to volunteer? How can volunteers be persuaded to continue their service? Making use of a broad range of survey information to offer a detailed portrait of the volunteer in America, Volunteers provides an important resource for everyone who works with volunteers or is interested in their role in contemporary society. Mark A. Musick and John Wilson address issues of volunteer motivation by focusing on individuals' subjective states, their available resources, and the influence of gender and race. In a section on social context, they reveal how volunteer work is influenced by family relationships and obligations through the impact of schools, churches, and communities. They consider cross-national differences in volunteering and historical trends, and close with consideration of the research on the organization of volunteer work and the consequences of volunteering for the volunteer.




The Values of Volunteering


Book Description

This book examines volunteering in detail from a civil society perspective, using empirical data garnered from various sources for countries all over the globe. The contributions deal with a broad spectrum of questions, ranging from the diversity, social and cultural determinants and organizational settings of volunteering, to its possible individual, social, and political effects.




The Palgrave Handbook of Volunteering, Civic Participation, and Nonprofit Associations


Book Description

Written by over 200 leading experts from over seventy countries, this handbook provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of the latest theory and research on volunteering, civic participation and nonprofit membership associations. The first handbook on the subject to be truly multinational and interdisciplinary in its authorship, it represents a major milestone for the discipline. Each chapter follows a rigorous theoretical structure examining definitions, historical background, key analytical issues, usable knowledge, and future trends and required research. The nine parts of the handbook cover the historical and conceptual background of the discipline; special types of volunteering; the major activity areas of volunteering and associations; influences on volunteering and association participation; the internal structures of associations; the internal processes of associations; the external environments of associations; the scope and impacts of volunteering and associations; and conclusions and future prospects. This handbook provides an essential reference work for third-sector research and practice, including a valuable glossary of terms defining over eighty key concepts. Sponsored by the International Council of Voluntarism, Civil Society, and Social Economy Researcher Associations (ICSERA; www.icsera.org), it will appeal to scholars, policymakers and practitioners, and helps to define the emergent academic discipline of voluntaristics.