Thirty-five years ago, Susan J. Ellis published an article in the Journal of Voluntary Action (now Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly) entitled “Research on volunteerism: What needs to be done.” Ellis mused – in 1985 – that the only subject at that time that seemed to…
This special issue devoted to e-Volunteerism’s Co-Founder Susan J. Ellis begins with a feature by Rob Jackson, the Journal’s new Editor-in-Chief. In this article, Jackson reflects on the legacy of Ellis and her life’s work, including how and why she started the profession’s…
Twenty years ago, colleagues Steve McCurley and Susan J. Ellis together founded e-Volunteerism, which was at the time the first and only electronic publication for the volunteer management field. In this poignant Points of View, McCurley reflects on their shared vision and quest…
"Social prescribing" is a means for tackling poor health without, or alongside, prescribing pharmaceutical drugs. Schemes for social prescribing cover a wide array of activities and programmes, ranging from physical activities such as dance classes through culture programmes…
Reimbursing volunteers – a contradiction in terms or an evolving strategy? In search of clarity, a team at Colorado’s Community Resource Center (CRC) started digging into an issue that has clearly emerged as a critical and lingering one in the volunteering field. These team…
Volunteers can make the world a better place - but it behoves us to ask the question, "Better for whom?" In this Points of View, Rob Jackson and Erin R. Spink put this question front and center by challenging leaders of volunteer engagement to look at volunteering in real…
In this Voices, co-editor Tracey O’Neill talks with leaders of volunteers about the value of podcasts, those video/audio presentations that now cover every topic around the world and can be accessed via computers, cell phones, and tablets. Through her interviews with…
Now more than ever, technology is playing an all-encompassing role in keeping nonprofits and volunteer programs going. While volunteer-matching apps and social media platforms have been around for a while, social distancing takes us to a whole other level in terms of technology…
When faced with challenging world problems, volunteers’ resilience and resourcefulness have historically come to the fore. Consider the volunteer response to global heating and the damaging effects of climate change, which can seem overwhelming. Since scientists reported in…
Leaders of volunteers around the world now face the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts, far and wide. At e-Volunteerism, we wanted to try and address this sobering issue and offer some help. From our robust Archives, we bring you the following stories and pearls of wisdom on how…
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Diwali, Chanukah. Holidays and festivals like these can create even busier times for organisations that run fundraising drives or develop special projects tied to these events in an attempt to reach more of the communities they serve.
As evidenced…
At a recent Points of Light conference, a plenary session included short videos from volunteer programs around the world that showcased innovation in volunteer programs. Voices co-editor Allyson Drinnon found the videos inspiring, and gained permission to present a sampling…
Do you ever feel like you’re treading water in this vast volunteer management ocean? Struggling against perceptions of what you do that simply don’t match the reality? As Meridian Swift writes, “I know I did. It took getting out and drying off to uncover what was missing in…
Much that’s been said about the motivations and outcomes of skills based volunteering (SBV) has been written from the corporation’s perspective. We know less about what motivates or what it takes to engage a SBV program from a nonprofit point of view.
In this e-Volunteerism…
In this Research to Practice, Laurie Mook reviews two articles that bring together issues related to measuring the impact of volunteering, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a set of 17 goals that address social, economic, and…
