Linda Graff, with a deserved reputation of producing high-quality, tell-it-like-it-is books for volunteer managers, has done it again. Her own introduction is the best description of the contents of this comprehensive volume:

This resource collects into a single volume all the latest techniques that produce effective volunteer involvement. It has been prepared specifically for volunteer volunteer coordinators in organisations such as sports associations and churches, and for local chapter/branch organisers – volunteer leaders who typically do not call what they do “volunteer management” but who are engaged in the management of volunteer efforts nonetheless. All of the principles and expertise from the field of volunteer program management apply equally to what they do. As well, paid managers of volunteers who are new to the profession, and more experienced managers who are just too busy to search through libraries of literature for solutions to their volunteer program shortcomings, will find plenty of practical help and even some new thinking in this guide.

The aim in producing BEST OF ALL has been to collect the “top layer” of proven techniques from decades of experience. These are the best of all volunteer coordination strategies proven to work in a myriad of settings. Applying these practices will increase your organisation’s capacity to find, involve, and retain excellent volunteers in safe and productive positions. That, in turn, will lead to a more successful fulfillment of your organisation’s mission. Importantly, the integration of these best practices will help you to support your volunteers so that they can give their best of all towards the fulfillment of your organisation’s mission.

“Really liked the distinction between social, position, and system orientation, and didn’t think about how we do this in my current organisation until I read what [Linda] wrote. I suspect that many organisations do all three, but not deliberately or with regular evaluation of each element in the total orientation package.”

“This is an entire library condensed into one easy to use resource!”

“… I find the supervision, evaluation, disciplinary action sections to be the best I have seen in these topic areas. ... this is where a lot of organisations have some of their greatest challenges and these three chapters provide an excellent combination of theory, how to’s and additional resources.”

(When you've completed the book, e-mail us at bookstore@ozvpm.com and share your review!)

Excerpted from "Other Trends Affecting Volunteer Involvement"

5.0 Other Trends Affecting Volunteer Involvement

In addition to shifts in the volunteer labour pool itself, there are many other changes taking place in he broader society that influence who is available to volunteer, what they bring, and how we need o support them so that they can be as effective as possible. With change as the ever-present constant in modern life, there are dosens of important shifts that are having an impact on volunteering. Here re just a few of the more salient that volunteer program managers report.

Technology is changing everything , volunteering included. Technology provides organisations with new ways to reach out to new populations of volunteers; it offers a myriad of ways to connect with, and provide support to, existing volunteers; it raises expectations regarding response time and deadlines; it is the method of communication for some, often younger, population segments; its ever-widening availability makes it a must-use element for the contemporary and successful volunteer leader.

Globalisation makes the world smaller and closer . Linked to global communication, the capacity to reach out, stay in touch, and keep up with changes elsewhere, requires the contemporary manager of volunteer involvement to coordinate information as much as s/he coordinates people. Borders have taken on new meaning and volunteering-related travel and voluntourism are new items on the list of opportunities that volunteering can offer. Changing immigration patterns mean increasingly diverse populations and that has major implications for volunteer programs that seek to be representative of their communities.

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