Dare we ask volunteers, “how resilient are you?” Does nurturing a resilient mindset belong in volunteer meetings or in orientation? Is resilience in the face of change as crucial as policies, ethics, and the most valuable, urgent, significant, important phrase to throw at new volunteers; “by the way, we welcome…

In the last VPT podcast, Laura Rundell wisely chats about resilience, a subject we have been forced to examine in the past year. Laura asks: What is resilience? What masquerades as resilience? How do our volunteers show resilience? What can we learn from this year? We were unprepared for the magnitude of the pandemic and how it…

please visit volunteerplaintalk for the links to the podcast: https://volunteerplaintalk.com/2021/03/03/vpt-podcast-resilience-laura-rundell-and-i-chat/ What is resilience? Are some volunteers resilient and others not so much? Why? Are Leaders of Volunteers resilient? ( You know what I think, right?) In this episode, volunteer engagement expert Laura Rundell shares her thoughts and experiences on a…

Do you matter? Does the work you do matter? Are you feeling ( mainly because there’s this pandemic going on) like “what difference does all this make?” Sometimes there are days like that, even weeks. That’s why I have stories that I clutch to my heart for times like these…

Recently, (like 2 weeks ago) I had the opportunity to chat with Brittany McGarry, a volunteer engagement specialist at the MS Society about the effects of this unprecedented year. What have we learned and where do we go from here? …

I’m guessing you don’t own the 32,000 page book, “ Everything You Must Know About Engaging Volunteers, Part 1.” I have a copy, but I’m only on Chapter 73, “ Volunteers who ask questions that are not really questions and how to address the criticisms hidden within.” ( for my…

So, last week, I posted a sharable holiday card for volunteers. Nice, huh, cause volunteers love getting cards from organizations, right? Cards mean we care, we appreciate ( and we all know volunteer appreciation, no matter what it consists of, especially if it involves balloons, is the key to volunteer…

Do you ever gush, “Thank you to of all the wonderful volunteers who have inspired me, enriched my soul and taught me compassion?” Yeah, that’s my go-to line because I mean it and I bet you do, too. Besides, isn’t thanking what we volunteer managers do best? …