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VOLUNTEER CENTERS OF MICHIGAN NEWS |
JANUARY 2012 |
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VCM RETREAT SAVE THE DATE! Join your colleagues from around that state at our VCM Network Retreat, March 7-8 at the Mt Pleasant Comfort Inn Hotel and Conference Center. This year's retreat will highlight the Reimagining Service initiative and the concept of being a service enterprise. The meeting will also provide valuable networking time for you to engage with your peers and learn about what is happening in the field in both Michigan and Nationally. Hotel rooms now available! Call 989-772-4000 and make hotel reservations before February 8th as the room block will drop on that date. Ask for the Michigan Nonprofit Association room block and the rate of $65 plus taxes. VCM VISTA members will be preregistered for the retreat and hotel accommodations. Please stayed tuned for retreat registration. |
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NEW & RETURNING FACES   VCM would like to welcome our new VISTA Leader, Walter Wilson to the network! Walt is a University of Michigan graduate and spent his first AmeriCorps VISTA year in Detroit serving at Jewish Vocational Services. Walt's service as VISTA leader will include supporting the VCM VISTA's placed in volunteer centers around the state.We are also pleased to announce the return of Melissa Strapec as Program Manager for AmeriCorps*VISTA. Mel is an AmeriCorps*VISTA and VISTA Leader alumna and served both her terms with Michigan Campus Compact. She will oversee and support the MNA VISTA programs including the VCM VISTA cohort. |
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REIMAGINING SERVICE
What is Reimagining Service? Reimagining Service is a nation wide initiative that bring different sectors together to increase volunteer engagement by growing the number of Service Enterprises.
What is a Service Enterprise? Service Enterprises exhibit strong, effective, volunteer management practices that allow them to deliver more services with fewer financial resources.
Is your organization a Service Enterprise? Take the quiz and find out!
While you're visiting the Reimagining Service website, look around to find tools and resources that can help your organization implement the successful practices identified in Service Enterprises!
VOLUNTEER GENERATION FUND BEGINS A SECOND YEARDecember 2011 marked the launch of a second year for Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF) grantees. Last year held some significant milestones for VGF grantees including the launch of 7 HandsOn Connect websites, more than 14 national day of service projects, and the engagement of thousands of volunteers!
The upcoming grant year will be a time for the grantees to strengthen their community partnerships around their issue area, refine key volunteer management practices, and grow their HandsOn Connect systems. Grantees will continue to participate in key national days of service like Martin Luther King, Jr. and 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance.
EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM REPORTING STANDARDS
The Points of Light Institute has an excellent set of reporting standards for employee volunteer programs. This expansive document includes:
• Program needs assessment
• Comprehensive program evaluation
• Impact assessment
• Performance benchmarking
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY OF SERVICE
Around the state: A preliminary survey done by the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC) shows that there were more than 3,000 volunteers who performed nearly 8,000 hours of service as part of MLK Day projects! Although all reports and data are not in yet, VCM knows at least 50 Michigan projects were registered with www.mlkday.gov, several of which were sponsored by organizations in the VCM network. Thank you to everyone who helped make MLK Day 2012 such a success!
GET ENTERED TO A $100 GIFT CARD!
Get entered to win a $100 Meijer gift card by filling out a simple post-project survey from the MCSC by February 3, 2012. Just let us know the number of volunteers, total number of volunteer hours served, and number of people your project served!
Fill out the survey here. Winners will be announced on February 6, 2012.
GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY 2012
Global Youth Service Days (GYSD) will take place April 20-22, 2012 and offers an
excellent opportunity to engage youth in service. In 2011 more than 1,615 youth and 522 adults volunteered more than 6,917 hours via 106 service projects in Michigan for GYSD. Those volunteers impacted more than 63,000 individuals.Stay tuned... for an upcoming mini-grant opportunity from the MCSC to support youth volunteer projects on GYSD that address childhood hunger.
Interested in hosting a GYSD project? Visit www.gysd.org for tool kits, posters, and other great resources.
NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK
Points of Light Institute has rolled out tools and resources that can be used as organizations plan for the April 15-21 National Volunteer Week. Marketing tools, resource guides, and examples of projects are available at http://www.handsonnetwork.org/nationalprograms/signatureevents/nvw
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON VOLUNTEERING AND SERVICERegistration for the National Conference on Volunteering and Service is now open! Early registration starts at $250. Conference organizers offer those who wish to attend for a reduced rate the opportunity to volunteer during the conference. For more information about the conference click here and for more information about volunteer opportunities check out the GET INVOLVED tab on the event site.
VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT WEBINAR SERIES
VCM is proud to announce a new volunteer management webinar series facilitated by Sandra Miller. These webinars will be part of a monthly series available for volunteer center staff and their partners. Upcoming topics and dates include:
Growing Your Volunteer Program- February 23, 2012 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
This presentation provides information that organizations can use as they seek to implement a volunteer program. This information will be helpful for organizations with current programs, well-established programs as the organization seeks to develop a more strategic plan.
Volunteer Recruitment- March 29, 2012 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
This presentation will present the steps to effective volunteer recruitment. Tips and techniques will be provided for each step including how to craft an effective messages and tips to consider when writing an online posting.
Registration is required for participation. Recorded versions of these webinars and associated electronic resources will be available online following the live webinar.
UPCOMING FUNDING OPPORTUNITY
With funding support from The Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC)via the Volunteer Generation Fund and the Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) via the Connect Michigan Alliance Endowment, the Volunteer Centers of Michigan (VCM) is pleased to announce a funding opportunity for volunteer connectors organizations that are current members of the VCM network the apply for a grant that would support a one year license for HandsOn Connect Technology and the cost of deployment and training and a $1,000 mini grant to host service projects as part of National Days of Service in their local community.
The key goals of this funding opportunity are to:
- Implement new volunteer matching software- “HandsOn Connect” (HandsOn Connect (HOC) is a full lifecycle volunteer management platform that expands your capability to manage, track and report on people, programs and volunteer opportunities in real time.
- Increase the number of volunteers that participates in National Days of Service.
GOVERNOR'S SERVICE AWARDS
The 2012 Governor's Service Awards nomination forms are now available from the Michigan Community Service Commission. With 8 award categories like Corporate Community Leader, Outstanding Volunteer Program, and Volunteer of the Year, there are plenty of opportunities to nominate the service champions in your community.
Nominations are due by Thursday, March 1, 2012.
6 Tips for Volunteer Recognition
Looking for ways to recognize your volunteers? Check out this blog post from the HandsOn Blog to see "6 Tips for Recognizing Your Volunteers".
| March 7 & 8 | VCM Retreat- Mt. Pleasant, Michigan |
| April 15-21 | National Volunteer Week |
| April 18 | Giving and Volunteering Day at the Capitol- Lansing, Michigan |
| April 20-22 | Global Youth Service Days |
| May 5 | Join Hands Day |
| May 12-19 | National AmeriCorps Week |
| June 7 | VCM Network Meeting- Lansing Armory |
| June 16-20 | National Conference on Volunteering & Service- Chicago, Illinois |
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