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A toolkit from which to draw strategies for dealing with the many types of difficult behavior that can be exhibited by volunteers.

The first booklet in PROVOL's Volunteer Management Made Easy Series, which includes: Research, Recruit, Retain, and Recognize.  This booklet on Research covers the work to be done before that new volunteer walks through the door for the first time, even when the pressure to recruit new volunteers can be pretty intense.

The second booklet in PROVOL's Volunteer Management Made Easy Series, which includes: Research, Recruit, Retain, and Recognize.  This booklet on recruiting advises us to forget outdated perceptions of volunteers and, then, presents a process of recruiting for skills and talents necessary to meet our agencies' needs in a timely and effective manner.

This is the story of a young girl's search to discover what exactly is a volunteer. Written for elementary-aged children, the book explores the concepts that the image of volunteering can differ greatly, and the opportunities to help our community are endless.  

A resource for training volunteers to develop analytical and problem-solving skills, this book is a compilation of realistic situations that volunteers may face while volunteering. Leaders of volunteer involvement can use the case studies to prepare volunteers via group discussions or role playing.

An interactive group activity for religious leaders for analyzing how their congregations work, conducting an organizational analysis of their organization, and identifying areas that deserve further attention. Though The Church Puzzle Game uses the word ‘‘church” in its title and instructions, the content of the Game was written with the intention to help any faith community, religious body, or house of worship.

Essays written by leading authors in the volunteer world in 2002 about "what was on their mind."   Authors included are: Cara Blank, Susan J. Ellis, Melissa Eystad, Andy Fryar, Linda L. Graff, Stephen McCurley, Ivan H. Scheier, Betty Stallings, Sue Vineyard and Bill Wittich. 

Provides an innovative framework for successfully leading an  all-volunteer effort, whether it's a service club, community group, PTA, or religious congregation. Scheier challenges conventional wisdom  about boards, fundraising, and membership development when applied to  grassroots volunteer efforts. A highlight of the book is a collection  of easy-to-conduct group interaction exercises.

Making Dreams Come True without Money, Might or Miracles caps Ivan Scheier's long career as philosopher, provocateur, and conscience of the volunteer field.   He urges us all to nurture dreams--our own and those of others.  But this is also a practical, you-can-do-it guidebook for activist volunteers and their mentors, showing what dreamers and "Dream-Catchers" must do to bring dreams to life; how to look beyond money as a need, obstacle or trap; ways to get past barriers, bigots, and anchors; how to create a dream-friendly environment; and what makes dreams die...and what makes them live.   

How to incorporate  children into an adult volunteer program and find creative ways to use  children's fresh perspectives. Includes examples of actual volunteer  projects accomplished by youngsters, models of child-adult teams and  tips on family volunteering.  Learn how to recruit, train and design  assignments for volunteers under the age of 14. 

Helps employees and volunteers work together successfully by exploring the reasons for conflict between volunteers and employees. Scheier eases the all-too-common stresses of this relationship with a step-by-step process for analyzing tasks and work preferences for both paid and unpaid staff. Offers a great number of creative and practical solutions. Contains lots of useful planning guides.

By the People remains the only book available presenting the full scope and depth of volunteer activity throughout three centuries of American history. Originally published in 1978, Susan Ellis and Katie Campbell reissued this revised New Century Edition in 2005. The book challenges misunderstandings about the role of volunteers and illuminates the impact of volunteers throughout history.

Packed with the advice, wisdom, and experience of over 85 real-life, on-the-job supervisors of volunteers, this guide offers a crystal clear analysis of what works and what doesn't in supervision. It also includes comments from volunteers about what they need from those who supervise them, as well as excerpts from classic articles and books by experts in the field and a self-assessment survey covering the attitudes and actions necessary to be an effective supervisor. 

Contains 117 formatted, ready-to-print and copy pages, each about a specific volunteering subject such as working with volunteers, the history of volunteering, and trends in volunteerism. The KOPY KIT also includes a section of ready-to-use graphics including "thank you" and "we miss you" letters, certificates and awards, recruitment flyers and even greeting cards.

A step-by-step guide to the basic elements of a volunteer recordkeeping system. Includes the why and how of application forms, volunteer data files, assignment records, time and activity reports - for individual volunteers, groups, and off-site service, too. Lots of sample forms, ideas for documenting hard-to-track activities, and ways to demonstrate the work you do in managing volunteer involvement.

Marlene Wilson moves from the hows to the whys of leading volunteer programs. She urges all who lead volunteers to move beyond thinking of themselves as managers to thinking of themselves as leaders—those who develop vision for volunteer programs and impart that vision throughout an organization. Includes16 of her most popular presentations from 1974 to 1999.

The book first shows how to design the best assignments for volunteers as the initial step to recruit the most qualified people. What follows is a wealth of information on topics ranging from how your organization's image affects your success in recruitment to where to look for new volunteers, including your own backyard. The Volunteer Recruitment (and Membership Development) Book also offers a whole chapter on membership development for all-volunteer organizations, including how to get current members "off the rolls and on their feet." The Appendix,"Outreach in Cyberspace," explains the Internet as a powerful recruitment tool. 

This collection of seven original skits is complete with instructions, scripts and ideas for adaptation. Each skit incorporates songs using well-known popular music with lyrics written for the volunteer recognition occasion. Song sheets can be used separately.

From the preface: The authors of this book are social scientists with practical and tested strategies for rebuilding collaborative communities. An important feature of this book is that the authors are not prescriptive-they don't tell you what should be done; they are descriptive - they tell you what has been done that you can draw on. They are reporting on their own action research, done while serving as consultants to eighty-eight communities. From this rich experience they are able to portray a variety of strategies adaptable to a variety of situations.

A handbook developed for Volunteer Centers, offering tools needed to add family volunteering to existing community involvement activities. There are tips and tricks for every Volunteer Center, from inviting families to join single days of service to creating an entire mission for promoting volunteering by families.