A Summer of Fun, A Summer of Service

As August begins, it's time for us at team VolunteerSpot to get ready for Back-to-School and so we're wrapping up our Summer of Service blog series. This June and July we were privileged to feature  leading guest bloggers each week sharing their unique and personal perspectives on service, volunteering and citizen philanthropy. Summer of Service was so much fun -- we would like to thank each of our guests who made this inspiring summer series possible -- your contributions were well read and are very much appreciated!

Here are the highlights:

• The series offered ideas from Jessica Kirkwood of the HandsOn Network, on how to recruit, retain and recognize volunteers through social media. 

• We had an insider's view on volunteering from Chris Dumas, the founder of NonprofitWebinars.com, giving us a glimpse into the reasons why people volunteer, and more importantly, what causes them to stick with it.

• Jyl Patte, the founder of Mom It Forward and the co-organizer of the evo’10 Conference, shared her tips on how to make a difference with the click of a mouse, proving that community service IS possible from the comfort of your own home. 

• We heard from a young do-gooder, Crystal Yan, co-producer of the Social Startup Summit, on how to engage kids in volunteering, keeping them interested is always hard, especially during the summer months!

• The founder of Realized Worth, Chris Jarvis gave us ways to measure the strength of our volunteer programs, discussing ways to match what your volunteers want with what your program is providing them.

• Debra Askanase, the founder of Community Organizer 2.0, revealed what makes her tick as a volunteer, and how every volunteer can be a volunteer organizer.

• The mysteries of the millenial volunteer were uncovered by Kari Saratovsky, V.P. of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation and publisher of the foundation’s Social Citizens Blog. Kari provided us with ways to connect with the elusive generation of 20-something volunteers. 

• And finally, Sloane Berrent, a nationally recognized speaker on community building and author of the blog, The Causemopolitan, kick-started the series with a step-by-step plan of how to get involved within your community.

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We hope you found new ideas and inspiration for getting involved, leading service projects, and engaging your volunteers. For those of you headed back to school this month, good luck on your school year and we invite you to bring a passion for service and action with you! And for all those who still have a couple more weeks, consider yourself lucky, you still have time to work on your summer of service. Please check back with us and share your stories and learnings.

Here's to a fantastic end of the summer, and an incredible start to the school year!

Comments

[Roger Carr]

It was a great series. I especially liked the posts focused on connecting with and retaining volunteers. Thanks.

[Lori L. Jacobwith]

Tons of great information here. I'm sending out links to my community to check out your posts/links. Thanks for the comprehensive list!

[Sandy Rees]

Great list of resources for volunteers!

Sandy Rees