(In many county governments, volunteer participation is no longer considered simply a nice thing to do, but a necessary component of a complete human resources strategy.
Since its inception in 1991, NACo’s Volunteerism Project has served as a resource to county governments by publicizing successful programs, developing volunteer management resource materials, and conducting workshops on establishing volunteer programs in county government.
Other national organizations, such as the Association for Volunteer Administration and the Points of Light Foundation, also provide support and resource materials.
In this article, Rick Lynch, a consultant with the Points of Light Foundation, discusses the foundation’s Changing the Paradigm Project and how it can assist volunteer programs in county government.)
There is a new model of volunteer involvement emerging in America. This new model, based on research carried out by the Points of Light Foundation, has the potential to solve many of the challenges facing counties.
By involving volunteers more effectively, counties can provide more and better services to citizens. The easiest way to explain the new model, called the Changing the Paradigm Project, is by comparing it with some of the traditional ways in which volunteer involvement has been viewed in government and other organizations.
Traditionally, volunteers have been valued by some elements of a department, but not by others. In the new model, everyone sees the potential of involving volunteers to do things paid staff lack the time or skill to do.
“Getting people to understand the value of a volunteer program can take a long time to build,” said Dawn Matheny, volunteer program specialist, Sonoma County, Calif. “But with each success, people see more of the picture of what volunteers can do.” By sharing successes across departments, a county volunteer coordinator begins the process of developing a widely shared vision of the ways volunteers can transform a department.
In traditional volunteer programs, volunteers provide services which make the lives of staff easier. These jobs are often low-skilled or clerical in nature. In the new model, volunteers also provide services that directly help a department accomplish its mission.
In Sonoma County, Calif., for example, the Task Force on Violence, through the Commission on the Status of Women, found that battered women were often intimidated by filling out the cumbersome forms necessary to get a restraining order filed. Through a collaborative effort between the commission, district attorney’s office, courts, community agencies and the county volunteer office, they were able to start a Temporary Restraining Order Clinic where women could get personal help in going through the process. The program would not exist without volunteers.
Volunteers contribute ideas, not insight into the way the program is run. In the new model, volunteers also contribute ideas.
In the Champaign, Ill. parks department, for example, a volunteer suggestion saved the department 60 percent of the cost of tree trimming.
Traditionally, volunteers have been thought of as providing services that require no special professional abilities. While such jobs will always be an important part of the volunteer program, the new model emphasizes that volunteers can contribute highly professional skills. An effective volunteer program gives a county access to all the skills in the community.
In this day of rising costs and citizen resistance to higher taxes, counties are hard pressed to do all the things they would like to do to make their communities thrive. By involving significant numbers of volunteers in significant ways, county departments give citizens an active stake in the activities of their government. All the skills of the community can thus be brought to bear on the challenges that county governments face.
For those interested in more information about the new paradigm, the Points of Light Foundation has a number of resources that can be helpful. One is a self-assessment kit, which is valuable in stimulating the development of the new model in an organization. There are also five booklets available for those interested in learning more about how to implement the new model inside an organization.
(For more information, call Claudia Kuric at 202/223-9186, ext. 243. For information about resources from NACo’s Volunteerism Project, call Peter Lane at 202/942-4288.)