June 13, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
From the Top: The Executive Role in Successful Volunteer Involvement
By Susan J. Ellis
Despite the millions of Americans who volunteer, only three out of five charities employ a paid staff member who manages volunteers and even fewer adopt recommended practices to manage volunteers, writes Susan J. Ellis, founder and president of Energize, a consulting firm that specializes in volunteerism.
Ms. Ellis’s intended audience is chief executives and high-level managers at charities who are responsible for hiring coordinators of volunteers or manage volunteers themselves. She recommends that when directors decide to hire a full-time person dedicated to volunteer recruitment and management, they should hold the manager accountable to three constituents: the organization itself, its volunteers, and the people it serves.
Publisher: Energize, Inc., 5450 Wissahickon Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 19144; http://www.energizeinc.com; 300 pages; $24.95; ISBN 978-0-940576-59-9.
