September 4, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
Exploring the Relationship Between Volunteers and Fundraisers
edited by Rebecca E. Hunter
The spring edition of the quarterly series New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising, edited by Rebecca E. Hunter, chief development officer at the American Thoracic Society, in New York, is a compilation of essays on how charities encourage board members and other volunteers to get involved in fund raising. The book describes some of the trends affecting fund raising by volunteers — for example, the growing number of solicitations carried out by employees — and ways that charities can both educate and learn from their volunteers.
One chapter includes results of a survey of more than 100 nonprofit fund raisers on how they attract volunteers and keep them actively involved in their organizations. Linda Lysakowski, chief executive officer of Capital Venture, a fund-raising consulting company in Reading, Pa., says that fund-raising volunteers are motivated primarily by a group’s mission. She also discusses what types of training and support are needed to help board members carry out their roles and what types of acknowledgments volunteers most appreciate.
Other essays show how small nonprofit organizations can begin or strengthen volunteer fund-raising programs; discuss student and alumni involvement in raising money for small liberal-arts colleges; and offer a case study describing how a new executive director used a fund-raising event to develop a good working relationship with the group’s board.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103-1741; (317) 572-3986 or (888) 378-2537; fax (888) 481-2665; http://www.josseybass.com; 136 pages; $28; I.S.B.N. 0-7879-7072-7.
