What happened to all the volunteer coordinators?

Recently it seems like less and less volunteer newsletters and correspondence from non-profits are being received. Less communication across the board.

Communication that is received appears to be primarily through Facebook groups, with articles of national interest, not related to the local community.

Could it be the days of one-on-one communication is a thing of the past?

What could be the root to this?

Could it be the organizations are focusing more on corporations for major donations (to sustain their staff) with less focus on the volunteers?

Or could it be a lot less complicated? With the economy, we have seen many positions cut and staff turn-over (due to low salaries) at non-profits, along with a change of focus. Could it be that the non-profits can no longer afford to focus on the individual active volunteer?

Could it be that the people who were best at communication and working one-on-one with volunteers are no longer there?

Recently when trying to reach out to a volunteer coordinator, it was determined, she was no longer with the organization. When going to the website to see who the new contact was, no one was listed. You needed to re-register as a volunteer, for someone to contact you.

This does not make sense. When a staff member moves on, so do the volunteers? How can we avoid this and keep the momentum going with staff turn-over?

Solving the problem, if THERE IS a problem

The lesson here might be with a volunteer management system. Another Citizen Corps Affiliate organization has a volunteer registration system and when the staff member moved on, communication actually increased and the new staff member was very responsive to emails.

Another example, with a Citizen Corps core program where a few people moved on to other roles, that system maintained the list of volunteers, but communications has lessened. Hopes are that with National Preparedness Month just around the corner this will pick up.

In summary, good people help motivate good volunteers. When staff moves on, the volunteers shouldn't. Non-profits need to understand this is an issue.

Communication is key to sustaining the volunteer workforce. A very simple concept, but an issue that should not be overlooked.

Did Someone Say FREE Advertising?

So how can we expand outreach when our budgets are being cut? Did you know that many of the local papers offer free advertising for non-profit groups!

For example, the Washington Post Local Living Section:

"To submit an item E-mail fxliving@washpost.com, Mail: Volunteers, Fairfax Living, The Washington Post, 4020 University Dr., Suite 220, Fairfax, Va. 22030

Details: Items, published weekly on a space-available basis, are accepted from nonprofit groups."

To view comments on this, visit http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps

CERT Celebrate's Fairfax

Did you know that CERT will have volunteers at this coming weekend's Celebrate Fairfax?

Saturday night headliner is KC and the Sunshine Band.

For additional information about CERT's role, visit the Fairfax County CERT blog.

Large Scale CERT

CERT in Fairfax County is no small feet, but neither is a major disaster.

Over 50 students participated in a CERT Final Exercise this past weekend. There were over 100 "victims" who also were volunteers in the community.

The final exercise provided extensive hands-on training to the students at the old Lorton Prison Grounds and increased awareness for all the "victims". This was the first time the final exercise was not held at the fire academy.

Fairfax is Ready thanks to MRC Volunteers! Is Your Community?

Community Emergency Preparedness Fairs

"The Fairfax Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and the Fairfax County Health Department’s Office of Emergency Preparedness will host a community preparedness fair called Get Ready Fairfax!

The Springfield Days family festival will be held concurrently in the mall parking lot. The goal of this family friendly event is to educate the public about the role individuals and their families play in all-hazards emergency preparedness and how to get ready!

The fair is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - part of the Urban Area Security Initiative program." (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/mrc/getready.htm)

Citizen Corps Releases New CERT Videos

Did you know that real CERT Volunteers were used in the recently released CERT videos?

Check out the videos filmed in the National Capital Region at:

http://citizencorps.gov/cert/videos/

And join the discussion with other volunteers on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps

Teen/Campus CERT Train-the-Trainer

This past weekend, Volunteer CERT Instructors in Northern Virginia completed the Teen/Campus CERT Train-the-Trainer Power Workshop.

Congratulations to the new Teen and C-CERT Instructors!

Thank you to Arlington County for hosting the training (and the creative candy dish idea, pictured above) and to VDEM for bringing the training to the area.