Blog

Another crucial part of matching a volunteer with a particular task is determining how much structure he/she prefers.

Some volunteers need to be focused and mostly stationary, working on one task for a long period of time. They want to know exactly what they are supposed to do and wish to accomplish it. They thrive in an orderly environment.

Other volunteers are able to go with the flow and prefer to be on the move, always doing something different. They are tired of their hum-drum jobs and want to do something different. Throwing these volunteers into a little chaos is just what they want, provided that it’s the job they signed up for!

[tag]volunteers[/tag]

One of the most valuable lessons I learned in a class with Joe Myers has to do with two kinds of people. Once you understand this simple truth about most people, the applications are limitless.

Sprinters

Some people like to sprint. They want to be busy in short spurts. Don’t ask them to sign up to do something every month and especially not every month. Though they can make exceptions, sprinters like to do things all at once with a very sharp focus. They are committed, but prefer to accomplish their tasks in one intense span of time. Don’t try to tie them down. Find them a task they can plunge into and then give them a break for a while.
Marathoners

Marathoners are interested in helping for the long haul, but in small, measured amounts. Don’t ask too much of them at once because they can only do a little at a time. If you respect the time of a marathoner, he/she will be very loyal and helpful for a very long time.

Application

These two categories apply to volunteering styles, but also to areas such as charitable giving, reading, study, etc. Once you find out whether your volunteer is a sprinter or marathoner, it should be easy to find activities that fit his/her preferences.

Coffee, water, cookies, muffins crackers, and cheese. These are the typical refreshments that I offer volunteers.

Purchasing such products is not a big expense. It takes a few minutes to serve them. The message is what counts.

A seasoned volunteer and staff member took special notice of how we treat our volunteers and let me know the other day that these simple every day acts go a long way in letting the volunteers know how appreciated they really are.

It’s important to find ways to affirm your volunteers on a regular basis rather than waiting for a yearly mailing or event. Just as the volunteers are expected to invest in the organization, so should the staff invest in them.

[tag]volunteer, non-profit[/tag]

The next Northshire Non-Profit Network meeting will be at Burr and Burton Academy on August 4th at 8 am in the library. Read more on the NNN blog.

Part of the group’s purpose is providing training and education for non-profit organizations, and on this occasion we will discuss web site do’s and don’ts thanks to a worksheet prepared by Todd Hiestand.

[tag]web design non-profit vermont[/tag]

The next Northshire Non-Profit Network meeting will be on August 4th at Burr and Burrton Academy at 8am. Our topic will be web pages.

In addition, the NNN web site has a great event analyzer developed by some of the groups members. It’s the perfect way for a non-profit organization to evaluate the effectiveness of special events. Check it out here.

Even if some of the information seems like commonsense, many of the articles out there by accomplished writers on writing are valuable. They at least reinforce good practices and at best provide ways to improve your writing.

There are a series of articles on the Writer’s Market Web Page. Check them out here.

Parapublishing has an incredible list of information about the publishing industry that is a must read for everyone interested in the book and writing worlds.

As a patron and fan of the Northshire Bookstore, I am particularly interested in the status of independent booksellers:

“American Booksellers Association (The independent bookstore organization). The chain stores are replacing the independents.

ABA membership was 5,132 in 1991. It fell to 4,047 in 1998.
–Business Week, June 29, 1998.
www.businessweek.com

Since 1993, ABA membership has dropped from 5,100 to 3,500 because the independent stores have been driven out of business.
–Chicago Tribune Magazine, May 31, 1998.
http://www.chicagotribune.com

ABA membership declined to 2,800 stores.
–Publishers Weekly, December 2001
http://www.PublishersWeekly.com

ABA membership
2000: 2,794
2001: 2,191
2002: 1,900 (a loss of 30% in two years)
–Mitch Kaplan, vice-president American Booksellers Association.
http://www.bookweb.org

Only 100 stores joined the ABA in 2001 while 250-300 stores closed. Membership is now less than 2,200.
–PublishersLunch,
http://www.caderbooks.com

In April 2003, bookstore membership dropped 9% from a year earlier.
Total membership, including industry members and prospective booksellers, dropped 11.4%
Total membership was 2,643
–Publishers Weekly, September 22, 2003.
http://www.PublishersWeekly.com”

One small, independent publisher once said that he’d rather deal with the mafia than Borders and Barnes and Noble. Let’s hope the little guys can stay afloat. When was the last time you bought a book at a small, independently owned bookstore?

The only person more dangerous than inexperienced “handy” man is an inexperienced “handy” man with power tools. Such was the case last night. Toss in a sense of urgency with the project and you have the makings of a full-fleged fiasco.

It all started with an idealist notion of supporting the local economy, helping out the little guys, and avoiding the big box stores when possible. The problem is that in some cases you just end up buying the same exact junk for a higher price and sometimes with even less help than you would receive at a Home Depot or Lowe’s.

Thinking that a toilet seat is a toilet seat, last summer I drove two minutes down the road to the local hardware store and purchased the only toilet seat in stock. It was some kind of wood or probably imitation partical board material, but it seemed good enough for us. A few months later the toilet seat began to fall apart in several places. Over time the gap grew wider until a few days ago the seat just fell apart.

So we paid more to just have something fall apart within a year. Being a stubborn idealist I went to a bigger store in the next town over that is locally owned. I paid 3 times more for a really nice toilet seat. I’m hoping that I will not have to give in to Home Depot next year by the way. But then the problem of removing the old seat hit me square on. The old screws, the ones that need to be turned while the nut is held in place, were rusted and corroded. There was no way to turn them or hold them in place. The screw driver just tore it apart.

And here’s where the mess began. It was 10 pm, I needed to put on a new toilet seat, and I didn’t quite know what to do.

Enter drill.

I have a really sweet drill that I don’t deserve. My wife bought it for me as a Christmas present. It makes life so easy for me. I love it. The drill was my companion last night and hopefully my way out of the jam.

With the second largest metal bit in place, I hammered away at the screws and attempted to sever the metal ring around the screw. The first screw eventually became too loose to drill around since it just spun when the drill made contact. Despair hovered like an unwelcome thunder storm. As luck would have it, my drilling into the screw had created enough of a solid slot for my flat head bit to wedge into. That little slot was all I needed to remove the first screw.

Yet the second screw was even more corroded. Tossing the flat head bit aside, I continued to pound at the ring with my drill bit, pausing often to remove the mound of shavings around the point of contact. Having the other screw out made pulling on the old seat much easier, and I eventually ripped the seat off.

After a very frustrating hour and 15 minutes of drilling, twisting, and yanking, my plan actually worked by golly. It was a long, frustrating, and excessively destructive job, but it worked. Fortunately no tools were broken, the toilet itself was not drilled, and none of my fingers were smashed or drilled. Comparing the results with the potential devastation, I’d say this project was a success.

If there is one list of web 2.0 programs that you need: this is it. via

Of all things, I checked out one of the links on the Google ad of this site and was pleasantly surprised.

www.legalzoom.com is a nice resource with all kinds of information, but they  also have some helpful articles on non-profit organizations that are well-written and informative.

[tag]non-profit, law, legal[/tag]