27 November Leading Volunteers in a Changing World November 27, 2018 By rverhoffkiss Impact Stories, Volunteer Engagement Ohio Conference on Service & Volunteerism, Service, Volunteer Engagement 0 On November 14th, ServeOhio hosted over 260 volunteer and service administrators in a day of learning, sharing, and networking at the Ohio Conference on Service & Volunteerism. The theme this year was Leveling Up: From Striving to Thriving and all 24 breakout workshops were designed to move volunteer and AmeriCorps programs to the next level. Our keynote speaker was Tobi Johnson, an internationally sought-after expert and leader in volunteer administration. Tobi shared valuable insights encouraging volunteer and service professionals to adapt their current volunteer engagement strategies to meet the needs of tomorrow’s volunteers. She shared three emerging trends and simple strategies to stay ahead of the curve. Trend #1: Ever-increasing Automation and Personalization Technology, especially the explosion of smart phone usage, has led to an on-demand world where we expect personalized information instantly and lose interest if we do not get immediate results. Ways volunteer and service professionals can adapt: 1. Use first name merge fields in subject lines and salutations 2. Use email segmenting, tagging, and automation to send tailored, volunteer-centric information 3. Offer easy-to-access on-demand content Trend #2: Our “Kit Culture” We all crave products and services that make our lives and decision-making easier. Thus, we’ve seen a rise in popularity of “kits” for everyday tasks such as making dinner (Blue Apron) and even shopping for clothing (Stitch Fix). Ways volunteer and service professionals can adapt: 1. Organize information to help volunteers choose (availability, interests, timeframe, etc.) 2. Create “Bento-box” offerings/a variety of pre-packaged projects and “deliverables” 3. Develop modularized training 4. Create toolkits for volunteers Trend #3: Advances in Brain Science Competition for attention is fierce and we all have limited time and budget. We are in the midst of rapid change, but being human remains constant. How can volunteer and service professionals can adapt: 1. Collaborate. Collaboration is the new competition We learned a lot from Tobi and all presenters at the conference. For a list of workshops and workshop materials, visit the conference website. Stay tuned for the date of the 2019 Ohio Conference on Service & Volunteerism! Related Posts Changing the World: AmeriCorps Makes a Difference As longtime AmeriCorps Program Director Dayle Deardurff retires this month, she reflects on her career focused on strengthening her community through service and volunteerism. One of her main takeaways is that AmeriCorps is comprised of wonderful people who are really making this a better world. 5 Steps to Organizing a Community Volunteer Project Have you seen a need in your community that you want to take action to solve? Could you make a dent in alleviating a community problem if you just had some extra hands to help you do the work? Perhaps the answer is to organize a community volunteer project. Follow these 5 steps to organize a high-impact volunteer project in your community. 2018 Make a Difference Day Grants ServeOhio is proud to support 18 community service projects organized for 2018 Make a Difference Day. The projects will engage more than 900 volunteers on Make a Difference Day, October 27, 2018. 25th Annual MLK Day of Service The 2020 MLK Day of Service is almost here – and Americans across the country are rolling up their sleeves in service. Here in Ohio, thousands of volunteers will serve in their communities and turn their day off work into a day on for service. ServeOhio is proud to support ten service projects across the state which will engage 2,286 volunteers dedicated to improving their community. Learn more about the projects. Year in Review: Bright Spots from 2020 It has been a tough year. Like organizations across the country and the world, ServeOhio made major shifts to our programming in 2020 and transitioned to a virtual office. While the challenges were great this year, it was also a year where we saw incredible resiliency, passion for service, and new opportunities. As we prepare to ring in the new year and hope for a brighter 2021, we wanted to take a minute to reflect on the good stuff from 2020. Happy ServeOhio Day! On June 21, nearly 400 youth volunteers will participate in a total of 13 service projects across the state to commemorate the first annual ServeOhio Day. In its inaugural year, ServeOhio Day exists to encourage and promote hands-on youth volunteer engagement while school is out for the summer. ServeOhio Day intentionally takes place on summer solstice, the day in the year with the longest period of daylight, to maximize participation in a number of service projects ranging from educating at-risk youth about summer safety to community clean-ups. Comments are closed.