Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Week 8 Discussion

Welcome Summer 2014 Group! I hope you find the blog an interesting format to discuss in and a possible venue for you to promote your volunteerism.

First Question - What technology formats interest you in terms of volunteering? How might you or are you using it? Can you share examples?

Second Question - Have you experienced any risk during a volunteer opportunity? What happened? How was it resolved? What has changed?

Explore some of the technology use by these organizations!


GCN Facebook PageTexas 4H Facebook Page4H on TwitterGeovisions BlogRescue Village Blog/Website

25 comments:

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  2. 1. Having a Virtual Volunteer added to our program was helpful because he was able to work on our website when his time allowed. Instead of having to come to official board meetings where decisions are usually made in a committee form. We were able to give a professional volunteer, the freedom to help our organization and then only show us the finished product. The volunteer organization that I work with tends to spend a lot of time making decisions by committee, but found that creating a website this way was not helpful. The advantages virtual volunteers are many. These volunteers can give as little, or as much time as they can by smartphone, tablet or laptop. Because people spend so much time on social media, this can also be a great source of volunteers. Although, as the book and readings made clear, that just like the self-help books bought to transform our lives don't jump off the shelves when we need them, just having a Facebook page will not revolutionize your volunteer recruiting process. It takes time and marketing expertise to get your Facebook page optimized so that it will be seen as relevant and a place where volunteers are excited to be there. This can be done by creating a position for a technical optimization specialist, or by asking if a local tech firm would like to do some pro-bono work for your organization in return for recognition as a community sponsor.
    2. In terms on Managing or Canning High Maintenance Volunteers. I liked the fact that the McKee book talked about how it is always a good idea to try to work with volunteers who are making meaningful contributions to the volunteer project. As I read the descriptions of all “Negative Nancy” ,“Helpful Hanna” and the others I was glad that I have not been out in the position of making that decision yet. I liked the thought of stepping into their shoes, which is not something that I have done in the past. The section of Facts, Feeling and Future is also helpful while trying to make that decision. Knowing that you need to outline what constitutes a reason for termination is extremely useful thing to include in our handbooks because it will protects us from some of backlash of having to make such a difficult decision. The follow-up letter can also help to alleviate hard feelings from your volunteers as you are basically thanking them for anything that they were able to add to the organization. I found this set of readings to be some of more informative as I look to putting together my volunteer handbook.

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  3. Oops. I learned my first lesson when attempting to learn a new technology. I will not make up a user name that I am not sure I want to keep, until I know how to get rid of it.

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  4. 1. The technology formats that interest me the most are those being used by this next generation of volunteers. The students that I volunteer with are using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as a major form of communication and accessing their news and social world. For FCCLA, we have a Facebook account, but it needs a lot of revamping and work; that is one of my goals for this next school year, is to get more publicity for FCCLA. We do get some recruitment from flyers and word of mouth, but I know we could do better by having a web page and making our Facebook page more appealing.
    2. I'm sure I have had some risk as a volunteer, but as a young teenager or adult, I have not considered them risks:). I do know that when you get a bunch of teenagers together, no matter the activity or project, there will always be a certain risk involved. I have now realized that it is so important to make myself and the organization I am running as safe as possible, and to put any risk into the parents' hands. A simple parent signature can save an organization from a huge lawsuit. As I write my volunteer handbook, I will be keeping this principle in mind.

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    1. Leah, I think Instagram is an excellent way to promote volunteer organizations especially FCCLA. Anytime your FCCLA students are doing something fun or memorable I think you should encourage students to post pictures and tag FCCLA. This will help promote FCCLA at your school and across the country.

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    2. We had a student teacher in Ag who would give students 3 minutes to InstaG all the stuff in class that they found exciting. SO the day the bunnies were at school she told them they had 3 minutes to take photos and get them posted - it was good for Ag class and good for FFA.

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  5. 1. As one of the "older generation," I have not explored the social media aspects of the internet, meaning Facebook, Twitter and Blogging. Emailing, computer programs like Excel or QuickBook or computer programs that I need to utilize are wonderful! But I felt that "twittering" was for the birds--birds who had time to waste. However, with this class I am attempting to change my views and open my mind! I taught a canning class during May and realized a blog where the students could send me specific questions ahead of time would be very useful. I did create the blog, but the class is over and the only people who have used it so far are my own married children. (It's nice to have family support!) But I do want to continue the blog as a place to field questions as I teach other classes for Extension. I think if I keep it current it will be useful. I am very timid about using it, but I am motivated to use it! There are so many inaccurate canning sites out there--some are downright scary--so there is a place needed for accurate instructions. The Extension has great websites, so my blog would refer to those, but hopefully I can be better prepared for canning classes using the blog.
    2. I can't think of any time I have particularly been put in a risky situation as a volunteer, other than the time long ago when another volunteer and I signed up to go door to door asking people to register to vote. There was this one man who invited us into his home and started telling us about all his knives. He was old and probably just lonely, but it was uncomfortable and we were relieved when we made it out the door. We were adults, so had more resources to extricate ourselves than a teenager, or a Girl Scout selling cookies, so I strongly agree with Leah about the importance of an organization's responsibility to keep their volunteers safe! A parent signature is a great thing, although I question if that would really prevent a lawsuit if something terrible happened. However, it should make the parents and the organization take a look at possibilities, and hopefully take preventative measures. With lawsuits "waiting to happen," I also think it extremely important to establish rules about never being alone with a child. It isn't just keeping the adult volunteer out of trouble, it is establishing a safe precedent for the child to follow.

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  7. 1) I’m not a big tech guy, it really doesn’t interest me, this master’s degree is as techy as I get. For example I just spent over an hour posting on a 2012 topic on this blog. Though I see the huge impact it can have for volunteer organizations. Just a year or two ago seminary and institutes were asked to create and use a local Facebook page. It was very difficult of us because no one on our faculty had a Facebook page, knew how to use it, and was not in the mindset “hey post this”. I’d be really interested in having a seminary student who know and loves Facebook manage our account.
    2) We took a scout troop up to a State Park to paint some picnic tables everything was going really well until the job got really boring and some of the scouts thought it would be fun to flick paint on unsuspecting scouts. Permanent industrial paint and expensive scout shirts aren’t a good mix, it gradually heated up and one scout ended up flicking another scout in the eye with paint. The guilty paint flicker ran off and the parent of another scout gave orders for his son to chase the guilty party down and “detain” him until he could get there. The guilty party ended up getting physically rough up and a severe verbal chastisement, laces with four letter words in front of the scout troop. The guilty party returned home and reported to mom and dad what had happened and we had a real mess on our hands. The Bishop of the ward had to talk to professional scouters, counsel with parents and scouts in order to resolve the situation. In the future the guilty never went on a scouting activity without his father.

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    1. Brandon I think that is a really fun idea to have a seminary Facebook page because that is such a great way to promote your organization. If you are still having difficulties creating and updating your Facebook you could always ask a group of students to keep the page updated. Ask a few responsible students to keep your page updated and have you or another faculty member approve each post before the page is published. Today's students are Facebook wizards and I think you would be happy with the results.

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  8. 1. I like the technology that allows interaction like Google plus, facetime, facebook, or twitter. This technology helps coordinate and spread the message of the volunteer organization faster than ever. It also allows other to see the good the organization is doing and get involved.
    2. Like Brandon, I have had my share or risky situation at boy scout camp. I remember one boy scout putting an unopened can of soda in the fire. It heated up and exploded upward like a rocket. I admit it was kind of cool to watch, but if it had gone anywhere but up, it could have caused some damage. The leader then locked the soda in his truck for the rest of the trip. I believe that this is how a volunteer manager should act. If they see something risky or dangerous, they need to take control or better yet, not lose control in the first place. The more safe the environment, the more people will want to help out.

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  9. 1. I am most interested in Volunteer organization websites and Facebook. These tools can provide ample information and are followed by people with interest and passion about the goals of the organization, making it a mass recruitment approach, as well as a fast and simple method of fundraising. I am also interested in U-tube videos as a means of volunteer training and increased interest for potential volunteers. However, I am unable to utilize Facebook in my office (Cache county rules). I have never made a U-tube video. One attempt to utilize technology for an organization was through creating a Blog for the Cache Valley Community Gardens. The purpose was to increase communication, the sense of belonging, heightened interest, and hopefully more involvement in garden management by the gardeners themselves. I tried establishing a committee in the beginning of the season in 2013. I had three volunteers who were very enthusiastic about establishing a committee (one of whom started the original blog for me). Another volunteer was more interested in starting a Facebook page, which would have been great, if she had the time to keep it updated (since I don’t have Facebook access at work). Instead of the two volunteers working together on the blog, they had their own priorities. The blog didn’t get updated regularly, and the gardeners lost interest. Also all the volunteers on the “committee” ended up too busy in the summer to stay committed, despite their enthusiasm in the beginning.
    The USU Extension Cache Valley Master Gardeners website is periodically updated with Quarterly newsletters, upcoming events and volunteer opportunities. I will admit, however, that the Cache Master Gardeners website has not been as successful for outreach or involvement and recruiting as we hoped.
    In the end, communication, involvement, advertising, and feedback has been most successful through emailing. Texting and emailing has been most effective for me
    Risks:
    2. I have experienced risks as a volunteer, though I choose to not go into the details. What was learned from the experience is the importance of volunteer managers or other organization employees being present during events and activities that present potential risk (practically any event, really). Adult volunteers should be well trained, and feel prepared and confident to handle unexpected situations or problems. There is always the potential for unforeseen problems, which makes it even more important for adult volunteers or program managers to be present as much as possible.

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    1. Helen those websites your guys produce are awesome. They are very helpful to lots of people. Whenever I have question on a plants problem or animal science problem I go to extension agencies websites. Thank You!

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  10. 1. I am not all that great with technology case in point this is the second time I have had to reply to this post because I was not aware you had to be signed in before you typed in your response so after I was finished I signed in and it deleted my entry. The technology that I have used in the past include emails, texts, FB, and websites. I know this is more technology out there that might be beneficial however I do not feel comfortable with them. I would have to have someone more familiar with them to keep them up to date. To use technology is great and all but if you do not keep it up to date there really is no reason to have it. If people do not know what is going on in your organization how do you expect them to help out? In our FCCLA organization we have used texts,fb, and emails to get a hold of people to remind them about meetings and activities. When I have signed up as volunteer these are also the main ways that people have used to remind me about the activity.
    2. At this time I cannot think of a volunteer experience where I have felt at risk. For the most part I have felt prepared or understood what I needed to do to prevent risk to me or those around me.

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    1. Shanna, I also feel like I am not great with technology. The fact that I am not great with technology is frustrating because I feel like my students are addicted to technology. I like that you use text to communicate with members of your organization. Have you found any useful apps. or websites that allow you to easily send mass text?

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  11. ^Shanna I did the same thing! I should have read the comments first to save my first comment :).
    1. Currently I enjoy using technology to connect with our volunteer mentors. We have found that they like to get information through things like texting and Facebook instead of calls and emails. We have a Facebook page that they all 'like' that tells them about upcoming events and trainings and gives them ideas for their training. I would love to get a mentoring app for our program. I think it would be very helpful for mentors to easily report their volunteer hours on a simple app-currently we have a database online where they do it and hardly anyone does, so we just have to call all of them to get their reports.
    2. Working with a one-to-one youth mentoring program their are a lot of potential risks. We have to be extra strict with doing background and reference checks on our volunteers. I have found though that our monthly group activities are where I have run into the most risks of things that are more likely to happen. For example, just this week we had a activity at a local pool with a surfing simulator, and a youth fell on it and hit his head. Luckily he ended up being just fine-but the paramedics cam to check him out and so it was a bit scary! It was good to have policies that I knew were in place for risk management so I knew exactly what I needed to do in that kind of situation though (and the pool had their own procedures as well that they were great at following which made the process work well for both of us).
    Emily Shepperd

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  12. I am not a lover of new technology and tend to be pulled along kicking and screaming when I have to implement new tech, despite being part of generation Y. But having said that, I see how important social media is in running a volunteer organization. In my job hunt I’ve looked into a lot of nonprofit organizations, most of which heavily rely on volunteer help. While doing my research I’ve spent a lot of time on YouTube and Facebook, gone to the sites for their volunteers and for those they serve. As I’ve researched I’ve discovered that I have a stronger connection to the organizations that effectively used social media. It’s not because those organizations are better or do more good but rather that I could more easily see the good that they did and what they were really about and I wanted to get involved because of it.

    I haven’t experienced too much risk in my volunteering. There have been a few questions about putting students’ pictures on different programs’ websites. But my most recent risk I’m trying to manage is taking young children to the bathroom. They have to go, they can’t go alone, but being in a room with a child with their pants down, no matter how innocently, is just inviting trouble.

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  13. 1. I think social media is a great use of technology in terms of volunteering. I think that young people today are very actively involved in the use of social media and, consequently, they know how to use social media tools to recruit volunteers, raise money, and promote awareness. I personally do not use social media very often in my own life but I have seen numerous students use social media as a tool in their volunteer efforts.

    2. I have experienced some financial risk during volunteer work. When I was working with an organization to help refugees a few years ago I was asked to purchase some supplies because my supervisor forgot to bring her purchasing card. I was hesitant to purchase the supplies because I was a very poor college student and did not know how long it would take for me to be reimbursed. I was also hesitant to provide my debit card information because the company we were working with was not secure. Despite my initial concerns, everything worked out in the end. I was quickly reimbursed and did not experience any problems with my bank account.

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    1. Money is always a sticky thing to deal with.

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  14. It is such a relief to find other people struggling with the technology! I didn't realize I was using a pseudonym, but there I am! It's me, Cathy.
    After reading the other risks people have come up against, I'm glad I've lived a quiet life! People--kids especially--don't realize how fast things can escalate.

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  15. 1- I have not used social media for any volunteer activities but I have used texting. I have used it to contact other be for a meeting to remind them of events and I have also gathered resources for a bike rodeo that we put on for the cub scouts. I take back my first statement of not using social media. we set up a blog for are scout troop to share pictures, activities and information like dates of activities on. it has been nice to have this source to gather information from others.

    2- One way i have used risk management was by being a volunteer in scouts. the scouts wanted to boat in to a camp site only assessable by boat. Everyone was required to fill out a form that basically said that that boy scouts are not liable for injuries. The scouts were also informed of specific rules to follow to keep everyone safe. trip was fun and every thing worked out good.

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    1. Thomas I hear ya with scouts. The varsity scouts are floating the Snake River in August. Who knows what will happen?

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    2. It stresses me that Scout leaders may not have any water training - lifeguarding, etc. Do you have to have first aid or CPR? Do you guys have a plan if an accident happens? Do you know where the nearest hospital is? Would it be valuable to have some type of document you could take on trips for emergencies that have phone numbers, location, etc?

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  16. 1. As far as examples in class go, none. I am now typing this post for the second times which is a reason why I try to spend as little time on the computer as possible. One from of virtual volunteering I would be willing to participate in would be family history work with my church. They LDS church is big on searching online census records and other online documents for deceased ancestors. I personally have little experience in this but I am willing to try this type of volunteering.
    2. This spring Sky View FFA helped Valley Implement move to their new store in Logan. All who volunteered to help put themselves in great risk for physical harm. First risk being catching heavy boxes being dropped form a two story balcony. Bruises from this experience lasted for multiple weeks. Another risk was myself driving a company vehicle with store merchandise to the new store. As far as the risk being discussed, it was not, we just got the job done.

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  17. 1. The technology formats that interest me or that are most useful for me are Facebook and Remind101. Both of these avenues of technology have helped increase attendance and participation in FFA activities at my school. We had a last minute service project for a need in the community and we simply announced it on our chapter Facebook page and sent out a text on Remind101. We have both parents and students on each of these so the word is spread very easily.
    2. I haven’t experienced any major risk during a volunteer opportunity, but there have been a few times that I felt that there could have been some issues. My FFA chapter does the Adopt a Highway program and there is always the risk that a student will try to run across the highway or do something of that nature. I think the most important role that we play as the “volunteer manager” is to ensure that our volunteers are safe in the place that the work is being done.

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