National Volunteer Week

It is National Volunteer Week (April 27 – May 3, 2008) and a great time to highlight a couple of resources for volunteers and volunteer managers available on our web site.

Start off with our Frequently Asked Question, “How can I use the Web to find volunteer opportunities?"

Then, if you are interested in books and articles on voluntarism in our collection, have a look at our topical resource list. Here is a sampling of the materials:


Corporation for National and Community Service. Volunteering in America: 2007 State Trends and Rankings in Civic Life. Washington, DC: Corporation for National & Community Service, 2007.

Analyzes information on volunteering in America in general and in individual states. Part one gives a general overview of American voluntarism. Part two compares rates of voluntarism across the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Part three analyzes voluntarism within each state by focusing on the number of volunteer hours and demographics. The last section is a technical note on statistical methods and data sources.

Family Volunteering: A Guide for the Workplace. Washington, DC: Points of Light Foundation, 2007.

Provides advice for managers who are planning employee volunteer programs for families.

Lysakowski, Linda. Nonprofit Essentials: Recruiting and Training Fundraising Volunteers. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005.

Explains how to find and attract volunteers, and provides sample job descriptions. The book also covers the training of volunteers and management of their work alongside staff members.