CivicDictionary - Defining a better world

volunteer, volunteering

- engaging in service or work without pay through a community organization such as a school, hospital, museum, environmental group, social service or recreational agency, food bank, faith-based organization, or any nonprofit organization.

informal volunteering - helping one's neighbor.
SOURCE: Corporation for National and Community Service to describe service that is not supervised by an organization.

cyber-volunteer - someone who serves by consulting online.
SOURCE: In an interview at the National Conference of Volunteering and Service, First Lady of California Maria Shriver said she learned the term from colleagues at Kiva.org, which has cyper-volunteers working in the field of micro-financing.

>> Notes on usage from my blog <<

Staff and volunteers. There's an important difference. If you are coming from a for-profit work experience, please let go of any predisposition to patronize volunteers. They are not working in the mailroom, making copies, going on coffee runs, or stuffing envelopes. Today’s volunteer is a highly professional and dedicated individual in any nonprofit organization that is worth its salt. Remember that the Board of Directors is composed of volunteers as are major donors who support the organizations.

In contrast to volunteers, staff members are the paid employees of an organization, including the CEO or Executive Director (the “E.D.”). Nonprofits cultivate environments in which everyone, paid and voluntary, has a valuable opinion. One of the biggest mistakes made by sector-switchers is the impatience they demonstrate when neither staff nor Board members respond to command-and-control decision-making. What appears to be a lack of discipline in the nonprofit environment is actually an organizational structure in which everyone has value. Isn’t that one of the reasons for switching sectors?

>> Connections <<

serve.gov - your online resource for finding volunteer opportunities in your community and creating your own.

State Service Commissions - Each state has a commission to administer national service programs and promote volunteerism at the state level.

Governor Schwarzenegger Announced First-in-the-Nation Cabinet Position for Service and Volunteering. 2/26/08

CivicDictionary™	Defining a Better World