Skills-based Volunteering
from The Points of Light Institute
Skill-based volunteerism is service by individuals or groups that capitalizes on personal talents or core business skills, experience or education. More and more, agencies are struggling to meet their bottom line. At the same time, many agencies are missing out on a precious resource - the talent of individual volunteer leaders and corporate teams who can use their skills and products to increase the capacity and effectiveness of nonprofits. Skill-based volunteerism or SBV comes in all shapes and sizes. More

The New Volunteer Workforce
from Stanford Social Innovation Review
Nonprofits rely heavily on volunteers, but most CEOs do a poor job of managing them. As a result, more than one-third of those who volunteer one year do not donate their time the next year - at any nonprofit. That adds up to an estimated $38 billion in lost labor. To remedy this situation, nonprofit leaders must develop a more strategic approach to managing this overlooked and undervalued talent pool. The good news is that new waves of retiring baby boomers and energetic young people are ready to fill the gap. More

Celebrating Courage and Compassion: Managing Volunteers That Work Among the Sick and Dying
from Managing Volunteers
It takes a unique person to volunteer among the sick and the dying. This unique person is able to look beyond the wheelchair, the braces on the legs or the scars from the surgeries and see a human being. These volunteers have different motivations. Some have lost a loved one and bring a compassionate understanding to their volunteering. Some have loved ones who survived a life-threatening illness and "want to give back" to others in similar situations. Some believe that we are "put on this earth to help each other." More

Data Privacy Rules Coming
from BNET Retail
A privacy bill under consideration in Washington would significantly impact retail through provisions that would spell out how companies would have to protect customer data and what they must do if information is compromised, yet, as worrisome as that might be for some, any concern is essentially moot because a Massachusetts regulation with substantially the same provisions will go into effect Jan. 1. And the rule is written in a way that essentially gives it jurisdiction in all 50 states. More

Customer Service and Empowerment
from DMSRetail
Where is the training for human beings to deal with the other things that can, and will, go wrong? Why must customers work so hard to get satisfaction? Why must they lose their valuable time, waste energy and experience high stress levels just to get their issue resolved? Why is it, that when businesses are closing all over and those that are still in business are experiencing sharp declines in revenue and profit from prior years, that they are not able to understand that their people are not doing the job – the job of retaining the precious customers they have; the ones that are spending money even now? More

2009 AHVRP Annual Conference Distinguishing Our Profession, Discovering Our Spirit Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa Phoenix, AZ August 27-30, 2009 Website: www.todaysvolunteer.org For a full conference brochure, click here.

Shoplifting Prevention 101
from Shari Waters, About.com
It is important to plan policies and procedures for shoplifting. We all hope it will never happen in our store but in the event it does, retailers and staff should be prepared to handle the shoplifting situation. Take these questions into consideration when writing your shoplifting policies and procedures. More

Busting the Nine Myths of Cloud Computing
from CIO
Wherever you turn, someone's ready to tell (or sell) you something related to cloud computing. Cutting through the myths is essential to deciding whether, when, and how the cloud is right for you. Here is CIO's take on the matter. More