Today I stumbled upon an email marketing platform called MailChimp, which allows users to send up to 3,000 emails per month to up to 500 contacts for free.  Forever.  This is just perfect for a smaller organisation with a limited communications budget.  

So why would you bother using an email marketing campaign manager rather than just sending a bog standard email from outlook, hotmail, yahoo etc?  

Here’s why:

It’s pretty
You can create attractive HTML emails (with pictures and links) alongside plain text alternative versions.  Creating an attractive email campaign is usually done in a WYSIWYG editor, so it means that you don’t have to know lots of fiddly html code either.

It’s personal
You can personalise your email campaign – for example, addressing it as ”Dear Laura” rather than “Dear Colleague” (effectively a mail merge online).  With an email you can opt-in and opt-out functions, and functions whereby your reader can forward to a friend or update their details. 

Measurable Results
Sending an email campaign means that you can monitor who opens your emails and which links they click.  It also helps you to manage your contacts by reporting on the number of  “soft bounces” (i.e. out of office replies) or “hard bounces” (i.e. email address no longer in use) that you receive.  You can also compare reports and effectiveness of archived campaigns.

Time Effective
Email communication is quick to set up and is instant in its delivery (no postal strikes!) – plus you can usually time your campaign to send at a specific time / day.  Email is global and it’s 24 hour.

Cost Effective
Sending an e-marketing campaign is also very cost effective.  As with the example of MailChimp – there are free offers out there (although sending options can be limited), but there are also many other platforms that offer a variety of different pricing options.  

Of course there other things to take into consideration as well. Such as;

The high “noise to action” ratio of email communications (people receive a lot of email during the course of a day – much of which gets forgotten about / ignored)

Data protection – make sure you aren’t spamming people! (read the Email Marketing Council’s best practice guidelines here)

You won’t be able to communicate with people who have no access to the internet

As mentioned previously, the MailChimp system caught my eye as it seemed quite a generous free offering.  However, there are many organisations that can help with email marketing, as you can see from this extensive list from the Direct Marketing Association

Find out how to retrofit renewable energy sources to an existing property

In an ideal world our homes would be airtight, super-insulated and feature cutting-edge renewable technology. But in reality, they’re not. So in lieu of a miracle eco-housing super-boom, can we retrofit renewables to our existing homes? The answer is yes, but many of the technologies on offer are costly and payback periods can stretch to many decades. The good news is that by installing them now, you’ll ensure they gain popularity and become cheaper for future generations. In a nutshell, make your home Future Proof.

Insulation

If your home isn’t well insulated it can’t possibly be energy efficient – it’s as simple as that. Just insulating your cavity walls could save around £160 a year on your fuel bills and, as it costs in the region of £250, would pay for itself in about two years. If your home was built before the 1920s, it probably won’t be suitable for cavity-wall treatment. Instead, consider installing solid-wall insulation. It’ll be cheapest to do this if you’re already repairing or renovating exterior walls.

Loft insulation acts like a duvet, trapping heat that has risen from below and preventing it from being lost through the roof. Without it, you could be losing as much as 15 per cent of your home’s heat. As it costs approximately £190 to install, you could get payback in less than a year.

Glazing

If you can feel cold air or draughts coming in around your windows, it means warm air is escaping. Poorly insulated frames and single glazed windows account for up to 20 per cent of heat loss in the average home. Double-glazing creates an insulating barrier by trapping air between two panes of glass, which cuts heat loss, reduces noise and helps to prevent condensation.

The cost of replacing windows will vary greatly depending on the product you choose – whether it’s gas-filled; whether the pane is self-cleaning; the list goes on. Contact our friends at info@dynamight-internorm.co.uk for more details.

Solar hot water

Thermal panels capture energy from sunlight, transfer it to water to heat it, and then store it in a tank until it’s needed. According to the Energy Saving Trust, they can supply almost all of your hot water in summer. The system costs around £4,000 to install, and you should get payback in around eight years.

Fitting is relatively simple, and can usually be completed within a couple of days. You will need an additional water tank and it is ideal to combine it with heat pump. Drop us a line at info@futureproofenergy.co.uk and we will provide you with the details.

Solar electric

If you want to generate your own electricity, then solar photovoltaic (pv) cells may be ideal. It’s a myth that solar pv requires direct sunshine, although the more intense the light, the more electricity will be generated. Pv cells are available as panels that can be roof-mounted or inset. They also come as tiles to replace traditional coverings. Installation can cost around £20,000, but average annual CO2 savings – about 1.2 tonnes – are greater then solar thermal panels. And you can sell excess electricity back to the national grid to slash your payback time.

Planning permission shouldn’t be needed for solar thermal panels or photovoltaics thanks to new permitted development rules, but just to play safe, contact your local planning department before you install.

Ground source heat pumps

In a well-insulated property, GSHPs can provide 2-4kW of free energy for every 1kW of electricity used to power them, and are ideal for use with underfloor heating. Installation requires significant pipework to be laid in your garden, either horizontally or vertically.

A typical system suitable for a detached home will set you back about £8,000-£14,000. Running costs (to produce heating and 50 per cent of domestic hot water) are likely to be around £540 per year, but depend on factors such as the size of your home and how well insulated it is. Payback can be anywhere from eight to 12 years. Planning may be an issue so make enquiries with your council.

Air source heat pumps

There are two types of air source heat pumps (ASHPs): air-to-air systems provide warm air for circulation around the building, while air-to-water types heat water to provide heating via radiators or an underfloor system. Air source heat pumps don’t need a borehole or ground collector, making them ideal for small plots. A typical 9kW domestic system, suitable for a well-insulated detached property, costs £7,000-£10,000 installed.

You could save around £870 a year by operating an air source heat pump as the sole provider of heat, compared to the cost of running an electric system. Planning permission is not usually required, but it’s always prudent to check with your local council before installation. At Future Proof Energy we can advise you on the most suitable system and we are not connected with one manufacturer / supplier.

More information can be found at Future Proof Energy or ask us anything by writing to info@futureproofenergy.co.uk

… was a great success! I’m very happy with how the event went and loved the Science Gallery as a venue. If you’ve just stopped by here today for the first time, hello and thank you!

I’m off to the ERA campaign conference today, so notes from last night won’t go up until tonight/ tomorrow, but please do feel free to leave any feedback or further comments from last night below, and do come back and let me know if I’ve summarised the discussion properly!

If you’re interested in a copy of the publication (“Demystifying Disability in the Workplace”) that was launched last night by the very entertaining Senator David Norris, please drop me an email at getahead AT ahead.ie with your contact details.

This evening, in the Science Gallery in Trinity College Dublin, from 6pm, we have an event that I’ve been organising and one which is a little different for us, being much shorter than our regular conferences and as an evening event, will hopefully suit some more people. I’m looking forward to seeing how the format unfolds, to using the Science Gallery as a venue and most importantly, to what we’re actually doing and seeing how it’s received.

The point of the event is twofold. We want to launch WAM’s new publication, “Demystifying Disability in the Workplace”, which Senator David Norris has kindly agreed to do. And, we want to use the time to discuss one of the more confusing elements of disability in the workplace – reasonable accommodations.

The publication is born out of WAM’s experiences over the last 4 years, and it’s been informed by what managers and employers have told us, by what we’ve learnt from them and from graduates in the workplace. The primary motivation for the booklet is to provided practical guidelines for organisations on tackling everyday issues that arise in the recruitment and management of people with disabilities. It is in tended as an instrument for managers, supervisors and related personnel.  We hope that sharing that learning will mean that the same situations don’t keep coming up time and time again, so that we can progress in our ultimate aim, which is to see more and more people with disabilities having full access to and participation in an inclusive workforce.

The evening kicks off at 6, there’ll be refreshments available, and we’ll be done by 7:30 at the latest (but you can stay a little longer too!) If you want to come and can’t stay, do drop in, say hello and pick up a copy of the book. There’s not much point in writing about demystifying disability in the workplace, and having the book only sitting in our workplace! Either way, we’d love to see you.

One of the questions that we ask organisations that come to us for support around volunteering is about their volunteer policy. Specifically, about whether they have a statement of volunteers’ rights and responsibilities. I have always considered such a document to be of real benefit to both the volunteer and the organisation by setting out clearly what they can expect from each other.

I spotted this story on the Guardian’s website about treatment of volunteers by a couple of community radio stations. I feel very strongly that the example of a gay radio presenter quoted in this story who was “sacked” from his voluntary role only because of his sexuality is a breach of a volunteer right.

However, I worry about the rumblings about volunteers rights being extended to areas that are more properly employment rights. I have heard it suggested that volunteers should be given the right to sue for unfair dismissal. This seems to be dragging volunteering ever closer to the murky world of employment and I wonder if the proponents of such rights have thought through the implications of such a move.

An American volunteer manager, volunteering trainer and expert on online volunteering, Jayne Cravens, has made some very good points on the UKVPMs discussion forum. These points are so good that I am re-posting her entire message here.

On the one hand, I don’t believe in requiring volunteers to do things that staff aren’t: background checks should be for everyone, not just the volunteers. The anti-discrimination policy of the organization applies to everyone, not just paid staff. Neither paid staff nor volunteer staff should be exploited or mistreated or neglected.

But on the other hand, I also come from the point of view that:

• volunteering with a nonprofit is a privilege, not a *right.* I involve volunteers so long as it explicitly benefits the mission of the organization, and if forced to choose, my loyalty would be to the mission of the organization and those it serves rather than to a volunteer.
• volunteers are human beings and should absolutely be expected to be treated as such, however, they are NOT employees, and therefore are not entitled by law to any of the same legal benefits of an employee.
• volunteers are managed by a volunteer coordinator, rather than a human resources director, because volunteers are NOT employees.

So I read this article with a lot of empathy and sympathy, but then cringed at “Volunteers should be protected against unfair dismissal.” *Legally* protected? If so, legally protected *how*?

The *primary* consequence of an employee being unfairly dismissed is that he or she loses income. There are other consequences, but loss of income is the *primary” consequence, and we all know that income is necessary for our survival. The laws that protect employees from being unfairly dismissed aren’t designed to do anything other than to prevent an employee from losing income and to restore an unfairly-treated employee’s lost income; the laws aren’t designed to restore anyone’s dignity or honor.

What would be the legal redress of a volunteer wronged? If a volunteer is granted the ability to sue regarding dismissal, what will the compensation be if whatever deciding body sides with the volunteer? Will he or she receive money? If so, say goodbye to volunteer involvement at probably *most* organizations; they aren’t going to risk that kind of financial expenditure. Reinstatement? The organization will be forced to involve the volunteer in his or her previous role? Does that volunteer then become untouchable, meaning the organization will have to keep the kinds of files, including regular evaluations, on volunteers that they maintain for staff in order to justify the disciplining, the requirement for training or the firing of a volunteer?

I guess in summary: I don’t ever want any volunteer dismissed for arbitrary reasons, I don’t ever want any volunteer mistreated or exploited, and I want us all to work to make sure that never happens, but I also don’t want volunteers to become employees, for a variety of reasons that I hope I’ve made clear (not sure I have).

And so I don’t really know what the answer is…

Volunteering England have set up a Volunteer Rights Enquiry Perhaps we need to consider the issues and feed back our thoughts to this enquiry. Please let us know what you think.

Treat me right! A revolutionary approach to learning disabilities, Nigel Turner
British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, Vol. 3, Iss. 8, 13 Aug 2009, pp 418 – 420

Abstract:

Support for Living is revolutionizing the way people with learning disabilities are treated in one London hospital. The ‘Treat Me Right!’ project is educating staff and improving channels of communication For people with learning disabilities (Box1) accessing hospital services can be an uphill task. Unfortunately when they eventually make it into hospital, the system can let them down.

Lancashire Care staff can request the full-text of this paper, email: susan.jennings@lancashirecare.nhs.uk

A colleague sent this through the other day. It made me think about how we come over to our volunteers, especially to new people making contact with us the first time.

On the spur of the moment a friend and I went for lunch recently. Unfortunately, as we discovered, our enthusiasm to eat was defeated by the fact that we were on the wrong side of lunch time.

We entered the first restaurant after a quick glance at its appetising menu outside. A staff member approached us smiling and apologised that the kitchen had closed and although normally they could accommodate some late arrivals the Chef had to leave promptly that day. An apology… I find those very seductive; I was beginning to warm to the place. “Although no one is at fault, an apology is nice to hear,” I said to the staff member. My friend wanted to leave but there was more!

“We run special evenings for our customers, when we change our menu. Would you like us to add you to our email list as we have a special night coming soon?,” the helpful staff member continued. A willingness to do something for me, surely this must be a very special place indeed. I gave him my email address and he explained that they would take great care of it and never give it to anyone else. I was reassured. An apology, an offer and a promise to take care of my email address – my friend wanted to leave but there was more!

“If you are back later this week our opening hours are 12 to 3pm and from 6pm to 11pm and we are open all day Saturday and Sunday,” he said. Helpful information; I love to bask in the glow of helpful information. “I like your style, I am definitely coming back,” I replied. My friend wanted to leave but there was more!

“It’s not much but it might prevent you from starving,” the man said with a laugh as he thrust two large bags of organic peppers and red chilli hand cut crisps into our hands. “No cost, just pop in next time you’re about,” he continued. I didn’t even have time to reach for my wallet! I made a quick mental scan of my upcoming diary seeking the first gap I could see. My friend wanted to leave and this time we did. “See you soon,” I shouted to the helpful staff member.

We walked up the street to the next restaurant. We opened the door and a man behind the counter barked, “We’re closed”. We closed his door.

Which restaurant would be the metaphor for your organisation?

AHEAD Launch & Learn event, Monday 23rd November, 6pm, Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin

This short evening event will offer the chance to pick up our latest publication “Demystifying Disability in the Workplace” which will be launched by Senator David Norris and to help further the development of learning around reasonable accommodations in the workplace. We would be delighted if you would note the date in your diary, and share this information with anyone you think may be interested (for example, employers, hr personnel, managers, disability officers, careers officers, students and graduates with disabilities).

For further information, watch this space! (or of course you can email me) If you’d like to come, I’d appreciate if you could let me know, so that I can keep an eye on numbers.

I like to define variables always outside the loop regardless whether variables are primites or objects. I just like this Colleague at work told me that because of performance it is better to declare variables outside the loop. I don’t think so. I think that not always there is a difference. So I did some testing:

Variables are declared and defined inside the loop:

System.out.println(getTime());
 int index = 0;
 while(index < Integer.MAX_VALUE){
 index++;
 String str1 = "123";
 String str2 = "123";
 Integer int1 = new Integer(123123);
 Double double1 = new Double(123123);
 }
 System.out.println(getTime());

Variables are declared outside the loop and defined inside the loop:

System.out.println(getTime());
 int index = 0;
 String str1;
 String str2;
 Integer int1;
 Double double1;
 while(index < Integer.MAX_VALUE){
 index++;
 str1 = "123";
 str2 = "123";
 int1 = new Integer(123123);
 double1 = new Double(123123);
 }
 System.out.println(getTime());

In both cases there are no difference. But it’s a “good practice” to declare variables outside of a loop.

Source: Nursing Older People 2009 Jul; 21 (6): 24-26

Follow this link for abstract

Date of publication: July 2009

Publication type: Journal Article

In a nutshell: This article describes the experiences of a Nurse Consultant from Somerset who visited Finland to gain an understanding of stroke care in the country. The article provides an overview of stroke management in Finland and provides recommendations and examples of good practice for implementation in the UK.

Length of publication: 3 page article

Gone are the days of massive global hand outs, unless your name is the United Nations or your waging a war on behalf of the First World States. Gone are the times of huge foreign Aid packages that were given to greedy, corrupt hands to pilfer and steal. Gone is the trust of large multinational giants who were once so eager to buy their way into third world states on the back of aid donations. The world has wised up to the quiet deals, and darkened corridor agreements that were once the norm of corporate charitable work in Africa.

In some ways we welcome these changes in the broader outlook of the donor community in today’s day and age. We agree that it is a far healthier environment for the smaller charity to make survival possible through merit and hard work. We like the idea that through smaller bodies work is able to happen more quickly, more directly and far more efficiently than through the massive governance structures that meant donor aid was restricted through so much red tape that by the time it reached the needy it was very often far too late.

We fully agree that strict guidelines are enforced to ensure accountability and a vibrant and efficient service within the charitable community, and we would actively accept that corporate governance does play its part, but we have come to appreciate the restructuring of the Donor Agencies in 2009 in ways we have never seen before. Suddenly it is people within the community that are coming up with solutions to the troubles that befall their people, and this buy in by the Donor world is what has led to our ability as a small charity to survive post credit crunch.

Without this ability to look at the smaller picture and understand that at times money is needed in small pockets to make changes on a smaller scale at the very time that the change is most critical to provide for the support and long term credibility of a project that has enabled organisations such as ours to achieve success in our chosen areas of calling.

A borehole to support a horticultural project for Orphaned children to earn an income for their home goes a long way when support can be provided at the hour of need. In days gone by, the viability of the project would have come and passed before the need was met by a larger corporate structure. A roof on a kitchen when the original thatch became too old meant that a school were able to carry on feeding their borders instead of having to send them all home while they waited for funding to arrive.

These are the joys of being able to work at the front line of projects in Africa, and the support we can now rely on from the donor community of the 21st Century. Charity is changing, and it is high time that the Donor community at large caught up with the new trends of Organisations run by people within the communities in need with the skills and desire to see change come to those that need it now.

Our next Volunteer Managers Forum takes place on Wednesday 16^th December between 10 am and 2pm at Dalbury Lees Village Hall.

As well as finding an excuse to eat the odd mince pie, we will be joined by Emma Dagless of the Volunteer Centres Derbyshire Network, who is developing resources and good practice around involving young people under the age of 16 as volunteers. She will be sharing some of the work that she has being that is being picked up both locally and at national level. Many of us find it very difficult to know how we can involve young people and this forum offers us all a chance to share Emma’s specialist expertise in this complex field. 

In addition, we will be inviting you to test a panel of volunteering experts in a “Question Time” session. But look out, you may well be one of those experts, because the panel will be drawn from Volunteer Managers.

A couple of weeks ago I attended ‘Voices from the future 2020: how are we housed?’, an event organised by Sustainability West Midlands.

This is the first event in their ‘Voices from the future 2020′ series which develop themes from the report A low carbon vision for the West Midlands in 2020. The aim of this series is to stimulate thinking amongst decision makers in the West Midlands of the positive future we can have, and how to get there.

The main presentation, delivered by Stellan Fryxell, partner of Tenborn Architects in Stockholm, showed a great example of what a sustainable city looks like.

Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm, Sweden has been recognised as a success story all over the world.

Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm, Sweden. Photo by Victoria Henriksson, Dec 2003.

Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm, Sweden. Photo by Victoria Henriksson, Aug 2003.

Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm, Sweden. Photo by Victoria Henriksson, Aug 2003.

Symbiocity, the trademark that reflects all knowledge and experience in regard to the Swedish approach to sustainability, highlights:

In the 90’s, plans were made to build Hammarby Sjöstad in a former brownfield area of wharves and docks. The first construction phases were finalised in 2000. There will be 11,000 apartments, 25,000 inhabitants and 10,000 workplaces by 2015. The district is now famous for its integrated planning approach, where every aspect has been developed with the whole in mind.

Infrastructure investments delivered include:

• Automatic underground waste collection systems
• District heating and cooling fuelled partly by local waste collection and by heat exchangers in water treatment
• Solar-powered hot water and electricity
• Biogas from household sewage water and waste
• Collection and filtration of runoff water
• Super-efficient buildings, triple-glass windows, green roofs, and so on

I was particularly impressed with the holistic approach involved in shaping the city. Land use, transport, building materials, energy, waste, accessibility, services, leisure and culture were different aspects considered at the planning stage. Now, all of them are working together to make sustainability a reality.

If you want to know more about this project visit the Hammarby Sjöstad website or read the report Hammarby Sjöstad – a unique environmental project in Stockholm (PDF, 3.91mb).

This morning AHEAD will launch the Charter on Inclusive Teaching and Learning. You can download a copy here (see link at end of page)

Here’s our statement released last night:

Charter on Inclusive Teaching and Learning seeks to create a more equal world for students with disabilities

The Charter of Inclusive Teaching and Learning is being launched by Dr. Mary Liz Trant of the HEA on 3^rd November 2009 in the Clarence Hotel. Produced by AHEAD (the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability) the Charter is endorsed by the Irish Universities Association, the National Access Office, the Irish Universities Quality Board, the Teachers Union of Ireland and the Disability Advisors Working Network and  Access Officers .

The Charter lays out the minimum components required for inclusive education, in all aspects of teaching and learning in higher education institutions. It strives to describe and encourage the good practices that should be consistently delivered across all third level education to all students, as opposed to the current situation where individuals are setting excellent examples of such practice, in patches across the country.

These practices are proven to work, not only for students with disabilities, but for all students.  Applications from students with disabilities and specific learning difficulties to higher education institutions are surging, with an increase up of 25% each year.  There are now over 4,000 students with disabilities studying in higher education and these students can learn and want to learn but they learn differently, for example by using e-books and other technology to read and write.

Ann Heelan, Director of AHEAD said “The biggest barrier to making changes stick is stereotypical assumptions by some staff who fail to see the potential behind the disability or appreciate the need to alter the way they teach.   The challenge for institutions is to change how they operate so they have the capacity to meet the different learning requirements of a diverse group of students. In the current economic climate this approach improves the quality of our teaching but has little or no additional costs.”

Being part of a team, I’m sure we all find it easier to communicate and engage with each other face-to-face; it’s argubly the best way to build up the rapport.  However, face-to-face meetings can entail lots of time and effort in coordination and traveling, which might not be feasible if your team members are working in different locations in a county, or even across different regions.  So what alternative do we have?

Besides using tools such as online forum and wiki to collaborate, we can always do it in the old-fashion way – give your teammate a ring!  With the help of free online tools such as MSN, Skype and iChat (For Mac users), not only can we speak with each other, we can also see each others’ faces – a good substitute to getting in for a one-hour meeting with three-hour drive before and afterwards.

Videoconferencing

Setting up videoconferencing facilities could be an expensive process, if you’re looking at high quality equipments with good audio and visual output.  According to Oxford University Computer Services, a stand-alone video-conference equipment would cost at least £2,000.   That said, some colleges might already have that kind of equipments in place, and registered with JANET, who provides free videoconferencing services for FE and HE institutions.  So go and seek advice from your IT department and see whether you could use their facilities.  As long as one of your campuses have registered, other team members can join in the conference as guests.  That comes quite handy!

However, you don’t need to have very high-end equipments to get started.  If your aim is to connect with your teammates and work together, online tools such as Skype can be very useful.  All you need to set up a meeting with 2 to 6 people in different locations are headset and webcam; not only can you save up much time in traveling, these online tools are also free of charge!  A perfect solution for geographical barriers – Officers from Cornwall College have told us at the NUS FEstival their plan to adopt this technology across their seven campuses.  So what are you waiting for?

Small tips

• The option of using free online tools is only effective if you’re hosting a small-scale meeting, i.e. each end has only one attendee (so if you’ve six different locations, then six people). The reason is that if you’ve to use speakers (instead of headsets) to speak, there would be a huge compromise on audio quality.
• Make sure you speak clearly and let others know who you’re, as it’s not a one-to-one conversation and can be quite confusing at times.
• In case of confusion, make good use of the chatting function attached to these software (That’s definitely an advantage over normal phone conversation).

Need more information?
JANET Video Conferencing Services
Oxford University Computer Services – Video Conferencing

Title: Max4Health hand hygiene evaluation report

Skinny: Sets out the results of an evaluation of the Max4Health hand hygiene campaign undertaken at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust over a nine week period between February and April 2009

Publisher: DH

Size of Publication: 16p

Published: 23/10/2009

The DeliveryDemon is becoming fascinated by marketing and PR, particularly the ways of achieving a balance between appealing to the aspirations of potential customers, and providing those customers with the comfortable feeling that they are dealing with a supplier who can be trusted to fulfil those aspirations as promised. When it comes to marketing over the web, the press regularly has a field day with scare articles which, I am sure, many of us read with the smug assumption that we would never be so foolish as to fall for such a scam.

But how can we distinguish between a genuine seller with poor website skills, and a website thrown together by a scammer who knows that, if they can drive sufficient traffic to the website, enough people will unthinkingly enter their personal or financial details for the scammer to reap a profit? The answer is that there is no foolproof way to distinguish between the scammer and the amateur.

Anyone who wants a commercial website to deliver results needs to deliver a professional presentation in order for the customer to feel confident about buying. The DeliveryDemon has been surprised at how often she considers buying from a website then decides not to because something generates a feeling of mistrust. If you find that potential customers are dropping out half way through buying on your website,  have a look at http://www.thinklikeauser.com/sell-more-online-by-ditching-the-red-flags-on-your-website/ It’s surprising how many websites ignore these ways of building in customer confidence

http://www.voxafrica.com/modx/en/ShootTheMessenger/desperately-seeking-good-news

How’s this for a classic quote from a Civil Servant?

“When we started this, volunteer and community groups were desperately seeking volunteers. But because of the recession there are more volunteers, and groups are not desperate for them any more.”

He was talking about the implementation of government’s Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Act, which was passed in July,which allows immigrants who have been in the UK for five years to gain citizenship within one further year, rather than three, if they can prove they have been an “active citizen” by volunteering.

The great and good within the volunteering movement are getting very hot under the collar because the act seems to setting people up for compulsory volunteering.  Obviously this is a total contradiction in terms, but it’s a contradiction that also seems to apply to unemployed people. Another current national news story shows that the government’s grand plan to get 30,000 unemployed people into volunteering is falling short of its targets. Five months into a two year programme (21% of the time) only 7% of the target number of unemployed people are volunteering.

But if the government’s justification for these targets falling short, or for the slowdown in implementation of the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Act is because volunteer-involving organisations no longer need volunteers because we’re now overwhelmed with them, they are seriously out of touch.

We NEVER encourage volunteer managers to use the phrase “desperate for volunteers”; that would be the biggest turn-off possible to anyone thinking of joining the organisation. We emphasise what great opportunities we offer people, but the fact remains that most of us are not overwhelmed with volunteers, recession or not.

If you want some support in attracting, recruiting, or retaining volunteers, get in touch with the Volunteer Centre. And don’t forget our to book your place on our training / networking session on Making The Most of Volunteers’ Talents

I wish I could tell you that the BBC, ITV and other UK television channels had embraced our field, but we’d have to be in the USA to see how mainstream peak-time television treats volunteering. The programmes are on air this week and, I guess, will eventually arrive here in the UK. 

We picked this story up via an American volunteer manager based in Germany who emailed another volunteer manager in Australia.

Volunteering Coming to Your TV Set Next Week!

Television shows on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and several cable channels are incorporating themes of service and volunteering into their scripts and story lines that will reach hundreds of millions of viewers during the week of October 19-25. All this primetime focus is expected to generate renewed interest in volunteering in local communities. The Corporation for National and Community Service has teamed up with EIF on this unprecedented effort, and we encourage you to use this opportunity to recruit volunteers and highlight the work your organization is doing.

Are you ready for Desperate Housewives, Ghost Whisperers, Mentalists, and Heroes to call your office looking for a way to volunteer? Those shows are just some of the more than 90 primetime programs that will be highlighting volunteering next week as part of iParticipate, a national initiative of the Entertainment Industry Foundation to shine the spotlight on the ways that everyday Americans help their neighbors.

The American story also gives some very useful tips about how organisations need to be ready to respond to the flood of enquiries that this campiagn should bring. As set of tips that all of us who work with volunteers can use, once translated from American into into English.

Are you and your organization ready? Here are a few tips and links from the Resource Center on ways to welcome, invite, incorporate, support, and celebrate the volunteers who walk through your doors.

• Review or create the phone script that you use when volunteers call <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/sample-telephone-script>.
• Set a welcoming tone, and know who is responsible and what the message is.
• Revise and clarify existing job descriptions for volunteers <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/volunteer-position-description-and-example>
• and have those applications ready <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/sample-application-form>.
• Update your online presence. Post your opportunities on an online volunteer matching database
• Across the country, the local affiliates of the four broadcast networks will be looking for volunteer stories to highlight on their newscasts.
• This is a great time to reach out to your local affiliates  with stories and statistics about your volunteering and service program — talk shows, morning shows, and evening news. Print media may also be more receptive.
• Collect stories about what volunteers have done for your organization <http://www.serve.gov/share.asp>.
• For a media toolkit with tips and sample materials, visit: http://www.serve.gov/spread.asp
• Brainstorm new ideas of ways that volunteers could support your organization <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/scoping-new-potential-projects>.
• Engage your board in planning, organizing, and leading a project with visibility <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/project-planning-tools>.
• Not all volunteers want to do direct service. Identify internal projects where volunteers could make a big contribution to your organization.
• It’s all about /variety/—virtual jobs, one-day projects, group and family activities, and long-term assignments.
• If your organization is not prepared to accept new volunteers, refer them to other organizations where their interests can be put to good use.
• Contact peer organizations to consider collaborating with them. If you do not regularly engage volunteers, learn from others how best to use them.
• Clarify roles in training, supporting, and supervising volunteers <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/train-support-and-supervise-volunteers>. Skilled volunteers can fill this role if appropriate staff is not available < http://nationalserviceresources.org/online-courses/the-nonprofit-readiness-toolkit>.
• Plan a project for a group to undertake; break it into small enough chunks so that several groups or individuals can contribute to its completion.
• Use this increase in visibility to develop a long-range strategy to engage the community in new ways. They want to help you, but they need to know how.
• Celebrate, honor, and thank all the volunteers who have labored on your behalf <http://nationalserviceresources.org/iparticipate/recognition-ideas>.For more information on iParticipate, visit www.iParticipate.org

Thanks to Rob Jackson of Volunteering England for pointing out that the website of the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services has just been updated with the details of a Volunteer Coordinator‘ role.

Please note that this is not a job advert as such, but is there to give information to the people who advise university students about possible careers. This should help to raise the profile of what many of us do as a small part of an already busy job.