2009 International Volunteering News Archive

So how does a leader attain detachment?
11 September 2009 | Forbes
If attachment is a cardinal leadership sin, detachment is a virtue. Attachment to power and wealth can lead to the downfall of the greatest of leaders; a sense of detachment can bring everlasting glory. But a meaningful level of true detachment is very difficult to attain. We are physiologically wired to develop attachment to the things around us. Researchers at Ohio State University and Illinois State University recently reported finding that simply touching a coffee cup for a few seconds could create a personal attachment to it. MORE

Can volunteers be a lifeline for nonprofit groups?
24 January 2009 | New York Times
Times are certainly tough on Wall Street, and the automakers are suffering as well. But consider the hardships that nonprofit organizations are enduring. Public funding and charitable donations have plummeted even as demand for nonprofits' services – especially for things like food and housing assistance – has risen sharply. Read more

Volunteer to save the economy
22 January 2009 | New York Times
This week, President Obama called upon all Americans to volunteer, to pitch in and give back. We hope that the president is serious about this challenge, because providing more opportunities for national and community service won't just lift the nation's spirit, it could help save the economy. In fact, an investment in service as part of the economic recovery plan could add hundreds of thousands of jobs to the four million the Obama administration has proposed. And because jobs at nonprofit groups pay so little, they would cost the government less than many other stimulus measures. Read more

Inspired by Obama's call to action, thousands volunteer in valley
19 January 2009 | San Jose Mercury News
If the purpose of Monday's National Day of Service was to inspire scores of Americans to help others, it did. If the hope was that people would pledge to make volunteering a routine part of their lives, it worked. If the plan was to marshal the Obama forces that had worked to get him elected president, it succeeded. On the eve of Barack Obama's swearing in as the first African-American president of the United States, volunteers from around the Bay Area and across the country spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day planting trees and feeding the homeless, filling care packages for soldiers and building bookcases for disadvantaged children. Read more

Changing with the times: Five volunteering trends
4 January 2009 | The Arizona Republic
In the decades that volunteer centers have played matchmaker for people who want to donate time and the non-profit groups that need them, community servicehas undergone a makeover. As people became busier and lifestyles changed, "We've responded to the change in demand for volunteer opportunities," said Rhonda Oliver, president and CEO of HandsOn Greater Phoenix. Here are five trends she has seen. Read more

Think about volunteering, urges Governor-General
1 January 2009 | Otago Daily Times
New Zealanders are being urged to add support of voluntary organisations to their list of New Year's resolutions. In his first New Year message today, Governor-General Anand Satyanand has emphasised the importance of volunteering to New Zealand's society and economy. Read more

The measurement of volunteer work
January 2009 | IAVE
This report comes to us from Dr. Lester M. Salamon, with the assistance of Adriana Mata-Greenwood, at the Center for Civil Society Studies, Institute for Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
A Working Group on the Measurement of Volunteer Work was authorized by the 18th International Conference of Labor Statisticians to consider the possible measurement of volunteer work through regular labor surveys or other survey methodologies. The Working Group met on Friday, November 28, 2008, and was chaired by Yandiswa Mpetsmeni from Statistics South Africa. In attendance were approximately 100 statistical officials and business and labor representatives as well as staff of the ILO. Also attending were Dr. Lester M. Salamon of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies and Ms. Mae Chao of United Nations Volunteers. Read more

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