Getting the volunteer equation right....

You can't please everybody. Legions of articles and books detail both the triumphal and disastrous experiences with volunteers. But overlooked are the potential great volunteers we lose because our internal management systems are not set up to treat volunteers as a rich resource. This piece from Blue Avocado highlights the frustrations some volunteers face when trying to give of themselves to organizations that are ill equipped to deal with people in a professional manner.

As Boomers retire nonprofit managers are going to have a giant pool of volunteer brainpower available.  The organizations which effectively use these experienced people are the ones most likely to thrive in the next 20 years.