Volunteer Centers Partner for Volunteer Impact
By Renee L. Wilson Gaines

Portland's Partnership for Volunteer Impact is an innovative collaboration between Hands on Portland, Volunteer Connection of Clackamas County, RSVP of Washington County, the Volunteer Center of Clark County, and RSVP of Clark County.

The Partnership's four goals are:

• To increase capacity of volunteer organizations to involve volunteers effectively;

• To increase the ability of volunteers to connect to meaningful service opportunities;

• To create a single benchmark to measure volunteerism in the four-county area; and

• To create a single vision for volunteerism in the community.

Key strategies to meeting these goals include conducting successful Volunteer Management 101 trainings for 200 area organizations, as well as a Leadership Training Series for 200 local volunteers in the four counties.

Additionally, the Partnership launched a new website, www.volunteerhere.com, jointly listing volunteer opportunities andit conducted a benchmark survey of 800 individuals in the four area counties to gauge public attitudes and behaviors about volunteering. A Helping Hands Community Impact Grant from United Way of the Columbia-Willamette funds the Partnership for Volunteer Impact.

For more information on the Partnership for Volunteer Impact, or to have your nonprofit listed on volunteerhere.com, call the Volunteer Center or RSVP nearest to you:

• Hands On Portland 503-413-7787
• Volunteer Connection of Clackamas County 503-650-3514
• Volunteer Center of Clark County 360-694-6577
• Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Clark County 360-696-8221
• Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Washington County 503-639-5620