Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network: 2006 Year in Review

The year 2006 was a transformative one for the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network. We celebrated several significant achievements and tailored programming to the newly developed strategic operation plan.

• The Points of Light Foundation and more than 330 Volunteer Centers across the country adopted the Affiliation Agreement, which formalizes their relationship and creates a more unified and effective national system of mobilizing and managing volunteers.
• The Foundation and The Disney Company teamed up to support family volunteering. The three-year initiative will include sponsorship of Family Volunteer Day, a national media campaign to promote family volunteering and the resources of local Volunteer Centers, as well as other special projects that will help engage families in volunteering.
• In the aftermath of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005, the Foundation and the Network worked to build an infrastructure for the effective management of volunteers in disaster, which has influenced the way disasters are managed and communities respond and heal. The Foundation also launched HelpinDisaster.org, a national database registry that allows individuals to register and indicate their skill sets prior to a disaster and connects volunteers with opportunities to serve before and during times of disaster. In addition, the Foundation”s produced “We Are Family,” an all-star, benefit CD and behind-the-scenes DVD, which highlights the need to assist the nearly one million families still displaced by the hurricanes of 2005.
• By launching MissionFish.org.uk, the Foundation achieved another important milestone in our quest to reach new donors and create new dollars for nonprofit organizations. The initiative will extend our program to sellers and charities in the United Kingdom.

The Foundation also developed programming as outlined under the four goals of the 2006 strategic operating plan:

To offer leadership to the volunteer sector:

• We continued to partner with the Corporation for National and Community Service in sponsoring the 2006 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, which was in Seattle and attracted more than 2,500 attendees.
  
  
• We partnered with the Corporation for National and Community Service in its Training and Technical Assistance program to leverage additional volunteers for AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs and the communities they serve.
  
  
• We expanded the involvement of youth and families in volunteering by conducting five, national outreach and training seminars for nonprofits and Volunteer Centers, by responding to more than 2,000 requests for technical assistance and by expanding National Family Volunteer Day by more than 30 percent — to 24,000 families.
  
  

To improve the performance of volunteer organizations:

• We provided funding, training and technical assistance to expand the capacity of Volunteer Centers. With this support, Volunteer Centers connected more than 2.4 million people to community volunteer opportunities, trained more than 150,000 community leaders and assisted more than 70,000 community and faith-based groups to engage volunteers more productively.
  
  
• We continued to expand 1-800-Volunteer.org, a national volunteer management system for volunteers and volunteer organizations, and count 150 Volunteers Centers, more than 45,000 volunteer opportunities and more than 150,000 volunteers. This service also supports special disaster initiatives in Mississippi and Louisiana to encourage volunteer involvement in hurricane recovery. In addition, 1-800-Volunteer.org launched its first university portal/Volunteer Center partnership for the University of Virginia's Health Care System.
  
  
• We provided unprecedented awareness and support to the more than 10,000 nonprofit organizations participating in MissionFish, our partnership with eBay. The initiative attracted 40,000 new donors and generated more than $20 million dollars in unrestricted revenue for causes in the United States and United Kingdom.
  
  
• In 2006, VolunteerResource.org, a comprehensive virtual library of resources and effective practices on volunteering and volunteer management, received 219,077 hits with an average of 1,755 downloads per month (total downloads for the site exceeding 21,000) and more than 20,600 visitors. To date, there are 1,230 free and for-sale resources on the site.
  
  
• In 2006, we completed more than 120 products and materials to support and strengthen the work of our network.
  
  

To increase awareness of the value of volunteering:

• We entered into a three-year agreement with the Corporation for National and Community Service to engage more than 90,000 Americans in meaningful service that honors the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by selecting and distributing 30 sub-grants a year to a diverse group of quality organizations across the country to support service projects on Dr. King’s birthday holiday
  
  
• We recruited and mobilized more than 2.75 million volunteers in addition to those supported through the Volunteer Centers and through our corporate partners that have Employee Volunteer Programs.
  
  
• We brought a national spotlight to volunteers and volunteer organizations nationwide by giving 260 Daily Points of Light awards to deserving individuals or community organizations that performed exemplary community service.
  
  
• We continued our collaboration with USA Freedom Corps and the Corporation for National and Community Service by distributing more than 125,000 President’s Volunteer Service Awards and recruiting 6,000 new “certifying” organizations for these awards.
  
  
• We enhanced the involvement of the corporate sector in volunteering by managing the National Council on Workplace Volunteerism; training more than 200 corporate leaders at targeted events and 280 business representatives at the annual National Conference on Volunteering and Service, and providing 235 businesses with direct workplace volunteering assistance.
  
  
• We celebrated the 10^th anniversary of our Connect America program, sponsored from the beginning by the Shell Oil Company, and the innovative partnerships and collaborations that have had lasting impact in communities across the nation.
  
  

To maintain a vital organization:

• As an enhancement of 1-800-Volunteer.org, we launched a companion Web site HelpInDisaster.org, a national database registry that allows individuals to register and indicate their skill sets prior to a disaster, and matches volunteers with opportunities to serve before and during times of disaster.
  
  
• The Foundation continues to mobilize volunteers who are rebuilding Gulf Coast communities in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane season and assisting more than 750,000 displaced families. One hundred and fifty Volunteer Centers have been engaged in this effort, and nearly 50 continue to assist victims in the affected areas or with evacuees.
  
  
• We raised more than $3 million in new funding from private sources to support the work of Volunteer Centers in times of disaster relief and preparedness.
  
  
• Through the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Challenge Grant Program, we developed the tools and resources to assist Volunteer Centers in engaging Boomer volunteers effectively in meeting the needs of hurricane victims.
  
  
• We collaborated with Citizen Corps to strengthen the preparedness of the United States to prevent and respond to threatened or actual domestic terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies.