Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher serves as chair of the Volunteer Center National Network Council (VCNNC) and a board member of the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network (Foundation). Marilee also is the mayor of Dublin, Ohio, and president and CEO of FIRSTLINK, Inc., a Columbus-based organization providing information, referral, community education and volunteering. Marilee recently discussed the Affiliation Agreement of the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network with To the Point editor, Sara Grosvenor. The agreement seeks to coordinate individual strengths and capabilities for the mutual benefit of all participants.

What was the process leading up to the Affiliation Agreement between the Points of Light Foundation and the Volunteer Center National Network?
I was on the Volunteer Center Council during the 1997 Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future, and I believe that period was truly a turning point in the relationship between the two groups. The national representatives who were organizing the summit really needed a delivery system, and we (the VCC) became very intimately involved in the discussions with the executive staff of the Foundation about: “What should this summit be?” and “What should the outcomes be?” I think as a result of those discussions, both the Foundation and the VCC began to consider what we might offer to the volunteering field if we became closer-knit and directed our resources to building a stronger network across the country.

In a broad sense, what is the Affiliation Agreement?
It’s a document that speaks to a relationship that will really improve and increase the ability of Volunteer Centers to serve a broader audience across the country, so that in the future, we will be able to serve, ultimately, 100 percent of the United States.

What is the significance of the Affiliation Agreement’s essential services?
The Affiliation Agreement allows us the opportunity to say to the public: “We offer a consistency of program or services through this essential service model.” Now, some Volunteer Centers may offer many more than that, but we will know that every single player offers the essentials: a Web-based, volunteer-matching software application, volunteer management training and volunteer recognition activities.

With this Affiliation Agreement, what will we, as a system, do better?
Well, I think that there are a number of things that will happen over time. One is that we will be able to look at which specific services from a national standpoint we could seek funding for and build capacity for, so as to deliver them at the local level. Then we can say that, truly, every American has access to a Volunteer Center for volunteer opportunity information, as well as for training to improve their skills to be an effective volunteer.

We also will ensure that all volunteer managers have access to training to be more efficient, so that they can receive volunteers effectively, retain them to deliver the services necessary in their organizations and increase volunteer opportunities. Another thing that Volunteers Centers will be able to do is to share services. As an example, in Ohio we might say, there are four Volunteer Centers that conduct training, and those four Volunteer Centers would be available to do training in other communities. Then all communities would have access to the training, but not all Volunteer Centers would provide training as their competency.

Please summarize the key component of the Affiliation Agreement for Volunteer Centers.
The main component is that the Volunteer Centers now have an increased voice on the Points of Light Foundation’s board of directors by having three people representing the Volunteer Center system and also the chair of the National Council.

What are the benefits of the Affiliation Agreement to the Foundation?
Well, one of the problems with what I’ll refer to as an advocacy organization and an infrastructure organization is that they don’t have the ability to say, “We have served so many people,” which organizations like Big Brothers, Big Sisters, or Boys and Girls Clubs or YWCAs have. And so this agreement will give the Foundation an opportunity to be able to show an impact, first by demonstrating the outcomes that we want to have as a network, and then by collecting that data so that we’ll be able to show the country and the legislative body the amount of people that are changing the lives of the communities.

What are the benefits of the Affiliation Agreement to the nation?
Well, I think the ultimate benefit to both local communities and the nation is that we will end up with universal access, which will be important to people as they seek to be more engaged in their community. This is particularly important as we see the profile of the American population changing. New volunteers may come from countries around the world that did not have formalized volunteering and need to learn about how to volunteer in their communities.

How do you view the responsibility of the Points of Light Foundation in this new system?
First of all, they have the pulse of what’s happening nationally. They can see trends across the country and across the world about our sector. It becomes incumbent upon them to really research and understand those trends, to look at new program designs and to educate us as to how we can do business at the local level.

And I think that their role is also to seek out funding that will be re-granted for development of different kinds of programs and target audiences. They’re very good at that and very good at developing toolkits for us to use when we want to deal with those specified programs or populations. And that, I think, needs to increase, and they’re better equipped to do that than we are at a local level.

What is the role of the Volunteer Center leadership staff with the Affiliation Agreement?
I think the most exciting part is figuring out how we going to communicate more effectively with the broader network, so that more people can be engaged in networking, and they can learn more through their colleagues about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. We also need to figure out how to use computer tools so that we can influence and educate the broader network.

What is the role of the Volunteer Center staff at the local level based on the Affiliation Agreement?
Our staff at the local level are responsible for doing almost the same thing that you do on a national level, but we need to be sharing the trends that we’re seeing at a local level, not just by population, but by funding, and figuring out the major initiatives that are going on and how might we sit at those tables and have a volunteer strategy for the resolution of community issues. We need, one, to feed all that information and be more politically active at a local level. And we need, two, to give that information to the national people, so that they can figure out how they can support and find those themes that are occurring across the country.

We need to increase our funding capacity at the local level so we can improve salaries and benefit packages to retain leadership and staff at Volunteer Centers. We have a 30 percent turnover in Volunteer Center leadership annually, and you can’t build a system as quickly with that kind of turnover.

Where do you see the System in the next three to five years?
I think that we will begin to fundraise more effectively, so that we can increase the amount of money that is available, at the local, state and national levels, for these initiatives. It’ll be much more powerful for the Foundation to go to either the legislative body or to corporations and indicate that their local delivery system will be doing A, B and C, and they can guarantee that they will do them.

Also, Volunteer Centers will be able to serve more areas of the country because of advancement in technology, more satellite offices and the different regional Volunteer Center models than we have today.

Lastly, we will be able to demonstrate that we have trained and, ultimately, certified volunteer managers, that we will be providing more of them and that we will be more effective in receiving and working with volunteers.

As mayor of Dublin, Ohio, President of FIRSTLINK and chair of the VCNNC, what inspires you to do all this?
I just love it. My formal volunteering started when I was 12, as a Candy Striper in the local hospital. I always have believed that it is your obligation to be involved in your community, whatever way that means to you. And if you don’t like something in your community, don’t complain about it unless you’re willing to get in there and change that. Change is always perceived as negative, but it might just be that you’re trying to influence the direction in which things are going.