Leading up to the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in less than two weeks there will be many civic discussions about all things related to volunteering.  An essential topic of discussion is the importance of service and leadership development.  In order to have positive volunteer experiences you need experienced volunteer leaders.

Our job at Points of Light is to create volunteer opportunities that cultivate relationships and encourage people to volunteer again.  We facilitate organized volunteer projects that are structured to support the work of everyone involved and create a positive experience for each individual.  We have found that one of the most important take-aways that volunteers want from engaging in projects is the feeling that they have helped someone and made a difference.

In order to create these positive volunteer experiences there needs to be helpful, well-informed service leaders.  It is very important to develop lasting relationships with volunteers and to build a system in which volunteers become further engaged beyond their one experience.  Every volunteer is a potential volunteer leader.

We provide resources through HandsOn Network to encourage people to become service leaders by supplying toolkits, project playbooks, and specialized training. HandsOn Volunteer Leaders are trained to lead well managed projects and programs that build on community assets, meet community needs, and provide volunteers with a positive experience so that they continue their journey of service.

HandsOn University powered by the University of Phoenix provides certification courses to teach information about setting up, managing, and leading volunteer programs.  Everyone can find all the resources to receive a specific skill set required to lead volunteers in service. The certificate will make it possible for service leaders to move between organizations and set a sector-wide standard for the competencies of service leaders. With these resources we create HandsOn Volunteer Leaders who drive social change.

Click here to learn more about becoming a service leader.

Read today’s NCVS blog post about Service and Leadership Development.

Read today’s HandsOn blog about tips for creating Service Leaders.