"Volunteer is a pay rate not a job title."

I stumbled on this great quote from Susan Ellis, of e-Volunteerism (@energizeinc), today after talking to a chapter president in New England. In that conversation she noted so many things she was managing and in that context referred to one that she wouldn't ask her volunteers to do - it wasn't in their job description. She understands that volunteer is the pay rate not a "dumping ground."

Home again. Works awaits, but my mind is full of ideas, resources, tips and new friends’ names and faces. #ASAE10 hits a homerun.

Here are just five voices among the many from #ASAE10 ...

Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again .... oh baby

Well I do know when I'll be back again. It'll be after 5 days of non-stop fun and learning at #ASAE10 in Los Angeles. Here are the first 5 reasons I'm going (there are way more!):

Our next conversation celebrating the association volunteer (read more here) is with Don Boucher, Sr.,  S R A of Boucher & Boucher, Inc. who currently serves on the board of the Washington DC Metro Chapter of the Appraisal Institute (AIDC). He is a lon g time appraiser (37 years and counting) who believes that if you wa nt to be a positive influence in your industry then you must become involved with your professional association at some point in your professional life.

"10% of the people do all the work…and you’ve got to be one of the 10% some time in your life.

Robert J. Rosenthal, Director of Communications for VolunteerMatch, wrote an inspiring post on Beth Kanter's blog following the June 2010  National Conference on Volunteering and Service. He wrote about how volunteer coordinators could help their organizations become nettworked nonprofits.

He made several thoughtful observations, the richest of which was captured in his quote:

"Yet I think it’s another fear [beyond fear of failure] – fear of the unknown – that’s one of the biggest limits. When things are unknown, they can’t be envisioned at all. The earth remains flat, and it’s hard to eliminate the barriers that stand in the way of exploration."

We were leading a full-day strategic planning session for a California chapter and in the midst of a making a difficult decision, the chapter president said, "well our decisions are etched in jello."  Within this statement was a wonderful bit of wisdom. Too many times chapters aren't able to take a leap of faith and try something different. The refrain "but we've always done it this  way and it works" puts up a impenetrable wall.

With one statement, this president opened a door. If the decision didn't work or they ran into trouble implementing it, they could fall back. Making the change didn't mean they were wedded to it forever.

His comment got a few chuckles and a vote to change. It's that kind of leadership that is needed in more chapters. When's the last time your chapter took the leap?

Taggies is the nickname for the 2010 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards & Report created by Nancy Schwartz, who works with nonprofits and publishes Getting Attention blog and e-newsletter. This year the awards added a new category for programs – like your volunteer program.

Rebecca Leaman's post on Wild Apricot blog got a number of us (including my post on E-harmony for Volunteers) started in reflecting on quizzes for volunteers. We are always looking for ways to reach out and engage members as volunteers. Quizzes give us another way of doing that but Robert Rosenthal challenges us to look at where these quizzes drop would-be volunteers off in his post Turning Prospects into Happy Volunteers.  That's a good question and he gives us a example to consider with the WE Tv quiz which takes the volunteer just short of the real destination.

The Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) hosted the 2010 Regional Association Council’s 11th annual Leadership Development Workshop (LDW) last month in Grapevine, Texas. And while it was focused on its 175 executive directors and volunteer leaders from all 28 regional associations, it offered lessons – and lots of ideas – for associations which are planning leadership conferences.

I had an inside view and the opportunity to give the keynote Back to the Future for Associations and a break-out session The Secrets to Creating an Exceptional Volunteer Experience.  I took away so many great ideas on logistics, on involving the members and leaders in the planning and the event, on managing volunteers and more. And I relished the opportunity to be at a volunteer and staff event that had an abundance of energy.

Over the past two months I have had the chance to spend time with nearly 1000 volunteer leaders and many chapter executives from a wide spectrum of associations – promotional product professionals, family physicians, diabetes educators, case managers, subcontractors, principals, event professionals, public relations professionals… . I am awed by the dedication they show and the enthusiasm they share. And I am troubled by the fact that one recurring bit of angst comes up over and over: we can’t get enough volunteers.

Here are excited, dedicated members saying one of their toughest problems is getting more of them. I think it’s a lot like the conversation I hear when I’m talking with other parents. We just can’t get our kids to be more like us.