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April 2001 - So You Want to Start a Volunteer Council?By Rosemarie Kelly (Cargill) Well, you should have been at the CVC-sponsored Best Practices program, hosted by American Express on Tuesday, March 27. The room of 40-plus community affairs people from the corporate and nonprofit communities listened intently as representatives of American Express and Pillsbury shared their experiences in forming dynamic councils that contribute thousands of volunteer hours toward the improvement of our community. It is clear, we can all learn from the standard-setting effort of American Express and Pillsbury's employee and retiree councils. American Express' spokespersons were Roberta Casey of its Women's Interest Network, Mary Jo Maloney, past chair of its Volunteer Council and Mark Heimenz, community relations manager. Pat O'Hallaran of Pillsbury's Golden Ambassadors and Barb Alfrey of Pillsbury's community relations staff shared the how-tos of commingling retirees and employees to get a highly visible volunteer presence in the Twin Cities area. Presenters gave out examples of both companies' volunteer council bylaws, vision and mission statements, calendar of events, roles and responsibilities and newsletters that highlighted the successes of their volunteer programs. During 1-1/2 hour program, participants gained valuable tips on:
As getting off first base is always the challenge, many attendees had questions on how to get a volunteer council started and how to get senior management's support. Ten years ago someone at American Express had a vision of putting structure around what was a loosely-formed group of employees who had varied community interests. Ten years later American Express has a highly structured council with specified roles and Networks that share the common objective of "making a positive and visible presence in the community." All presenters agreed that having an employee or retiree council helps to channel the volunteer energy of the organization. When Roberta Casey came to American Express she "wanted to get to know people" so she signed up for a volunteer project. The rest was history. Roberta went on to do other volunteer projects, eventually becoming a member of the council. Everyone concurred that "the chair is the key" to a successful and strong council. The council should be seen as a prestigious organization to join. Therefore, it should have formal roles and responsibilities, meet regularly, have a senior management champion and publicize the effects of its programs to its stakeholders: new and established employees, retirees and community members. To be effective, the council should plan ahead, decide its programs and publicize its calendar of events using all communication media in the company. One of the most important activities that the volunteer or retiree council does is the recognition of its volunteers. This is an activity not to be overlooked. Volunteer recognition could involve sending a thank you letter to the employee, copying the manager or organizing a formal reception to thank all volunteers. Many organizations fail to involve their retirees in their community programs. Not Pillsbury. Pillsbury's Golden Ambassador program sets the bar high. It is structured with a board of directors and project chairs who organize group and individual activities for Pillsbury's 150 active retirees in the Twin Cities area. Tom O'Halaran of Pillsbury's Golden Ambassadors puts it well: I'm retired. It's a great occupation. I play and I volunteer." Armed with information, program participants left for the day ready to go back to their nonprofit or corporation and begin the process of improving or setting up employee and retiree councils. The world can breathe a sigh of relief that there are all these people in the Twin Cities who care about the health of our community. |
