May 2003 - All About Volunteer Councils

On May 20, Target Corporation hosted the latest CVC Professional Development Program, "All About Volunteer Councils".

Cheryl Thompson, Target Corporation, presented information on Target Corporation's Volunteer Councils. Target Corporation has a total of 11 volunteer councils corporate wide. Cheryl shared best practices and tips for starting and maintaining successful volunteer councils.

Zeeda Magnuson, Volunteer Resource Center , presented tips when starting a corporate volunteer council. This was followed by various case studies -- submitted from CVC members prior to the meeting -- to help solve problems and learn how to avoid similar issues. Case study topics included: how to recruit volunteer council members, how to keep things fresh, how to define the roles of the council, how to obtain senior management support, and how to handle difficult council members.

Checklist when Starting a Volunteer Council

PROGRAM FOCUS
Ensure volunteer council supports the focus of your company's volunteer program.

SUPPORT
Ensure you have support for both your volunteer program and volunteer council from management & leadership.

STRUCTURE
Determine the structure of the volunteer council and build communications into the structure.

LOGISTICS
Determine logistically how to set up the council - will the council meet monthly, quarterly, etc.

ORIENTATION
Provide good orientation of the council. Consider including company philanthropic focus and how volunteer council fits in to support it, process of how volunteer opportunities will be brought forward, discussed and determined and roles within the council and within the larger framework of the company.

ASSESSMENT
Determine how you will assess success of the overall program, success of individual initiatives and successes of people in their roles as council members.

RECOGNITION & CELEBRATION
Build in components of celebrating and recognizing successes from the start.

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