A New Team Member for VSN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Vesper Service Network is pleased to announce the addition of Heather Dorsey to our team. Heather serves as our Relationship Manager for all of Southeast Wisconsin, which means you may be hearing from her one day soon as she gets out and about to learn more about what organizations like yours are doing in your communities. As relationship manager, Heather will be drinking a lot of tea (she's not a coffee drinker!), as she listens to you to find out what nonprofits need. She will then take the information that she acquires and play matchmaker: lining up our talented network of advisors, whose skills match those necessary to get the work accomplished, with organizations that can benefit from their expertise. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Heather has lived her whole life in Wisconsin, other than a seven year period when she lived in Minnesota. She grew up on the south side of Milwaukee where she attended Alverno College Elementary School (now Woodlands school). She graduated from Pius XI High School and then went on to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she double majored in consumer communications journalism and psychology. She has 20 years of experience in sales, management and communications. A freelance writer, her work has appeared in national trade magazines, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Metroparent, Milwaukeemoms.com and other publications. A true soccer mom, she believes in giving back; among other volunteer endeavors, she coaches her kids' soccer teams and donates her time and talents to her church: St. Boniface, Alverno College, as a volunteer assessor, and The Women's Soccer Club, where she plays soccer as well. So if you'd like to sit down and have a cup of coffee, or tea, give her a call. She'd love to meet you! |
A Grants As You Go Success Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Grants As You Go™ is proud to report that Fall 2008 premium session participant Megan Bryant wrote a successful $48,000 grant on behalf of The Volunteer Center (TVC) of Northwest Suburban Chicago!
Ms. Bryant's proposal was one of 21 (out of 140 finalists) funded by the HandsOn Network. It will support implementation of the Volunteer Center's SAVE (Strategic Action for Volunteer Engagement) program, which targets the "baby boomer" generation to serve as leadership volunteers. TVC will train non-profits to use leadership volunteers, recruit leadership volunteers among the boomer generation, and enable potential leadership volunteers, corporations, schools, and non-profit agencies to network and collaborate.
Megan wrote, "Thank you again for all your help...you strengthened my proposal writing ability greatly and gave me so many new techniques to work with. I can't tell you how helpful your...reviews of the proposal were. From our whole organization, thank you!"
Congratulations, Megan and TVC!
If you are interested in learning how to develop a potentially successful grant of your own, the next class session will begin soon! Learn more about Grants As You Go™ by clicking here. |
Change the Way You Volunteer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How do you make a bigger impact for an organization when volunteering? Change the way you think of it, and volunteer more wisely. Of course organizations need envelopes stuffed, meals served, and children mentored, but you can also make an impact by using your professional skills to help a worthy organization with things like strategic planning, executive coaching, and marketing. This is one of the main ideas behind the Vesper Service Network - matching real-world business skills of Advisors with projects at not-for-profit organizations. This idea is also listed as #2 in the 10 Tips on Volunteering Wisely, found on the website 'Network for Good' - available by clicking here.
Other helpful tips include virtual volunteering, using a volunteer experience to achieve a goal, and considering non-traditional organizations for volunteering.
Another possibility for non-traditional volunteering is grant-writing. By taking the Grants As You Go™ class, you can learn how to develop a proposal to try to win grant money for an organization that you care about, as well as make yourself more marketable at the same time. |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What's the best way to change something? Changing old habits and creating positive new ones is never easy; but here are some small things I've learned that can make a big difference, whether you're trying to change yourself or your organization. - Write it down - Everyone who knows me, knows I don't do anything without a list. The best way to change a habit-or even your mind-is to write down what you want to change. One organization I've worked with wanted to improve communications between middle managers and their direct reports. They asked every manager to write on a post-it note "What's the most important thing we should be talking about this week?" and post the note on their phones. Within months communications had improved dramatically.
- Create a trigger point - There's a reason we remember to brush our teeth every morning. We do it at the same time every day. Getting out of bed triggers our brain to remember to brush our teeth. Try connecting something you would like to do with more consistency to something you already do every day. For example, if you want to set a more positive tone in your organization, every morning when you get your first cup of coffee, send out a quick, one or two sentence e-mail thanking one person for something they did well the day before.
- Do the smallest possible thing - Sometimes big changes are so overwhelming that we can't imagine how we're going to accomplish them. I've learned it's so much more effective to do the smallest possible things consistently. For example, at the Vesper Service Network, we never hold a meeting without having a written agenda. This small, consistent practice helps us, our Vesper Advisors, and the organizations they work with use everyone's time with efficiency and respect, every time.
- Hand out stickers - Everyone loves a reward, and it always amazes me that even something small can motivate me to try something new. Early in my career, I dreaded calling people I didn't know. I started giving myself a sticker on my calendar every time I picked up the phone and made a tough call. Within a short period of time, cold calls became much easier for me. At the Vesper Service Network we have a virtual sticker of a cow wearing a funny spinning hat that we send via e-mail to celebrate something good. Everyone gets excited when the "spinning cow" shows up in their in-basket.
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