Impact Fund Helps Nonprofits Manage Volunteers
Impact Fund Helps Nonprofits Manage Volunteers
The Atlanta-based UPS Foundation and two leading U.S. companies are collaborating to launch a grantmaking fund to help nonprofits manage volunteers more effectively.
Established with a $1 million, three-year grant from the UPS Foundation, and in development for the past year, Impact: A Fund for Change Through Volunteerism will pool resources from the foundation, Home Depot, and Capital One Financial with resources provided by local funders in five states to encourage organizations to work together to address challenges in volunteer management they previously have tackled alone. Eventually, the fund expects to issue calls for proposals for both national and local projects, based on the particular interests of participating funders. Management and staff support for the initiative will be provided by the National Human Services Assembly.
UPS Foundation president Evern Cooper Epps called the fund a new approach for funders interested in working together. "Rather than fund organizations to do the same things in isolation, Impact is a vehicle for funders and organizations to forge meaningful partnerships," said Epps. "We seek to advance the knowledge base of effective volunteer management in a way that will bring concrete benefits to communities."
In 2004, the UPS Foundation, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and USA Freedom Corps published the first national study on volunteer management capacity. Conducted by the Urban Institute, the study found that while four in five charities relied on volunteers, most struggled to manage them effectively.
"Making full use of volunteers holds the key to addressing a wide range of challenging social issues, from mentoring disadvantaged children to helping aging Americans remain independent in their own homes," said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "We greatly appreciate the efforts of UPS in establishing the Impact Fund and in finding ways to bridge the gaps in volunteer management systems identified by our earlier research."
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