2011 Golf Outing Sponsors

Thank you to our 2011 Sponsors

Hole Sponsors

Ceterus, Inc.

Hawver Law, PC

Jansen Valk Thompson Reahm PC

OMNI Community Credit Union

Rhonda & Donald Sizemore

TeamLogic IT

The Sign Center

Western Michigan University Service Learning

Hole-in-One Sponsors

Maple Hill Auto Group

Featured: Our Blog

Did you know that we have a blog??? We do! It’s called Adventures in Volunteering.

What began as an attempt to just share staff (or guest) volunteer experiences with the Kalamazoo world, soon morphed into sharing much more.

Here are the types of things you would find if you visited our blog now:

• Nonprofit Spotlights: Each week (almost), a Volunteer Center staff member posts a short interview with a volunteer coordinator at a local nonprofit organization that uses Volunteer Center services to recruit volunteers. We ask all of them the same questions to get to know the agency and what a typical (or not-so-typical) volunteer experience looks like beyond the volunteer job description posted on our website. Some favorites: Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Borgess Medical Center, the Cheff Center or Events Galore! Actually, all of them are good.  My favorite part is reading “the best thing a volunteer ever did for your organization” segment of each spotlight.  Some of them actually make me well up with tears….but I’m a sap.
• Skills-Based Volunteering Feature: A couple of times a month we post SBV’s on the blog.  These are not  your run-of-the-mill volunteer opportunities.  They may require advanced knowledge or skills.  With more and more Baby Boomers retiring and an increase in corporations that want their employees involved in volunteering, skills-based volunteering is a bit of a trend happening in the nonprofit sector.  Volunteers have specialized skills and talents that they want to use to make a positive impact on the world.  Nonprofits realize that they must leverage those skills and talents if they want to grow and advance as an organization.    We’re still developing our SBV database, though we have all kinds of cool stuff up there so far: musicians, hair stylists, accountants, mechanics, grant writers, needlework, and the list goes on.  Just because it doesn’t exist on our listing yet, doesn’t mean it’s not out there….sometimes organizations don’t even realize or advertise their SBV needs.  Give us a call or an email if you have a specific skill you’d like to share.  Maybe we can help!
• Board Member Opportunities: Nonprofit board members are volunteers too!  And if you consider that there are approximately 800 nonprofit organizations in Kalamazoo County, each governed by a board of directors, that’s anywhere from 5,000-8,000 volunteers needed for these vital roles.  All boards are different and we like to highlight the various board member needs with an emphasis on the mission of the organization, since having a passion for the mission is a must for most board member seats.
• “New This Week” Feature or other Urgent/Featured Volunteer Needs: Right this minute we have more than FIVE HUNDRED volunteer opportunities listed on our website.  We know that’s a lot to wade through and review. Also, we know that it’s not everyone’s idea of fun to check the Volunteer Center website listing on a weekly basis just to see what might be new.  The blog allows us to call out specific opportunities, whether they are new, urgent or just sound cool enough to feature.
• Volunteer Success/Experience stories: We still occasionally feature our own volunteer experiences, to really showcase what an actual volunteer experience looked like for a real person.  Some examples: some thoughts on holiday volunteering, working at the Humphrey Garden, Making a Million meals for Haiti relief at the Salvation Army event, Toy Shop volunteering.
• Anything else we deem worthy! Occasionally we post  some great news from the world of volunteering or a volunteer success story at one of our local organizations or stories about our own events and programs.

Anytime we post something  new on the blog, we also post it via our Facebook and Twitter pages, so follow us there to keep up with volunteering updates.  Or you can grab the RSS feed from the blog too.  Or just visit often: we update several times a week.  Let us know if you have volunteering stories to share or ideas for blog content….we’d love to hear from you!

Did you miss a feature story, and want to find it again? Click here to see all of our past Featured Stories.

BoardConnect: Building Your Board-Board Recruitment

This training covers important aspects of recruiting new members for a nonprofit’s board of directors including recruitment planning, identifying and cultivating candidates, and electing new members. You will also learn about BoardConnect’s matching services and boardnetUSA, a free national online database that connects board candidates with nonprofit organizations.

REGISTER NOW

Thursday, 17 May 2012 5:30 pm

 Duration: 2 hours
 timed
 GKUW, 709 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

BoardConnect: Serving On a Nonprofit Board

Are you new to board service, or perhaps interested in serving on a nonprofit board? This workshop will teach you about the five main responsibilities of nonprofit board governance and how to find a board position with an area nonprofit. Develop your leadership skills and share them with a nonprofit that needs your help.
You’ll also learn about BoardConnect’s matching services and boardnetUSA, a national online database that connects candidates and nonprofits.

REGISTER NOW

Thursday, 5 April 2012 5:30 pm

 Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes
 timed
 GKUW, 709 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

BoardConnect: Committees That Work

If you serve on or lead a nonprofit committee where the meetings have been unsuccessful or you can’t seem to get the work done, then this workshop is for you. We’ll review the latest trends, best practices, and some controversies about nonprofit committee structure during a 90 minute session. Participants will receive practical guidance and tools to make committees productive, efficient, and creative. Review a mini-board assessment oriented to committee evaluation and restructuring. Learn how to recruit and keep committee members engaged.

REGISTER NOW

Tuesday, 13 March 2012 5:30 pm

 Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
 timed
 GKUW, 709 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

BoardConnect: Committees That Work

If you serve on or lead a nonprofit committee where the meetings have been unsuccessful or you can’t seem to get the work done, then this workshop is for you. We’ll review the latest trends, best practices, and some controversies about nonprofit committee structure during a 90 minute session. Participants will receive practical guidance and tools to make committees productive, efficient, and creative. Review a mini-board assessment oriented to committee evaluation and restructuring. Learn how to recruit and keep committee members engaged.

REGISTER NOW

Tuesday, 29 November 2011 8:30 am

 Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
 timed
 709 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

BoardConnect: Getting Your Board To Raise Money

Let’s face it most nonprofit board members do not like to ask for money. The first step in building a culture of best practices around fundraising begins with ensuring that all board members are good ambassadors. This 90 minute session includes tips and tools for good ambassadorship and easy ways to take the first steps to get involved in fundraising.

REGISTER NOW

Thursday, 3 November 2011 5:30 pm

 Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
 timed
 709 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Day of Service: 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance

Join us for one or all of our community-wide Days of Service! Next up:

When: Saturday, September 10

Where: Throughout Kalamazoo

Why: We can accomplish so much more together! With a variety of other agency partners, the Volunteer Center seeks to improve the community and engage more citizens in volunteering: rookies, veterans, adults, youth and all in between. We invite you to sign-up, show up and make a difference with us!

Please save the date. 9/11 is a National day of service and here in Kalamazoo we’ll be hosting a Community Wide Day of Service on Saturday, September 10^th.

Look for further details and on-line signup soon.

This Day of Service is a collaboration with the Kalamazoo Neighborhood Safety Initiative to engage volunteers of all ages in positive change in our neighborhoods and organizations.

Downtown Kalamazoo Clean up, April 22, 2011

Join us for one or all of our community-wide Days of Service! Next up….

When: Friday, April 22nd, 9a.m.-noon, noon-3p.m.
(attend for both shifts and join us for lunch!)

Where: Downtown Kalamazoo

Why: We can accomplish so much more together! With a variety of other agency partners, the Volunteer Center seeks to improve the community and engage more citizens in volunteering: rookies, veterans, adults, youth and all in between. We invite you to sign-up, show up and make a difference with us!

This Day of Service is a collaboration with the Kalamazoo Neighborhood Safety Initiative to engage volunteers of all ages in positive change in our neighborhoods and organizations.

Join us for a beautification and clean-up throughout Downtown Kalamazoo, just in time for Earth Day! Supplies are provided, but work attire that can get dirty is recommended. Volunteers under the age of 18 are welcome, but must be volunteering with an adult.

Please note: DKI will validate parking for ALL downtown ramps (Eleanor St/Arcadia ramp, Kalamazoo Mall ramp or Epic Center ramp) except the Radisson for volunteers.