About Us
The Volunteer Center of Greater Kalamazoo has been the center for
volunteerism in Kalamazoo since 1966. It is a member of
Volunteer Centers of Michigan and the
Volunteer Center National Network. Numerous programs and services are available to
Kalamazoo County nonprofit organizations that are designed to help them establish or
strengthen their volunteer programs. The Center was established in 1966 when the Service
Club of Kalamazoo (later the Junior League) identified the need to have a central location
for people to call who were interested in volunteering. The United Way of Greater Kalamazoo
provided space in their building and the Center continues to share that space today. When
the Center was first established, it was named the Voluntary Action Center and fondly
nick-named the “VAC.” In 1998 the organization’s name was changed to the Volunteer Center
of Greater Kalamazoo, to better reflect its mission and purpose.
Mission and Vision
Statement
The mission of the Volunteer Center of greater
Kalamazoo is "to improve our community by fostering effective volunteerism in
order to strengthen nonprofit organizations."
Our vision
is that "the Volunteer Center of Greater Kalamazoo will ensure that local
nonprofit organizations have and effectively utilize all the well-matched
volunteers necessary to fulfill their respective missions."
Each year
thousands of area residents contact the Volunteer Center to find ways to serve
their community. The center maintains and publishes a comprehensive, up-to-date
list of nonprofit volunteer needs that local organizations and individuals can
easily search to find volunteer opportunities that match their skills and
interests. All Kalamazoo County nonprofit and charitable organizations, with
501(c)3 tax identification status, are invited to submit their volunteer
opportunities for inclusion in the Center’s online listing service.
Additional services available to
nonprofits include:
Volunteer Program Assessment
Volunteer Management Best Practices
Volunteer Management Training
Recruitment and Referral Services, and
Technology Solutions for Volunteer Data
Management
With an eye toward the future, the Volunteer Center
sponsors youth and teen volunteer programs that are designed to introduce young
people to volunteerism and community service. Future leaders need to know about
the social issues that face communities, and volunteering is a wonderful way to
introduce them to the needs of others. The VolunTEENS program offers students
between the ages of 12 and 18 the chance to learn about local nonprofit
organizations by volunteering in age appropriate positions. The experience
allows students to explore future career opportunities, gain required community
service credit for college scholarships, and most importantly, learn that they
can make a difference in their community by helping others. Participating
nonprofit organizations benefit from student involvement in their programs
through an increased volunteer workforce, an occasion to hear a fresh
perspective about their work, and the opportunity to introduce young people to
future potential careers in the nonprofit sector. The Volunteer Center staff
believes that successful nonprofit organizations are empowered by people with
the vision to lead, the energy to build, and the determination to succeed. To
learn more please
contact
us.
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501(c)(3) Nonprofit Status
The Volunteer Center of Greater Kalamazoo has
been granted 501(c)3 nonprofit status by the Internal Revenue Service. For a copy
of the IRA determination letter, please contact the Volunteer Center at (269)
382-8350.
What is a nonprofit organization?
To be tax-exempt as an organization described in IRC Section
501(c)3 of the Code, an organization must be organized and operated
exclusively for one or more of the purposes set forth in IRC Section 501(c)3
and none of the earnings of the organization may inure to any private
shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not attempt to influence
legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate
at all in campaign activity for or against political candidates. The
organizations described in IRC Section 501(c)3 are commonly referred to under
the general heading of "charitable organizations." Organizations described in
IRC Section 501(c)3, other than testing for public safety organizations, are
eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions in accordance with IRC Section
170. The exempt purposes set forth in IRC Section 501(c)3 are charitable,
religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety,
fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and the
prevention of cruelty to children or animals. The term charitable is used in its
generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed,
or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or
science; erection or maintenance of public buildings, monuments, or works;
lessening the burdens of government; lessening of neighborhood tensions;
elimination of prejudice and discrimination; defense of human and civil rights
secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.
To read more visit the Internal Revenue Service website at: http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=96099,00.html.
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Diversity
Statement
The
Volunteer Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer, complying with Federal and
State laws prohibiting discrimination. It is the policy of the Center that no
person on the basis of race, gender, gender identification, color, religion,
national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation,
disability, height and weight, or Vietnam-era status shall be discriminated
against in employment. This applies to volunteers, agency Board and Committee
members, and employees.
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Privacy
Statement
The Volunteer Center of Greater Kalamazoo
is committed to protecting your privacy. Because your privacy is important to
us, we have adopted and implemented this Privacy Statement as part of our
commitment to protect personally identifiable information about you from
misuse.
What Information is Collected
and How it is Used
When you register for a User ID
and Password to use our site you must complete an online process that asks you
to provide us with a variety of personal information, including without
limitation your name, postal address, email address, phone number, personal URL,
age, gender, ethnicity, and profession. We store this information in a database.
If you choose to opt in to receive email messages from us, we use your email
address and the stated preferences in your individual profile to send you email
messages about volunteer opportunities that may be of interest to you and to
inform you about new features or services offered by our web site. We use the
stated preferences in your individual profile to tailor your experience at our
site. For example, we may provide you with customized content based on the
stated preferences in your individual profile.
We may use the information that we collect from you as
follows:
1) to use the
information in connection with providing you and volunteer organizations
services through the Web Site; 2) to protect the Web Site against unauthorized
access by verifying the identity of users using the Web Site; 3) to improve our
Web Site's content; and 4) to use your IP address (the number assigned to your
computer while it is logged on to the Internet) to diagnose problems with the
server or to administer the Web Site. Our site places a small text file
called a "cookie" on your computer's hard drive for record keeping purposes.
Cookies enable us to identify you when you revisit our web site so that
you do not need to re-enter your password. Cookies also allow us to track how
long it has been since you last visited our site. Although most web browsers
automatically accept cookies, most computers allow you to change your browser
setting to prevent acceptance of cookies. We also aggregate information we
collect from you and other users to help us improve the design of our web site
so that we may better meet the needs of visitors to our web site and to report
on the status of volunteerism in various communities. The aggregate information
cannot be used to personally identify you. We may disclose information we
collect from you if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that
disclosure is necessary (a) to obey the law or comply with legal process served
on us or our affiliates; (b) to protect and defend our rights or property or the
rights or property of other users of our web site; or (c) to act in an emergency
to protect the personal safety of users of our web site or the public. If we
merge or are combined with any other organization, or if we transfer all or
substantially all of our assets or operations to another organization, we may
disclose information we collect from you to the other organization so that the
other organization can continue to provide services to you. Except as provided
in this Privacy Statement, we will not disclose information we collect from you
to any third party, including other nonprofit organizations, unless you
specifically request that we share your information with a third party. If you
do not want us to use your information as described above, you may choose not to
provide us with your information by not registering with us or by modifying your
information by contacting the Volunteer Center. (Phone: 269-382-8350 or E-mail:
vckzoo@volunteerkalamazoo.org. If you choose not
to provide us with your information, you will not enjoy all of the services
offered through our web site.
Collection of Information from Children
We respect the sensitive nature of children's privacy
online. We are a general audience web site and do not direct any of our content
specifically at children. You must be at least 13 years old to register to use
our web site. If we learn that a user is under 13 years of age, we will promptly
delete any personally identifiable information we have collected about that
user. If you are under the age of 13, please do not send us any information
about yourself.
Access to Information
Only the
Volunteer Center of Greater Kalamazoo, its employees, officers and agents who
are responsible for administering our web site have access to personally
identifiable information collected about you. Neither group will share
personally identifiable information about you with anyone else without your
permission.
How to Opt-Out of Receiving Communications from Us
When you register to use our
site, you are given the opportunity to opt in or opt out of receiving
communications from us. If you opt in but later decide to opt out of receiving
communications from us, you may do so by contacting the Volunteer Center.
(Phone: 269-382-8350 or E-mail:
vckzoo@volunteerkalamazoo.org.
Data Security
Commitment
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain
data accuracy, and help ensure the correct use of information, we have put in
place appropriate and reasonable physical, electronic, and administrative
procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. In
addition we use firewalls to help prevent outside parties from accessing our
database server through the Internet, and physical access to the database server
is restricted to authorized individuals.
How to Change Your Information
If you would like to review or modify the information
we have collected from you, you may do so by contacting the Volunteer Center.
(Phone: 269-382-8350 or E-mail:
vckzoo@volunteerkalamazoo.org.
External
Links
For your convenience, we provide links to web
sites operated by third parties. We do not monitor the privacy practices of
these linked web sites and do not exercise authority over such web sites. We
therefore assume no responsibility for the privacy and data collection policies
and procedures of linked web sites, nor for the content or reliability of such
web sites. If you choose to access a third party web site linked to our site,
you do so at your own risk.
Changes to Privacy Statement
We
may change this Privacy Statement at any time without prior notice. If changes
are made, they will be posted on our website so that you will always know what
type of personally identifiable information we collect and how it is used. If
you continue to use our web site following the posting of changes to this
Privacy Statement, you agree to be bound by the changes to the Privacy
Statement.
Contacting Us
If you have any
questions about this Privacy Statement, our privacy practices or your
interaction with this web site, or you suspect we have handled the information
you provided in a manner that does not comply with this privacy policy, please
contact us .
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