In June, the long-time director of nonprofit volunteer resource HandsOn Savannah will leave United Way to take on a new career challenge. It will be a new phase for HandsOn Savannah, too.
Shirley Sessions has been with the organization for 15 years, guiding it through upgrades that have provided local nonprofits with extremely valuable tools for volunteer management.
The resource began in 1985 as the United Way Volunteer Center. Sessions took over its leadership in the late 1990s, and in 2005 the organization became HandsOn Savannah. Today it boasts more than 600 nonprofits in four counties (Chatham, Bryan, Liberty and Effingham) that regularly use its online tools.
With technology playing such a major role in information sharing, potential volunteers usually think first of going online to find meaningful opportunities — whether one-off events or to longer range activities. HandsOn’s online system is a great example of the successful use of these trends, and it is a state-of-the-art volunteer management system.
Once registered with HandsOn Savannah, a nonprofit can advertise volunteer needs, register all their volunteers online, track their time and send out email blasts to volunteer groups. Information can be accessed only by those registered, confidential to each individual organization and volunteer.
Volunteers have been a key means of leveraging nonprofit resources since nonprofits began in this country.
“Volunteering is a core American value,” said Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) spokeswoman Samantha Jo Warfield.
CNCS is the national volunteer program begun by the federal government to assist community nonprofits in expanding their capacity to meet mission.
“Our research has found that large numbers of Americans — more than one in four — regularly volunteer in their communities, and this rate has stayed relatively stable over the past 12 years,” Warfield said.
United Way itself is a great example of how volunteers can impact a nonprofit’s work. United Way board chairman Michael Traynor puts the dollar value of the 60,000-plus hours donated by United Way of the Coastal Empire volunteers at $1.53 million.
Sessions shared some of the changes she has seen in the volunteer movement since she began at HandsOn Savannah.
“Volunteers have higher expectations today and seek meaningful volunteer experiences with notable outcomes. This has driven nonprofits to view volunteer management as a specialized field and a professional career,” she said.
More volunteers today — especially youth, families and businesses whose mission may include “corporate responsibility” — often prefer “event specific” or “done-in-a-day” activities and projects, she said.
“At the same time, young professionals are more apt to volunteer for causes they’re passionate about rather than random projects,” Sessions said. “These volunteers often become advocates for the cause they are serving and eventually contribute financial resources to that cause.”
This week outstanding volunteers were honored at HandsOn Savannah’s 35th annual Volunteer Recognition and Awards luncheon. Nonprofits throughout the city nominated their volunteers for recognition in animal advocacy, arts and culture, education, environment, and health and human services.
To honor the work of Shirley Sessions, United Way is naming HandsOn Savannah’s award for effective volunteer administration the Shirley Sessions Excellence in Volunteer Administration award. It’s a well-deserved acknowledgement for this dedicated community servant.
Although she’s leaving United Way, I’m sure we’ll continue to see her giving back to her community.
Sarah Todd is principal of Change Pioneers, a resource for social change. She can be reached at 912-224-2120 or changepioneers@gmail.com.