In these hard economic times, nonprofits are famously struggling—fighting for funding and fighting for resources. Now, more than ever, it is important for nonprofits to play smart while building capacity. At the heart of this notion is leveraging volunteers.

In her blog post, “Don't Be Afraid To Ask,” Stephanie La Loggia says, "recruiting volunteers is one of the most important jobs in most nonprofit organizations.” And that’s true - the recruitment process is crucial but it’s also imperative to engage and retain those who can be, or who already are, key volunteers.

Ostensibly, volunteers are a source for one-time, episodic projects; free labor to tackle those tasks our organizations simply don’t have the time (or resources) to do. However, I've learned from both serving on boards and being a volunteer myself, that volunteers can easily become invaluable assets to an organization. Key volunteers are the most dedicated and skilled of your organization’s volunteers who can essentially take on the duties of staff when resources are limited.

Engaging and retaining these key volunteers is paramount to the success of most organizations. Through proper volunteer cultivation and management, the process can be both painless and productive.

Volunteers love to feel needed. When volunteers feel like their personal contributions…

I am a firm believer in the necessity of professional development, which made the position of Program Coordinator Senior at the ASU Lodestar Center a great fit for me. Before joining the rest of the team at the ASU Lodestar Center, I worked for seven years as a coordinator of youth ministry, or was what is more often known as a youth minister, youth pastor, or youth leader. Though traditionally not a professional position, there are a number of individuals who enter the field wanting to make this their life-long career — I was one of those people. I regularly attended professional development sessions every year.

As time went by, unbeknownst to myself, I had completed all of the requirements necessary to receive a credential as a coordinator of youth evangelization from the Diocese of Phoenix. I was thrilled and continued on with my professional development. Though this is no longer my paid position, I continue professional development in this field as a volunteer.

One of the ways I am trying to improve professionally is to increase my knowledge and ability regarding Social Media. I began writing this blog post as I sat in the NMI 122 class, Digital Communications: Social Media Tools & Strategies. Do I have a Facebook page? Yes. Do I tweet? Yes (thank you @KaylaMcKinney for helping me…

Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit expert to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice.

A year ago, Johns Hopkins University's Center for Civil Society Studies published a document titled, "The Nonprofit Technology Gap - Myth or Reality." The authors of the publication were curious to find out how accurately the widely held assumption that nonprofits are at a technological disadvantage reflects reality. Their findings were somewhat mixed. They reported that the majority of nonprofits rely quite heavily on technological solutions in their day-to-day operations. However, despite the fact that nonprofits seem to utilize technology more than may be expected, the majority of respondents expressed a discontent with their technological status. An official press release for the study reads:

The survey ... found that most nonprofit managers believe there is still considerable room for improvement. Less than half of respondents noted that they are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their organization's current level of information technology. ... What is more, a significant proportion of nonprofit organizations remain well behind the curve.

While these findings are undoubtedly…

I recently moved from the Midwest to attend graduate school for English rhetoric and composition at Arizona State University. I was fortunate enough to be hired at the ASU Lodestar Center to be the specialist in charge of AzGates. AzGates is a unique section of the Center which some of you readers may be unfamiliar with. Essentially, it’s a grant-seeking tool for Arizona nonprofits both big and small.

You might wonder why such a tool is needed. If you work for a nonprofit but your position isn’t to seek grants, or if you simply help out your community in other ways, you may think it’s easy to find grants. When I first started, I thought I’d find them with the twitch of my nose or snap of my fingers and be able to easily pass them along to you. I quickly figured out that, despite the growing number of nonprofits not only in U.S and Arizona, there are very, very few resources that collect nonprofit grant information.

What I’ve discovered through the course of learning the administrative side of AzGates as an employee, and also as an individual interested in helping those who help others, is that there’s a serious gap. Now, I’m not saying there aren’t grants, because there are! There are so many opportunities for nonprofits to receive funding. The gap is the helping hand — like when your friend tells you about a sale you weren’t aware of or when a restaurant lets kids eat free at a certain time.

Here’s a few of the insights…

"At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time."

— Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

I recently joined a book club. The book for this month is, not surprisingly, Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. I have read it before and seen several adaptations for the screen and stage. But, the wonderful thing about the literary arts is that they can teach you new things with each reading.

As I was riding home from work the other day on the light-rail, I started reading this book. I was surprised at how I had never realized how closely the text relates to the nonprofit sector. The epigraph, included above, really surprised me when I read it because I had never, despite working in the nonprofit sector for over three years, thought of this section as distinctly "nonprofit" in nature.

As I read, I was impressed by the optimism and goodness of the two gentlemen taking up a collection for the poor. They provide a perfect counter-point to Ebenezer Scrooge, who is the consummate villain. He is bitter, cold, and unfeeling.

One of the visiting gentlemen tries to appeal to Scrooge's presumed generosity by remarking that "Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of…