|
Courses emphasize "how to make it better" rather than "how-to"
July/August 2007
"How do I give my program new life?"
"How do I move my program to a higher level?"
"How can I continuously improve my program and keep pace with emerging best practices?"
These are the questions now being asked by many community involvement professionals. Many of them have mastered the basic planning skills required to establish a volunteer or philanthropy program; what they need now is to understand how to move these programs to a higher level of effectiveness and impact.
In response to this need, last April The Center piloted a highly successful and over-subscribed program titled, "Enhancing Your Employee Volunteer Program."
This course was intentionally different. It was not a "how-to" course, but a "how-to-make-it-better" course. Instead of instructor-led PowerPoint presentations, the course focused on a high level of participant engagement, with discussion driven by questions and issues identified by participants who shared best practices and brainstormed solutions to issues discussed.
The course was a huge success and very well received, as evidenced by these participant comments:
"Excellent interaction and peer-to-peer dialogue!"
"Really valuable information. Great candor, great experience in the field. The best BC class I have taken — Bravo!"
"This class could be extended to a week-long course. There is so much information to retain — I need more time."
"This is the BEST class I have attended. The style is very unique — networking is most important."
These results were duplicated in a philanthropy course presented in the same format several weeks later.
As a result of these highly successful pilots, the Center has significantly revised its employee volunteerism and strategic philanthropy executive education programs. Both courses still address important topics in the development of an exceptional program such as the current state/trends of employee volunteerism or strategic philanthropy and the critical components of an exceptional program.
The majority of time, however — approximately 60 percent — will focus on peer-to-peer exchange and dialogue aimed at generating new ideas and identifying and leveraging best practices in those areas of greatest concern and challenge for participants.
These two newly developed programs for volunteerism and strategic philanthropy will be offered this fall:
"I am really excited about these highly energetic courses," said Ron Brown, a popular instructor who will teach Enhancing Your Employee Volunteer Program. "They really respond to the pressing need of community involvement professionals to move their programs to a higher level of impact. This format produces fantastic energy in the classroom and provides a great opportunity to explore new ideas and establish strong networks. I'm looking forward to offering the new course in October."
View more July/August 2007 articles > |
