“You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes and then later re-recorded by Phil Collins is a soul classic!  It seems only fitting to discuss love in the month of February!  As managers and leaders of volunteers we love what we do!  Sure we have some days where we have to remind ourselves of why we do what we do, but ultimately at the end of the day, we know we have made a difference and our volunteers have made an impact.  We love knowing our efforts have made our community a better place for everyone.

We don’t want to hurry when we think about our volunteerism efforts.  The time we spend recruiting, screening, interviewing, orienting and training should be quality time and know that the work we do on the front end, is well worth it.  When we put time into volunteer staffing and development, we reap the benefits in the long run.

At the February Roundtable, we were able to share our knowledge, ideas and love in regards to How to have difficult discussions with volunteers, How to have difficult discussions with staff who don’t see the value in volunteers and How to recruit diverse volunteers and find new volunteer audiences.  I loved facilitating one of the discussion tables and hearing all the input from our members!  We really do have a wealth of knowledge in our GRAVA family and it is always a joy to see that shared with one another.

Continue to spread the love and share the impact you, your volunteers and your volunteer services are making!  

See you in March,

Melissa M. Gilmore, M Ed., CVA
GRAVA President