Volunteer Nation, Our New Nonprofit Podcast is Here!

After literally YEARS of planning (and procrastination, let’s be honest!), my new nonprofit podcast is finally ready for primetime. I could not be more thrilled! 

I am pleased to introduce Volunteer Nation, the new weekly nonprofit podcast in our lineup. It joins the Time + Talent Podcast as our second audio offering and replaces our weekly Tobi Johnson & Associates blog.  

But no worries. The blog will remain up on that website as helpful articles. With hundreds of blog posts with timeless tips, we thought we’d leave them up for your reference. 

Also, we will continue to share this weekly blog as part of the free volunteer and nonprofit management content we produce each week across our VolunteerPro and Tobi Johnson & Associates websites.  

We plan to continue to share tips, Member Spotlights, and Pro Roundups loaded with valuable information to keep your volunteer strategy humming. 

You may have already tuned in to my Time + Talent Podcast with Jennifer Bennett from VolunteerMatch. Earlier this year we wrapped up Season 3, and we are planning for a Season 4. You can find it on most podcast platforms. 

Over the past three years, it’s been a labor of love for Jennifer and me to interview leaders of volunteers and researchers who are contributing so much to our field.  We’ve been able to feature the best and brightest and have a fun time doing it! 

Given the success of the Time + Talent pod (over 13,200 downloads to date!), now seemed like a suitable time to transition my weekly Tobi Johnson & Associates blog to an audio format.  

Nonprofit professionals and leaders of volunteers like you are busy people. So, we wanted to make our helpful tips and advice as easy as possible for you to access, and when it’s convenient for you.  

So, what’s the new nonprofit podcast all about? Let us give you a first look! 

Volunteer Nation: A Manifesto for Our New Nonprofit Podcast 

The main goal of the Volunteer Nation podcast is to raise the profile of volunteerism and the vast potential it offers nonprofits who leverage volunteers to reach their most important goals. 

Through a combination of solo shows and guest interviews, the podcast is geared at helping a wide array of charities, causes, campaigns, communities, and companies leverage volunteer talent to build a better world.  

With an estimated 862 million volunteers worldwide, nearly 15 percent of the world population of people aged 15 and up, it’s a lot of ground to cover. And, we will strive to do volunteers justice. 

The past few years have been a challenge for volunteers and volunteer-involving organizations, with lockdowns and transitions to modern technology and new ways of thinking and doing. 

People give time and talent in a myriad of diverse ways, and those who lead them work in a variety of contexts. So, I’ll be inviting special guests to help break down how community members are engaged in service around the world and how we can innovate around this incredibly special kind of philanthropy. 

As we lean into our “new normal,” now is a wonderful time to rethink legacy strategies that may not serve us any longer. It’s time to embrace technology and strengthen digital technology. It’s time to ensure that volunteerism is fair and available to all who want to take part. It’s time to recognize, acknowledge, and properly resource volunteers and volunteer managers so that organizations can truly thrive. 

I will be questioning long-held beliefs and challenging us all to re-think limiting beliefs and long-held myths about volunteers and how to engage them. I’ll also be sharing practical tips and strategies that volunteer-involving organizations can employ to strengthen the depth and breadth of volunteer engagement at their organizations.  

And, with over 25 years of lived experience working in a variety of nonprofit and public sector roles from intern all the way to program director, I’ll be adding my own musings on nonprofit leadership to the mix, both the triumphs and the failures. 

It’s been a difficult road for volunteers and volunteer-driven organizations. After a surge in community engagement in 2016, volunteerism is at an all-time low. But that can change! 

To re-ignite that dedication and commitment to service, it will take us all working together to amplify the message that people are still very much at the center of change for the better.  

This podcast is my small contribution to the larger effort of revitalizing volunteerism and improving our practices to engage today’s volunteers with effective and inspired leadership. 

Sneak Peek of the First Episodes in Our New Nonprofit Podcast 

If you are ready to level up your volunteer engagement practices and results, this new nonprofit podcast is for you. It’s the perfect antidote to the “we’ve always done it this way” and the “it will never work” crowd. 

We’re here to live out loud and help volunteers do so, too! 

Wondering what this means? Below is a rundown of our first three episodes. 

Episode #001: Welcome to the Volunteer Nation Podcast 

After over 25 years working in nonprofits, public sector agencies, and grassroots campaigns there’s one thing I’ve learned – you can’t go it alone. If you genuinely want to bring about SUBSTANTIAL change for the better, you need a strong, dedicated community in your corner. But it isn’t always easy, is it? 

In this episode, I share why I created the Volunteer Nation podcast and how I plan to help causes, charities, campaigns, communities, and companies build, grow, and scale exceptional volunteer talent.  

If you’re ready to harness the power of people to fuel your good work, this is exactly the right place. 

The COVID-19 Pandemic has had a significant impact on volunteer-involving organizations and on the rates of volunteerism around the world. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  

So, in this episode, I share a personal story about how I transformed a terrible thing that happened to me into a catalyst for a better way.  

I also share eight compelling reasons volunteers are important, if not essential, in today’s world. Use them when you make your next pitch for needed resources to engage your community in service. 

Episode #002: How to Recruit Volunteers by Building a Following First 

Old school volunteer recruitment tactics just aren’t up to the task of engaging volunteers in a digital work. 

So, in the second episode of our new nonprofit podcast, I share my secrets for recruiting dedicated, enthusiastic volunteer talent by building a following first.  

In this episode, you’ll learn specific volunteer recruitment tips on how to grow and engage with your community. I also share some surprising stats on today’s social media engagement rates (they’re probably not what you thought!) that can help you use your time wisely.  

Also, you’ll get several ideas for list-building “freebies” (or “lead magnets”). I make it super practical by covering six specific types of freebies you can use to pique the interest of potential volunteers and educate them about your worthy cause. That way, you can recruit volunteers more easily from a ready pool of people who already know, like, and trust you.  

Finally, to help you plan your entire volunteer communications strategy, we suggest five distinct types of content you can share with your list of followers, on a consistent basis. You will want to continue to cultivate their interest so that they are ready to join when they receive your next call to action. 

Episode 003: Moving from a Scarcity Mindset to Abundance 

In this episode, I go there – to the heart of what’s keeping us from success!  

 I’m talking about the scarcity mindset that is so prevalent in our field. I talk about how it blocks your potential, and how it can affect your volunteer program.  

At nonprofits, a scarcity mindset can pervade how budgets, resources, and staffing are approached. It blocks an organization’s ability to grow volunteer involvement and scale its impact. It can affect our self-care and can result in burnout and turnover.  

Because it is so pervasive, it can also be extremely hard to pinpoint. It simply becomes part of an organization’s culture and way of being. It feels “normal.”  

So, in this episode, I identify facets of the scarcity mindset with a Scarcity Self-Assessment. Give a listen and see if any of these nine common ways limiting beliefs are showing up in your volunteer program or organization.  

But don’t worry, I won’t leave you in the lurch! I also offer five practical ways to counteract scarcity mindsets by cultivating an attitude of abundance.  

Equipped with a fresh perspective and enabling beliefs, you will be better equipped to maximize the full potential of your volunteer team and get greater traction on your big goals. You will transform scarcity into abundance.  

You might recognize some of your own thought patterns in this episode but be encouraged! Moving from a scarcity mindset to abundance is possible, and this episode will help inspire you along your journey. 

Volunteer Nation Next Steps 

There are so many talented people involved in the field of volunteerism with so many ideas and insights to share. I can’t wait to add our new nonprofit podcast to the mix of shows available that support and build awareness of the exceptional power of volunteerism to change lives.  

I also can’t wait to hear what you think! 

So, don’t hesitate to let us know by rating, reviewing, and commenting on our episodes. We’ll use these responses to guide us as we develop new content and connect with possible guests.  

If you’ve enjoyed or benefited from our content in the past, I hope you’ll do us the honor of helping spread the word so that we can reach as many people as possible. 

Thank you for our faithful readers and followers. It is an honor to serve you. We hope you will join us over the airwaves soon! 

Subscribe to the Pod Now You Don’t Miss a Thing! 

Be sure to pull out your smart phone and subscribe via your favorite podcast platform and join the Volunteer Nation! We’ll be sharing secret BONUS episodes you won’t get unless you are subscribed. 

 

 

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