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June 24, 2009

National Conference on Volunteering and Service
Obama View of Community Service Seen Demanding More Accountability

One theme of the National Conference on Volunteering and Service: The Obama administration’s view of community service is going to change the way people evaluate the impact such work.

Advocates have traditionally touted the benefits that volunteerism and national service bring to the people who do the work, as well as to the people they help. But President Obama sees the activities as something more — a way to help solve the country’s pressing problems.

“Now the focus is on, How does service action move the needle on key national issues?” Kirsten Lodal, chief executive of Lift, a group that recruits college students to fight poverty, said during a panel discussion.

With the federal government spending billions of dollars to expand national-service and volunteer programs through the Serve America Act, groups should be asking how to hold themselves accountable for making a dent in issues like poverty, she said. “There’s going to be a lot more pressure on all of us to be demonstrating the results of our work.”

At the same time, groups can take advantage of the recent surge of interest in community service to build stronger volunteer operations. Ms. Lodal said. Her own group is starting to demand a higher level of commitment from its volunteers, channeling them into “a more rigorous, sustained, and long-term engagement.”

She said many volunteers are pleased to be more involved in measuring the impact of their group’s work, and of their own contributions.

— Suzanne Perry

Wednesday June 24, 2009 | Permalink

Comments

1. I think this is a great idea! The folks in the field of K-12 service-learning, for example, have been able to use results of evaluations and research to increase the impact of their service by identifying which qualities of service-learning practices need to be in place to have maximum results for participants and the community. Making the impact visible to all participants is one of the qualities that leads to better outcomes. Accountability, then, is a win-win situation for everyone!

   — Shelley Billig    Jun 24, 05:44 PM    #

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