Blog

Posted Thursday, April 19th, 2018 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

While many leaders, funders, and partners accept and support the need for volunteers to help nonprofit organizations deliver programs, not all of them recognize the benefits of truly embracing volunteer engagement as a strategy throughout the entire organization. Beth Steinhorn, President of VQ Volunteer Strategies, understands the importance of volunteer engagement. She realizes that volunteer...

Posted Thursday, April 5th, 2018 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

Sterling Volunteers’ “Volunteer Screening Trends and Best Practices Report: 2018” offers insights into the current state of volunteer programs, from current screening practices to challenges to be overcome. The report is based off a nationwide survey conducted on individuals who are involved in running volunteer programs to better understand their background screening needs and processes....

Posted Thursday, March 29th, 2018 by Sterling Volunteers and VolunteerPro Staff

Sterling Volunteers is pleased to announce our new partnership with VolunteerPro, an organization which provides online volunteer management training, coaching and an online community to volunteer leaders. VolunteerPro shares “research and best practices and emerging innovations in volunteer management, all based on engaging today’s volunteers”. Both VolunteerPro and Sterling Volunteers support a high quality, effective...

Posted Thursday, March 22nd, 2018 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

When was the last time you showed appreciation for what a neighbor, volunteer, co-worker, employee, family member or friend did, be it a big or small task? How did showing that appreciation make you feel? How did the other person feel? Do you think that you made a difference in that person’s day? You may...

Posted Thursday, March 15th, 2018 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

We are very proud to announce that Sterling Volunteers was recently awarded a 2018 Gold Stevie Award for Customer Service Success. The Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service honors “the achievements of contact center, customer service, business development and sales professionals worldwide”. Winning a Stevie Award is a terrific way to benchmark an organization’s...

Posted Thursday, March 8th, 2018 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

It’s a basic fact: background screening is complicated. An amazing amount of data is available that may or may not reflect the most up-to-date facts about volunteers. Deciding which type of background screening searches a volunteer manager needs to run to find well-intentioned volunteer candidates can often seem like a daunting task. Every organization has...

Posted Thursday, February 22nd, 2018 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

As most volunteer organizations know, there are many components involved when conducting volunteer and paid staff background screening. When an organization uses a volunteer’s background information to deny a volunteer role, they must comply with federal and state laws which are meant to protect the applicant from discrimination. The variety of laws/rules can be overwhelming...

Posted Thursday, February 15th, 2018 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, founded in 1951, serves 69 cities and towns throughout the Greater Boston area. The organization strives to ignite girls’ passion and power to succeed through positive mentoring relationships with women and enrichment programs that support girls’ healthy development. Their approach results in a formidable impact on academic achievement, interpersonal...

Posted Thursday, February 8th, 2018 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

Sterling Volunteers recently surveyed clients and non-clients alike — all of whom run volunteer programs – to better understand their background screening needs and processes. The 967 survey responders represented a wide range of organizations including social and human services, education, healthcare, religious and youth development groups. Responders were mostly volunteer managers and program managers...

Posted Thursday, January 25th, 2018 by Victoria Bissell, Director of Training, Plan to Protect™. Adapted by Sterling Volunteers staff

Children usually are friendly and trusting of most people and therefore have a difficult time identifying predators. But, adults are not always able to “see” predators either. Predators can be anyone, including a family member, colleague, coach or friend. According to The Pragmatic Parent, “90% of the time a predator is someone with a relationship...