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From Martin J:
War of Words
Russia recently increased arms spending to $35 billion. This expenditure is eclipsed, however, by the world's $1.2 trillion annual spending. US spending is about half at $635 billion. Almost two decades since the Berlin wall fell, the world has embarked on a new and alarming arms race- with spending up one third on a decade ago.
Every minute, the world spends another $1.5 million*. In other words, in the time you will take to read this newsletter, military expenditure will have occurred that would have allowed someone to buy several luxury houses.
Or, if we could use the money in other ways:
- The UN in total spends about $20 billion each year. Compare the difference!
- For every child to go to school would cost $5.4 billion = two days of military expenditure. Would not education be one means to end war?
- Sanitation and clean water for all? $22 billion = one week of military spending.
Former U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower said: "Every
gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies,
in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed."
The not-for-profit sector understands war probably better than almost anyone else:
- Volunteers often tend the wounded
- Relief agencies rush food to those displaced by war
- not for profits fundraise for veteran's families
We as a sector also know the personal and emotional toll of war. As some of you know from my training, in my life I have lived in three war zones. I do not see war as a tool for constructive change.
With the internet, travel and media, one would hope the world could be brought closer together, and not be ever more anxious to shoot, bomb and wound each other. Yet, we are seeing conflict in more global sectors than ever before.
Eisenhower also said: "Under the cloud of threatening
war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."
As we face the next years of the twenty-first century, someone needs to call governments to account for their ongoing expenditures on weaponry and question the cost of war. Who better than the not-for-profit sector to empower the voice of the community?
How about it?
A start is signing the world peace petition organised by AFS on FaceBook!
All the best
Martin J Cowling
CEO
*www.globalissues.org
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Write on the I-Gen wall
We've had some interesting comments on the People First -Total Solutions I-Gen wall. The current generation of youth may be a great source of volunteers, but we need to understand how to get and keep their attention. Have you got anything to add to the discussion? Please contribute.
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Welcome Martin!
Thank you for reading our newsletter with the latest news in the community and not for profit sectors.
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Effective people: Swings and Roundabouts
 There is much evidence pointing to the positive effects of volunteering. The good outcomes of investing hours in voluntary work are widely known and include:
- increased self-esteem, producing an increased sense of well-being*
- remaining active and socially engaged in old age helps identity and well-being**
- volunteering enables feeling good about one's situation in life***
- volunteers have a greater sense of satisfaction in feeling that they are making a contribution to wider society.#
So it was a bit of a shock for some that a study conducted by Dr Tim Windsor (The Gerontologist Feb 2008) suggested that high levels of volunteering may actually be unhealthy! The authors concluded that those who volunteered for more than 15 hours a week reported lower life satisfaction than those who volunteered for less.
Not as prominent in the media reporting on this article was that life satisfaction was higher for those who volunteered moderately than it was for those who did not volunteer at all. So the study is far from suggesting we should stop volunteering! For organisations who rely on volunteer involvement, there are some implications, however.
The first is that for the health of all, policy limits need to be placed on the hours people volunteer for. Many organisations refuse to curb volunteer hours. This creates all sorts of problems for the organisation and for the volunteer.
Secondly, our volunteer reward programs need to be less focused on hours and years served and more on results.
Thirdly, volunteers need to be assisted to create work-life balance with a range of interests.
Finally, in our marketing of volunteering we need to ensure that people understand that they can volunteer for any number of hours. Too much volunteering marketing suggests you must volunteer for many hours over many years. A change in focus will attract new volunteers into organisations.
These things will help more people in society to enjoy a higher quality of life, as well as spreading the workload over many more volunteers.
*Wuthnow, 1991 cited in Musick and Wilson, 2003
**Lemon, Bengtson and Peterson, 1972, Kart and Longino, 1982 cited in Luoh and Herzog, 2002
***Atchley 1989 cited in Luoh and Herzog, 2002
# Piliavin and Siegl (2007)
For full references and further information, contact People First -Total Solutions.
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Better organisations: Endgame Extinction
 In a provocative suggestion, Willie Cheng, author of a new book on not for profit management suggests "Ultimate success occurs when the nonprofit's mission is achieved and its existence in no longer needed"
In the book,
Doing Good Well Cheng proposes how nonprofit organisations can benefit from a
corporate approach to thinking and practices while keeping their
compassion. In fact he suggests that
a not for profit cannot succeed with a purely corporate mindset.
He further suggests that not for profits need to adapt and change to be successful in the future. Coming from the private sector, Cheng served as chair of Singapore's National
Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre. He brings this experience to demolish several dearly held beliefs about not for profits and propose new ones.
Another provocative statement comes in response to the question if he would involve volunteers if it actually
cost more than hiring paid staff? Yes, if engagement with the
community is crucial. How many not for profits value their volunteer programs in this manner? How many truly understand the value of their volunteer programs at all?
Cheng concludes that understanding this is one key for a charity to move from "Just Doing Good" to "Doing Good Well". other keys include getting governance right and understanding the role of donors. This book is highly recommended as a holiday gift for your Executive Team!
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Stronger society: What will our future be?
 Analysts from HP Labs and Forum for the Future identified different climate scenarios for 2030 which they insist is not Science Fiction but genuine real alternatives facing us:
Scenario One: Efficiency First
Energy technology innovation creates a low-carbon consumerist world which must rely on ongoing developments to mitigate climate change. Massive plants in the Middle East and North Africa soak up the sun's energy to irrigate the desert and little wilderness remains.
Scenario Two: Service Transformation
High carbon prices result in major business rethink with a drive to a service based economy. High sharing with neighbours. Highly efficient public transit replaces individual car ownership and collective laundry services replace washing machines. Global carbon emissions decline.
Scenario Three: Redefining Progress & Meaning of Lif
Part-time jobs predominate within stronger local communities. People aim for simplicity and focus on quality of life. Climate change is well understood and viewed as unsustainable.
Scenario Four: Environmental War Economy
Governments take control of citizens' lives. Greenhouse gases decline at great cost to individual liberties. Dams and sea-wall defences protect land from the raging oceans while there are vast numbers of environmental refugees.
Scenario Five: Protectionist World
The world is divided into protectionist blocs with violent wars over scarce resources such as water. Communities are divided and cyber-terrorists take advantage of the flux, paralysing communications networks and targeting collapsed states.
This compelling report, available now, concludes by saying we must be "lobbying for change, identifying new business opportunities, developing partnerships to find solutions and talking publicly about the importance of urgent action."
People First -Total Solutions are committed to making a difference in all aspects of our work. We currently offset 110% of our greenhouse emissions, use public transit as much as we can and are looking at other ways we can build a sustainable future. Please join us.
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Company news
Happy Birthday to us!
People First -Total Solutions celebrated its 5th Birthday! Thank you for your support which continues to make us one of the world's leading authorities in the not-for-profit world.
Another Milestone
Tracy from Orlando became our 4000th newsletter reader. She receives a gift basket of Australian goodies. Our newsletter keeps rocketing ahead with more subscribers. If you enjoy it, please do forward it to colleagues.
No more training this year!
People First -Total Soutions have filled all of their 2008 trainng slots. The books are open to September 2009:
- USA/Canada: Jan/Feb/Apr/May/Jun/Sep 2009
- New Zealand: Feb/Jun 2009
- UK/Europe: Jul/Aug 2009
- Australia: Jan to Sep, 2009
Check out our training scores and costs etc here.
First Book
People First -Total Solutions is a proud supporter of First Book, an organisation committed to improving literacy in poorer communities: Thank you for your generous support of First Book! We received your
$500 donation through Facebook. Your contribution enables us to
continue providing new books to children in need across the country. Rose
Audit Packages - Strong Demand
Interest in our Audit Packages has exceeded our targets. They clearly have made an impact. We are updating information on the three packages regularly on our site:
- Volunteer Program Audit
- Volunteer Satisfaction Analysis
- Volunteer Program Impact
Some have indicated some nervousness about the audits, suggesting they are not ready for such a step. These audits, remember, give you a detailed blueprint for moving your product forward. Contact us for more!
FaceBook
People First -Total Solutions now has a Facebook page. Become a "fan" of us and a Facebook friend with Martin J Cowling. Check out our photos from training in Singapore and the USA.
Strategic Planning 2009
People First -Total Solutions can
help you determine your organisation's goals and develop a workable
mission statement as part of our One Page Strategic Plan! Click here or contact us by email or telephone for more information.
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Your say
Thank you for your newsletter. I look forward to each one to keep me updated.
Marg Evans
In Newsletter No. 3, 2008, Martin talked about the future of not-for-profit organisations in terms of ingredients in a scary soup. One reaction:
I have an addition to the scary soup. I turned down a VISTA position, not because of money - but because of the need to go find insurance for the family. This could be a change not-for-profits [in America] need to make: insure not only the "volunteer" but their family. My husband makes fine money from two part-time jobs but neither can afford to hire him full time, so no family benefits.
Mary
Voluntourism
Our article on Voluntourism (Newsletter No. 4, 2008) also inspired some lively discussions:
Last year, VSO blasted gap-year projects/voluntourism:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6945370.stm
VSO also did some preliminary work around producing a quality standard for international volunteering placements.
Jayne Cravens
I spent summer "Volunteering" in Costa Rica ". I sent the [program] a good amount of money for a list of promises, but the actual experience fell short of my expectations. I met a bunch of other students, many who were much more upset with their programs than I was.
I since started a website where volunteers can post reviews about their programs: www.AbroadReviews.com will help prospective volunteers to know which company to go with and not go with... bad programs will eventually be forced to change their ways or go out of business entirely. Thanks!
Tom
Fresh on the heels of the recent discussion, I'm thrilled to announce that Idealist.org has just launched a new resource center for individuals considering volunteering in another country (www.idealist.org/ivrc). Hope this will serve as a good resource for folks looking for more information on volunteering abroad!
Erin Barnhart
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