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The Universal Benefits of Volunteering

Maybe it's just me but reading this book is like being hit over the head. It has tons and tons of lists and policies and the like, but it assumes an alternate reality. This alternate reality involves people who want to volunteer and therefore make themselves spreadsheets of the kinds of experiences they would like to encounter in the process of volunteering. It involves boards of directors who sit down and methodically merge volunteering into the organization's strategic plan.

Now, to be fair, the book is very good at providing example documents to use in beginning a program. These would be good for someone running homeless shelters or other outreach-intensive organizations. Or as part of research on volunteering. But even this poses a problem since they're just thrown at you without any context, visual or otherwise. I am serious, the book would be useful in those instances, so go out and get it if that applies. However, if you're an ASAE/trade-association type, this one is not worth the trouble.

By Walter P. Pidgeon, Jr.
ISBN# 0471185051

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