One obstacle to doing good we often hear people talk about is a lack of skills and/or knowledge. Boulder-based recruiting firm ReWork tackles this obstacle by connecting a skilled talent pool to the social enterprises who need them most. 

You’ve probably heard the term “scrimmage” before. In sports talk, it’s a practice game that doesn’t count.  In ReWork’s vocabulary, it’s an event that matches startup social entrepreneurs with willing volunteers to help them problem-solve.

Here’s how a typical Scrimmage works: Participants are presented with a challenge or project , and then break off into teams. At the heart of the event is rapid prototyping as inspired by Google. Instead of brainstorming at length, for example, the teams hammer out ideas on the fly, continually testing and iterating on them in the moment to help get them in the best shape possible. Failure is viewed as an opportunity to learn.

The process is then repeated throughout the day until the teams report their solutions to the rest of the group, and everybody (of age, of course) can celebrate with a beer!

Since starting the Scrimmages last year, ReWork has collaborated with a variety of local incubators such as HUB Boulder, Social Venture Partners, Unreasonable Institute, and more.

Scrimmage in action

Meet Shane 

Shane Gring launched Denver-based BOULD in 2011 after becoming interested in energy efficiency and the ways it could create savings for the low-income families he was serving while working for Habitat for Humanity via AmeriCorps in Boulder.

Like most startups, BOULD, which strives to greenify affordable housing projects, had a few kinks to work out. Needing help on simplifying the enrollment process and creating enticing messages for potential participants, they partnered with ReWork for the very first scrimmage in November 2012.

Two teams took on one problem each. One streamlined the enrollment form. The other team came up with messages and tested them right there with people on the street and at CU Boulder’s architecture school, eventually coming up with simple, accessible communication.

“I like that this process allows you to see how people react, right away, without the space of waiting to roll out an idea and seeing how people like it,” Shane says.

Because of its success, rapid prototyping is something they do at BOULD all the time now in their day-to-day work as well as special events like their Green Building Hackathon.

Meet Brett

Photo credit: ReWork team.

After a stint with TOMS shoes and living abroad to pursue a master’s degree in sustainability, Brett Dioguardi moved to Colorado and found himself without a gig. He learned about ReWork through Twitter, and was accepted to their talent pool in the midst of his move.

Brett was familiar with BOULD before the Scrimmage, having worked with them in a volunteer capacity, including helping to get them ready for the event. The day of, he worked on the team that was responsible for putting together messaging.

“I was a great fit for this group because although I had some knowledge of BOULD beforehand, I was still able to bring fresh ideas and thoughts to the discussion in a group of folks who were new to the company,” he says.

To him, it was an amazing experience where he got to meet new companies and people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. More significantly, however, after helping out BOULD pre and post-Scrimmage, Brett was offered a full-time position to work on partnership development.

“When I reflect on the experience, prepping for the Scrimmage and all the work before and after was even better than a job interview because I got to show [BOULD] what I was actually capable of,” he says.

Ultimately ReWork’s Scrimmage taught both Brett and Shane a lot about the power of face-to-face interaction, how iteration is key, and that continued problem-solving can help them tackle a constantly evolving business model.

In your everyday life, how do you practice the principles of Scrimmage?

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While they’re mostly in Colorado right now, this year ReWork will be holding open Scrimmages across the country as well as private ones for companies. Get in touch by emailing info@rework.jobs. 

To learn more about green building, starting your own social enterprise, or any of BOULD’s programs, contact Brett and Shane.

Learn more about Colorado month at Idealist!

In this series of blog posts, I’ll try to answer all your questions about anything and everything regardless of how ridiculously unqualified I am to answer them. Consider me sort of a tech-literate, bearded, Ann Landers or a work-safe Dan Savage.

Last time you heard from me, I’d invited all of you to ask me even the most random of questions. I wasn’t entirely sure if I’d get any questions at all. I did. Thank you, readers! Now, let’s see if I can actually answer them.

I recently got a degree in ‘service design’ from SCAD, and just moved up to NYC a couple weeks ago. I’m a highly motivated idealist, and I have a rare, yet amazingly valuable skill-set. But how do I find an awesome job doing awesome work for an awesome company if no one knows what my field is– and no one is posting jobs in it?
-Yosef

This is a tricky question. First of all, networking is going to be important, but you’ll have to go beyond ordinary networking. Don’t just go to parties and mingle and talk about how great you are: get involved everywhere you can and show up as a representative of your field. Get involved in your professional organization. Go to every relevant event you can. Participate, and get visible.

The nonprofit sector, which is often starved for resources, may be an especially tough sell for someone in a field like yours, which will seem to many like window-dressing or a luxury service. You’ll need to go to extra lengths to show why your work is important and how it helps organizations succeed in their mission. Telling people why your work is valuable to each organization will be your responsibility. Take it seriously. No one else will do this for you.

Build a nice-looking webpage (which I see you’ve done) advocating for your expertise, but also advocating for why your work matters. Write articles for publications explaining how valuable the field is. Look for opportunities to volunteer and/or do pro bono work for causes you believe in, and build a spectacular portfolio from the results.

Because no one knows about what you do, you have a rare opportunity to show people why it’s important, and to become the representative that everyone thinks of when they want someone to help with that field.

One reality is this: in the short term you might find yourself doing a job that isn’t exactly what you hoped, but this doesn’t mean you can’t use what you know. Your plan will be to use the deep knowledge and rare skills you possess, to build your future a little bit at a time. So look for jobs in related disciplines, and that encompass things that are like your field. You’ll bring different knowledge to your work than any other candidates, but that’s a good thing. Highlight that difference on your resume, on cover letters, and in your interview, so that you stand out. Then once you have the job, make your unique skills count.

I’m working with a bunch of college students who are serving as mentors to graduating high school seniors over the summer. Someone told me that I could give them all Google phone numbers, which could map onto their existing cell phones so that they wouldn’t be giving out their personal info to the students. How does this work?
-Lisa

Google Voice ought to be perfect for your purposes. It just takes a moment to set up a Google Voice account: you tell it what number you want it to ring, then pick a number from the available options, to have as your GV number. Setting this up takes only a couple minutes, and there’s a good support page.

Now, this basic setup won’t help with outgoing calls, only incoming. If you want to make outgoing calls, you’ll need a Smartphone with an app. Android phones are especially good for this, but iPhones can do it too. There’s also some built-in tracking if you’re in an org using Google Apps (which I heartily recommend for most nonprofits). You also can get voice mails in your email inbox, which is pretty neat.

What is the meaning of life?
-Brett

Finally, a question I’m qualified to answer! A question that has tormented deep thinkers through the ages! No problem. I’ve totally got this.

Seriously, for me there’s one simple answer: love. Not love as a noun, love as a verb. Active love: giving and being generous and trying to improve the world in some small way. Doing this means you’ve got no time for fear or discontent or angst. And there’s nothing more satisfying than giving back to the world around you. There are so many ways to give and serve, and that’s why we’re here.

It’s why Idealist.org was made, it’s why the nonprofit sector exists, and it’s why we work in it. This is always a work in progress, and having patience with one’s own imperfections is also a way to act with love. Be patient and give it a little bit each day, and you’ll be on the right track automatically.

That’s all for this installment. Have questions about anything I’ve said? Or about anything else (and I do mean anything)? Ask me.
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Ask Ero anything (anything anything anything) at ero@idealist.org.

More than five months after Hurricane Sandy tore into the coasts of New York and New Jersey, many people are still feeling the effects. One neighborhood that suffered great losses and is still digging out is Rockaway, Queens, where the nonprofit organization Respond and Rebuild is working to repair damaged homes and get residents back inside.

The idea

Shanna Snider and Terri Bennett, two founders of the disaster response nonprofit Respond and Rebuild, met when they were volunteering with relief efforts in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. Neither woman had any prior field experience with disaster relief, but they both took an instant liking to it.

Terri Bennett (all photos courtesy of Respond and Rebuild)

“It’s a weird kind of work to enjoy,” says Terri. “The world would be a better place if it wasn’t needed.”

After months spent helping in the Caribbean, Shanna, Terri, and three other good friends they’d made on the island scattered around the map. They watched from different vantage points in 2012 as Hurricane Sandy drew closer and closer, and then struck—hard.

The five friends, soon to be joined by another they’d meet in New York, dropped what they were doing and, in 24 hours, made tracks to the Rockaway Peninsula—11 miles of beach at the southern edge of Queens whose neighborhoods were devastated by the storm. Nearly 100 homes were completely destroyed and many more seriously damaged, over ten thousand residents were displaced, and the power was out for weeks.

“When we came out here, we just wanted to help,” says Shanna. “We didn’t intend for it to become an organization—we all had other plans.” When the hurricane struck, Shanna was weeks away from leaving the U.S. to serve with the Peace Corps in Jamaica, and Terri was halfway through a Ph.D. program in international development and humanitarian relief. “But this took off,” Shanna says. “So why would I leave? This is obviously where I’m supposed to be.”

Shanna Snider

Respond and Rebuild is now the leading volunteer group working side-by-side with homeowners and community leaders in Rockaway to safely clean out and repair damaged homes so their owners can return to them. The water removal, mucking, and (their specialty) mold remediation they perform is funded by donations and comes at no cost to the residents.

“Organizationally, we wanted to do something different than we’d seen done before. We wanted to be community-led and centered—not to drop in and tell the community, ‘This is what you have’ and ‘This is what you need,’ Shanna says. “The community here has really shaped what we do; they’ve led us to be able to meet their needs very directly.”

Obstacles

Respond and Rebuild’s success has not come without challenges. Here are a few Shanna and Terri have come across:

Obstacle: Living conditions
Solution: For the first five weeks of their operation, the initial members of Respond and Rebuild all lived together in a one-bedroom apartment near the beach. At times, it was hard for the crew to keep the organization running without going crazy.

But when they reached out to the community for help, they quickly secured two larger apartments to live in rent-free. “Everyone is vulnerable to disaster. So it’s a cause that touches people in a different way: it’s very personal,” Shanna says. “When we asked for assistance, people really opened their hearts and homes.”

Obstacle: Narrowing focus and asserting expertise
Solution: Given that there are a lot of needs in disaster response, Shanna and Terri knew they needed to give a focus to what they were trying to do.

“One thing we identified early on was our signature ‘cause’,” says Terri. “Mold. We became ‘the mold people.’ We researched and outfitted volunteers, waged a public health campaign, reached out to experts and other city orgs who had experience… We were the most organized group you could speak to about it, and that gained us trust.”

Obstacle: The ebb and flow of a volunteer-led group
Solution: “Especially in the first few months after a disaster, people come and go,” says Shanna. “And that can be a very emotional experience. But the group that remains, the core that’s left behind, is the one that works best together. It can be hard to hang on and not burn out; to recognize when to step back and breathe and when to give 150 percent. The ones that are left are the ones who figured out the balance. And as things formalize and become more structured, it gets easier.”

Advice

Volunteers pose in their ‘Mold Buster’ suits

Since the end of October 2012, Respond and Rebuild’s hundreds of volunteers have logged an average of 1,800 hours a week to bring more than 100 homes back to livability. And the work continues.

Currently, Shanna and Terri are developing a blueprint of their organizational model, which they plan to share with others. In the meantime, here’s their advice for people who want to coordinate their own disaster response effort:

• Just do it. “Trust yourself and the people you work with,” says Shanna.
• Share skills.“We all had different skill sets and experiences that complemented each other: logistics, construction, management, communications, fundraising. And we also worked to partner right away with other organizations, which was a great way to take what we all had and make it most effective.”
• Ask for and accept help. “Never be so arrogant as to think you don’t need help,” says Shanna. “I make a lot of calls and ask for a lot of favors. No one has all the answers by themselves, but together, you can get close.”
• Be open to advice. “If someone else has already learned the lesson, don’t waste time relearning it yourself,” says Shanna. “Take advice openly, then decide if it’s right for your mission.”
• Maintain balance. “Initially, adrenaline pushes you forward in disaster relief,” says Terri. “But as the immediate relief period comes to a close, the pace changes. Now we’d like to focus on employing local people, moving forward with partnerships, and developing a case management system for homeowners.”

“In five years, I can see us doing this work around the world,” Terri says. “But having the patience to take on all these things can be difficult. We’ll have to balance focusing and growing.”

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Inspired to help with disaster relief in a community you’re close to? Read more about Respond and Rebuild’s successful model on their website, or contact them through Idealist. In the NYC area? They’re always looking for new volunteers and donations.

Respond and Rebuild is also always looking to make their nonprofit better. If you have experience with disaster relief, they would love your advice about what surprise obstacles they might expect to encounter down the road. Or if you have experience with volunteer management, they’d love to know your ideas on best practices to retain volunteers, and on the best volunteer and donor tracking solutions.

Ron Bell is one of 10 U.S. Navy submarine veterans who volunteer to lead weekly visitor tours on the USS Blueback, a sub docked outside the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, Oregon. Retired from a career in scrap metal construction, Bell spoke with me about why he loves volunteering.

This post originally appeared on Next Avenue, a PBS website that informs and inspires the 50 + crowd. 

Ron Bell below deck in the USS Blueback

I had been following the USS Blueback submarine since it was retired in 1990, because that’s what we submarine vets do. I was in the Navy for four years during two wars, and worked on a few submarines similar to this one, doing everything from maintenance to communications. When I heard the Blueback was coming to Portland, I had to see it and I had to be a part of it.

So in 1995, soon after it docked, I got involved in volunteering there. From giving tours of the sub to performing maintenance — whatever needs to be done, I do it.

I’m also here because submarines are the most beautiful pieces of machinery. Once you get bit by these things, you want to know all there is about them. You can’t quit.

Checking up on the sub

The Navy still owns the Blueback, but they’ve made it non-operational. For good reason, maybe. To be honest, I don’t think they trust us old sub vets not to take it for a spin. Every year or so, they visit to make sure it’s still up to par. Which, of course, it always is, since they’ve got us on deck.

I enjoy everything about what I do down here. I love telling our tours how we lived on a sub back then and sharing old stories. People like hearing them and I like telling ‘em, so it works out nicely.

In the Navy, I was in Hawaii, Australia, the Philippines — during the Vietnam War — and then the coast of Europe, especially Russia, during the Cold War when I was in a nuclear sub. We got hit by Communist missiles a couple times.

You have to go through sub school, which is a rigorous, intensive type of training. Everyone on deck needs to know how to do everything, in case something goes wrong.

The USS Blueback docked outside of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (Photo credit: Meltedplastic on Flickr)

The joy of volunteering with fellow vets

The point is, sub vets worked hard to get to where they are. We are all very proud of what we’ve done and deeply respect each other. That’s what makes it so rewarding to work together here. Being on a sub in the Navy is something that connects us all at a very deep level.

I’ll tell ya, if you get a bunch of sub vets together for a cup of coffee after our shift, you end up sharing a lot of laughs and old sea stories, which is just the Navy term for lies.

I’ve visited amazing places around the world while on patrol, but now all I want to do is stay in the states and see this beautiful country where my wife and I live. We make time for RV trips every year to do just that.

An opportunity for time traveling

And of course, I travel back in time when I’m on the sub. As soon as I first walked on board the USS Blueback, it was just like “Boom!” I was back. And I loved it.

And I think the rest of the vets here feel the same. Being here brings back so many fond memories; it’s good for the heart.

I have to say my favorite part of volunteering is when young sub sailors come down to look at the old machinery — it’s a piece of history. They respect us more than anyone, since they know they wouldn’t be where they are if it wasn’t for us guys. That’s why doing this matters.

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Want to volunteer in your community? Search over 13,000 volunteer opportunities around the globe listed on Idealist. 

Datatel Volunteers Shelving Picture Books at Centreville Regional Library (Photo credit: Fairfax Library Foundation, Creative Commons/Flickr)

During this time of year, many people want to give back. But whether you are looking for a one-time opportunity or are eager to jump start a long-term volunteer experience, you should take some time to figure out what kind of volunteering you would like to do.

• Hands-on: activities where almost anyone can show up and, with minimal training, get started (taking tickets, cleaning up parks, planting trees)

• Skilled: tasks that depend on a volunteer’s particular skill set or experience (using graphic design skills to help an organization redesign brochures, building or maintaining a nonprofit’s website, providing legal advice for an immigration support agency)

• Direct service: volunteering on the front lines of the organization and likely having direct contact with the population served (delivering meals, packing food bank boxes)

• Advisory: serving in a more behind-the-scenes role to help build an organization’s capacity to reach their mission (providing feedback on strategic or fundraising plans, helping organizations learn more about using social networking sites and tools, serving on a committee or board whose role is largely oversight and governance)

• Online: completing projects that you can do from anywhere in the world as long as you have email or internet access (translating materials, blogging, developing websites, advising on strategic plans)

Action steps

• Think about what kinds of activities you really enjoy or have always wanted to try.

• Do a skills assessment to see how you might be able to lend your personal and professional expertise to an organization, issue, or cause.

• Think about where you want to get involved—behind the scenes, on the front lines, online.

• Don’t forget to consider what you would like to gain from this experience—and what kinds of activities are likely to help you reach your own personal or professional goals.

What kind of volunteering do you enjoy?

This post is republished from our volunteer center.

Consider DIY volunteering (Photo credit: WAstateDNR – Department of Natural Resources, Creative Commons/Flickr)

With over 15,000 volunteer opportunities on our site, we think there is something for everyone who wants to volunteer. However, we understand that sometimes, there’s nothing that quite fits what you’re looking for. Or, perhaps you are already volunteering, and want to take on new responsibilities, but aren’t sure where to start.

If either of these apply to you, you should consider DIY/Entrepreneurial/Independent Volunteering. By honing your skills and researching organizations that would benefit from your help, you can create a rewarding experience. Here are ways to craft a volunteer experience, from our Volunteer Information Center:

Let’s say you have a project in mind. Try answering the following questions to set parameters around the project:

• What do you need in order to be successful? This can be tangible stuff like tools or other supplies, or it can be more intangible like advertising time or online space to get the word out.
  

• Who do you need in order to be successful? Is this something you’ll take on by yourself or will you be looking for fellow volunteers? How many volunteers might you need to make your idea happen? What specific skills or political/social/community connections would be an asset? How might you partner with existing organizations, staff, and volunteers?

• How long will it take to achieve your goals? What is your timeline like? Do you have benchmarks or goals in place to measure how you’re doing once you get started? How will you measure and evaluate your progress? How will your project or role be sustained should you decide to move on—will you recruit a volunteer to take it over, seek to integrate it into an organization?

• Why this project or role? Be prepared with research and reasons to explain why your project or role is needed, as well as, if applicable, how it doesn’t duplicate any other efforts. For example, if you’re starting a new wildlife census program and one already exists in your area, you’ll need to be able to explain to potential volunteers, funders, or media contacts why you’ve created a new one and how it’s different.

Consider checking out the Volunteer Self-Organizing tool kit by The Resource Center, Corporation for National and Community Service to help you flesh out the details of your project.

After adding a little more structure to your project, you might want to reach out to organizations. Before you do that, remember to do the following:

• Be as specific as you can. Especially on what you might need from the organization and how your project or role fits with their mission. The more details you can provide, the more likely they are to take you up on your idea as it demonstrates that you are passionate about their cause, have done your research, and have thought everything through.

• Be ready to talk about what skills, experiences, and connections you can bring to the table. This helps make the case as to why you’re the right person to implement the project or take on the role.

• Be ready to commit. If you’ve got a great idea for a volunteer role or project but aren’t entirely sure you can follow through on what you promise, it may be a good idea to wait. Just as successfully creating and launching your independent volunteer role or project can be a great relationship and resume/CV builder for you, dropping the ball or doing the job poorly can potentially result in a damaged reputation for both you and the organization that invested in your vision (for more on the rights and responsibilities of volunteers, click here.)

• Be aware that not all organizations will be ready to give your proposed role or project a go: some may be hesitant because, frankly, they just don’t know you yet. Others may not have the capacity for, or perhaps even the interest in, your idea. Don’t let this get you down though; simply go back to the research drawing board to identify other potential partner organizations in your area and give them a try. If you’ve got a great idea and a plan to make it happen, chances are you’ll find a good fit somewhere. And of course, if you still can’t find a good partner…

• Don’t be afraid to go it alone. While in most cases it would be ideal to partner with existing organizations—they often have significant experience, connections, and resources that would greatly enhance your DIY project (as well as help you avoid duplicating efforts or reinventing the wheel)—you may in fact find that you’re in uncharted territory. However, if you’ve done your research and have a pretty clear idea about what you’d like to do and why it’s important, it’s worth taking the leap on your own.

Have you created a volunteer opportunity from scratch? Tell us about it in the comments!

Each day over 100,000 people visit Idealist.org looking for the opportunities, resources, and community they need to create a better world. To date over 400,000 people and 70,000 organizations have joined Idealist.org contributing to a vibrant and generous community.

But behind these numbers are powerful stories of people who have committed to taking one step to change the world. In the interview below, we chat with Rajendra Ka Vesana, Chairman and Founder of Touchwood Ecological and Social Foundation in India.

Students at a Touchwood school (Photo credit: Touchwood)

Founded in 2006, Touchwood’s mission is to create new initiatives and opportunities for indigenous populations within the jungles of the Nilgiris in the areas of health, education, agriculture, economic development, environment and social welfare through close cooperation between indigenous people, local NGOs, government agencies and private corporations. To date, Touchwood has treated more than 18,000 people in its free medical clinics, has staffed schools in remote locations with trained teachers, and offers a variety of classes in computers, English, and vocational skills.  Read more about their programs and opportunities.

Raj uses Idealist to recruit volunteers and interns; thus far he has recruited close to 40 volunteers who help put his organization’s mission into action. Below, he shares his experiences starting and running an NGO, the power of volunteers, and the key lessons he’s learned.

What made you decide to quit your job in Canada and move to India to start an NGO?

Right from childhood I had a huge interest in wildlife. However, my family wanted me to pursue a degree in engineering in Electronics and Communication. I went on to a life in the IT industry, which took me across the globe. However, back in September 1993, I accompanied my friends to the Jungles of Sathyamangalam (a town in the Erode district in the Indian state Tamil Nadu, more known for the notorious bandit Veerappan – and now known as the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve) and that rekindled my passion for wildlife. From then on, I made sure that whichever part of the world I was in, I took a week off every two months and headed off to those jungles to learn and understand more about wildlife and ecology. In order to be more consistent in my efforts, I realised I would need a banner for my work and hence Touchwood was born in February 2006 as an NGO. My passion kept growing until I finally realized that this was my calling. I decided to quit the corporate world in the year 2010 and head to the jungles to do my bit.

When you realized you wanted to start an NGO, what was the first step you took?

In 2006 when I started the NGO I had taken a sabbatical from my job and worked in the jungles. It was a huge learning curve for me and I made so many mistakes. The place where I started my NGO, The Nilgiris, has almost 750+ registered NGO’s and almost 200 of them have been around for more than a decade. What would I do that someone hasn’t already done? What value would I deliver? What can make me different?

But I learnt from them and Touchwood grew in the hearts of the people(s) in the jungles. I did a complete reality check and decided that to help in conservation and protection, we must first take care of the humans (indigenous populations) in these jungles, for they are the true conservationists and protectors of the jungles. We must empower them with the knowledge and awareness that they are the most important link in conservation. If they are denied basic essentials in life such as access to healthcare, education, sanitation, clean drinking water etc, how can we expect them to handle such a huge task of conservation and protection? Keeping this in mind we started off with a Tribal Healthcare Center at Vazhaithotam in February 2007 within a year after we started the NGO.

What role do volunteers play in your organization? How do you support them?

Volunteers have and will continue to play a vital role in our efforts. They bring with them valuable international experience, knowledge and skills needed to design, develop and implement various programs that bring numerous advantages to the marginalized communities. Volunteers come with a passion and dedication to give back to society and to take with them what they learn. Hence there is more understanding of the existing ground reality and their willingness to put in the extra hours needed to see things through. Though we have local staff at ground level their capabilities to perceive the big picture and work towards a futuristic goal is limited and hence the need for the international volunteers and interns.

While the volunteers / interns are expected to pay for their time here with us, we provide them with in-country orientation, travel on behalf of Touchwood, boarding and lodging and free WiFi. There is a manager who supervises them and whom they report to.

Can you tell us about a success you’ve had recently?

After the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary was declared a Tiger Reserve (Mudumalai Tiger Reserve – MTR), we met with the top officials of MTR and decided to shift our clinic to a place they had given us so that it would be easily accessible to more people. I must mention the names of Dr. Rajeev Srivastava, I.F.S., Field Director and Mr. Ameer Haja, Deputy Director, of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve who have been of enormous support to us. Once with the MTR, we were approached by another NGO who wanted to work with us on healthcare projects. We started off with Free Medical Camps (75 to date) for all who live within the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and its buffer zone areas. We also provided teachers to schools deep within the rural areas where normally appointed governmental teachers refuse to travel to. These activities quickly won the confidence of the people and managed the bridge the gap that was there traditionally between the Forest Department and the people within the reserve.

Receiving care at a Touchwood Free Medical Clinic (Photo Credit: Touchwood)

We went on to form Eco-development Committees on behalf of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve to enable vocational training, skills development and sustainable livelihood options for those within these reserves. The programs were so well received by the indigenous populations that the National Tiger Conservation Authority of India conferred the Award of Excellence for the year 2010-2011 in the category of “Involvement of Local Communities and Eco-development” to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. We are proud to be a part of this achievement and we continue to support the people within the MTR with various programs.

What advice do you have for others who want to start an NGO?

Be prepared for brick-bats [blunt criticism/ disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings] and sacrifice, not only from self but from your near and dear ones too. It takes a lot of patience and you will see the various faces of mankind. So many will come and go; it’s hard to have someone stay with you all the way.

If you weren’t part of Touchwood, what would you be doing instead, or what would your life be like?

A typical story: get an education, move overseas, make lots of money and create wealth and live life like what we think is King Size.  Maybe I would’ve liked it…maybe I wouldn’t have. I really don’t know. But for me now this is life – King Size!

Want to learn more about Touchwood? Visit their website or connect with them on Facebook

Please feel free to write to them at info@touchwoodfoundation.org

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Many of us volunteer to help solve a pressing problem in our communities. But did you know that the time you give to an organization can also be a great professional development experience?

Volunteering not only helps people in your community; it also helps your career. (Photo Credit: RISD Museum, Creative Commons/Flickr)

If you’re eager to advance your career, consider the following benefits of volunteering:

• Develop new skills: Volunteering is a great way to develop a skill you may not use often in your day-to-day work.
• Apply the skills you already have in new contexts: Sometimes we need new challenges to keep our skills sharp. Volunteering your time and talent to help an organization outside of work will allow you to leverage your skills in a new way.
• Expand your network: People who are already involved in your target field are likely to know of new opportunities and can recommend organizations and people for you to get to know.
• Explore new career paths: Volunteering can provide an entry-point to a new career. By volunteering, you can expose yourself to different kinds of organizations, roles, causes, and more.
• Demonstrate passion to hiring managers: We know that hiring managers like to see genuine interest and understanding of the work their organization does, so it never hurts to have hands-on experience in the field you’d like to enter.

To ensure your volunteering experience helps you move your career forward, we’ve put together a few questions you should ask before taking on a new volunteer opportunity:

• What are your personal and professional talents?
• What skills would you like to apply in new ways? Keep sharp?
• What skills or knowledge would you like to gain or learn from your volunteer experience?
• Are you interested in contributing skills related to your career? Or would you prefer to do something entirely different?
• Who do you want to work with, get to know, learn from?
• Are there particular roles, careers, or organization types that you’ve been wanting to explore?

Has volunteering helped your career? Share your thoughts and experiences below!

Ami points out that "Kaboom! invites people to build playgrounds," in strong, active language. (Photo: Ft. Meade Public Affairs, Flickr/Creative Commons)

Today on Fast Company, our founder Ami Dar writes:

To help more people take the leap from good intentions to action, we need better words for what we do. “Service,” “volunteerism,” “civic engagement”—even “nonprofit” and “social entrepreneurship”—are all weak substitutes for the action-oriented verbs that people actually use to describe how they work together and help one another.

Click here to read the rest of the piece. Thanks to Fast Company and Catchafire for including Ami in the “Co.Exist: World Changing Ideas and Innovation” series.

Is your community's "happiness flag" showing signs of wear and tear? (Photo: Rachel Kramer, Flickr/Creative Commons)

How happy are we?

Most everyone would agree that being happy is a good thing—along with the coming of spring, a robust economy, and clean air to breathe. For most nations, there are detailed, current statistics about the weather, the state of the economy, and the atmosphere (not to mention many other things). Statistics about happiness are a little harder to come by.

The government of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan has made it a priority to measure “Gross National Happiness” as a summary of national wellbeing. Since 2005 a national effort has been underway to assess not just economic activity in the nation (“Gross National Product” in economist-speak), but to attend to data from eight other “domains” that impact people’s lives, such as health, education, community vitality, and cultural resilience. The website GrossNationalHappiness.com provides the official explanation of the project and reports on the results of the calculation of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index for 2010.

There is no such national index for the USA so far. In my hometown, Sustainable Seattle is using the concept to develop a happiness index for communities. The idea is to supplement its other initiatives and build a long-term future of health and well-being. The project has two components: a set of objective statistics that create a profile of a region’s progress toward meeting goals related to sustainability, and a personal happiness survey that anyone can take. At the end of the survey, each respondent’s answers are compared to the overall response from all survey-takers. Food for thought as a new year begins.

No such thing as personal happiness?

For his 2008 book The Geography of Bliss, reporter Eric Weiner visited nine varied countries, looking for the happiest place on earth. He found some very disappointing spots, including one place where people “derive more pleasure from their neighbor’s failure than their own success. I can’t imagine anything less happy.”

In contrast, when he talked with Bhutanese scholar Karma Ura, he heard “There is no such thing as personal happiness. Happiness is one hundred percent relational.” Weiner reflected: “At the time I didn’t take him literally. I thought he was exaggerating to make his point…But now I realize Karma meant exactly what he said. Our happiness is completely and utterly intertwined with other people: family and friends and neighbors and…people you hardly notice. Happiness is not a noun or verb. It’s a conjunction. Connective tissue.”

This general point is repeated over and over again in the literature. Arthur Brooks, President of the Heritage Foundation, concludes his book “Gross National Happiness” with a quick review of social scientists’ results demonstrating that all sorts of activities that benefit others—from the most direct sorts of help to family and friends to the abstractions of making donations to help people in far-away lands—are closely related to general feelings of happiness and well-being.

Five steps to happiness

In the UK, a study for the National Health Service called Five Ways to Well-Being concluded that these simple steps would improve people’s lives in measurable ways (and sharply reduce the risks of mental illness too!):

• Connect with the people around you
• Be active
• Take notice of what’s around you
• Keep learning
• Give

How will you do these things in the coming year?

Not to toot our own horn too loudly, it still bears saying that Idealist.org offers lots of opportunities for doing all five. Just a few minutes clicking through listings in your community, or in your area of interest, or for the sorts of things you want to do will turn up things to do and places to go.

With your personal profile from Sustainable Seattle’s survey in front of you, and some reflection about the Five Ways to Well-Being, Idealist’s listings are one way to make sure you have a happy Happy New Year.

Best wishes for 2012 from all of us!