Volunteers

Volunteers
$7.99
Well, Spencer's gone, we're all getting on, the present gets crappy and scary, and the 60's just get more mythical as we go. So when do we realize this band and their cronies were the Cassandras of their time? (Google her).
The music is epic and anthemic, even the quiet songs like "Good Shepherd" and "Turn My Life Down" have an urgency to them that asks the listener to think about the choices and compromises they have made, the lifestyles they have chosen.
I gave this album a good headphone listen tonight, and I'm convinced the reason this band has become so obscure and forgotten is because they spoke an uncomfortable truth to comfort. They were not about entertainment, but rather whatever entertainment's opposite is.
This album is not just a collection of erudite, well written and really well played songs, but a statement about America (as it was then) that has become horribly and prophetically realized 40 years later.
If Baxters was anti-commercial, Volunteers was anti-everything our dopey leaders thought was good for us, and (more importantly) them.
What is the last time music actually made any kind of political statement about the status quo, the way this album did? U-2, maybe, but every other pop artist these days is all about the mo-ney. No musician today will let you hear a discouraging word about the way things are, so listen to the increasingly ancient sounds of the Airplane to understand where politics briefly met art and music. Good luck on your 401K, motherf$#*er!

Volunteer Jam
$14.98
I was disappointed with the quality of this DVD. They definitely jam on the video but the quality is not great at all. If you like Charlie Daniels and good foot stomping music, it may still be worth it.

Simply Strategic Volunteers: Empowering People For Ministry
$19.99
Three cheers for Morgan and Stevens! When you place value on your volunteers, you marshal the full resources of your staff, the board, the budget and all the other management buckets to ensure volunteerism success. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.

"It is easy to get lost in the micro-purpose of the ministry and forget the macro-vision of the organization," write Tony Morgan and Tim Stevens in their incredibly practical book (99 quick volunteer ideas).

Is your volunteer program in alignment with your organization's mission? Do you have a run-away program (led by volunteers, perhaps) that is no longer aligned with the macro-vision of your organization? Do your programs flow out of your mission statement and your Big Holy Audacious Goal? When they do, blast off with every gun blazing. Remember, your unpaid volunteers and paid volunteers are on the same team! (That would be Jesus' team.)

The Volunteer Bucket is one of 20 buckets in my book, Mastering The Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Non-profit, and you must integrate all the buckets. Everyone who works with volunteers needs their own copy of Simply Strategic Volunteers.

Volunteers: How to Get Them, How to Keep Them
$24.95
As a new Outreach Coordinator for a small non profit, I am looking specifically for information on how to recruit volunteers. The title suggests this book is the one, and other reviewers found it helpful. But, I'll just say, it is not about recruiting, it is about managing volunteers. After a very short Chapter 1 discussing the "myth" of the volunteer shortage, the author tells us "the remainder of the book is dedicated to helping" us recognize and meet the needs of my volunteers. Humm, a very misleading title! I wish I had found it in the library, then I'd have known it was not the book I needed without paying for it.