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1.1 Volunteering – A Definition
1.2 Three Criteria For Volunteering
1.3 Brief History Of Volunteering
1.4 Volunteering Facts And Statistics

1.5 Why Use Volunteers?

2.1 Volunteer Staff Management
2.2 Training Packet For Volunteer Advisers: Table Of Contents
2.3 Orienting Your Volunteer
2.4 Possible Elements Within A Volunteer Program
2.5 Useful Websites

3.1 Evaluation Of Volunteers Schemes – Two Perspectives

3.2 Three Examples

4. Bill Of Rights For Volunteers

Any activity which involves spending time, unpaid, doing something which aims to benefit someone (individuals or groups) other than or in addition to close relatives or to benefit the environment including animals.

The three criteria given below are broad enough to include virtually all forms of volunteering found around the world, yet they effectively distinguish volunteering from other forms of behavior that may superficially resemble it.

1. It is not undertaken primarily for financial gain. If the monetary reimbursement that people receive for the work they do is equal to, or greater than the ‘market value’ of the work, this cannot be regarded as volunteering. However, anyone who volunteers should certainly have all legitimate expenses arising out of their activities reimbursed by the organization that involves them; this is important, as it prevents them from being out of pocket as a consequence of their involvement – and therefore helps to ensure that people with limited financial resources are not excluded from volunteering.

2. It is undertaken of one’s free will. Free will is basic tenet of voluntary action, but people who volunteer seldom do so entirely voluntarily: They are usually under some pressure, either from their peers or from their own feelings of social obligation. However, this criterion does help to distinguish genuinely voluntary volunteering from situations where there is explicit external coercion of the individual: for example, where schools require pupils to volunteer; where the employees of a company with an official volunteering scheme are required to take part (and the ‘volunteering’ is entered on the person’s employment record); or where governments offer young men the chance to do community service as an alternative to military service.

3. It brings benefit to a third party as well as to the people who volunteer.
This criterion helps to distinguish volunteering from a purely leisure activity such as playing football (although playing football for a good cause might fall within the definition). This toolkit adopts a broad interpretation of beneficiaries: It includes friends, neighbors, and such abstract notions as ‘society’ or the ‘environment’, only excluding the immediate family of the person who volunteers. This enables mutual aid and participation in a political party or single-issue campaign to be treated as forms of volunteering that are just as valid as providing services. These three criteria provide ample space for the full range of volunteering. It would be a mistake to insist that volunteering can only take place trough and organization of some kind as such a criterion would exclude a great deal of mutual aid as well as the vast amount of unmanaged help that goes on between neighbors and friends.

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Values as solidarity and mutual assistance resurfaced in 1920 as an antidote to the hate and horror of World War I. That summer, a group of Austrian, English, French, German and Swiss volunteers -- some of them former soldiers and thus ex-enemies -- set to work to rebuild a village near Verdun which had been destroyed in a battle that cost more than a million lives. From that very first international voluntary workcamp sprang the first modern voluntary service movement, an organization known by its French name and acronym, Service Civil International. S.C.I. soon had younger brothers and sisters as voluntary service spread in the 1920s and 1930s. At that time it was often seen as a means of building friendships among young people of different European countries. It was also used in countries as different as the U.S.A. and Bulgaria, during the severe economic crisis following 1929, as a means of giving unemployed young people something socially useful to do, as well as a bed and food. In 1934, S.C.I. sent four European volunteers to work with the poorest of the poor in India -- a pioneer team that was the ancestor to the British Volunteer Programme, US Peace Corps, Deutsche Entwiklungsdienst and other such North-to-South long-term volunteering actions, which in turn preceded the UN Volunteers programme.

World War II saw, in some democratic countries, volunteering take the place of military mobilization for conscientious objectors. In the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s young volunteers played an important part in the reconstruction of Europe, and the establishment of cross-border friendships, in projects that ranged from rebuilding central Warsaw and war-damaged villages in Western Europe to spanning Yugoslavia with the Bratstvo-Jedinstvo (Brotherhood and Unity) highway. […] Thanks in good part to UNESCO and its Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (created in 1948) volunteers from East and West were soon, albeit symbolically, jointly "rusting" the "Iron Curtain". Volunteers from East also traveled to the West.

Emancipation from colonial rule gave birth to national volunteer movements throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. Some were tiny and fragile: in Nigeria, the Lagos Voluntary Workcamps Organization was so poor it couldn't afford postage stamps and its members delivered invitations to potential student volunteers on foot. Other operations were huge: in 1960, 15- to 18-year-old secondary school students formed the backbone of the volunteer force that virtually eliminated illiteracy in Cuba. Long-term volunteering to assist developing countries took off in the 1960s and with it soon came calls to depoliticize it. To ensure that volunteers not be used as « soldiers » in the Cold War, the creation of a U.N. corps of volunteers was advocated. Already in the 1950s, UNESCO had successfully used small teams of volunteers from the U.S.A. and Jordan at its regional adult education centres in the Arab States and Latin America. The 1970s dawned with the creation of the UN Volunteers programme.

There are two very important aspects of the end-of-the-century history of volunteering. First is the resurgence of volunteering in the ex-Socialist countries. But a new kind of volunteering has emerged from the ruins, and has taken root in several countries, particularly in North-Eastern Europe, where the UNESCO- and EU-supported EASTLINKS Network forms a common denominator. The UN Volunteers programme's Azerbaijan Project offers a hopeful avenue of innovation in the Caucasus. The second aspect concerns age: with extending healthy longevity in industrialized countries, increasing numbers of qualified retired professionals are now finding satisfaction and enrichment by offering their services, abroad as well as at home.  

Corporate angle

Corporate America is placing a greater value on employee volunteer programs as a resource for achieving strategic business goals.  81 % of companies connect volunteering to their overall business strategies, compared to only 31 % who did so in 1992. Respondents to the survey unanimously agreed that corporate volunteering helps create healthier communities and improves a company’s public image; 97 % say these programs improve employee teamwork. 

1. Direct service activity like serving food, undertaking repairs or shopping on behalf of others (24%)
2. fundraising (16%)
3. informal volunteering (15%)
4. religion (14%)
5. giving advice or counseling (11%)
6. youth (11%)
7. organizing an event (10%)
8. visiting people or offering companionship (9%)

Volunteering provides a variety of personal benefits and satisfaction, in addition to the benefits received by nonprofit organizations and society as a whole. The most important reasons cited were :

- feeling compassion for those in need (86%)
- having interest in the activity or work (72%)
- gaining a new perspective on things (70%)
- the importance of the activity to people the volunteer respects (63%)

Contents

1. Volunteers have credibility with the community because they are not receiving payment from the organization.
2. Volunteers communicate sincerity and therefore are very good representatives for public relations.
3. Without the stress of working for money in their volunteer position, they can better accomplish their tasks.
4. Volunteers can provide the organization with demographic diversity.
5. Volunteers can also bring diversity in experience and abilities.
6. Satisfied volunteers can communicate with the community in which they live about the program, solidifying the relationship between the organization and the populations served.

Things volunteers should know about your organizations:

1. The client benefits of your organization
2. The goal mission (purpose) of your organization-office
3. How and why you are unique
4. How you relate to their organizations/offices in the community/university
5. The role of volunteers in your agency
6. Your office structure
7. Your funding base
8. The basic budget of your office
9. Who is on your Board of Directors/Steering Committee
10. Who is the executive Director
11. Who are your key staff
12. Activities of your office
13. How do clients come to your office
14. What a typical client is like
15. Basic organization staff relations policies (whom to call if sick, dress code, etc)
16. How this particulate volunteer hob helps the organization/office reach its goal
17. Emergency procedures and telephone numbers
18. Confidentiality procedures
    

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2.4 Possible Elements Within a Volunteer Program

The elements of a volunteer program will naturally depend upon the shape, size and structure and purpose of that program. Here are some ‘parts’ that you might wish to consider for their applicability to your program.

This is a homepage of the National Center for Volunteering in the UK. You can find out more about volunteering, how to work with volunteers, how to apply for volunteering in specific fields, etc.
http:// www.volunteering.org.uk/

The Structure for Operational Support of the European Voluntary Service (SOS) has been appointed by the European Commission to offer a contact point for projects and volunteers.
http://www.sosforevs.org/

Volunteering all over the world. You can find current available placements for volunteers, in their database of volunteer organisations, for specific fields and countries.
http://www.worldwidevolunteering.org.uk/

If you are already a volunteer in a non-governmental organisation, and you would like to attend seminars and do projects, then you should look into this site. EYE Network (European Youth Exchange Network) is a network of NGOs which helps young people volunteer and educate themselves. This organisation is supported by the European Commission and the Council of Europe.
http://www.eyenetwork.org

Directorat – General for Education and Culture homepage. They provide many opportunities in the following fields: Education & Training, Culture, Youth, Languages, Audiovisual, Sport, and Civil Society. These can include various forms of financial aid but exchanges as well (group exchanges, a European voluntary service scheme and possibilities for youth initiatives).
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm

IYV means International Year of Volunteers, which was last year (2001). You can find many information on this topic, but also on history of volunteering, global events, how to get involved in volunteering, a lot of research material, which includes various books and articles that might be helpful to both volunteers and volunteer recruiters.
http://www.iyv2001.org/iyv_eng/whatis/whatis.htm

This site is made especially for leaders of volunteers. You can find information on volunteer management jobs, internships and job exchange opportunities, links to everything in the volunteer field, from conferences and associations to awards and web sites worldwide, articles, electronic books, links to research and a comprehensive bibliography on volunteerism and many more useful information.
http://www.energizeinc.com

Volunteer management and community engagement online resources. A comprehensive index of all volunteer management resources online; an index of courses in volunteer management at institutions of higher education, and tips for volunteers.
http://www.serviceleader.org

Assossiation for Volunteer Administration (AVA) homepage. It is an international professional association for individuals who share a commitment to the effective leadership of volunteer efforts. Their mission is to strengthen the profession of volunteer resources management.
http://www.avaintl.org

U.S. Department of State: Volunteerism in the U.S. You can find information on government initiatives, speeches, books, articles on volunteering.
http://www.usinfo.state.gov/usa/volunteer/

A wealth of resources for prospective volunteers, volunteer resource managers, and community service leaders.
http://www.cybervpm.com/

CEV is the association for Europe’s national and regional volunteer centres who are working together to: Promote volunteering, influence policy, support new Volunteer Centres, share ideas and experience, make volunteering more effective.
http://www.cev.be/index.htm

Volunteer Today is an e-newsletter for those who manage the work of volunteers in nonprofit, government or corporate programs. Its aim is two-fold: 1) build the capacity of individuals to organize effective volunteer programs; 2) enhance the profession of volunteer management.
http://www.volunteertoday.com/

Site for volunteer managers, that is project directors and volunteers.
http://www.casanet.org/program-management/volunteer-manage/

Institute for Volunteering research - Aiming to develop knowledge and understanding of volunteering.
http://www.ivr.org.uk/index.htm

3. CURRENT SITUATION IN OVERSEAS EDUCATIONAL ADVISING CENTERS

3.1 Evaluation of Volunteers Schemes – Two Perspectives

3.1.1 Educational Adviser Perspective

2002 Questionnaire to OSEAS & US Side Advisers:
Use of Volunteers

Questionnaire and questionnaire analysis prepared by:
Lyubov Kitchigina, American Education Information Center, Tomsk, Russia
Questionnaire analysis available upon request at lyubov@sun.lib.tsu.ru

3.1.2 Volunteer Perspective

The Questionnaire was comprised and circulated via OSEAS listserv and REAC mailing list in February 2002. The survey is based on the answers of 22 volunteers currently working or recently retired from 10 Educational Advising Centers in 8 countries: Armenia, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and UK.

Almost half (45%) of the volunteers are students. A quarter of the respondents do not have other occupation besides volunteering at EACs (some are unemployed, some raise children, and some are retired). One questionnaire was completed by a Fulbright Full Grant Scholar for creative writing, several - by people who have part time jobs elsewhere.

The picture of the “main occupation” of volunteers at EACs does differ from the general one, where families, community service and singles are most likely to offer their services for free.

Four most popular sources of information are:

• Mailing lists;
  
• Ads at universities, Educational Advising Centers or US Consulates;
• Word of mouth;
• Educational Advisers themselves (4 out of 22 volunteers were personally invited to volunteer by educational advisers).

Several volunteers gave multiple answers to this question, but the majority was planning to study abroad.

In order of popularity the motives were:

• I want to study abroad (7);
• Job experience (5);
• Experience in international education (“so I can pursue my career in the same field”) (4);
• Learn something new, gain practical skills (4);
• Work in a healthy atmosphere, pleasant environment (4);
  
• Meet interesting people, make new friends (3);
• Help people (“When I searched the possibilities to study in the US there was no one to help me. (…) Therefore I decided to help people who are willing to study abroad, and to save them the hardships I experienced.” - US Student Advising Center–Prishtina, Kosovo.) (3);
• Remain active in the professional environment (2);
• Give something back (“for the grant I received” – Fulbright Full Grant Scholar, Fulbright Educational Advising Center, Budapest, Hungary);
• Learn how NGOs function;
• Etc.

Volunteers were asked about the benefits they are (or are not) offered by EACs for their help. 64% answered that they do get benefits, but none of them mentioned the benefits among the reasons to volunteer: volunteering isn’t really about tangible profit. As the answers show, it is much more about long term profits like job experience or future international studies that the volunteer expects to get.

It is worth noticing that a motive to work in a pleasant environment and healthy atmosphere is as important to volunteers as to gain experience in international education or to learn something new. In fact, healthy atmosphere in the Center determines whether all the other expectations of a volunteer can come true: no one is going to spend free time in a stressful, unpleasant environment.

Volunteers mentioned a great variety of responsibilities they are assigned. A number of them are the only advisers in the Center, thus being responsible for all the activities EAC undertakes (for ex.: Educational Advising Center at the American Center of Geneva, Switzerland, is operated by 3 volunteers only; Gyumri IREX/EIC Advising Center, Armenia, is operated by a single volunteer who works at the Center from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. every day).

More than half of the respondents (13 out of 22) are adviser’s assistants or information officers (the responsibilities of an information officer, according to their description, do not differ from those of an educational adviser). It is quite popular to ask volunteers to manage or research information on scholarships and special university programs (4), to employ them as editors of EACs newsletters (3) or fundraisers (2). There are volunteers assigned to take care of EACs libraries, web sites, outreach lectures (for ex. pre-departure orientation), administering practice tests. Tasks of some volunteers are limited to technical assistance: photocopying, letter posting, lending and collecting borrowed books, etc.

The duration of volunteer work is very different: it can be as little as few hours every two weeks or as much as 30 hours per week.

The majority of volunteers does take part in the decision-making process and are aware that they are a part of a team.

Only two volunteers did not have any training. About one third have got rather informal training conducted by a Center employee or a senior volunteer. Such training was usually focused on specific tasks volunteer was supposed to perform. Another third had in depth training during which they were introduced to US education system, Center’s facilities, information materials, etc. Such training had fixed duration. Depending on the center it might last from 16 hours to two weeks. The latter is clearly more appreciated by the volunteers.

Other volunteers either attended special courses, i.e. fundraising, or were asked to read specialized materials (a reference book “Advising for Study in the US” and a volunteer training handbook were mentioned). There were several volunteers with a former educational advising experience who did not need any training.

As it was noted before, the majority of EAC volunteers are offered some benefits for their help. All of them mentioned access to office facilities and resources: library, Internet, e-mail, photocopying (some centers limit it to 50 copies per month, some apply discounts), printing, etc. Common practice is to offer volunteers professional development courses organized by the Center for free (7) and free membership (6). Some centers offer professionally written reference letters and English language courses. (One volunteer indicated “a possibility to work in an international organization” as a privilege (Armenia).

Nobody mentioned reimbursements or travelling stipends.

Majority of volunteers said they do or plan to take advantage of the privileges they are offered.

86% of volunteers do feel that their work is appreciated.

We wanted to know how do they know about it. It appeared that it is mainly encouragement and thanks of paid educational advisers that makes them feel good and important (45%). This is exactly what few of the volunteers indicated as lacking: “I hope my work is appreciated, but I would like to hear that”; “I believe the staff understands how much time and effort we put into the work, but they do not have time to say thank you or just forget to do that.”

18% of volunteers received direct positive feedback from advisees and judge about their work appreciation from them. Volunteers who are the only advisers at the EACs feel the appreciation by renewed funding contracts and invitations to National celebrations at embassies or other official institutions (Switzerland). Assignment of harder and more demanding tasks was a sign of work appreciation for one volunteer (although this rule should apply to everybody).

Most volunteers feel they benefit professionally from volunteering at EACs:

• 23% are planning to work in the field of international education;
• The same amount devotes all their time to educational advising and regards the experience as professional development;
• 18% feel they are developing their oral and written English skills;
• Another 18% value general work experience, self-management, discipline and other career related personal skills, which they acquire at EACs.

Volunteers were asked to express their opinion about being underestimated, to think whether they are given sufficiently challenging tasks. Absolute majority (77%) think their abilities are used worthily, because:

• Their job made the operation of the Center more efficient (“little things make the big thing happen”);
  
• He/she is the only person to do certain tasks in the office, i.e. he/she is irreplaceable;
• There is always something to do (short term and long term tasks);
• They mostly do things they are best at.

45% - Very useful.
41% - Useful.
9% - Somewhat useful (“I do not come very often”).
0% - Thought it would be more useful.

• The majority of volunteers come to EACs willing to study abroad sometime in the future.
  
• Another big part already has some international education experience.
• It is most efficient to recruit them by mailing lists and advertisements.
• They do need in depth training (not just an informal guidance).
• Benefits / privileges are important, but they are not the main reason to volunteer.
• A “thank you” expressed by permanent staff in one or another way makes volunteers feel their work is appreciated.
• Volunteering at EACs is regarded as a professional development opportunity.
• All the above testifies that the more challenging responsibilities you give a volunteer the better he/she works.
• There is still space to improve volunteering practices at EACs until at least 90% of volunteers say their experience at the Centers was very useful.

3.2 Three Examples

3.4.2 Volunteering at VEAC, Vilnius, Lithuania 

Vilnius Educational Advising Center (VEAC) offers volunteering experience since the year 1999. Until August 2001 however we have accumulated certain negative experience.

During that time a short, general ad about volunteering possibilities with two requirements – knowledge of English and PC user skills – was included into our flyers. Students used to come to the Center inquiring about volunteer work and ending up in our library - sorting old university catalogues out. We usually asked them to do simple, routine tasks that demanded minimal instruction. Our volunteers used to start enthusiastically, but disappeared after a while because the work they had to do was rather boring. Their work was so random that it did not give any substantial results. Besides that, it was hard for them to do a good job (although just trying to take the old catalogues away) without a more extensive training. In order to break the vicious circle and to get some help a new volunteer management policy was introduced.

The reform started when the only two advisers at VEAC realised they are not meeting any deadlines and it is impossible to serve about 5000 advisees per year maintaining all the Center’s facilities as well as writing projects and fundraising at the same time.

First, job descriptions, requirements and privilege lists were created. A job description was to have a nice title and very concrete duties. General requirements included: being responsible, straight and enterprising; working at the Center no less than 6 hours per week; knowing English and having PC user skills.

Privileges we offered were discounts for test preparation materials, usage of office supplies, Internet access (no more than 5 hours per week), free one to one advising, professionally written reference letters, etc. Recently free 60 hour long English language classes for one volunteer at a time were added to the list.

Since VEAC has a mailing list of individual students who get latest information on scholarship programs for studies abroad via e-mail, volunteering announcement was mailed to the mailing list recipients. An application deadline was setup, applicants were asked to send us their CVs.

9 students responded to our announcement. We chose 2 candidates for each of the 2 places and scheduled interviews. The interviews were conducted by a Center employee and an independent colleague from Vilnius University International Relations Office.

Since all the 9 candidates had exceptional CVs, it was rather hard to chose. Maturity and communication skills were the main criteria for addmission. Both selected volunteers still work very successfully at the Center.

Rejected applicants were granted the Center’s Friend’s name (usually given to our financial supporters) and a right to do TestPreps for free.

Both volunteers got rather informal guidance explaining the Center’s mission, routines, facilities and specific tasks volunteers are to do. They were given office space and a computer to share. Fixed shedule of their volunteering hours was created. Their work was thoroughly supervised for the first month at VEAC.

We introduced a file for volunteers to sign in and sign out, which let us keep track of their working hours. There are two common staff and volunteer parties a year - Christmas and Summer Leave - as well as occasional tees, lunches and other small, but rallying events.

VEAC used the same volunteer recruitment scheme several times after September 2001. There are 4 regularly coming volunteers now: above mentioned Information Manager and Webmaster; a Library Manager, who takes care of all printed information in VEAC, updates it and binds useful contacts with foreign information-giving organisations; and an Information Manager’s Assistant, who works at the Center three hours a week.

Just to give you an idea of how much a volunteer can do during his 6 weekly hours, I will list the results of our Webmaster’s (he, in fact, became an IT manager) work. Thanks to his efforts VEAC has an online scholarship dissemination program, a data-base to keep information on TOEIC test takers, and an online library catalogue. The latter was created virtually from scratch. He started by creating an online catalogue program, registering book by book and finished by search engine design.

In January 2002 the same volunteer recruitment scheme was applied to look for volunteers to take care of our 2001 statistics. Two graduate students with MAs in Sociology responded to our request and did exceptional job on counting, sorting, and highlighting the main concerns of our advisees.

If an Information Manager and her assistant save me 9 or more hours every week, other volunteers do the jobs I would not even be able to perform myself because of lack of knowledge.

• Lack of attention from advisers (it is essential to devote time to volunteers, to keep track of what they are doing, what are their questions and concerns regarding one or another task, what would they do different, to keep your word, to offer them not just a list of privileges, but the privileges themselves, to demonstrate your everyday care).

• Monotony of the tasks they are to do (a jobs like information manager, i.e. scholarship information processing does not end, a person can end up doing it for two or three or ten years; library updating is a much more dynamic job; we thought of just mechanically switching the two volunteers, converting them into one another’s instructors for a while).
• Your volunteers will go away one day (you have to prepare substitutes, to grow new volunteers while the “old” ones are still in office to instruct them).
  

SIC has been running a volunteer scheme since September 1999, but it is only last autumn that we have created a satisfactory volunteer management structure. During previous years the major problems that we encountered were the fact that some our volunteers didn’t have a fixed schedule, some didn’t attend regular meetings and didn’t need to report regularly. Apart from that, there wasn’t sufficient recognition of their work on the part of SIC staff, which was a de-motivating factor.

For the academic year 2001/2002 we agreed there was need for the following number of volunteers: educational advising volunteers (4) and fundraising volunteers (2).

We introduced two new departments where we needed volunteers: public relations volunteers (2) and webmaster volunteer (1) for the On-Line Department.

Within the Educational Advising department there are numerous duties. Volunteers assist the advisor with working with clients. They maintain the library (enlisting new books, keeping the library in order), maintain the membership database, maintain the message board and the scholarship and study opportunities archive. They create educational materials for sessions and also pre-departure information. They do research on the web for different educational purposes – networking, creating statistics, gathering data etc. They create and edit the monthly SIC Newsletter.

Fundraising volunteers create projects that bring funding for the center. The projects SIC develops are all related to higher education in the country and abroad, and to sensitizing the Croatian population for civil society issues and initiatives. Several projects were realized during 2001/2002, one of which is Career for the Young – weekend workshops for students teaching them formats of business and academic writing.

Public Relations volunteers work on organizing public events like official openings, educational fairs and preparations for conferences. They maintain contacts with the media (radio, newspapers, TV, e-zines, web portals etc). They prepare press releases, and maintain the press clipping archive of the center. They constantly work on improving the visual identity of the center. This year they participated in creating SIC logo, and the entire new visual identity, including SIC letterhead, fax cover and web page design.

Webmaster volunteer maintains the SIC web page www.sic.hr. The volunteer is responsible for updating the page, changing announcements and special news, and taking down outdated data. The volunteer has room for initiative, so with her help we created new sections and added numerous useful links. One of the projects successfully completed during 2001/2002 is the new section “US web links”.

Before advertising we created a list of benefits the volunteers would have in our Center, in order to make the work more stimulating. In short, we offered free participation in SIC courses (prep-TOEFL, prep GRE and SAT, and Academic and Business Writing weekend workshop), possibility to attend NGO events as a SIC representative, free use of SIC resources (PC, Internet, scanning, photocopying), and the possibility of realizing their own initiatives and ideas.

Also, each volunteer was designated a workplace. Since our center moved in September 2001, now we have enough space for everyone to have a desk and an excellent PC with Internet access. All the computers in the center (10 computers in all) are networked and connected to the main computer, so everyone has access to all files, which greatly improves efficiency.

SIC takes on volunteers for a period of one year. We decided each volunteer would need to agree to work 8 hours a week, coming to the center twice a week for 4 hours. We announce a volunteer position opening through an advertisement. SIC advertised through our members’ mailing list and we put poster announcements at target universities. Volunteer positions for the academic year 2001/2002 were advertised in June 2001. 13 people responded to the advertisement. After the application deadline, short-listed candidates were called for an interview.

Short-listed candidates were invited to attend an individual interview at SIC premises, end of June 2001. The interview lasted approx. 45 minutes per candidate. The interview committee consisted of the Senior Educational Advisor, Educational Advisor and the Executive Director.

After the interview process, the interview committee decided which candidates will attend training. In the end, we recruited 4 volunteers for Educational Advising, 2 for Fundraising, 1 for Web development and 2 for Public Relations.

Volunteer training consisted of several parts. All candidates were asked to attend introductory lectures in order to find out more about SIC’ s history and activities. After that they had individual training with their coordinator. Also, specific duties were shown and explained to them by the volunteer that used to have their position. After the training was over, the final choice of which candidates will be taken on was made.

Each department has a Coordinator. Educational Adviser coordinates the Educational advising department and the Web development department. Executive Director is coordinator of the Fundraising department and the Public Relations department.

The Fundraising department, the PR department and the Web development department each meet on a weekly basis. There is a fixed time in the week designated for each meeting, e.g. PR department meets on Fridays, 1:30 PM. During this meeting short term assignments are designated, and also long-term planning is discussed.

The Educational Advising department doesn’t meet on a weekly basis. Instead, assignments are given individually. Since the Educational Advising volunteers work with clients, and therefore this interferes with other obligations, this scheme has proven to be more effective, since a definite time for a particular task is easier to arrange on a daily basis.

Apart from weekly meetings, each volunteer works under the supervision of her/his coordinator. When an assignment is finished, she brings it to her coordinator and they discuss it together before a final version is made.

SIC holds monthly meetings when all staff and volunteers meet. For this occasion everyone has to prepare a short report on her/his activities in the past period. This is an excellent opportunity for the different departments to get to know more about each other’s activities. The monthly meeting is also a place for evaluating each other’s work, giving comments, praises and criticism. In that way this meeting serves as a motivation factor, since it creates teem spirit, everyone gets a bigger picture of what are the different activities the center is involved in, and what impact it makes in our community. Departments and individuals who have been particularly productive get recognition in front of the entire team, which is also important for motivation.

Other forms of motivation include organizing informal meetings in the center and going out together. For example, Christmas and other national holidays are always celebrated by a small internal party in the center, where everyone gets to meet their colleagues in a more relaxed atmosphere. We organize games and give out little tokens of appreciation to each other.

Apart from that some other forms of informal socializing are organized – going out to a club, going bowling, etc. Also, the coordinators send seasonal e-cards and e-letters commending their volunteers on their great and dedicated work.

SIC volunteers receive recognition on several levels. It is often pointed out to them that their work is integral to our center, and that the scope of our activities depends on them. They realize the importance their work has for SIC, and that gives them the best type of motivation.

Besides being internally praised for their work, our volunteers are an integral part of all SIC outward activities. They work on educational fairs, accompany staff on outreach, participate in conferences, represent SIC at various seminars and workshops.

In terms of evaluation, this year we have introduced several improvements. Earlier experience has shown work was not well coordinated and sometimes inefficient when there weren’t weekly meetings. Meeting on a regular basis has greatly improved the quality and the quantity of the work being done. This year the Educational Advising department wasn’t holding regular meetings at all, which we are aware has had negative effect on our work.

One thing that is a continual problem is creating a diverse and stimulating job description for each volunteer. A lot of the tasks are manual and repetitive (going to the post office, photocopying etc), so it isn’t easy to create a stimulating task for everyone.

As said earlier, SIC volunteers are taken on for a period of one year. Previous experience has shown that staying on longer isn’t really rewarding. A lot of the tasks are repetitive, so when they are completely proficient in them, it gets boring.

Also, previous experience made us change our policy of recruiting. Now our announcements are targeted to undergraduates from lower years at university. When we used to take on students near the end of their studies, they sometimes left in the middle of the year because they found employment, which is quite understandable. So now, in order to avoid losing them over employment we recruit younger students.

Again learning from previous experience, we decided each volunteer would have a fixed schedule of coming to the center each week, and would be obliged to inform the staff ahead of time in case there were any changes. This has greatly enhanced the quality of work being done, since the volunteers are aware we depend on them behaving responsible, the same way as if they were employed. SIC volunteers are treated the same as if they were employed (fixed schedule, meetings, briefs, written and verbal reports). This way they have the same responsibilities as if being employed, but also the same benefit of being treated as equals to employees.

At the end of their year of working at SIC, volunteers fill out anonymous questionnaires assessing the quality of their experience volunteering at SIC. They are given space to say what the bad points and the good points of working in SIC were, and to give ideas for improvement.

The impact of volunteer work on SIC’s business structure cannot be overestimated. Their contribution was crucial to the creation of what SIC is today. Volunteers working in SIC from 1999 to 2001 have made possible the development and completion of a business structure necessary for the center to function successfully.

The abridged version of our 2001 Annual Report illustrates the extent to which volunteers contribute to the Center. It is important to emphasize that three of our departments – Public Relations, Fundraising and On-Line department – are volunteer departments coordinated by a SIC employee.

The main focus of our activity in the past year was the development of an efficient business structure that would ensure professional and successful operating of the center. In order to secure professional development of our core activity, educational advising, we worked out a structure and implemented it in our business practice.

The main components of the Educational Advising Department are educational advising for the United States, Open Society Institute (OSI) scholarships administration, and implementation of education-related civil society projects. All three components include providing information, advising and related services.

The operation of the Educational Advising Department requires the following support departments: Accounting, Fundraising, System Administration, On-line, and Public Relations Department.

Activities of all departments are coordinated by a general manager. Finally, by means of our development strategy we plan our future activities in the next two-year period. This business structure has been developed to ensure our long-term self-sustainability.

In order to ensure professional operating of the center we developed a business structure that is an upgrade of our previous business structuring. There emerged a need to introduce new elements to our existing business structure in order to implement our goals. The visual presentation on the page 21. outlines the main elements of our new structure.

ACTIVITIES

The purpose of the Fundraising Department is to secure funding for successful operating of our main department, the Educational Advising Department.

Activities of the department are divided into three categories:

1. Fundraising from governmental institutions
2. Fundraising from corporates
3. Fundraising from foundations

Activities of the department are implemented exclusively through projects.

Each project is carried out in four stages:

1. Project research
   
2. Writing project proposal
3. Project implementation
4. Reporting

1.a) Projects realized by volunteers:

1. Project: Participation at the 2001 Zagreb Student Fair: Promotion of US Higher Education, 2001.

Funder: U.S. Embassy in Zagreb
Project had two goals: promotion of US higher education and promotion of the Center and its services. Project goals were successfully implemented, which is reflected in the number of visitors (5,500) and the number of distributed fliers (5,000). Direct impact of the project was an immediate increase of the number our clients (20%).
2. Project: Do it Yourself: Career for Youth, 2001/2002.
   Funder: Royal Netherlands Embassy in Zagreb

3. Project: Expanding Knowledge – Educational Workshops For Volunteers And Members Of Youth And Student Organizations
   Funder: Croatian Government, Office for the Cooperation with NGO's

1. b) Volunteer projects in progress:

1. Project: MEC-Multimedia Educational Center

Project submitted to: Japanese Embassy in Zagreb

2. Project: AKOS-Academic on-line service

Project submitted to: Stability Pact

Projects submitted to corporates were exclusively oriented towards in-kind donations.

Projects realized by volunteers:

1. Project: Express Yourself

Funder: Algoritam
Donation of foreign language dictionaries.

2. Project: Prava rijeè na pravom mjestu,
   Funder: Školska knjiga 2001/2002.
   Donation of foreign language dictionaries.

3. Project: Znanjem do uspjeha

Funder: Institute for Lexicography Miroslav Krleža, 2001-2010.
Donation of encyclopedias and lexicons.

4. Project: TOEIC center

Funder: Hotel Dubrovnik, 2001/2002.
Accommodation for the TOEIC trainer.
5. Project: VIP-ONLINE Virtual Educational Center
   Funder: VIPnet d.o.o.
   Donation of permanent Internet access for one year.

STAFF AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

In June 2001 we recruited two fundraising volunteers. In September they received professional training. The training program addressed key principles of fundraising and lasted one week.

The training program was coordinated by Ninoslav Scukanec, the fundraising department coordinator. Fundraising volunteers from the previous year trained new volunteers.

Coordination of volunteers is carried through weekly fundraising meetings. Fundraisers are also requested to submit a monthly report at the monthly SIC team meetings for employees and volunteers. Fundraising volunteers had a fixed schedule and worked two days a week for four hours.

Owing to the increase of public-related activities, there emerged a need for a separate department that would deal with public relations. In September we established the Public Relations Department.

The goal of the Public Relations Department is:

1. providing continuous outreach for the promotion of US higher education and the OSI scholarship programs
2. ensuring promotion of the center
3. organizing various public events

The prerequisite for successful operating of the department was the creation of the following resources:

1. press list creation and maintenance
2. database of contacts for outreach activities
3. efficient tracking system (important news and press clipping archives)
4. recognizable visual identity of the center (logo, letterhead, business cards, banner)
5. promotional materials (posters and fliers)

We focused on lectures, presentations, and speaking platforms at high schools and academic institutions in three largest university centers in Croatia; Zagreb, Split and Osijek:

• Higher Education in the US and presentation of the Undergraduate Exchange Program, Faculty of Political Science, Zagreb, November 27, 2002; delivered by Ivana Puljiz
• Why to study at the Oxford University – presentation of OSI / FCO Chevening Oxford Scholarships, Faculty of Philosophy, Zagreb, November 28, 2002; guest speaker Mr. Pavel Gregoric, M.Phil. and Ninoslav Scukanec
• Scholarships for studying in the US – presentation of American University in Bulgaria, Grammar School, Zagreb, November 29, 2002; delivered by Ninoslav Scukanec
• Scholarships for studying in the US – presentation of American University in Bulgaria, Private Grammar School, Zagreb, November 30, 2002; delivered by Ninoslav Scukanec
• Central European University, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University, Osijek, December 17, 2001; delivered by Ivana Puljiz
• Central European University, Hrvatski zavod za zaposljavanje, Split, December 10, 2001; delivered by Ivana Puljiz
• Central European University, Law Faculty, Split, December 10, 2001; delivered by Ivana Puljiz
• Central European University, Faculty of Economics, Split, December 11, 2001; delivered by Ivana Puljiz

Promotion of all our activities was realized through a media campaign. We managed to disseminate information about the center through the following media:

1. Television

SIC representatives were guest speakers in several shows on the national television (HTV) such as Dobro jutro Hrvatska, Zagrebacka panorama and Svakodnevica.
We were also guest speakers at the local TV station, OTV, in the Serbus Zagreb show.

2. Radio

We advertised some of our scholarship programs through commercial radio announcements on the Open Radio. Moreover, we were guest speakers in a number of radio shows at the Croatian Radio-Radio Sljeme, Croatian Radio 1, Croatian Radio 2, Obiteljski radio and Radio Student.

3. Press

All our scholarship competitions were advertised in daily newspapers (Jutarnji list, Novi list, Glas Slavonije) and/or weekly magazines (Nacional, Feral Tribune).
Croatian daily newspapers Vjesnik i Vecernji list published articles about our activities.

4. web promotion

Web promotion consisted of posting commercial banners on a Croatian web portal (www.monitor.hr) as well as posting weekly announcements of our activities at the largest student portal (www.student.hr). With several institutions we made an agreement to provide links to our web site (University of Zagreb, University of Split, University of Osijek, Central European University Budapest, British Council Zagreb).

In 2001 the Public Relations Department organized two public events:

25 October 2001, Venue: SIC

On the occasion of relocation of our center and selection for the ”2001 - 2002 ETS Excellence Award”, we have organized an open house event for our business partners and media representatives in our new premises. The event received excellent media coverage. It also proved to be an excellent opportunity for professional networking.

November 12-16, 2001

The goal of the International Educational Week is to promote international educational exchange and to acquaint the public with the many diverse possibilities of the US higher education. In Croatia, this week was celebrated with a series of events organized by our center.

The IEW activities were announced to the press at the press conference held on November 13 in SIC.

The IEW program consisted of the following activities:

1. Speaking platforms:

• Studying Abroad, Private secondary school of economics “Katarina Zrinski”, Zagreb, November 12, 2001; delivered by Ninoslav Scukanec

• 300 Anniversary of the Yale University: The Experienxe of Studying and Working at the Yale University, Faculty of Philosophy, Zagreb, November 13, 2001; guest speaker Ms. Andrea Feldman, M.A., M.Phil.
• The Experience of Studying at the University of California, Berkeley, Faculty of Philosophy, Zagreb, November 14, 2001; guest speaker Mr. Mieczyslaw P. Boduszynski, M.A.

2. International Student Fair

Venue: SIC, November 15, 2001

Program included:

• Promotion of higher education in the US
• Promotion of higher education in France
• Promotion of the OSI - Network Scholarship Program
• Promotion of the American University in Bulgaria
• Promotion of the Central European University in Budapest

STAFF AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

In June we recruited two public relations volunteers. In September Ninoslav Scukanec, coordinator of the Public Relations Department, delivered training for new volunteers.

It is important to mention that none of SIC employees received professional training in the field of public relations. For this reason the training for volunteers aimed to acquaint the volunteers with the structure and activities of the center. The second aim of the training was to pass on our previous experience with media. We decided to structure the PR until the end of 2002. In this period we planned to educate PR staff through professional PR programs and to determine the scope and type of PR activities needed by the center.

From December 10-15 Ninoslav Scukanec attended a PR course for NGOs at the Center for Independent Journalism in Budapest, Hungary. The course was organized by the Center for Independent Journalism, the Danish Center for Human Rights and the South East European Network for Professionalization of the Media. It was funded by the Danish Center for Human Rights and FRESTA.

The course focused on developing communication, lobbying and advocacy skills using the media. The objective of the course was to offer a hands-on guide to the participants to develop communication skills, create PR strategies, prepare and handle campaigns, build and maintain media contacts. It was designed for press officers of non-governmental organizations.

In the course of our development, we noticed an increasing discrepancy between information and services offered at the center and on-line. The quantity of information and services available in the center greatly exceeded those offered on-line while at the same time the number of on-line clients considerably increased.

In 2001 we decided to restructure our on-line services following the structure of the services offered at the center. We focused on the development of the following on-line resources:

1. website
2. SIC on-line newsletter
3. Mailing list

1.) website

Our goal was to create a new website that would serve as a virtual educational advising center. From March till September 2001 we worked on the development of our new site. The aim was to create a well-structured site; easily navigable and user friendly; professionally designed and commercially attractive to potential business partners.

In order to meet the needs of our on-line clients we created a bilingual site with a web-shop offering books and information packages. On-line membership is the service introduced two years ago.

The site also contains a new section entitled ‘Scholarships’. This section provides information about the OSI scholarship programs that we administer as well as application materials for each scholarship competition.

Owing to these improvements the number of visits to our site doubled in the period from September till December 2001. Owing to the web promotion of our preparation courses we also recorded a significant increase in the number of course participants.

Since September the site is being weekly updated. We also decided to appoint a content provider who is constantly upgrading and enriching the site.

2.) SIC on-line newsletter

As in 2000, our monthly on-line newsletter is prepared and edited by an educational advising volunteer. In the past year we created a new visual identity of the newsletter and increased the number of scholarships competitions and academic news presented in each issue. New section of our website contains all past issues of SIC Newsletter.

3.) Mailing list

We detected a need to create a comprehensive mailing list that would enable us to provide members and clients with information on our activities and to market our services. The mailing list consists of specialized subgroups for each of our activities (OSI scholarship administration, PR activities etc.).

STAFF

In September we recruited volunteers for web-site development, SIC newsletter and mailing list maintenance. The volunteer for web-site development did not receive professional training because she is experienced in the creation and maintenance of web site. The volunteer responsible for editing the newsletter and the volunteer responsible for our mailing list received training for educational advising department, because most of their work is related to the EA department. The On-line Department is coordinated by Ninoslav Scukanec, SIC Executive Director, through weekly departmental meetings.

Contents

1. The right to be treated as co-worker, not just as free help, not as a prima donna.
2. The right to a suitable assignment, with consideration for personal preference, temperament, life experience, education, and employment background.
3. The right to know as much about the organization as possible – its policies, its programs, its people.
4. The right to training for the job, thoughtfully planned and effectively presented training.
5. The right to continuing education on the job, as a follow up to initial training, including information about new developments and training for greater responsibility.
6. The right to sound guidance and direction by someone who is experienced, well-informed, patient and thoughtful and who has time to invest in giving guidance.
7. The right to place to work – an orderly, designated place, conducive to work and worthy of the job to be done.
8. The right to promotion and variety of experiences – through advancement to assignments of more responsibilities, through transfer from one activity to another, through special assignments.
9. The right to be heard- to have a part in planning, to feel free to make suggestions, to have respect shown from an honest opinion.
10. The right to recognition, in the form of promotion of awards, through day to day expressions of appreciation and by being treated as a bonafide co-worker.