Web Sites

America's Promise: The Alliance for Youth
Founded at the Presidents' Summit for America's Future, America's Promise, an alliance of corporations, foundations and other organizations from the private and public sectors, aims to create access for every at-risk child in America to the resources needed in order for them to lead happy, healthy and productive lives.

Campus Compact
A coalition of college and university presidents committed to making service a central element of undergraduate education, integrated with academic study and infused throughout all areas of the institutions these presidents head.

City Year
Launched in 1988 with private funding, this youth service corps is now part of the AmeriCorps national service network, providing its service with help from the federal government, corporations, foundations and individuals. Corps members have aided ten cities so far, engaging their citizenry and promoting volunteerism. Corps members serve as teachers aides, run after-school programs, conflict resolution workshops, and more.

"Community Service" (Education Week issue page)
Community Service "combines mandatory community service with related classroom activities" to promote learning the basics about democracy and leadership. This issues page includes a glossary, links, and relevant articles from Education Week and other publications.

Compact for Learning and Citizenship
Housed at the Education Commission of the States, the Compact for Learning and Citizenship is an organization of state chiefs and district superintendents. The organization works to "provide the educational leadership necessary to integrate community service learning into the program of study for all youth enrolled in grades kindergarten through twelve."

Congregations in Community - McKnight Foundation
An initiative of the McKnight Foundation as an interfaith effort to recruit and train volunteers to assist low-income people. Its goals are to further the reach of religious organizations to serve children and families, and to bring people of different faiths together to address common community problems.

COOL: Campus Outreach Opportunity League
A national nonprofit organization dedicated to the education and empowerment of college and university students to strengthen the United States through community service. COOL mobilizes and links students of all backgrounds so as to increase participation in communities, and fosters the civic and social responsibility necessary to build a just society.

CyberVPM (Cyberspace Volunteer Program Manager)
This site serves as a broad look at volunteers and volunteer management. The CyberVPM.com "Resources for Volunteer Program Managers" serves as a "starting point for information on and instruction in volunteer program management." This "web book" includes articles and links on issues from developing volunteer programs to recruiting, screening, training and recognizing volunteers, to legal issues, and more. An online bookstore, training kits and a vibrant discussion group are other elements of this site.

Energize, Inc.
A variety of resources are included on this site including a library of articles and bibliography on volunteer management, an online Bookstore, quotes and parables on volunteerism, hot topics, a calendar of conferences, a job bank and more. Also lists state, local and provincial associations of volunteer administration.

Independent Sector (IS)
IS describes itself as a "national leadership forum, working to encourage philanthropy, volunteering, not-for-profit initiative and citizen action." Publishes numerous highly useful surveys, toolkits and monographs on government relations, leadership, management and research in the nonprofit field.

Internet Nonprofit Center
Provides information on non-profit organizations, wise giving practices, and other issues of concern to volunteers and donors. A Bibliography of Books on Volunteerism is also available.

Kids Can Make a Difference (KIDS)
KIDS is an educational program for middle and high school age students, which focuses on the "root causes of hunger and poverty, the people most affected, solutions and how students can help." The Web page offers access to a teacher's guide, a hunger quiz, a KIDS newsletter and more.

Literacy Volunteers of America
Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. (LVA) is a national network of 366 locally based programs, supported by state and national staff. Its mission is to change lives through literacy. Professionally trained volunteer tutors teach Basic Literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages to courageous, motivated adults.

Literature of the Nonprofit Sector Online
From the Foundation Center, this authoritative bibliography is regularly updated and contains citations to materials collected by the Center's five libraries as well as selected literature from other sources. A listing of new acquisitions on volunteerism is available.

Make a Difference Day
Make A Difference Day is the most encompassing national day of helping others -- a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors. Everyone can participate. Created by USA WEEKEND Magazine, Make A Difference Day is an annual event that takes place on the fourth Saturday of every October.

National Center for Charitable Statistics
A project of the Urban Institute Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, the NCCS is "the national repository of data on the nonprofit sector in the United States," charged with developing and providing quality data on "nonprofit organizations and their activities for use in research on the relationships between the nonprofit sector, government, the commercial sector, and the broader civil society.

National Service-Learning in Teacher Education Partnership
Includes bibliographies of service learning and teacher education resources. A listserve for integrating service learning in teacher preparation is available.

Points of Light Foundation
Along with the Corporation for National Service, the Points of Light Foundation co-sponsored the Presidents' Summit for America's Future. Devoted to promoting volunteerism, the nonprofit organization has developed a number of ongoing training and development programs and initiatives, such as Connect America, the Prudential Youth Leadership Institute, the JC Penney Golden Rule Awards Program, the Daily Points of Light awards and the annual "National Volunteer Week." Note the section on corporate volunteer initiatives.

SERVEnet
Sponsored by Youth Service America, an organization committed to community and national service. Includes directory of affiliated organizations and a service called "Volunteer Now!" which matches the skills of volunteers with the non-profit organizations that need them.

Virtual Volunteering Project
This "virtual volunteering" project is a "matching service" for volunteers and the organizations that need them. The project looks at volunteer activities that can be completed off-site via the Internet. The web site includes a number of practical guidelines, resources and examples of noteworthy activities.

Volunteers of America
Founded in 1896, Volunteers of America is "one of the nation's oldest, largest and most comprehensive nonprofit human service organizations." Serves abused and neglected children, homeless families and individuals, the elderly, youth at risk, people with disabilities and ex-offenders returning to society. Its public policy advocacy role is accomplished through its nationwide affiliates and publications, including Spirit Magazine and The Gazette.

The Visionaries
Each episode of this PBS series "highlights the positive difference individuals are making in the lives of other people through the vital work of nonprofit organizations." This site contains summaries of the episodes from the first three seasons.

Youth Service America
A resource center and the premier alliance of 200+ organizations committed to increasing the quantity and quality of opportunities for young Americans to serve locally, nationally, or globally. YSA's mission is to strengthen the Effectiveness, Sustainability, and Scale of the youth service movement. They co-sponsor programs such as National Youth Service Day (April 26-28).