Fun Ideas for Bake Sales or Potlucks

Community volunteers, especially those who are parents, are constantly asked to provide food. With pressure to contribute items to bake sales, class picnics, teacher appreciation events, committee meetings, and board socials, it's enough to make a volunteer run to Costco and stock up on veggie trays and giant muffins.

I'm always on the look out for recipes that are fun, not too expensive and easy to make.  I love the old-fashioned recipes from the midwestern synagogue cookbooks I've collected.  (One favorite: Chocolate-on-a-Ritz.  Spread peanut butter between two Ritz crackers.  Dip in chocolate.)  

Recently, I've been inspired by The Only Bake Sale Cookbook You'll Ever Need by Laurie Goldrich and Pam Abrams.  The first chapter provides 23 variations on Rice Krispie Treats.  I made the S'more Treats with Golden Grahams and chocolate chips for the Madrona Mayfair bake sale, and just made Cheery-Os (pictured above) with Cheerios and Nutella for an upcoming school picnic.

What are your bake sale/potluck survival strategies?

What's in Little S's CD Player, May '09 edition

Birthday parties, lingering colds, and end-of-year activities have kept me from posting recently, but these events have brought new music into Little S's CD player and lots of time to listen.  Here's what we've been listening to recently:

1.  Recess Monkey, Field Trip.  This CD will be officially released on the first day of summer vacation (OK, actually June 9), but we scored an early copy by participating in the Valentine's Day recording session.  It's no secret that Little S and I heart Recess Monkey.  I think Field Trip is the best of the band's five CDs.  The production value is high, the catchy melodies and lyrics will stick in your head, and the band's decision to expand beyond Beatles-influenced songs allows Recess Monkey to showcase its humor and creativity more fully.  Perhaps the highest praise I can give: when Little S was home sick, we listened to this CD more than 10 times a day, and we still continue to enjoy it.  Check out the video for Haven't Got a Pet Yet (a favorite despite my strict no-pet policy).

2.  Brady Rymer, I Found It!  We stumbled upon Brady Rymer while looking around Jitterbug.tv.  Little S feel in love with the video for I Found It! and enjoys the other songs on the CD as well.

3.  Lunch Monkey, Dizzy.  After hearing great things about Lunch Money on Zooglobble.com, I was excited when Little S received this CD for her birthday.  Little S LOVES this CD and it has been playing endlessly in her bedroom.  It's hard to argue with songs like, A Cookie As Big As My Head.  More important to me, this band is cool AND has a female lead singer.  That didn't seem like a rare combination to me until Little S asked me, "Mom, Why all rock stars are boys?"

4.  Suzuki Violin School, Vol. 1.  Little S recently started Suzuki violin.  I was surprised by the high level of parent involvement required by the Suzuki method.  Little S was surprised by the amount of time she would need to spend listening to Twinkle Variations and Lightly Row.

5.  Reserved for The Not-Its, We Are the Not-Its.  A Seattle band with a female lead singer, a love for nonprofits that support families, children and the arts, and a concert planned with Recess Monkey, Caspar Babypants, and Central Services Board of Education, called Time Out to Rock?  I can't wait to listen to this CD.  

The Girl Effect

Yesterday, President Obama nominated Maria Eitel to head the Corporation for National and Community Service.  Eitel is the president of the Nike Foundation, a foundation with an approach to creating change in the developing world that really resonates with me.

The Nike Foundation focuses on assisting adolescent girls in the developing world, arguing that support to an adolescent girl will create a ripple effect that will benefit the entire community.  They call this approach The Girl Effect.

Check out the cool Girl Effect video:

 

You can find Maria Eitel's blog posts for the Huffington Post here.

National Volunteer Week: Effective Ways to Thank Volunteers

Happy National Volunteer Week!  National Volunteer Week, April 19-25, was created to recognize and thank volunteers. 

Deciding how to thank volunteers can be a challenge.  Sure, I've enjoyed the lavish, thank you parties I've attended.  But, I probably don't need another office plaque.  And I definitely didn't need that flower arrangement that looked like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

The best thank yous I've received are personal and related to the work of the organization.  Here are some of thank you's I've enjoyed to most:

Thoughtful thank you notes.   For me, a personalized thank you note that recognizes my contribution means more than a doodad that will collect dust in my office.  Seeing that a busy, nonprofit staff member has taken the time to think through and write out a note that goes beyond a generic thank you, makes me feel appreciated.  

Insider events and experiences.  As a fan of Stanford basketball, one of the best thank you's I've ever received was a behind-the-scenes tour of Maples Pavilion by the Athletic Director.  It was a thrill to have access to this unique person and place.  This type of recognition can be done on a smaller scale as well.  A popular example is organizations that have private events with luncheon speakers immediately before or after the event.

Useful, volunteer-only logo items.  PEPS board members that complete their board terms receive beautiful, personalized vases.  The fact that the vase must be earned provides the recipient with an extra feeling of accomplishment.  I've received other useful logo items including a pencil cup, a bright luggage tag, and cool tote bag.

Mission-related books.  I discovered one of my all-time favorite books, The Art of Possibility, by receiving it as a thank you gift.  This inexpensive book provided a wealth of inspiration and insight that continue to provide value to me.

What makes you feel that your volunteer work is valued and appreciated?

Free Resources for Community Volunteers available through Energize

While researching a post on National Volunteer Week, I stumbled upon the website of Energize, Inc.  Energize is a training, consulting, and publishing firm specializing in volunteerism.  The Energize site has a library of free resources covering a broad range of issues important to volunteers.  I haven't spent much time investigating the quality of the information, but it looks good and there are many resources offered.  Could be a great place to start the next time you have a question related to volunteering.

Other free resources for nonprofits and volunteers are available from the Fieldstone Alliance, BoardSource, the National Council of Nonprofits, and idealist.org.

Do you have a favorite site for free resources?  Post a comment and let me know.

How many "hearty salads" can one person eat?: Deciding which nonprofit luncheons to attend.

In the last six hours, I attended a fundraising luncheon for the Seattle YWCA, was invited to a different fundraising luncheon, and reminded that I should be attending a third fundraising event this weekend.  As the spring luncheon/breakfast/auction season begins, I'm wondering, how should I decide which events to attend?  And at what point do I stop being a community volunteer and start being a lady who lunches?

Don't get me wrong.  I  enjoy supporting friends who are serving as table captains.

 I love a great speaker, inspirational stories, and a chance to catch up with like-minded friends.  I don't even mind the hearty salads that have become the fundraising luncheon standard. 

But would it be more effective to write a check to the organization and spend the two hours doing something else?  At the very least, it's time to develop some criteria for deciding whether to attend a fundraising event.

Here's my first draft:

1.  Is the organization's mission in line with my giving priorities?

2.  Are the organization's programs effective in carrying out its mission?

3.  Do I have a personal connection to the organization?

4.  Will the speakers be inspiring or thought provoking?

5.  Will the event be fun?

6.  Who is inviting me?

7.  Does the event conflict with other appointments?

8.  Have I attended this event before?

What do you think, am I missing any important criteria? How should I weigh the criteria?

And don't get me started on whether big events are the most effective and efficient ways to raise money.  That's a topic for another post. 

NOTE:  For more on the YWCA event and Patty Stonesifer, please see my Twitter feed.

New Focus for SherriLynn: Helping Community Volunteers Be More Effective

In my first blog entry, I admitted that I started this blog without a defined focus.  I'll start blogging, I said, and we'll see where it goes.  The posts have been all over the map.  "Totally random," said a good friend with no qualms about speaking the truth.

Over the same period of time I've been blogging, I've been exploring career ideas.  I'm not ready to go back to the private practice of law and, with firms laying off lawyers by the hundreds, this wouldn't be the right time to that anyway.  

When people ask me what I'm up to these days, I often respond "making up for the bad things I did as a lawyer."  Truthfully, the work I did as a lawyer wasn't that bad.  But, the joke highlights my desire to help those who need it most, not those who are most able to pay.

Which led me to the question, how does one mom with a little bit of time, a passion for social change and desire to be constantly learning, leverage her skills to most effectively help others?

The model is right before me.  One of my favorite Seattle organizations, Social Venture Partners (SVP), helps nonprofits strengthen organizational capacity.  A stronger organization can more effectively and efficiently carry out its mission, SVP thinking goes.  

The same should be true with community volunteers.  Nearly every parent I know is involved in some volunteer activity: planning a school auction, serving on a nonprofit board or committee, or collecting donations for those in need.  Some received fantastic training for these volunteer positions.  Other don't.  What if each of these volunteers was a little bit more effective?  How much could more knowledgeable volunteers boost the ability of organizations to better serve their mission?

I plan to focus this blog on providing ideas, resources and inspiration to community volunteers.  There are lots of great resources out there.  So, I plan on pointing volunteers in the right direction and sharing my personal experience, not necessarily reinventing the wheel.  I'm also hoping some friends will provide some guest post to share their ideas and experiences.

And, for those who love the random posts, don't worry.  I'll be sure to toss in an occasional Barefoot Contessa recipe, kindie rock or Recess Monkey review, and story about Little S.