Community Engagement Fellowship

The Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC) is the state’s lead agency for volunteerism. Since the inception of the organization in 1991, the MCSC has been providing vision and resources to strengthen communities through volunteerism and using service as a strategy to address Michigan’s greatest challenges.

MCSC, with support from the Volunteer Generation Fund from the Corporation for National and Community Service, has launched the Community Engagement Fellowship Program to expand and advance volunteerism in Michigan.

Community Engagement Fellowship Description 

The intent of the Community Engagement (CE) Fellowship is to provide volunteer managers with professional development training and technical assistance that allows them to more effectively support and engage volunteers. CE Fellows will have access to materials through an online resource called VolunteerPro with the goal of enhancing their current professional skills and knowledge and allow their organization to strengthen its ability to support volunteers. VolunteerPro will provide monthly webinars, toolkits, templates and archived resources. In addition, CE Fellows will also participate in a Michigan volunteer manager learning community to engage in discussions that review current actions and share best practices.    

VolunteerPro was designed to develop employee talent and strengthen an organization’s volunteer strategy. Volunteer Pro’s training and professional development resources are meant to support the entire volunteer lifecycle and will build an organization’s capacity to use the latest tools and technologies. VolunteerPro members get access to: two live webinars per month, monthly live group coaching calls, quarterly program development “challenges,” monthly study guides, an interactive online peer-to-peer forum, and an extensive library of tools and recordings for easy live-streaming from any mobile device.

Find out more about VolunteerPro here: https://volpro.net/

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY 

Volunteer managers employed by or serving within Michigan nonprofits, PreK-12 schools, higher ed institutions, capacity building centers, national service programs, foundations, healthcare institutions,  faith based organizations, or governmental agencies are invited to apply.

BENEFITS

·       Receive a VolunteerPro membership valued at $599
·       Access resources to improve and develop skills in managing, recruiting and engaging volunteers
·       Participate in a statewide learning community that will provide the opportunity to share volunteer management knowledge and practices

FELLOWSHIP REQUIREMENTS

As part of their participation, CE Fellows will examine what resources are beneficial and identify additional topics of learning that need to be addressed.  Following are the requirements of the fellowship.

1.      Access the VolunteerPro resources and online exchange at least once a month
2.      Provide feedback to MCSC regarding the value of the resources and online exchange
3.      Provide MCSC your organization’s volunteer numbers and hours to report to our funding organization, the Corporation for National and Community Service
4.      Complete a pre and post survey to gauge the level of learning

 
SELECTION CRITERIA

CE Fellows will represent the different regions of the state and will be selected from criteria below to represent a cross section of organizations and professionals.

·       Geographical location of organization
·       Type of organization you represent
·       Size of organizati