[Computerbank] ActNow in Sydney?

[Bruce McCubbery]

That ActNow site Don mentioned seems like a good one for Sydney to follow
up on if they want good volunteers.

Posted on Australia-wide..

Here's the latest news and updates featured on http://www.actnow.com.au --
edited clips follow.

ACTNOW PILOT CENTRAL COAST

ActNow is currently piloting on the Central Coast of NSW after a highly
successful pilot in North Sydney that connected over 250 volunteers with
local community organisations.

The Inspire Foundation is working in partnership with The Central Coast
Volunteer Referral Agency to pilot the service in the area between October
15 and November 11. 

The Community Meetings held at Niagara Park Community Centre were well
attended and many organisations have registered positions on the site
including Coastlink Respite, Nareen Gardens, Kariong Youth Centre, Niagara
Park Community Centre, The Red Cross and many others.

PRELIMINARY EVALUATION FINDINGS

The ActNow North Sydney pilot is currently being evaluated and the results
are very exciting! Some of the preliminary evaluation findings are listed
below.

ActNow recruits:

MORE volunteers than through traditional methods
"We have had more enquiries from volunteers after one week on ActNow than
we have had in the past year "

YOUNGER volunteers
                
"They're different in age and attitude.  To this point from ActNow we
haven't anybody that we've rejected.  So the standard was very high"

SKILLED volunteers

"All of them are well educated and seem to be quite keen to put something
back into the community"

COMMITTED volunteers

"we get people... saying "I read this, and I want to do this*
over ActNow they can read the whole description so they actually come to us
prepared to do the job which is the difference".

Volunteers who FOLLOW THROUGH

"They know what they want. I was amazed so many were actually accessing it.
Quite often with referrals the success rate is around 30% but basically
[with ActNow] 85% have started."

ACTNOW MAKES ITS MARK ON IYV

ActNow's Stephanie Coleman was a speaker at the Australian International
Year of the Volunteer (IYV) Conference held in Melbourne last month.
Stephanie presented the ActNow Project to over 250 delegates from around
Australia, in a panel session entitled "Changing Directions in
Volunteering: Who Says Young People Aren't Interested in Volunteering?"

The response to the presentation and the idea of ActNow rolling out
nationally was very enthusiastic. Several delegates asked for further
information on the project and how they could involve their state.

Stephanie was also invited by Volunteering Australia to submit an article
for the Australian Journal on Volunteering, IYV Commemorative Edition which
was published in October. Entitled "Making Volunteering Sexier!" it
recounts her experiences at the IYV Conference held in Amsterdam in January
and covers her impressions of the pre-conference youth forum and how it
influenced the development of the ActNow website.

WHAT NEXT FOR ACTNOW?

ActNow is currently seeking funding to develop future project strategies
and also to roll out nationally.   If you are interested in sponsoring
ActNow, please call Stephanie Coleman on 02 9818 3055 or email
stephanie at inspire.org.au

The Inspire Foundation has agreed to fund the site remaining live until the
end of The International Year Of The Volunteer.


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ActNow is an initiative of the Inspire Foundation
http://www.inspire.org.au/. If you have any comments or questions about
this news alert or the ActNow site, please email the ActNow team at
actnow at inspire.org.au. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~