Culture Grits : A Mouthful of Memphis : Nonprofit

NONPROFIT

Dovia Empowers Volunteer Managers

- by Jon Devin

Most non-profit volunteer managers would agree that their job titles are far more all-encompassing than one would guess at first glance. For some it’s more like volunteer- recruitment- recognition- training- media- fundraising- database- manager. It’s a job known for low pay and high turnover despite the non-monetary reward of helping people. One Memphis group though, hopes to make volunteer management more staff-friendly by networking and providing resources.

Directors of Volunteers in Agencies (DOVIA) gives area volunteer managers a great forum for idea-sharing, according to its current president Barbara Dawson, herself a program manager for Memphis City Schools’ volunteer tutoring program, Our Children, Our Future.

“Our mission is to provide volunteer managers with networking opportunities and monthly educational opportunities that help non-profit volunteer managers learn more about what agencies are doing,” Dawson said. “It’s rare to find a volunteer manager that that’s all they do. They all have lots of hats to wear and lots of responsibilities to keep up with.”

DOVIA meets every other month at a different member’s location usually over a brown bag lunch. There are currently 49 member agencies and attendance at each meeting is about 30 people. Members comes from the largest organizations in Memphis like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to smaller groups like the Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). DOVIA is all volunteer and supports itself by holding door prize drawings and occasionally special workshops.

Jeana Bailey, volunteer manager for the Mid-South Chapter of the Red Cross, serves as DOVIA’s membership chair. She says the main challenge volunteer managers face in doing their work is a decided lack of resources.

“There just aren’t a lot of resources out there for volunteer managers,” she said. “And most of the time the volunteer managers are the only ones in the organization doing that particular job so they don’t have someone in-house who knows how to do it. That’s what this organization tries to supply. The networking process really helps people understand best practices and gets their questions answered.”

And questions abound with new volunteer managers. How do you handle a volunteer who isn’t responsible? How do you find all of the volunteers you need for your program? How do you throw a volunteer recognition event with little to no budget? How do you get the media to pay attention to your program?

Kevin Dean, community services manager for Volunteer Memphis and DOVIA vice president, says the group comes up with some pretty creative programming to answer those and other questions.

“Not too long ago we had Dolores Bell, a former employee of Memphis City Schools, teach a workshop about how to write a moving special interest article about a volunteer program,” he said. “Also Jeana led a workshop called Resources You Never Knew Existed along with Audrey May from the library system and Ashley Harper of Hands On Memphis. Other great workshops we’ve had were about connecting with senior volunteers, teen volunteering, and our favorite, the most outrageous moments of volunteer managing.”

The most outrageous moments included real-life scenarios such as when a volunteer was arrested after being seen on television in a volunteer capacity. He had been evading arrest for some time unbeknownst to the volunteer agency he served.

Bailey added, “Time management is another area of concern because volunteer managing is such a big job. It’s so hard to stay on top of all the little details. I think sometimes that staff recognition, development, and support within the organization sometimes are also issues.”

The average Memphian may not realize the extent of the impact that volunteers have on communities in the Mid-South, but for DOVIA members it couldn’t be clearer that Memphis would suffer a major loss of services without successful volunteerism.

Says Dean, “Board members are volunteers too so volunteers are effectively running the non-profit organizations of Memphis. A volunteer’s hour saves the agency $18.77 right now, so multiply that amount time the thousands of volunteers in Memphis and you come up with a figure that Memphis as a community cannot supply on its own. It’s millions of dollars toward staff time and distribution of services. Volunteers are really keeping all the doors open.”

But aren’t non-profits technically competing against each other for volunteers? Bailey was quick to say that the benefits of inter-agency cooperation far out-way the risk of going it alone.

“I think that there is competition to the point that your program has to have something that stands out about it, but if you’re not professionally managing your volunteers, your people are going to go elsewhere. I don’t see situations arising in which one agency actually takes volunteers away from another agency. I think that if you’re managing volunteers professionally and presenting your cause in a passionate way, then the volunteers will come. There are enough volunteers to go around and we all improve by helping each other,” Bailey said.

Dawson explained that DOVIA is always glad to find new members from non-profits, civic groups, government offices, schools, and even churches. The group recruits new members mostly by word of mouth, but also with the help of Volunteer Memphis’s email newsletter.

“I think almost everyone has an “aha” moment when they’re new,” said Dean. “Especially the brand new volunteer coordinators who’ve not worked in this area before—just to think ‘I don’t have to reinvent the wheel, I’m not an island’—they can see that the job is not impossible.”

Mewtopia

- by Peggy Rowland

At the top, Director Ann Illsley holds new arrival Daisy. On the bottom, one of the permanent cats, Harper.

At the top, Director Ann Illsley holds new arrival Daisy. On the bottom, one of the permanent cats, Harper.

Besides the uniqueness of being surrounded by cats, cat antics and cat merchandise, at Mewtopia Cat Rescue and Gift Shop, there’s also the feeling of being surrounded by compassion.

Director Ann Illsley holds Daisy, a scared orange cat and recent addition to the Mewtopia family of cats waiting for adoption. Mewtopia was Daisy’s last hope before being euthanized simply because she was abandoned. Now she’s taken care of by Illsley and more than 25 loyal volunteers who keep the Mewtopia cat residents fed, petted and in a clean home.

Relying solely on donations and sales from the gift shop, Illsley runs Mewtopia, located at 734 Mount Moriah, without any paid staff. For Illsley, keeping the rescue in top shape is an 80-hour-a-week job that comes with no personal monetary benefits. “I’ve worked many a job, but this is what I wanted to do, and it’s the most enjoyable, pleasurable job I’ve ever had,” Illsley proclaims.

Mewtopia is not only operated with compassion, but it’s the compassion of the community that keeps the doors open. From the veterinarians who offer discounted services, to those who bring in donations of bleach, litter or paper towels, it’s the kindness of cat lovers and volunteers that allows the Mewtopia feline family to live happily until they find their forever homes.

“We think of this as a happy place, because the kitties are happy here,” Illsley says. Some people tell her that they don’t want to come by because shelters are sad places. She responds, “No, we’re a happy place here.”

Part of Mewtopia’s cheery atmosphere comes from the large, colorful gift shop. “If it pertains to cats, we must have it here,” Illsley says. Mewtopia has a group of devoted seamstresses who make and donate toys, blankets, baskets and more to be sold in the gift shop.

Illsley and two other founding members, who are no longer involved with Mewtopia, started the cat rescue because they knew from their volunteer work that there was a need for more help for homeless cats in the community. Other local shelters and rescue groups often fill quickly, leaving no space for cats without homes. Illsley wanted to help fill this gap.

The cat rescue started in the homes of the founding members, and they participated in many fundraisers to get the shop doors open. “We felt we could reach more people by having an actual shop than working out of our homes,” Illsley adds.

Mewtopia, a no-kill cat rescue, has expanded in space since it began in 2000, and they offer a low-cost spay and neuter program available to area residents. With the program, organized by volunteer Tammy Lambdin, residents may have a cat spayed or neutered and given a three-year rabies shot for $45.

Illsley hopes to bring the spay and neuter program on-site in the future, and expand even more to care for additional cats. Yet she cautions that she will only take on as many cats as can be properly cared for at Mewtopia.

On average, the rescue houses between 60 and 80 cats, with a large influx of kittens around March. A few of the cats are allowed to roam freely in the gift area, but most are housed in either the cat room or the kitten room. The felines are let out of their enclosures to run around and play a couple of times a day. Plus, volunteers pet and play with them regularly to keep them sociable.

Smootchie, a friendly Birman, and Harper, a charming lynx point Siamese, are the two permanent cat residents at Mewtopia. They’ve seen many cats come and go, but some cats stay for a year or more before they find their permanent homes. These cats are called old-timers.

One of the old-timers is Oscar, a very loving kitty who was left behind when his owners moved in the middle of the night. Oscar is nicknamed “The Secretary” for his fondness of staying around the front counter and helping out. Asia, another old-timer, came in during Christmas of 2006 and was mostly feral. The spunky black-and-white cat is adjusting well, but still needs a little work. Then there’s senior-gal Mitey, or as the volunteers call her, “Queen Mitey.” She rules the cat room and everyone knows it.

Volunteer Debbie Mullins says, “You give them [old-timers] more special love and attention too. They know who you are when you open the door, and they come running up to you. It makes you feel good.”

The greatest needs of Mewtopia are money and volunteers. Even though Mewtopia is a nonprofit corporation, they still pay rent and utilities like other businesses. “We have a very dedicated group of volunteers, but we could use more, and we could always use more money. It’s very expensive [to run Mewtopia],” Illsley notes.

Adoption fees at Mewtopia begin at $100, but they are flexible. Ilsley is willing to work with people to help cats get placed in a good home, especially when there are two feline friends that need to be adopted together. The adoption fee covers spaying or neutering, as well as shots and other routine care that is given before the cats are adopted.

Illsley asks that children 10 and under meet their prospective cats before adoption to ensure a good match. All cats adopted from Mewtopia are expected to be indoor cats.

Whether visitors want to shop for cat gifts and accessories, stop in to pet the cats, talk about volunteering, drop off a donation, or look for a cat of their own, many kitties like Oscar The Secretary are thrilled to greet everyone at Mewtopia.

Mewtopia is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. Call 901-503-9328 or visit www.mewtopia.org for more information.