Understanding and identifying the professional development needs of 4-H youth development professionals should be the first step in developing the Extension workforce. However, 4-H professionals find it challenging to use the Professional, Research, Knowledge and Competencies (PRKC), which consists of 348 unique competency items, to guide…

Conducting needs assessments serves as a valuable way for Extension educators to ensure that they are designing programs that meet community needs. We developed a needs assessment tool kit that educators across urban, suburban, and rural communities can use to answer the question "What are the youth development needs in my county?"…

This article describes the curriculum and program development process that was used to create the North Carolina Extension Master Food Volunteer program. We used a rigorous program development process, including conducting a needs assessment, piloting and evaluating the program, incorporating revisions based on feedback, and receiving external…

The American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Plus 50 Initiative (2008-2011), funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, was created to build the capacity of community colleges nationwide to develop programming that engages the plus 50 learner. The Initiative supported a pilot group of 13 two-year institutions to develop or expand college…

This community-based participatory research (CBPR) project utilized a mixed-methods survey design to identify urban (Tulsa, OK) American Indian (AI) strengths and needs. Six hundred fifty AIs (550 adults and 100 youth) were surveyed regarding their attitudes and beliefs about their community. These results were used in conjunction with other…

Describes a model process of assessment and integration that allows community agencies and professional counselors to engage in more effective volunteer activity. Outlines agency development by stages, using the experiences of agencies providing domestic violence services. (JAC)

The "Share Our Services" program was established in Killarney (Manitoba), to Streamline existing volunteer services, to develop new services, and to collaborate with formal services to meet the needs of older and infirm adults living in the community. A sample of 212 older adults were interviewed in their homes concerning their housing,…

Presents 10 basic steps to use as guidelines in setting up a corporate volunteer program: develop a philosophy, survey the community and employees, isolate a need and outline program functions, recruit volunteers, motivate employees, place volunteers carefully, monitor and evaluate program and volunteers, review goals and results, and consider…

The efforts to develop a long-range plan for the Wisconsin Alumni Association are described. Steps to take to set up a long-range plan for alumni associations include: needs assessment, volunteer committee to advise staff, situation analysis, alumni census, mission statement, goals, implementing the plan, and evaluation. (MLW)

This handbook serves as a guide to "Talk Time," a technique for volunteer facilitators to use to help newcomers to the United States practice English in a comfortable, non-threatening setting. Talk Time provides language practice activity often not found in traditional English-as-a-Second-Language classroom settings. In Talk Time, no one…

This booklet is a guide to setting up a formal mentor program in the community. Mentor programs can take many shapes, whether sponsored through the schools, by businesses, or by churches and volunteer agencies. Like any operation, a volunteer mentor program has various management functions. The planning function sets a mission statement, goals,…

This handbook is designed to help Peace Corps programmers in planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating projects. The first four chapters describe the development process, discuss the purpose and mission of the Peace Corps, provide an overview of Peace Corps programming, and list project criteria. The next 19 chapters present the following…

This manual is planned for use by both community organizations interested in starting literacy programs to serve their neighborhoods and for agencies providing other services to clients who would also benefit from literacy services. It is organized in four parts, which represent various stages in thinking about and starting a new literacy program.…

Little Brothers--Friends of the Elderly is a non-profit, non-sectarian federation of agencies devoted to meeting the needs of the elderly poor, those poor not merely in worldly goods, but in love. The organization examined how it might more effectively spread its services and assure the establishment throughout the United States of programs with…

Fifteen different institutions offer suggestions for managing small shops by: long range planning, setting priorities, organizing and systematizing, defining staff regimen, using outside help, and finding reinforcement through feedback and freely offered ideas. (MLW)