Every Meal is now Service Enterprise certified
Every Meal is now Service Enterprise certified and joins the top 11% of nonprofits nationwide in volunteer management and organizational performance. The Service Enterprise program is a national change management program that helps organizations gain a greater return on volunteer investment to better achieve their mission.
Receiving this certification from Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, is a prestigious accomplishment. It signifies that we have the capability and management expertise to strategically use volunteers to improve our performance and impact in fighting child hunger.
| Did you know? Research conducted by the TCC Group, a national program and evaluation firm, found that organizations operating as Service Enterprises outperform peer organizations on all aspects of organizational effectiveness, and are more adaptable, sustainable and capable of scaling their work. |
PROCESS FOR CERTIFICATION
Over the course of almost one year, Every Meal completed:
- an extensive assessment
- over 20 hours of training and coaching
- a thorough internal planning and change process to better integrate volunteers into our human capital strategy
WHAT CERTIFICATION MEANS
By going through this process and achieving this certification, Every Meal is now better equipped to leverage the time and talent of volunteers to help make a lasting impact in our community and change the story of child hunger in Minnesota.
“Going through the process challenged all of our department teams to effectively leverage our volunteers and their impressive knowledge and skills to further our mission. We now have better volunteer awareness and engagement across our departments, increasing our organization’s efficiency and effectiveness.” – Nate Youngblood, Vice President at Every Meal
CHANGES TO VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT
As part of this certification, Every Meal has undergone several changes that reflect a new culture of thoughtfulness about the wide variety of services that volunteers can provide. Below are some examples:
- New skills-based volunteer roles, which complement one-time and ongoing direct service opportunities.
- Clear training for new and existing staff about expectations around volunteer engagement
- New video trainings for packing event volunteers and food distribution volunteers which support different learning styles
- Leadership support and involvement in this process and commitment to its continuation
- Creating a Director of Volunteers role and expanding the Volunteer Department
We are excited to receive this certification and to continue improving and expanding our volunteers’ experience and impact on child hunger across Minnesota. For more information about volunteer opportunities at Every Meal, please everymeal.org/volunteer.