Why celebrate volunteer program managers? Because they (the organizations and the volunteers themselves) could not do it without us -- or at least do it as effectively. We are the catalysts for community change. As I am fond of saying, "Volunteers are the glue that holds our communities together; volunteer program managers are the professionals who know where and how to apply the glue." My own epiphany of understanding what this means came when reading about an earthquake and dozens of citizens who rushed to help but no one knew how to organize them.

"...volunteer program managers are bakers. Without a baker a countertop full of ingredients is mostly useless."

A VPM would have known to identify skills and organize volunteers to maximize the relief effort. To use yet another metaphor, volunteer program managers are bakers. Without a baker a countertop full of ingredients is mostly useless. You could eat the flour, the oil, and the raw egg, but this would be neither as pleasant nor as healthful as eating the bread that the baker made by drawing all the ingredients together based on their nature and function. Yes, most of us get paid to do the work, but many other professionals, such as teachers, get both pay and appreciation days. This role as an essential catalyst is what we need to communicate so the rationale behind a day like International Volunteer Program Manager Appreciation Day will be obvious to everyone..

Reprinted from International Volunteer Program Manager Appreciation Day Official Web Site  http://www.nonprofitspace.org/vpm-day/