LIN Center for Community Development

Dear LIN Friends,

As we enter the fresh first days of the Year of the Dragon (the Vietnamese have just got back to work this week after a long celebration), we would like to wish you a year full of great opportunities and dynamic activities to help the community. Thank you for your support to our Volunteer Programs in the past year.

And what is better way to welcome a new year than looking back on what we have achieved and setting new goals for the next 12 months? In this report, we are happy to post some highlights from our annual report of the Volunteer Service in the year 2011, and our programs for the year 2012.

A. Highlight of Volunteer Activities in 2011

1.      Support to Skilled Volunteers: 2 meetings

2.      Survey: 2 surveys

• Skilled volunteer survey

- Objective: To identify challenges skilled volunteers face while providing assistance to Not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) and strategies to overcome such difficulties.

- Findings: Through this survey, we found that volunteers face similar challenges and there are opportunities to address and/or prevent those challenges. Balancing work, personal and volunteer responsibilities was a concern for over a quarter of skilled volunteers. Lack of clear instructions and/or defined volunteer roles and responsibilities was a challenge for 11% of survey respondents.

To solve the challenges that volunteers faced, 50% of the survey respondents said that they would talk directly with the organization. Others found support in sharing their experiences with another volunteer(s).

• NPO Need for Skilled Volunteers Survey

- Objective:

• Understand the extent to which our NPO partners are aware of the “skilled volunteers” concept.
• Find out the readiness of NPO partners for skilled volunteers;
• Assess the demand of NPOs for skilled volunteers; and
• Find out how LIN can bridge the demand and supply

- Findings:

• Only 48% NPOs fully understands the role of a skilled volunteer.
•  2/3 of NPOs are ready to work with skilled volunteers.
•  Most NPOs listed executive and/or practical skills as necessary from a skilled volunteer, instead of leadership or managerial-level skills.
•  How to get skilled volunteers to be a part of the organization and

Dear LIN Friends,

Good morning from Ho Chi Minh City. This update comes right on time when we make an initial tally of the submissions to LIN 2011 Volunteer Stories Competition. As we mentioned in our last update, LIN Center, with the backing of the Judith Carey Zesiger Family Foundation, launched the Volunteer Stories Competition on the 10^th of September to recognize the important work of volunteers who are making a difference in our communities.

We are proud to inform you that during the course of two months of the competition, we have received 93 stories, 32 photos and 10 videos from volunteers and volunteer host organizations nationwide. Through this year’s theme, “The Power of Sharing”, the competition aims to highlight the positive impact volunteers are having in our  community.

Volunteers share their resources, their time, their expertise, their skillsets, their experiences and/or their high energy. In this competition, we encourage them to take one step further - to share their story. Besides “Best of the week” prizes, this year’s prize categories includes most inspirational story, most committed story, most nurturing volunteer, and the best example of pro bono volunteer service - how a volunteer applied their professional skills and/or experiences to support a not-for-profit organization in their community. 

By sharing volunteer stories, the LIN Center wishes to give a voice to the unsung heroes who are working to empower the community through their volunteer work. In addition, we hope to inspire others to try volunteering in their community, each in his/her own way.

The Judge Panel consisting of 12 professionals, who are CSR experts, journalists and financiers, are working on the evaluation of the submissions to select the winners for the Grand Final Prizes. Volunteers and Volunteer Host Organizations that submit a story will be eligible to win one of several attractive prizes (up to VND 10 million). This is made possible thanks to the generous support of our sponsors: the Judith Carey Zesiger Family Foundation, SRI Vietnam, UNV Program, Megastar Cineplex, Emerald Digital Marketing and MobiVi.

To celebrate the practice of giving in Vietnam and to leverage the contribution volunteers make in their community, the LIN Center designed an awards scheme that allows winners to  keep half of the prize money and give the other half to the NPO of their choosing. 

Stay tuned for the result, which will be announced at the Award ceremony on the 4^th of December in Ho Chi Minh City. After the competition is over, the LIN Center team will select a variety of the best story submissions to comprise a book of stories that recognize the dedication and commitment of Volunteers. 

For now, you can log on to the competition website to find the many inspiring stories and photo and video entries: www.cauchuyentinhnguyen.com

Thank you for your continuing support to LIN Center and our Skilled Volunteer programs. We will come back with more exciting news about an ongoing survey to assess the local NPO needs for skilled volunteers.

With best regards,

Truc Nguyen

LIN Volunteer Coordinator

Links:

• You can find all the entries in this website

Dear LIN Friends,

Hello from Ho Chi Minh City! In this update, we are pleased to announce the result of the LIN Corporate Volunteer Challenge.

3 months and 344 volunteer hours completed

From 7 May to 7 August 2011, the LIN Center for Community Development organized the LIN’s Corporate Volunteer Challenge, a call to companies and skilled professionals in Ho Chi Minh City to apply their skill sets and experiences to benefit the community through service with a local not-for-profit organization (NPO). The Challenge was made possible thanks to a grant from Horizon Capital Group and sponsorships from ViiVue and EV Entertainment.

Goals:

• To mark the “International Day of Service,” taking place on 7 May 2011; 
• To stimulate pro bono community service activities taking place in and around Ho Chi Minh City; and
• To raise funds to support community development through this challenge.

Objectives:

To inspire and challenge professionals in HCMC to help build the capacity of NPOs that are working to strengthen the communities in which we live and work – a meaningful and sustainable approach to community service. 

The Process:

Pledged hours = 1,005 hours

Individuals/Companies completed an online registration form, pledging the number of volunteer hours they planned to contribute over the duration of the challenge.

Recorded hours = 344 hours

Each individual and/or a company representative completed an online accounting form, recording the time contributed (hours volunteered), the NPO served and a highlight from their experience.

Marketing:

LIN’s Corporate Volunteer Challenge was advertised through social media network and company visits, including the following:

• Facebook:

Informing 1,000+ followers of LIN on facebook

Set Challenge banner  as Facebook page avatar throughout the event

http://www.facebook.com/LINCenter

• Email Lists:

LIN’s volunteer database (1,000+ contacts)

UNV Vietnam Network

• Other:

LIN blog:

http://linfoundation.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/volunteer-challenge/

http://linfoundation.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/intro-clip/

http://linfoundation.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/interview-volunteer/

http://linchallenge.tumblr.com/

LIN Newsletters:

http://www.linvn.org/cms/upload/FCKFile/file/Newsletters/Volunteer%20Newsletter%20May11.pdf

http://www.linvn.org/cms/upload/FCKFile/file/Newsletters/Volunteer%20Newsletter%20June2011.pdf

Official website: http://bit.ly/VolunteerChallenge

Youtube Video:  100 views (English version), 90 views (Vietnamese version)

Click here to view the introduction clip

Resource contribution:

• Total number of staff hours on the project: 48 hours
• Value of contribution by ViiVue: 24 hours x 15 USD/hour = 360 USD 

THE CHALLENGE

Over the course of three months, 30 volunteers took the challenge to pledged a total of 1,005 volunteer hours.  By the 7^th of August, 15 volunteers completed 344 hours, benefiting 7 NPOs. The skills contributed by volunteers ranged from developing websites to consulting on a specific field such as Marketing Strategy, Finance, Customer Service, and teaching English.

The completed 344 hours amount to a 6,880,000 VND donation from our sponsor, Horizon Capital Group. The proceeds will be used in LIN’s programs to build capacity for local NPOs through Volunteerism.

Here is what volunteers say about the Challenge:

“I wanted to take the challenge as soon as I learned about it from 5 gio sang organization. They were looking for a volunteer IT technician to develop their website and train them on the IT techniques. I pledged 12 hours, which I completed, to develop their website and design a logo for the Football 4 for Children's future campaign. I find my contribution meaningful because it does not only help 5 gio sang but LIN also raises fund from this challenge. With each hour I completed, the sponsor company will donate an amount of money, which will be used by LIN in activities to support other organizations.” - Vo Pham Minh Hieu

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“I pledged 26 hours to support the Bridge Center, a group of people with disability under the Association of People with Disability in Can Tho City. At first, my intention to involve went as far as coordinating a group of volunteers in teaching English at the Bridge Center. However, I soon found myself fully engaged in the tasks and, to my surprise, ended up contributing a total of 83 hours. I took part in the fund-raising campaign of the Association of People with Disability, and spent more time building the connection between the volunteers and the members of the Center. “ - Phan Uyen Nghi

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If you read Vietnamese, please download our monthly Volunteer Newsletter (http://www.linvn.org/?mod=content&act=view&cid=10&section=volunteer ).

Thank you for your generous contribution to LIN Center's Skilled Volunteer programs! Stay tuned for update on the upcoming Volunteer Stories Contest 2011.

Sincerely,
Truc Nguyen

LIN Volunteer Coordinator

Links:

• www.linvn.org