Nevada Volunteers certifies first department within a school district, WCSD Volunteer Services, as a Service Enterprise
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Janet Wright
janet@nevadavolunteers.org
(775) 825-1900
RENO, October 27 – Nevada Volunteers, the Governor’s commission on service, and Nevada’s only Service Enterprise Hub, is pleased to announce Washoe County School District (WCSD) Volunteer Services Department has achieved recognition as the first department within a school district to achieve Service Enterprise certification. WCSD Volunteer Services Department is Nevada’s third certified Service Enterprise organization. Across the country there are only 250 Service Enterprise organizations. Nevada Volunteers presented WCSD Volunteer Services with the certification on October 11, 2016 to Lisa-Marie Lightfoot, the Administrator, Dex Thomas, the Program Services Technician, Laurie Bennett, the Secretary, and Tracy Sherwood the VISTA Leader.
The Service Enterprise designation represents intense work to ensure volunteer efforts are aligned with the mission of the organization and that volunteers are treated well and their skills utilized effectively. As part of the Service Enterprise process, Volunteer Services at WCSD calculated the Return on Volunteer Investment (ROVI). The ROVI measures the value an organization puts into volunteer engagement as well as the value an organization receives from engaging volunteers. WCSD Volunteer Services calculated for every $1 invested in volunteer engagement, they generate a return of $32.
Lisa-Marie Lightfoot, Administrator of Volunteer Services and member of the Service Enterprise guiding coalition that led the implementation of Service Enterprise strategies at Volunteer Services said, “Already, Service Enterprise has made a significant impact in Washoe County School District Volunteer Service’s ability to maximize the capacity of the Volunteer Services Department to better service WCSD’s volunteer needs. The improvement in efficiently onboarding to determine the best place for a volunteer, the ability to understand and provide in a numerical form the Return on Investment, and the demonstrated improved retention of our department volunteers, demonstrated to staff that this certification effort was well worth our time and efforts.”
Nevada Volunteers joined the Points of Light national Service Enterprise Initiative as a Service Enterprise Hub in spring 2015 and is in the process of training and supporting eight organizations currently working towards certification. This initiative is focused on working with non-profits and agencies to better achieve their mission through strategic leveraging of volunteers.
