The Activist Guide to Changing the World - for VISTA Volunteers

Here's a list of the chapters in the book, just to give you a better idea of what it's all about.

1. Okay, I’m here. Now what do I do? (Covering the Basics)

• How to get cheap (or free) rent
• How to eat well on less than $50 a week
• Solving your transportation problems
• How to furnish your digs for less than $200
• How to improve your social life, enjoy cultural events and have fun — and still live within in your means
• A loophole for accessing the services you need and qualify for
• The one secret that can help you through any crisis

2. Getting from Where you Are Now to Where you Want to Go—(Goal Setting)

• Why goal setting doesn’t work (and 80% of people who make New Year’s Resolutions break them by February!)
• Who do you want to be when you grow up?
• What your mother never told you about setting — and achieving — your goals
• What it takes to get what you really want
• A goal by any other name…is not the same
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (or…you have more assets than you think you do!)
• Are you a “diamond in the rough”?
• Goal setting worksheets that will help you create the life you want
• Creating “do-able” goals for your project
• Filling in the gaps for what your project needs
• No VISTA is an Island (how to get the help, training or other resources you need)

3. Insider’s Secrets to Writing Your Quarterly Report (Quickly, Easily, & On Time, Every Time!)

• The real purpose of your quarterly report
• How to finish your report on time, every time and guarantee that it gets approved
• The secret tools you MUST use
• Ya gotta have friends…meet the W’s
• How your computer can save you hours of time
• Start with 5
• Close your eyes and think of a word
• The clock is ticking — you’ve only got five minutes
• What was the question?

4. Time Management Secrets

• What quadrant are you in?
• 12 Time Management Secrets of the “Super Successful”
• Time Management “Don’ts”
• The “MORE” System for Success
• You have the power — now use it for good!

5. You want me to do what?! (Community Organizing 101)

• Your Role as a VISTA
• Who’s project is it, anyway?
• How do you spell success?
• Everyone has value and something to contribute
• Community Organizing - A Quick Reference Guide
• What you absolutely, positively HAVE to know about organizing
• A short history of modern American radicalism
• How to stay within the guidelines and still make a difference

6. Standards of Excellence for Volunteer Centers—(and What You Can Learn from Them)

• Best Practices
• Organizational Standards
• Program Standards
• What you can learn

7. I’ve got all these people, now what do I do with them? (Setting up Your Volunteer Management Program)

• Setting up a Volunteer Management Program — the Basics
• Going from “vision” to reality
• What you “must do” to run an effective volunteer management program
• How to find the right project
• How to set up on-going volunteer projects
• Work “SMART”
• The devil is in the details
• The one thing you must do to ensure the success of your volunteer program
• The 10 “Golden Rules” of Volunteer and Leadership Development
• Your Volunteer Handbook
• How to provide kick-butt training for your volunteers — for free
• How much are your volunteers worth?
• Creative ideas for recognizing your volunteers without breaking the bank
• Volunteer reflection and evaluation — of your project, of your program and of you — and why it’s vital

8. Template Sheets for Your Volunteer Management Program

• Initial Volunteer Interview Record
• Organization/Volunteer Agreement Form
• Volunteer Assignment Master Log
• Organizational Evaluation of Volunteer
• Volunteer Evaluation Form

9. How Much is it Going to Cost? (Fundraising Basics)

• Fundraising Vocabulary
• Don’t put all your (fundraising) eggs in one basket
• Who is a “Major Donor”?
• Earned Income - can you or can’t you?
• Grants
• Special Events
• Grants and In-Kind Support
• It’s fundraising, not an Amway meeting, right?

10. Start with a Good Foundation (How to Write a Grant)

• The good, the bad and the ugly of grant writing
• The steps of writing your first grant
• How to design a fundable project — and what to do if yours isn’t
• How to design a project budget even if you can’t balance your checkbook
• Elementary, my dear Watson!
• If you don’t remember anything else, PLEASE remember THIS
• Who do you know?
• Insider’s “secret” resources (from a professional grantwriter)
• What chemistry, baking a cake and grant writing all have in common

11. What Makes It so Special? (Special Event Planning)

• Strategies for Succes
• An Overview of project planning and management
• Step-by-step guide for creating your first project
• How to eat an elephant and other party tricks
• The deep, dark secret you MUST know to get in-kind donations
• The “never fail” method for teaching anyone how to ask for — and get — donations

12. Hello! Hello?! Is Anybody Out There? (Working with the Media)

• How to harness the power of the press
• The public has a right to know
• You never get a second chance to make a good first impression
• The secret meanings behind the language you use
• Does your mission statement measure up?
• The difference between having a mission and having a vision (statement)
• If you say it once, say it a thousand times - exactly the same way
• How to get publicity for your project — let me count the ways
• Location, location, location
• Practice makes perfect
• When bad things happen to good organizations (how to handle negative publicity)
• How to build a solid relationship with the media
• Be a partner, not a player
• Pay attention to what’s happening around you
• Hooks — not just for fishing anymore
• A picture’s worth a thousand words
• Loose lips sink ships — how to make sure it’s “smooth sailing” for your spokesperson
• Would you like fries with that?
• It’s not an “all you can eat” buffet — think sound-bite, not sound-banquet

13. “Just the Facts, Ma’am!” (How to Write an Effective Press Release)

• The 13 secrets that will GUARANTEE your press release gets read (and acted on)
• “If it cries it flies, if it bleeds, it leads” the truth about what makes news
• The single most CRITICAL element of your entire press release
• Hit a “bulls-eye” with your “primary” target every time
• Remember what your fourth grade English teacher said?
• How to use the “spin” cycle
• Actions speak louder than (passive) words
• Use the “KISS” principal (Keep It Short and Simple)
• Don’t EVER do this — (really, I mean it!!!)
• Formatting your Press Release like the pros do
• A sample press release (this one resulted in the donation of an entire building)

14. What a Great Idea…Somebody Needs to do That! (Project Development and Management)

• Vocabulary
• SMART thinking
• A little extra padding goes a long way (to creating a successful project)
• Planning your project from A to Z
• The ethics of project management
• A note about time management

15. Not Another Boring Meeting! (Plan for Action & Make it Fun!)

• Is it necessary?
• Who, what, when, where, why
• Plan for action
• location, location, location
• What’s stopping them?
• Tips for planning an effective meeting
• How long is the attention span of an average adult?
• The types of “challenging” behaviors and how to handle them
• Dealing with difficult people
• Make it fun

16. My Brain is Full. Can I Go Home Now? (Creative Ideas for When You’re Not…)

• When is swiping a good thing?
• Put your thinking cap on — brainstorming techniques that work
• Ask questions, look for the unusual, think “small”
• Never lose your childish enthusiasm — or how to borrow somebody else’s
• Springboards that will jumpstart your creativity
• Other Ideas
• The Universal Truths of Creativity

17. Let the Force Be With You (Harnessing the Power of the Internet to find what you need)

• Use the Web, Luke
• The best search engines
• The best sources of foundation, organization, and government information
• The best fundraising/research sites
• The best sites for finding statistical information
• Other great tools and resources

18. Desktop Publishing — Creating Your Own Ezine, Using Blogs and RSS feeds

• Creating a Web presence
• Nike, Coke and — you — branding like the big boys
• How to choose the best internet provider
• How to find (excellent) Web design on the cheap
• A word about blogging
• Using RSS feeds
• The CAN-SPAM act and how it affects your organization

19. It’s Time To Go, the Party’s Over (Life AFTER VISTA)

• The Ten most powerful secrets for getting the job you want
• Non-competitive Eligibility for Government Service — what it is, how you use it
• Networking with the resources you’ve already built
• Building an effective resume
• Finding a job with the federal government
• Notable VISTA Volunteers

20. Words of Wisdom from other VISTA Volunteers

Here’s the list of former VISTA Volunteers who were kind enough to share their advice, tips and hints for this book. Each person was asked three questions:

1. What is the one thing you wish you’d known BEFORE you became a VISTA?

2. What is the one thing you learned from your experience as a VISTA that helped you later on in life?

3. What advice would you give to a new VISTA Volunteer. Although the answers are as unique as the people who wrote them (funny, sad, thought-provoking and awe-inspiring), the one thing they each had in common was that the year they spent as a VISTA changed them forever. I’m deeply grateful for their input.

• Saul Baizman
• Rebecca Banning
• Geoffrey Becker
• Carolyn Cain
• Briana Frenzel
• Stacy Golden
• Leah Murray
• Dan MacNeil
• Ray and Monique Magliozzi
• State Representative Elliott Naishtat
• Krista Clements Orlan
• Danielle Ricard
• Ben Sheldon
• “Shilo27″
• Shaneeka Thomas

I’ll give you more details soon…