Permanent link for article #0053:
10-13-2009
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serve.gov
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Subject: Woo Hoo! This Decision is a Win for the Volunteer
Sector
From a serve.gov (AKA: United We Serve)
service brief:
Starting next week, the Corporation for National and
Community Service (CNCS) will no longer invite individuals and
organizations to post their volunteer opportunities directly
through Serve.gov, a federally operated Web site.
According to an email from Nicola Goren, CNCS's acting CEO,
after October 14, organizations and individuals will be
referred to a list of independent organizations, both
for-profit and not-for-profit, competing to provide these
services.
As Goren explains:
Over the course of the summer and in the last month, the
Corporation has reviewed our role in the volunteer registry
function to apply lessons learned during its first months
of operation. We have concluded that the most
appropriate role for us is to promote service and offer
tools that make it easier for Americans to find volunteer
opportunities, but not to be in the direct business of
operating a volunteer project registry, given the fact
that there are a number of existing non-governmental
volunteer matching websites that already provide these
services.
[Emphasis added]
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Hmmm... Do you think those "lessons" could have anything to do with
the ACORN scandal?
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This decision is a win for the volunteer sector.
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Yea!!! A WIN for the volunteer sector!!!!! Of course, it's so
obvious!! This, of course, is the pre-packaged tag line for the
Main Stream Media when reporting on this story. And being a good
citizen, I knew I was supposed to lead with this for my report as
well.
But seriously, take a look at the original notice. This statement,
in all its enbolded glory, sits on the page like an out of place
pimple on the nose tip of your prom date. I guess its true that
the people in government do really believe that if they just "say it",
then it must be true!
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As a federally-chartered, Congressionally-funded agency,
CNCS is subject to both political and budgetary pressure that
independent services are not. In operating its own database,
CNCS was spending federal time and dollars to duplicate
services already available to the field while creating
unnecessary political and legal liability for itself.
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In other words, we got caught with our hands in the cookie jar!
We're not sorry we did it. But we are sorry we got caught.
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Ultimately, the thoughtful reconsideration of its policies
shows that government can listen, learn and adapt. We
applaud Ms. Goren's decision and see it as a very positive
sign for those of us committed to the pursuit of smart
government.
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Now isn't that sweet. The government is listening to
us after all! And they're smart too!
I'm just so thankful that I got my service project
registered at serve.gov before it was too late!
P.S.: I'm awarding myself the Nobel Prize for best overuse of
exclamation marks in a single article! Gosh darn it, I deserve one
too!!
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