Nevada Volunteers

Nevada Volunteers is a 501(c)(3) and is recognized as the governor's commission on service. Nevada Volunteers is among a network of state service commissions across the united states, with commissions also established in Washington dc, puerto rico, and Guam. As a state service commission, Nevada Volunteers was organized under the laws of the state of Nevada to carry out national service activities in Nevada. Nevada Volunteers is supported by commissioners, a body appointed by the Nevada governor to provide oversight of national and community service programs, contribute to a 3-year national service state service plan, review and approve grant funding applications. As a federal fiscal administrator for americorps, Nevada Volunteers provided funding to 10 operational programs and 2 planning grants. Planning grants are given to programs interested in hosting americorps service members but need a year of support to build their program. Within the 10 operational programs, this funding allowed for an expected 420 national service members to engage in direct service opportunities to align with the needs of nevadans, impacting 15 of our 17 counties in Nevada. Members area of service included k-12 education mentoring and support, stem academic achievement, healthy living education in rural communities, economic opportunity, access to health care, environmental stewardship and improvement to public lands, and disaster response. In addition to acquiring leadership and career development skills, national service members receive a variety of benefits that include a living stipend, an education award at the end of their term service, student loan deferment during service, and training. Full-time members are also eligible to receive health care and childcare.

With functional accommodations placed in 2021, the Nevada Volunteers team maintains exceptional service to grantees, community partners, and stakeholders. Recognizing a need, our organization enhanced nvvolunteerconnect-a platform to match nonprofit organizations with Volunteers seeking opportunities-to also include boardconnect and a court- ordered community service search engine. Nvvolunteerconnect and these enhancements are the first statewide sites to connect our communities with opportunities for volunteer service. Americorps support allowed us to introduce volunteer generation fund micro grants to 32 non-profit organizations with no prior experience with americorps, volunteer generation fund, or Nevada Volunteers. The awards of up to 5,000 were invested in strengthening volunteer management programs and recognition, essential components of building and maintaining a robust unpaid workforce across our state. Americorps funding allowed our organization to continue granting volunteer generation fund awards to nonprofit organizations that were seeking to strengthen volunteer recognition and volunteer management programs, essential components of building and maintaining a robust unpaid workforce across our Nevada. Additionally, Nevada Volunteers expanded the reach of our statewide website-nvv olunteerconnect.org, to connect organizations with a more diverse base of Volunteers; provide capacity building mini- grants up to 25,000 to organizations interested in implementing new evidence-based volunteer management best practices, and to provide training and technical assistance to organizations about evidence-based volunteer management best practices. Nevada Volunteers celebrated inspirational stories of 26 award-winning finalists at the 20th anniversary of the governor's points of light awards, our organization's annual signature event. A governor's points of light award is the highest honor bestowed by a Nevada governor and Nevada Volunteers to celebrate the individuals and organizations who model Nevada values of service, responsibility, cooperation, compassion, and the power of partnership. For the first time, this event was held at the blind center of Nevada, a community partner venue.