As always, Susan Ellis has a thought-provoking article on informal volunteer and we, as volunteer managers, relate to it. For example, if you walk your elderly neighbor’s dog, can you call your local animal shelter to provide other volunteers to help? Is it safe or beneficial for a nonprofit to get involved or does that provide too much structure for neighbor helping neighbor? Read Susan’s article at

One tool to encourage informal volunteering is a time bank. There are a couple of time banks in LA: the Arroyo Seco in northeast LA (, and Culver City (, among others.