(800) 580-1500

 HOTLINE AND CHAT LINE VOLUNTEERS POSSESS A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE HOTLINE INDUSTRY, THEIR OPINIONS MATTER

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Building an organization comprised of volunteers from as many nonprofit and government agencies as possible, for the purpose of:

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1. Ensuring Protection & Respect of All Volunteers

2. Creating a Safe Community for Volunteers to Express Their Opinions

3. Utilizing the Clout of a Potentially Huge Community of Volunteers to Recommend Best Practices, and;

4. To Address Concerns About Nonprofits Utilization of Resources.

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North American Help Services Alliance, Inc. is offering to create a voluntary private listing of "hotline" and other volunteers, that provide free services on behalf of nonprofits and governmental agencies

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Given that an estimated 25.1 percent of US adults volunteered in 2017, contributing an estimated 8.8 billion hours. And with nearly 60% of nonprofits filing tax returns with the IRS, they account for more than three-quarters of revenue and expenses for the nonprofit sector, public charities reported $1.98 trillion in revenues and $1.84 trillion in expenses. And assets held by public charities accounted for just under two-thirds of the sector's total ($3.67 trillion). 

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Shouldn't there be a separate entity, created by and on behalf of volunteers, to make certain that the voices of 80 billion volunteers be heard and considered by the nonprofit industry?

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HelpUnited.org Vision

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I. WE PROPOSE THAT A VISIBLE GROUP OF AS MANY VOLUNTEERS AS POSSIBLE BE ESTABLISHED, OPEN TO ALL PEOPLE WHO VOLUNTEER FOR ANY NONPROFIT OR GOVERNMENT AGENCY.

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II. WE PROPOSE THAT FIRST ITEM ON THE AGENDA SHOULD BE FOR VOLUNTEERS ASSIST US, BY ADDING ALL MISSING HOTLINES TO THE #4HELP DIRECTORY.

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III. WE PROPOSE THAT AN INDEPENDENTLY OPERATING BOARD OF DIRECTORS BE SELECTED TO SETUP AND RUN A NEW NONPROFIT CORPORATION WHOSE MISSION IS DEFINED AS PARAGRAPH

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HOTLINE VOLUNTEERS POSSESS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS THE STATUS QUO

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A. Volunteers are needed to cover hotlines and helplines that are not staffed by paid professionals.

B. We believe these volunteers, with our support need to question where they fit into a nonprofit corporation hierarchy.

C. A solid and respectful group of volunteers can ask reasonable questions about their role and involvement in the agency for whom they volunteer.

i. How should volunteers be treated?

ii. Should there be set rules in place for volunteers?

iii. Should volunteers play a role in creating those rules?

iv. Should volunteers have a say in policies established by the nonprofit corporations unrelated to their volunteer positions?​

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HOTLINE AND HELPLINE INDUSTRY VOLUNTEERS SHARE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS THAT WOULD BENEFIT SUCH A GROUP

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In January of 2020, the date that this website first appeared on the Internet, we feel obligated to share with everyone that uses or will use a hotline or helpline, that the hotline industry is unwieldy, and that it lacks oversight and proper regulations. We hope that one benefit that we will be able to offer through the branding of #4Help and use of our directory service is to begin pointing the hotline industry of considering registration, self-regulation, and application of industry-wide best practices. We hope to encourage large, entrenched hotlines to share their proprietary resources so that smaller, new hotlines can flourish and share the burden of the growing use of hotlines.

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IF YOU VOLUNTEER FOR A HOTLINE, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR HOTLINE TO OUR DIRECTORY

 

The economics of not recreating the wheel, not stepping on one another's toes and working as a "Whole" instead of as separate parts would lead to an astounding savings of money which is now required to operate non-profit corporations, that run hotlines and helplines and recreate the wheel on a regular basis.

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Working together to accomplish what appears to be a monumental task, once completed, will yield critical information that will benefit hundreds of millions of people, based upon statistics voluntarily shared by agencies that operate hotlines. Because hotlines run across such a diverse space in the non-profit world and because so many people use hotlines, there may be no larger group of people in need in the United States than those who use hotlines. That fact alone demonstrates the importance of all hotline and helpline operators making an effort to work together.

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