ALIVE began as the Congress of Volunteer Administrators Associations (COVAA) which formed as a result of a historical convening of official representatives of existing associations of volunteer program managers.
In December 2006, a group of roughly 90 delegates, representing 6000 volunteer managers from across the United States, gathered in Denver, CO, to begin to organize around questions such as:
• What do existing associations already do well?
• What might a national organization provide that is value-added?
• How might a congress encourage the formation of new associations in geographic areas without such a group now?
• What might be the interrelationship between a national congress and local associations?
In short, COVAA began as a grassroots event to ensure that all involved with the field of volunteer management would have the opportunity to participate in determining the future of the profession. During an intensive two-day process of thoughtful dialogue and intense collaboration in Denver, delegates of the Congress voted to form a new national member association for leaders in volunteer engagement.
At the Congress in Denver, a select group of delegates were charged with designing this new national entity. The Steering Committee – made up of dozens of professional leaders in volunteer management from around the country – has been working and communicating on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, to ensure that this new membership association is relevant, positive and sustainable. COVAA continues to follow a broad, inclusive path that is intended to lead to a strong professional association. Steering Committee members, along with separate committees of COVAA established at the December convening, are systematically working to build this association to assist in meeting the needs of volunteer managers, as well as serving as a primary connector between efforts across the field of volunteer management in the United States.