There are some “bad feelings” spreading through volunteer resource professional circles over the Reimagining Service initiative (see Susan Ellis’, Reimagining Service: Is Corporate HR Management What We See? and Jayne Craven’s Don’t let them equate volunteer management with HR management).  The Reimagining Service initiative is described as a self-organized community of individuals from nonprofits, government and the private sector…inspired by the renewed call to service.  Reimagining Service calls for an investment of critical resources and dollars to build the volunteer management infrastructure.  Hallelujah!  That is exactly what volunteer management professionals have been advocating for, well… ever!  So what is all the fuss about?  Why the bad feelings?  Well…it’s the strategy that has gotten volunteer resource professionals all riled up.  Reimagining Service is calling for the application of private sector human resource capabilities to the nonprofit sector.  Their answer is to encourage corporations to provide “HR Bootcamps” and create an “HR pro bono movement” to bring resources and innovation to volunteer management practice.  There is no mention of promoting the “best of volunteer management practice”.  In fact, there is no mention of the profession of volunteer resource management.  What concerns volunteer management professional is the assumption that private sector HR professionals will come to the rescue and “save the day” for nonprofits.  Volunteer Resource Management professionals will argue that nonprofits don’t need “HR boot camps”, they need “volunteer management boot camps”, led by volunteer management professionals who know and understand the nonprofit sector.  The problem is not that the nonprofit sector doesn’t have volunteer resource management skills and know-how.  The problem is that the skills of volunteer resource professionals have long been under-valued and under-utilized by nonprofits.  The solution?  Promote and invest in the best volunteer management practice to attract, acquire, inspire and retain volunteer talent.  The ideal scenario:  talented volunteer resource professionals and private sector HR professionals working together to promote effective volunteer management practice in the nonprofit sector.  The Question:  How can the volunteer resource management profession make that happen?