A new report released by The UPS Foundation emphasizes the importance of partnerships, shared vision and nontraditional thinking in running successful nonprofits.

The report, released during the National Community Service Conference, comes at the midpoint of the UPS foundation's Volunteer Impact Initiative, a $2 million, two-year program designed to identify innovative ways to recruit, train and manage volunteers.

UPS selected five national nonprofits to participate in the initiative: Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, 100 Black Men of America, Junior Achievement Inc., Points of Light Foundation, and United Way of America. Each concentrated on developing models, training and site selection during the first year.

Partnerships were also formed between some of these organizations, like the one in which 100 Black Men members are being recruited to teach Junior Achievement classes. African-American mentors are also being provided from the 100 Black Members group to Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Through the initiative, each organization has taken steps to more effectively use its resources or to create new ones:

• Junior Achievement Inc., using a new "teacher driven" volunteer recruitment approach, has mobilized nearly 2,700 volunteers who served more than 66,000 students
• Through Big Brothers Big Sisters of America's new school-based mentoring project, 318 additional youth have been paired with caring adult mentors, decreasing the likelihood these children will engage in at-risk behaviors such as skipping school or using alcohol or illegal drugs
• 100 Black Men of America developed a formal volunteer orientation and training program as well as a volunteer management manual for use by all 83 of its local chapters
• United Way of America helped local organizations develop new ways to reach families moving from welfare to work, as evidenced by 100 percent of participating parents in Stillwater, Minn., reporting that they feel less isolated and better able to cope with personal challenges
• Through the Points of Light Foundation's youth volunteer model, approximately 10,300 youth volunteers are involved in activities tackling serious social problems, such as juvenile crime, homelessness and environmental hazards.