The National Health Council wants to ensure that a critical component of the nation's complex health care delivery system - the millions of volunteers who form the cornerstone of the nation's voluntary health agencies - survives and thrives in the challenging years to come. Through this initiative, Preparing for the Next Millennium: Strengthening Volunteer Engagement in Voluntary Health Agencies, the Council is working to build systems that increase the effectiveness and management of the over six million volunteers in the nation's voluntary health agencies.

As one component of the Council's broader Voluntary Health Agency Development program, this initiative supports the Council's goal to promote the role of voluntary health agencies.

A few years ago, the Council completed an important new resource, A Roadmap to Managing Volunteer Systems: From Grassroots to National, which concentrates on preparing staff to successfully accomplish the function and responsibilities of managing volunteers. Roadmap provides step-by-step information on ways managers can analyze their volunteer program's effectiveness with cutting-edge tools and on ways managers can design a successful volunteer management system.