OUR History

Pre-History through Formation (1975-1988)

The history below was collected by a GAVA Committee including James P. Marshall Jr., Sally Hairston, and Judy Dixon on July 6, 1988 in Albany, Georgia.

The organization resulted from a Task Force established in 1975 and a Study Group that conducted a statewide survey in 1977, which indicated from volunteer administrators across the state that a professional association was needed. Volunteer administrators felt that national volunteer organizations were not responsive to grass-roots needs for professional training and development at the local level. In February 1978, after a final survey, the organization was formed and began soliciting members at the  Second Annual Conference on Volunteerism, which was sponsored by the State of Georgia. The association elected officers and established  a board of twenty directors, established committees, sponsored two state-wide conferences and held regular meetings.

After actively functioning for approximately three years, the jobs of individuals who formed the leadership base were either abolished or shifted from the volunteer sector. As a result, the organization lost momentum and eventually became inactive until 1984. At that time, the directors of the Council of Volunteer Administrators of Metro Atlanta (COVA) decided to resurvey volunteer administrators across the state to determine if there was still support and a need for a statewide professional organization. A COVA committee called the Georgia Volunteer Network Committee conducted a thorough survey of leading professionals in the field of volunteer administrators across the state of Georgia. 

After the combination mail and telephone survey indicated an overwhelming groundswell of support for the revitalization and reorganization of the association, COVA in concert with the Georgia Office of Volunteer Services (GOVS), now known as the Georgia Commission for Service and Volunteerism (GCSV) invited leading volunteer administrators based on a broad geographical representation to serve on a Task Force to study the re-creation of a statewide association in the late fall of 1984. In early 1985, the Task Force met to discuss issues and ideas relevant to the needs of professional volunteer administrators and how these needs could be met by a state-wide association. The consensus was to organize using the old name (Georgia Association for Volunteer Administration) since it was already recognized by people in the field ol volunteer management. Committees on bylaws, membership, publicity, newsletter and training conference were established by mid-1985.Membership dues were set, collected and used to defray operating expenses of the new association. The First Annual Conference on Volunteerism held in October of 1986 was sponsored and partially underwritten by COVA of Metro Atlanta and GOVS. A parallel Task Force called the Statewide Volunteer Conference Task Force made up of members of VOCA and the newly re-created GAVA was involved in the development of the First Annual conference. A formal report on the creation of GAVA was made at this conference and participants were invited to join GAVA. The First Annual Meeting of GAVA was held at the conclusion of the conference and officers, directors and committee chairs were elected and appointed.

GAVA has functioned actively to broaden its membership base, encourage the creation of local autonomous councils of volunteer managers and administrators, and individually sponsored the Second Annual Georgia Conference on Volunteerism in October of 1987. At the Second Annual Meeting, a proposal to pursue incorporation and tax-exempt status was presented to the fully membership and unanimously approve. GAVA was incorporated on April 8, 1988.

The proposed future of GAVA indicates ongoing advocacy for volunteerism, networking opportunities, professional development of volunteer administrators and continual growth and development of annual training conferences and other learning opportunities. 

Note: in 1988, the membership fee was $15 annually for individual members, and for local organizations was $3 per person for 60% of the organization’s membership per year. In 2025, membership fee was $35 for individuals and $100 for organization memberships. 

Articles of Incorporation (1988)

Additional history sections will be added