Saturday March 25th Jennifer Bennett, CVA VolunteerMatch Liza J Dyer, CVA Multnomah County Library

How to Engage Pro Bono Volunteers to Get the Expertise You Need

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Slides and Notes

Slides and collaboration notes for this session: http://po.st/17NTCvoluntech

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Imagine what your organization could accomplish if you weren’t limited to the time and talent of paid staff?

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Nonprofits Have the Need

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Volunteers Have the Skills

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Among my career

skills 49% 36% 33% 30% 35% 24% 29% 28%

Computers/hardware/software Operations/project management

HR/recruitment and training Strategic planning

Marketing/communications Information technology

Program development Fundraising/development

Have done as

volunteer 28% 18% 16% 16% 22% 12% 18% 32%

VolunteerMatch Volunteers

Gap -21 -18 -17 -14 -13 -12 -11 +4

Source: Hart Consulting and VolunteerMatch Survey - 2010

Impactful… Pro Bono volunteers can • Bring specific skills and expertise • Provide singular focus on

projects • Expand the capacity of paid staff

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But not easy… There can be pitfalls • Wrong volunteer for the

role/organization • Unreasonable scope • Volunteers improperly screened

– paid staff improperly prepared Previous bad experiences can influence staff attitudes and enthusiasm

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Integrating Pro Bono Volunteers Keys for building buy-in • Communicate to others – paid and volunteer

staff • Agree on skills and expertise, and screening

criteria • Manage scope with position descriptions and

deliverables • Clear reporting structure and decision-making

responsibilities

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Communicate to Build Buy-In • Identify Stakeholders

– Board, Exec. Management, Program Managers, Paid Staff, Volunteer Staff

• Assess where each stakeholder is on the engagement continuum

• Work with Champions - Share persuasive information with Information Seekers

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Involve Others in the Process • Engage supervisors or program managers in

the process to build buy-in – What does a volunteer need to know, do or be to

be the right volunteer? • Clear and comprehensive position

descriptions – Responsibilities, decision making continuum

• Interviews and screening process – Screen for culture and fit not just for skills and

traits (and not just “people like me”) #17NTCvoluntech

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Design Successful Projects Successful projects include: • Measurable deliverables or outcomes • Accountabilities and responsibilities • Timeline with evaluation

Manage scope to create more successful skills-based opportunities for Pro Bono volunteers

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Resources for Designing Projects

Skills-based Service Engagement Tool https://survey.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe1/form/SV_80JDiNPOlFInrIp Pro Bono Project Finder https://www.taprootfoundation.org/get-probono/be-powered-pro-bono/project-finder

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Pro Bono Volunteers at VolunteerMatch • Deployed across most departments • Work determined by strategic goals • Focus on documentation & check-

ins/evaluation • Staff submits needs – works with volunteer

engagement team to scope & manage project

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VolunteerMatch: User Survey Design & Eval • Evaluation of possible survey

tools – flexibility, cost, reporting features

• Nonprofit and volunteer users targeted

• Designed survey & launch • Presented findings and

recommendations • Re-engaged after 6 months,

1 year

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The Secret Menu at Multnomah County Library Situation: Tech-savvy person approaches your organization for a volunteer role that requires very little technical knowledge. Understand how our organization’s culture influences how we engage volunteers: • When a volunteer with specialized skills approaches us,

how do we react? • What organizational knowledge should be shared and

communicated? • Know who to ask for support and who can help you gain

buy in with others #17NTCvoluntech

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Multnomah County Library: Email Newsletter Software Research Steps: 1. Recognized project was on my “to do” list for a while 2. Floated the idea with a current volunteer who was

looking for more challenging work 3. Gave the specific parameters; e.g. cost, number of

people on list, mobile compatible, etc. 4. Shared Google Doc for research, shared timeline,

encourage collaboration 5. Volunteer did well with project, now responsible for

reviewing monthly newsletter #17NTCvoluntech

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Scope a Project

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Key Program Foundations & Documents Ensure everyone is on the same page! • Position description • Agreement letter that includes a timeline • NDA or confidentiality agreement • Policies and procedures manual – as

appropriate – Intellectual property, conflict resolution,

termination, etc.

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Finding the Right Volunteer • Recruit through appropriate channels

– VolunteerMatch, corporate partners, professional associations

• Explore existing volunteer’s skills • Tap into your network – donors, members,

supporters • Screen for skills, experience, and cultural fit • Orient to work and organization

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Support the Volunteer/Paid Staff Relationship Supervisors may not have much management experience • Start with the volunteer management basics • Share resources – blogs, webinars, etc. Facilitate the relationship • Let go without checking out • Assist in managing expectations • Remove barriers, help solve challenges • Design meaningful recognition

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Evaluating Pro Bono Volunteer Engagement There will be challenges • Implement regular check-ins, build on them • Share challenges and solutions across

supervisors and projects • Solicit feedback from supervisors and

volunteers • Share with your Information Seekers – great

information for your communication channels!

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Putting a Plan in Place • Identify stakeholders and strategic needs • Invest in foundation documents and

processes • Create clear and manageable scope • Conduct appropriate screening and

orientation • Develop and build-on evaluation points • Share impact and create meaningful

recognition

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Questions?

Remember: Complete your session evaluation http://nten.org/17ntc-evals/ Slides and collaboration notes for this session: http://po.st/17NTCvoluntech

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Thanks for Attending!

Jennifer Bennett, CVA Sr. Manager, Education & Training VolunteerMatch jbennett@volunteermatch.org @JenBennettCVA

Liza J Dyer, CVA Program Coordinator, Volunteer Services Multnomah County Library lizaj@multcolib.org @lizaface

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Market Research User Survey Project Goals and Timeline Summary VolunteerMatch, the web’s largest volunteer engagement network, is looking for a talented pro-bono market research specialist to help us determine the satisfaction of our volunteer users. Every month 800K volunteers visit our site looking for a great place to volunteer. We want to develop a short pop-up survey on our site to determine how successfully we are at showing them the right volunteer opportunities, if their experience on VolunteerMatch met their expectations, and determine our Net Promoter Score. This project will be led by Volunteer working with VolunteerMatch’s Product Management Team. Project Participants Volunteer, Product Manager Project Name Market Research User Survey Begin Date 1/21/15 End Date 3/18/15 Scope of Work and Deliverables Over the next few weeks the following work will be done by Volunteer working with the Product Management Team: Responsibility or Deliverable Led By Timeline Research pop-up survey tools and recommend most appropriate tool.

Week 1

Finalize initial survey questions. Week 1 Develop survey launch plan and methodology – including sample size, users seeing the survey, and how long the survey will run.

Week 2

Implement the survey on VolunteerMatch. Week 2 Monitor survey activity. Week 2 - 3 Analyze survey results Week 3 Develop 2ndsurvey and create methodology. Week 4 Deploy 2nd survey. Week 4 Monitor 2nd survey activity. Week 5 - 6 Analyze survey results. Week 6 Develop summary of survey results and make recommendations to improve user’s experience on VolunteerMatch.

Week 8

Work Schedule Most of the work on this project will take place independently and may be completed either off-site or in the VolunteerMatch office. This work will take place over 6-8 weeks and will take no more than 5 hours a week.

The project participants will check in at least once a week either in person or by phone. Email and shared resources will be used between meetings to keep the project on schedule. All questions about the project scope, deliverables, and any final decision making processes will be directed to Susan Briggs. Assumptions All work on this project will be done in accordance and compliance with VolunteerMatch’s Volunteer Non-Disclosure Agreement. Signatures I acknowledge that I have reviewed this project plan and responsible for the agreed upon work. Volunteer Name (Printed)_______________________ Volunteer Signature _____________________________ Date ____/____/_______ VolunteerMatch Name (Printed)_______________________ Volunteer Signature _____________________________ Date ____/____/_______