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GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
CINDY BLACKBURN & JENNIFER BROWN
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The relationship between an organization and a volunteer is
at times…best described as a love-hate relationship
VOLUNTEERS VS. STAFF
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What a volunteer isn’t…
• Free labor
• Non-essential
• Part of a barter
• A mind reader
• Held to lower professional standards
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Is this your brain?
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Three important concepts
RECRUIT
RETAIN RECOGNIZE
RECRUIT
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Prepare « Evaluate, assess and prioritize needs
« Develop position descriptions – Determine roles not suited for volunteers if
expertise or time commitment is not a fit
« Articulate benefits to volunteers
« Identify skills, proficiencies required and training needs
« Develop questions to gain insight into technology comfort and proficiency
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« Volunteer Match
« Idealist.org
« All for Good
Utilize Volunteer Specific Sites
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Connect with the Community
« College Career Centers
« Similar Organizations
« Other Events
« High Schools
« Word of Mouth
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Leverage Social Media
« NextDoor
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Choosing Volunteers
« It’s okay to be picky
« Be specific about what you are looking
« It’s okay to ask for short term volunteers
« Goal is to match person with role
RETAIN
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Training « Be clear with information
that can be shared
« Allow legacy volunteers the opportunities to train (or mentor) new volunteers
« Offer small ongoing training opportunities
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Steps for success
« Clearly define roles and expectations
« Create and maintain a searchable online Volunteer Handbook with time contribution, hours, dress code – provide the roadmap/GPS prompts
« Make job descriptions and code of conduct available online
RECOGNIZE
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Do you know what
#voluntinesday is?
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During your event « Volunteer Coordinator(s)
– Dedicated person on site without five other jobs
– Volunteers will care more with a role model
« Identify Volunteers – Dress, name badge
« Be aware of HALT – Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired
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Take care of basic needs and offer perks
« Water and caffeinated beverages
« Snacks - healthy and junk food
« Venue Maps & Event Lineups (schedules)
« Letters of reference and certificates - people use these on resumes
« Incentivize volunteers to get other great volunteers - small things like a Starbucks card, slice of pizza, tickets for self or others, t-shirts
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Recognize volunteers in newsletters « Let your volunteers
tell their story
« Let their stories motivate others
« Make them feel like part of the family
REMEMBER
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Penultimate thoughts
« May need to offer a carrot to make volunteers become self-auditing
« Having attendies provide feedback on experience with volunteers
« With high demand events, reward volunteers who discover unethical activities
« As needed providing transparency about operations and budget
RESOURCES
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Resources « Free volunteer management websites – www.signupgenius.com – www.volunteersignup.org – www.signmeup.com
« Free scheduling tools – www.meetingwizard.com – www.needtomeet.com – www.calendly.com – www.doodle.com
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Resources « The Seven Deadly Sins of Recruiting Volunteers – By Thomas W. McKee – http://www.volunteerpower.com/articles/
7sins.asp
« The New Breed: Understanding and Equipping the 21st Century Volunteer – http://www.volunteerpower.com
« Session Slides – http://bit.ly/ffea-volunteers
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www.vendini.com
