Volunteer Management

June 15, 2011Northland Foundation

Strengthening Communities

Agenda

• Welcome• Overview and Expectations• Complete Assessment • Key Attributes• Best Practices• Volunteer Manual

Why

• Personally asked• Affiliation with the organization• Personal connection to mission• Enjoy type of work• Want to learn new skills• Want to meet people

Motivate

• Affiliation– Personal interaction, works to make friends

• Achievement– Works toward goals, seeks responsibility, sticks to

tasks until done

• Power– Impact and influence others, work alone or group,

responds to needs of people or programs

Types of Volunteers

• Long term• Short term – episodic• Family• Student• Internships• Virtual Volunteers

• 40% stop due to poor management practices– Poor use of time– Not use skills or talent– Tasks not clearly define– People say often family or personal reasons

60% of nonprofits adopted nine volunteer management practices to some degree– Best practice most often used is supervision and

communication

Nine Practices

• Supervision and communication with volunteers• Liability coverage for volunteers• Screening and matching volunteers to jobs• Regular collection of information on volunteer

involvement• Written policies and job descriptions for volunteers• Recognition activities• Annual measurement of volunteer impact • Training and professional development for volunteers • Training for paid staff in working with volunteers

What do we not do so well

• Preparing for Volunteers– Inventory of tasks and skills– Screening and matching– Training of staff

• Working with Volunteers– Orientation and Training– Measuring Impact– Recognition of Volunteers

PREPARING FOR VOLUNTEERS

We Think

• Find someone to work with the volunteers• Create job description (maybe written down)• Recruit and assign volunteers (grab and go)• Say thank you at end of shift• Wonder why we do not retain volunteers

Better Approach

• Develop the philosophical base for why

• Articulate the principles

• Train the staff – engage and train

Develop the Philosophy

• Philosophical Base– Fundamental assumptions behind volunteering– Align with organizational priorities – Sets the direction for the volunteer program

• Principles Of Volunteering– Core values about volunteering in organization

Child Care Philosophical BaseMission Parenting Role

ModelsConnections to Potential Donors

Love and Nurturing

Children in stable environment

Caring for children Seeing and connecting to children

Holding, caring, and love

Achieving developmental milestones

Modeling parental and grandparent behavior

Impact on children – seeing the impact themselves

Consistent people creates impact on child

Supporting staff roles in teaching

Learning by doing -Giving back to the center

Interaction among generations creates emotional bonds

Demonstrating how to show love and nurturing behavior to children

Seniors connecting to kids for senior health

Learning environment with interaction with teacher each day

Contribution to something that has value and impact

Creating supportive environment for families in crisis

Principles

• We believe that children and families need a loving and supportive environment for their day care.

• The interaction of seniors, children and their parents benefits everyone.

• We respect the diversity of generations with each having their own attitudes and beliefs.

• Loving care can be demonstrated to our parents.

Training of Staff• Volunteers ineffective without the infrastructure

appropriate– Key is support by paid staff so time not wasted– Forms– Orientation Basics

• Formal training of staff – how to work with volunteers– Purpose– Goals– Policies – Volunteers as Guests– Expectations

Preparing for the Volunteer

• Screening and matching– Assessment and inventory of tasks, skills and

expectations– BE CLEAR

• Create job description • Be clear on skills• Create volunteer inventory form

Position Description• Title• Purpose/objective• Location• Key bulleted list of responsibilities• Qualifications• Time Commitment• Training/Support Provided• Benefits• Supervisor and contact information

Recruitment

• Need a strategy– Personal Ask

• Web site• Social Media – facebook and twitter • Centers• Partnerships• Networking

WORKING WITH THE VOLUNTEER

Making the Match

• Application • Interviewing (Inventory Done)• Screening• Matching the volunteer, the skill and the task• Set the initial expectations

Communication

• Be Prompt• Be Clear• Share Knowledge – impact• Be personal• Be reliable• Think three emails and one phone call

Communication

• Organizational Climate• Organizational Structure• Reward• Warmth • Conflict• Identity

Volunteer Training

• Three type of Training– Orientation – Training (5 minute – 2 hour)• Mission• Goals• Services• Role – tasks to be completed

– Ongoing Training - Development

Orientation

• Reduce anxiety• Limit Turnover• Save Time for Program Staff• Develops realistic expectations• Sets positive attitudes• Increase volunteer satisfaction

Tips

• Most important information first• Emphasize people as well as policies and

procedures• Partner new ones with experienced ones• Age appropriate and sensitive to diversity• Promote exchange and questions• Okay not to know it all – get back to you or

discussion

Policies and Procedures

• Short• Booklet• Long Manual

• Policies tell people what to do• Procedures tell them how to do it

Policies

• Why you involve volunteers• Role descriptions• Recruitment and selection• Relationship between volunteers and staff• Relationship between volunteers and client

group• Confidentiality, respect, diversity

Policies….• Training and development• Working conditions– Dress code– Name badges

• Recognition• Support and supervision• Expenses• Insurance• Dealing with Problems

Policies

• Written in present tense• Clear, concise language• External audience• Approved by management - board

Important Concepts

• Staff and volunteer have to work together • Mutual beneficial relationship for both• Skills and Task must match• Make it a valuable experience – your image

is at stake• Other– Welcoming Culture– Resources to Support– Volunteers to Recruit Other Volunteers

Recognition

• Recognition – Say thank you– Simple thank you gifts – during event– Appreciation events• Volunteer of the Day, Year, etc

– Align with organization NewsletterAnnual report

Retention Musts

• Retention Goal most impacted by:– recognizing volunteers– providing training and professional development– screening volunteers and matching them to

organizational tasks

Challenges

Volunteer Perspective1.Time2.Responsiveness – Now3.Technology 4.Generational Expectations5.Dedicated staff resources

Challenges

• The Big Shift– Encore Volunteers– Skill based Volunteers

• Funding– Resources for infrastructure and management of

volunteers

• National leadership and infrastructure

PLANNING WORKSHEETS

The Future

Our choice as citizens• Pay more taxes• Go without the service• Volunteer

Resources• Interest self assessment http://handsonmwv.org/docs/Interest_Self_Assessment_Exercise.pdf

• Resource Web Sitehttp://www.energizeinc.com/art.htmlPoints of Light Foundation Hands on Network

• Volunteer Management Best Practiceshttp://blog.theregistrationsystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/

IFEA-Volunteer-Management-Best-Practices.pdf