10 Myths About Managing Volunteers

A popular favorite from the VolunteerLocal Blog Archives.


Volunteer coordination is hard work, and there are a lot of misconceptions about what the role entails (and how to be successful along the way). We’re here today to de-bunk some of the most common myths we hear about volunteer management.

  1. You’re on call, 24-7. If you’re passionate about your job, managing volunteers could turn into an all-day, every-day gig. But with established communication protocols and an active team, you can (and should!) unplug. 
  2. You can’t solicit volunteers for donations. Many volunteers see their time as their primary contribution to an organization, but if there are costs associated with onboarding (background checks, etc.) asking them to cover those fees is a good path into the donor pipeline. 
  3. Volunteer trainings need to involve slides and manuals. Sure, you should cover compliance and protocols in an onboarding, but bring the mission to life with role-playing, behind-the-scenes tours or other activities that engage and inspire volunteers. 
  4. You should be happy with whoever you get. That old “beggars can’t be choosers” philosophy could really disrupt your organization. Screening volunteers is critical. They should be a right match for the organization, and placed in a role that maximizes their skills.  
  5. There’s no professional development for volunteer managers. So many people fall into this line of work. Seek out a support system of other volunteer managers who can share best practices through your local United Way, nonprofit professionals network or online forums. They can also recommend conferences and webinars to grow your skills. 
  6. Volunteer programs are free. While a volunteer program can bring great value to your organization, they’re like a garden that needs attention and investment to yield the best results. Don’t forget to build recognition materials, management software and other supplies into your budget. 
  7. Your organization should jump on every Day of Service opportunity or group volunteer request. Saying ‘no’ to someone (or lots of someones) who want to contribute to your organization can seem crazy. But if the activity is out of scope for your organization, a ‘yes’ can lead to confusion and cause more harm than good. 
  8. You’re the only one recruiting volunteers for your cause. Partnerships – with corporations, colleges and universities and other civic organizations – can create productive volunteer pipelines. 
  9. Liability and insurance isn’t your territory. Make sure you are working closely with your organizations’ compliance arm to ensure both volunteers and the organization are not putting each other at risk. 
  10. Measuring volunteer impact is impossible. With proper tracking of volunteer hours and assignments, your organization can put a relative dollar value on volunteer power. And by collecting stories of volunteer initiatives and outcomes, your leveraging powerful anecdotes to support your cause.

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Managing Mandated Volunteers

What’s the different between managing volunteers who want to be there and those who have to be there?

Volunteers, by definition, should voluntarily be giving their time to your organization. But when community service is made a requirement, some people who are contributing to your organization by mandate might come with different attitudes or expectations. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Challenge your assumptions about mandated volunteer attitudes: Once upon a time, a college student (me) got a speeding ticket (whoops!) and decided to go to court because she didn’t have the cash flow to pay her fine. She ended up with some mandated community service, which she welcomed because she actually liked to volunteer, and served her time with Habitat for Humanity. 

I might not have made the time to sign up for that build if it wasn’t required, and found it much more rewarding than asking my mom for money to cover a speeding ticket. Some high school and college programs also mandate service. Don’t assume that everyone coming through these programs will have a bad attitude about volunteering, or won’t put in the effort. 

Don’t skip their orientation: Mandated volunteers might need a little extra information about your organization, and how volunteers impact your mission. If you have a busy schedule, it’s easy to dismiss these individuals or groups because you think they won’t be returning or don’t see the purpose in investing precious time into their training. But by providing context, you may be better able to engage the volunteers. If you have a testimonial from someone else who has been through their program about how the volunteer activity created a meaningful experience for them, pop that into your standard PowerPoint to make a deeper connection. 

Try tracking your mandated volunteers: If you want to keep track of trends or hours for mandated service versus other volunteers, you might consider using the VolunteerLocal volunteer information field to create a special question that asks whether a volunteer is from a certain organization, or volunteering to fulfill a requirement. You could gain interesting data about the contributions mandatory volunteers make to your organization, and whether they return after their required period.

In a perfect world, each of your volunteers would come to you because of their deep commitment to your organization. But regardless of the reasoning, volunteers (mandated or not) are giving their time to you for free, and have the opportunity to become long-term volunteers if you put in the time up-front.

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Your Needs Unmet – How to Meet Them with VolunteerLocal

Before I started blogging for VolunteerLocal, I started using VolunteerLocal. At first, I was working at a small nonprofit that occasionally hosted little volunteer opportunities. I used the free version of the platform, and it helped me manage my little signups simply. When I moved to a role at a University became responsible for events that necessitated hundreds of volunteers, I knew exactly which platform I wanted to use to protect my sanity and make signing up a breeze for the volunteers. (Any guesses?) That’s right: I created a new VolunteerLocal account and upgraded to a paid version of the platform that I continue to build into my annual budget at work.

The VolunteerLocal platform meets my (every-evolving) needs year after year, and it will meet yours if you:  

 

 

Need an easy way for volunteers to sign up for specific shifts and jobs. Volunteers love not having to create a log-in with a password they will constantly forget. With VolunteerLocal, they can sign up using whatever e-mail address is most convenient for them, and they receive a confirmation message automatically. Volunteers (and volunteer managers) can see exactly how many spots are open for any given shift and job. 

 

 

Need a dashboard to track your progress. Customize your VolunteerLocal login so you can get a quick snapshot of how many shifts remain open, how many are filled and how many unique and overall volunteers you have participating in your event. It even gives you a countdown of days until the event, if you want! This is a great motivator or nerve-calmer, depending on how recruitment is going. 

 

 

Need to collect volunteer T-shirt sizes. No need to guess at sizes for volunteers and accidentally over-order a batch of XXLs. The ability to customize signup information eliminates the need to track down volunteers and individually request their size, mobile phone number, or any specialized info that you need, like whether they’re with a certain company or over the age of 13. You can build it all in, and keep it constant or change it up and make it unique for any event.  

 

 

Need an easy way to communicate with volunteers. Paid VolunteerLocal accounts allow you to send mass messages through the platform to your whole volunteer team, or customize instructions and follow-up per job. 

Need an easy way for volunteers to cancel their shifts. If you don’t want to deal with e-mails and voicemail excuses, you can allow volunteers to cancel or swap shifts. Or, if you’re like me, you can turn that function off. Social sharing is also an option, if you want your volunteers to be able to tweet out or post to Facebook about their shifts and help you with your marketing efforts. 

Need a simple day-of sign in. You can easily export your volunteer lists and data as a spreadsheet. Again, you can so this en masse for the whole group, or export batches for specific job sign-ins. You can also use the platform to check in volunteers electronically on the Grow Plan.  

Need a way to store your annual volunteer data. I like to archive my events in VolunteerLocal after they’ve happened, and then at the end of the year, I take them out of archive and collectively export the data to get a big picture of who has volunteered and how often/long. I’ll also pull a past event out of archive if I want to make volunteer staffing plans based on the previous year’s successes and challenges. 

 

 

Need other people to be able to manage different events. With various paid VolunteerLocal accounts, you can have multiple administrators who can access only the events and information you give them permission to control. This is great if you’re working with student clubs and want to give access to student leaders, but only for the organizations they oversee. 

 

 

Need an assistant. What volunteer coordinator wouldn’t like an assistant to help with busywork and data? VolunteerLocal is like a virtual assistant that can pull reports for you faster than you can grab yourself a cup of coffee. Plus, it never takes a vacation day! 

 

 

Need to talk to a person if you’re stuck. VolunteerLocal has amazing customer service. They have been a phone call or e-mail away when I’ve had rare issues, and give me pointers on shortcuts and tricks that make using the platform even more fun.

 

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Ten Myths About Managing Your Volunteers

Volunteer coordination is hard work, and there are a lot of misconceptions about what the role entails (and how to be successful along the way). We’re here today to de-bunk some of the most common myths we hear about volunteer management.

  1. You’re on call, 24-7. If you’re passionate about your job, managing volunteers could turn into an all-day, every-day gig. But with established communication protocols and an active team, you can (and should!) unplug. 
  2. You can’t solicit volunteers for donations. Many volunteers see their time as their primary contribution to an organization, but if there are costs associated with onboarding (background checks, etc.) asking them to cover those fees is a good path into the donor pipeline. 
  3. Volunteer trainings need to involve slides and manuals. Sure, you should cover compliance and protocols in an onboarding, but bring the mission to life with role-playing, behind-the-scenes tours or other activities that engage and inspire volunteers. 
  4. You should be happy with whoever you get. That old “beggars can’t be choosers” philosophy could really disrupt your organization. Screening volunteers is critical. They should be a right match for the organization, and placed in a role that maximizes their skills.  
  5. There’s no professional development for volunteer managers. So many people fall into this line of work. Seek out a support system of other volunteer managers who can share best practices through your local United Way, nonprofit professionals network or online forums. They can also recommend conferences and webinars to grow your skills. 
  6. Volunteer programs are free. While a volunteer program can bring great value to your organization, they’re like a garden that needs attention and investment to yield the best results. Don’t forget to build recognition materials, management software and other supplies into your budget. 
  7. Your organization should jump on every Day of Service opportunity or group volunteer request. Saying ‘no’ to someone (or lots of someones) who want to contribute to your organization can seem crazy. But if the activity is out of scope for your organization, a ‘yes’ can lead to confusion and cause more harm than good. 
  8. You’re the only one recruiting volunteers for your cause. Partnerships – with corporations, colleges and universities and other civic organizations – can create productive volunteer pipelines. 
  9. Liability and insurance isn’t your territory. Make sure you are working closely with your organizations’ compliance arm to ensure both volunteers and the organization are not putting each other at risk. 
  10. Measuring volunteer impact is impossible. With proper tracking of volunteer hours and assignments, your organization can put a relative dollar value on volunteer power. And by collecting stories of volunteer initiatives and outcomes, your leveraging powerful anecdotes to support your cause.

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What Motivates the 300-Hour Volunteer?

It’s exciting when you witness someone discover their passion through volunteering. Kathy Kelley started volunteering a decade ago at the Morton Arboretum, a 1,700 acre outdoor living museum in suburban Chicago. Through the years, her identity and pride as an Arboretum volunteer has grown tremendously. So, what made volunteering there take root? 

We sat down with her to learn more about her incredible volunteer experience and what keeps her coming back, year after year.

 

What inspired you to start volunteering at the Morton Arboretum?
Kathy: This is my 10th year volunteering at the Arboretum. One of my good friends was volunteering one weekend at a big fall festival and I got hooked on it. Now, the process of becoming a volunteer is much different; you apply and have an interview. The Arb has 1,592 volunteers in all capacities. They have people who work every week taking out invasive species. They have people who help with mailings. They have all ages. You find your niche. My first year, I did 3 hours and 30 minutes. The second year I had 27 hours. This year, I will have over 300 volunteer hours.

 

Do you get any perks as a volunteer?
Kathy: You’re considered an active volunteer if you volunteer 40 hours or more a year. You get 20 percent off at the store and free admission for two people for the year. Every quarter you can get 20 percent off a class and every year they have a big volunteer appreciation dinner. You get a voucher for a free drink every time you volunteer for a coffee or soft drink. They provide special volunteer parking and entrances. They’re always saying ‘Thank You.’ Even when you’re driving out, there’s a sign that says “Thank You Volunteers.” 

 

What’s your relationship with the volunteer coordinators like?
Kathy: They’re wonderful. There’s two people – Kristin and Lucy – and they’re very appreciative. They’re very accommodating. I always bring them a box of candy at Christmas, just because when you’re working with 1,500 volunteers you get some crankypants. You log-in and post your hours on their volunteer portal, but it’s interesting because I work now a lot with special events, so they’ll text me and ask if I want to work certain things. 

 

What motivates you to volunteer so much?
Kathy: It’s my happy place. I love walking there every week, and their mission. As my professional and caregiving responsibilities lessened, I have had more time to give. [The Arboretum] is where I have chosen to spend my extra time. It’s a beautiful place, it’s a calming place. It’s also less than a mile from my house, but I know people who drive in from all over. It’s social. Some people you’ll work with just once, but others you get to see regularly and know. There’s also pride in ownership, when I take on tasks, like overseeing 5K shirts. It’s a self-motivation. I always try to see if I get a few more hours. I like working special events. I like being able to be part of the experience. 

 

Why is volunteering important in your life?
Kathy: I’ve always been a volunteer. It was instilled in us when we were little. It’s the way we were brought up. I don’t have a lot of the financial means to support something, although the Arboretum is where I have donated, but I have always thought it’s just a way of supporting an organization you believe in.

 

 

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Nurturing Volunteer Relationships 

Volunteer coordinators know that developing relationships with volunteers takes time and intention.

 

When there are endless roles to fill, it can be important to make sure every contact isn’t an ask, and that there’s a blend of informing volunteers on developments at the organization and appreciating how much they give in the mix, too.

 

“I definitely see the value in reaching out to volunteers outside of asking them for something,” says Jana, a longtime volunteer coordinator at a homeless youth shelter. “We try to send birthday cards each year to volunteers and at least one other personalized note or small gift outside of that. That could be a quick hand-written note sent to them in the mail or a small gift with an agency branded mug, shirt, or other small token of our appreciation. These other touch points are usually not connected to an anniversary or milestone, rather just an opportunity to check in. I think it’s important to build a personal relationship with our ongoing volunteers, but I have the luxury of being able to do that more easily than an organization that works with thousands of volunteers yearly.”

 

Jana says that enlisting the help of the clients you serve can also send a meaningful message to volunteers. Think of ways the “thank you” can come from the collective voice of the organization, rather than just your position. 

 

“Because the majority of our volunteers work withthe kids here in the shelter, we will sometimes ask the kids who work with them to sign a card or even create their own. If we know a volunteer is ill or injured, we may send get well cards to let them know we are thinking of them. Our organization also has quarterly talent shows where the kids in the shelter perform songs, skits, live art installations, and more. We invite our volunteers to attend these shows as a way to celebrate the achievements of the kids they work with and we’ve had a great response from the volunteers who attend.”

 

Volunteer coordinators at non-social service organizations can also get creative. Environmental organizations might send volunteers an annual calendar with nature photography. An animal shelter could create thank you videos that get everyone’s tails wagging. Enlist your marketing and/or development team to help come up with creative touchpoints that aren’t an ask. 

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10 Truths about Volunteer Coordinating

Every volunteer coordination position is a little different than the next.

But there are some truths that are consistent across all organizations. If you are or have been a volunteer coordinator, you probably already know a lot of these to be true:

 

 

  1. Your best volunteers can turn into personal friends. You’ve spent countless hours together, so, why shouldn’t they?
  2. Finding a skilled volunteer who follows through on commitments is like finding a four-leaf clover. They expand the capacity of your organization and make a huge impact. 
  3. Seeing how passionate your volunteers are makes up for the times you’re feeling burnt out. They’re putting in time and effort because they believe in the mission.  
  4. Nobody on your team really understands how much you do until you get sick right before a big event. 
  5. Coordinating volunteers can be like herding cats, but luckily you could teach a Master’s class in cat herding. It’s all about knowing how to communicate, motivate, and organize. 
  6. Coming up with creative ways to recognize people is part of your D.N.A. From thank you notes to nominations from national awards, you know the power of appreciation. 
  7. The pay isn’t great, but the rewards are huge. You might not be pulling in a six-figure salary, or might be operating on a nonexistent budget, but you are building important relationships and making meaningful experiences. 
  8. Vintage training manuals and videos are one part terrible and one part entertaining. Word to the wise – keep those current! 
  9. Your public speaking 101 course comes in handy frequently. Whether it’s reporting on volunteer data to the board, or giving instructions to a group of volunteers while standing in the bed of a truck, you know how to deliver a message. 
  10. Volunteer management platforms trump random spreadsheets for tracking and reporting, any day. (You are reading this list on the VolunteerLocal blog, after all!) 

 

 

 

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Three Questions to Ask a Company About Their Volunteer Program

Most larger corporations that take social responsibility seriously will have an employee volunteer program. As a volunteer manager, it’s important to get to know the contacts in your community to leverage all that workplace volunteering can offer. Some companies are very targeted in their outreach, and others offer more liberal volunteer time off/community service leave. Oftentimes, the volunteers themselves are unaware of or unfamiliar with their company’s policies. Including a workplace question on a volunteer application can help you identify opportunities to grow corporate partnerships.

 

If you can identify and reach out to the community relations contact, ask these three questions to maximize the potential of recruiting workplace volunteers

 

Ask: Does your organization offer a financial match for volunteer hours?

Some companies make an additional financial commitment if they have employees engaged as active volunteers in an organization. Many companies see value in group volunteer activities as team building opportunities and many value long-term volunteerism as a leadership development tool. If a match is offered, make sure you know how large of a group and how many hours are required to qualify, and the process for requesting it. Other companies focus matching money on board engagement. Board members might be eligible for additional funds by reporting hours on a company volunteer tracking platform. If you’re asking a workplace question in your volunteer signup, or scanning email addresses for a corporate handle, you can let volunteers know how they can help you by reporting their hours back to their company.

 

Ask: What’s the best way to let your employees know about our volunteer opportunities?

Some companies will post volunteer opportunities on their intranet, and others might have a separate volunteerism platform. Some might share through a newsletter, or word-of-mouth through a volunteer committee. Being able to paste the simple VolunteerLocal link to an event signup into an email can make workplace volunteer recruitment a breeze.

 

Ask: Can I present about our volunteer program at your company?

If your mission aligns well with a business goal (say, you offer STEM programming and are approaching an engineering firm) or your organization is very near to a corporate headquarters, look for opportunities to put on an in-person presentation for employees. Some invite speakers to lunch & learns, or volunteer fairs, or to provide a testimonial during their United Way campaign. If you have the opportunity, try to highlight people from that workplace who are already making an impact with your organization. Emphasize your shared values and how easy you make it to get involved. It’s always great when you have an event coming up that you can ask people to commit to as you close out your presentation, too.

 

 

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Keeping Longtime Volunteers In Your Corner

 

In many cases, longtime volunteers don’t just help tell your organization’s story – they ARE the story.

If you have volunteers who’ve been connected since your organization’s founding, they can help frame the problem your org set out to solve and outline how successfully initiatives have fulfilled the mission over the years. Like strong finances, volunteer retention can help paint a picture about the health of an organization.

 

Effectively managing and motivating volunteers means you’ll save time and effort with recruitment and training. But don’t simply count the years of service and print them on a certificate to present at your annual recognition event. Leverage that knowledge to ‘promote’ volunteers to take on a leadership role.

 

United Way of Central Iowa does just that with seasoned volunteers in their VITA tax preparation program. Of nearly 200 certified volunteers, about 20 are tapped to serve as site leaders.

 

“We look for long-timers and people who are natural-born leaders,” says Holly Sagar, who manages the program. “We have a former head of the county health department and a CFO. People who have stepped up their entire lives.”

 

These site leaders go through extra training, but Sagar says that in her 10 years of volunteer management experience, relationship-building and engagement is what converts casual volunteers into dedicated team leaders.

 

“We put a white board in the break-room where we ask ‘What do you see?’ and ‘What do we need to change?’ – and then we try to make it happen, Sagar says. She thinks this attitude is what gives their program an 86% retention rate.

 

Having a deep bench of seasoned volunteers provides many advantages – but it’s helpful to be aware of some potential drawbacks, too.

 

There are huge benefits to having the institutional knowledge that comes from volunteer longevity, but it also means new initiatives might be met with resistance. Identify longtime volunteers who can serve as advisers and champions of change if, say, your mentoring program wants to institute annual background checks or other best practices that haven’t been traditionally used. Ask them how they think the new policies and procedures impact their fellow volunteers, and test messaging with them to make sure your communication hits the right mark.

 

Relationships are key to fundraising, and longtime volunteers might have stronger community ties than a new executive director. Perhaps this means they can open doors for development staff, or fill in gaps about past communications with donors.

 

 

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Incorporating Influencers Into Your Event


Attracting “influencers” is all the buzz in marketing these days. The practice centers around building relationships with the people who can help build relationships for you. (Think:
Kylie Jenner Instagramming a pair of jeans that all her followers then rush to buy.)

Your organization probably doesn’t need to ink a deal with the Kardashians to raise funds for your cause, but cultivating key volunteers with a big reach/audience in your area can be an amazing asset.

If you’re a volunteer manager, building relationships is probably already your jam. There are a few things that you can do to help convert good vibes into social promotion:

 

Look to your board. These people are likely well-connected in the community, and if they don’t have the active social media presence to position them as “influencers” per se, many are connected to companies with significant followings. Tag the business in a thank you post for their leadership.

Many organizations also form a separate advisory board comprised of younger supporters who might not have the cash or clout, but have a certain level of cache as an up & comer. If an invitation for one of your organization’s events comes from a popular peer, it might have more power.

 

Try a takeover. If you have a limited staff, it can be hard to decide which social media channels are worth your time. As Instagram gains popularity and functions such as stories, empowering influential volunteers to do a weekly “takeover” can be a way to gain new followers. A selfie serving at one of your events speaks volumes, as people look for a meaningful way to connect. Bonus points if you can enlist a local celebrity / news personality to take up your cause.

 

Make it easy. Embedding social sharing buttons into your newsletters is a no-brainer. Feel free to point them out more explicitly, with a call to action at the end of the email. “Please use the buttons below to forward this message to five friends you think can help!” “Like us on Facebook to see 25 pictures of last month’s field day.”

 

Celebrate who showed up. Pictures of real people, engaged in your organization go a long way. Maybe it’s a gallery of gala attendees sent to the local glossy “society pages.” Maybe it’s a simple Facebook post capturing a basic board meeting. People love to see the faces behind an organization – and that creepy recognition technology built into social media makes it easier than ever to put names and networks to those faces. Get permission, snap and share!  

 

 

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