Event Management Solutions

The Biggest Pain Points for Volunteer Coordinators (And How to Handle Them Pain-Free)

Samantha Gratton

Volunteer coordinators are awesome, positive people committed to mission-driven organizations. But they aren’t above a few pet peeves. Here are a few things that might bring even the most upbeat among us close to becoming a #headdesk gif. (As told by real volunteer coordinators.) 

Pain Point: “Trying to find a balance between maintaining volunteer enjoyment while not straying from the mission of the organization.” 

How to Handle It: If you have a volunteer who is excited about an idea or project that isn’t a good match, there may be ways to redirect that energy without stomping out the volunteer’s enthusiasm and losing them forever. Before you give an outright “no” – try to ask a few questions to get to the heart of why the volunteer is so pumped about the idea. Can you channel the core concept that gets them fired up in a way that better aligns with your needs? Encourage them to pilot a smaller version of a concept before sucking your organization into the logistics.  Maybe the golf tournament fundraiser turns into an evening at the driving range the first year? 

Pain Point: “Internal employees and/or leadership not valuing the role of volunteers and investing appropriately.”

How to Handle It: If you’ve been making your case with metrics and data, maybe switch to testimonials and storytelling (or visa versa) to find the language that resonates with different members of your team. Put faces to names, to help connect your paid staff to your non-paid volunteer base.

Pain Point: “Volunteer turnover. You will always have one-off volunteers or people wanting to use their VTO, but they still have to go through the same protocol and training.” 

How to Handle It: Yes, it’s frustrating to bend over backwards to offer a volunteer training in the evening and then have three quarters of the volunteers in attendance ghost on you within a month. Try to determine the sweet spot where you get a return on investment from training new volunteers (maybe around 25 hours of service). Try to see if an employer will create a “dollars for doers” match grant for volunteers who reach that threshold and set an expectation that as many people as possible can. Create different kinds of jobs for those one-off or large group projects that don’t yield long-term relationships but provide important exposure for your organization.

It’s OK to feel the frustrations of your role – especially when you can look at them critically and consider how to make changes that will benefit your organization and your avid volunteers.

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Reaching Prospective Volunteers

Samantha Gratton

Recruiting volunteers is a part of your job, but it can still be interesting and fun for both you and your future volunteers. 

Ever feel like, “Here I am, the volunteer coordinator, now where’s all the people?” If so, then it’s time to recruit some new volunteers! You already know all the basic (and sometimes boring) ways to try to recruit volunteers, so why not have a little fun with it? 

Talk about it. 

Everyone knows word of mouth is powerful. So get out there and really talk about volunteering with your organization! College campuses, corporate lunches, PTA meetings–wherever you can go that might have the type of volunteers you need. But don’t stop there – create a nice informative video or simply turn on Facebook live/Instagram stories and tell the top five reasons people should sign up to volunteer. If you have the budget, promote it further on social media by paying for a sponsored post. (Even better, encourage some of your media and corporate sponsors to do the same on their social media channels.)

Jazz up your fliers. 

Start by removing corny words like “jazz” (unless of course this is some sort of musical production). Yes, the basic information can and does fulfill the need when it comes to getting the word out about your organization. But it could also look like an epic band poster or have the style and design of a trend setter. Collaborate with the coolest screen printing shop in town to create them or simply ask yourself…would this be hip enough to wear as a t-shirt? Aesthetics matter, which means the coffee shop, retail space, and local business will be even more inclined to hang your poster when it looks good. 

Find a friend. 

Involve the volunteers already serving with your organization and promote benefits if they find a friend to join in as well. Maybe you can’t give a referral bonus or half-off their gym membership, but incentivize current volunteers by offering first dibs on the most sought out volunteer shifts or an extra ticket for the music festival for every extra pair of hands they bring. 

Raise the stakes.

Similar to the find-a-friend method, encourage people to seek out the most volunteers in a certain time period. Award the best volunteer recruiter with a goofy trophy and some extra incentives. Sometimes having a little friendly competition will help people up their game. 

Give away free stuff. 

Ears always seem to perk when hearing the word “free!” So pass out stickers, launch t-shirts out of cannons, hold a luncheon or interesting seminar, host a meetup at a local coffee shop, give away yummy cookies…the possibilities are endless. Just make sure those free things come with more info about the organization and ways to volunteer. 

A big part of being a volunteer coordinator is making sure you have enough people to fill your volunteer team. While recruiting can seem daunting at times, make it your own and get creative with it!

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Streamlining the Signup Process

Rebekah Coenen

One of the best ways to keep volunteers happy and returning year after year is by streamlining your signup process.

We’re all familiar with online forms that seem to ask for your whole life story. It’s important for volunteer registration forms to strike the perfect balance between collecting the important stuff, without asking so many questions that potential volunteers bail halfway through. 

After all the effort you put into recruiting volunteers and orchestrating your events, you don’t want your signup page to be the thing that stops volunteers from signing up. So let’s simplify!

Collect only what you need! It’s best to keep your form short, and (if you can) collect all the information at once. We recommend name, email, and mobile phone number, to start. Depending on your event, you might need to get different information from volunteers who select certain jobs. For example, do volunteers in the Medical Tent need to be CPR certified? Would an ideal ‘set-up’ volunteer have some experience using power tools? Take the time to think about your event, the specific roles you need filled, and the qualifications necessary for those responsibilities.

Less is more. Think of what positions you MUST fill to keep the event moving – check-in, ticket sales, set-up and clean-up. This will make your signup form shorter, easier to navigate, and will avoid an overflow of volunteers with too many hands and not enough tasks to fill.

Revisit, reflect, and request feedback about your process. As much as we would all love for everything to go perfectly the first, second, or fiftieth time, it often doesn’t – and things change over the years. Go back and ask your volunteers for feedback about the event and include questions about the signup process. Make sure to take notes along the way, and remain open-minded to re-working your processes in order to better support your volunteers.

Partner with VolunteerLocal. Excel spreadsheets and Google docs have long been the bread and butter for volunteer coordinators. We’re here to replace those jigsaw puzzles for you. We work with all types and sizes of events, for all different size budgets. Just like your signup process, we’re here to keep things streamlined, simply, and easy for you and your volunteers.

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Activate Volunteers Outside Your Event

Swanee Astrid

As event organizers, producers, directors, etc., it is your job to observe and plan for all stages from beginning to middle and end. As you establish your checkpoints leading up to the event itself, it is crucial that you put this on your list: activate volunteers outside your event.

The urge and the philosophy behind this is one of thermodynamics: energy in equals energy out. This has to do with conservation. Simply put, the higher the note you start off with, the more you will be able to sustain that energy among your volunteers and create a positive, thriving environment. 

(Not to mention there is much to be done leading up to an event whether it is coordinating the volunteers themselves, stuffing packets, running errands, phone drives, or other logistical conundrums.)

Arrange for volunteer gatherings to help accomplish these tasks and more. Something like stuffing packets is ideal because it is the kind of work made light by many hands, and has an easy rhythm that allows for volunteers to talk, get to know each other, and even forge friendships. The mission will bring your volunteers in, but feelings of “togetherness” will keep them coming back.

Get them excited before the day of the event or a short time leading up to it with some kind of orientation, training or pep rally. Plan team-building exercises. This is a great way to build community while also ascertaining how certain people interact with each other. Who are the leaders in the group? The doers, the organizers, the observers? Work your magic to ensure that each volunteer is in the best position catered to their unique skills and interests. They will repay this effort ten-fold – when vision, values and strengths are aligned, purpose thrives.

A pre-celebration party or gathering is an incredibly festive way to begin any trial. Go as big or as small as your budget allows, but if someone threw you a party just for being there, wouldn’t you return next year, too?

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5 Typical Jobs for Race-Day Volunteers

Samantha Gratton Leave a comment

Time to divvy out the duties for volunteers helping with your race.

It’s race time, and you’ve got dozens of volunteers needing jobs! No, hundreds! No, MILLIONS! (That escalated quickly.) However big your run or volunteer base may be, here are five main jobs to assign to volunteers ready to help.   

 

Set-up/tear down crew 

Okay, so maybe you’ll need to come up with a creative name here, but this is fairly straightforward. Regardless, it’s an important job. No matter how big your muscles are, this is not something you can do alone (Note: Make sure the volunteers in this team are physically fit enough to do the tasks required). It takes a team to put up the tents, get the tables arranged, get the water bottles in coolers, unfold chairs, unroll the finish line. And then when it’s all over, you need an even bigger crew willing to stick around and take care of the trash and recycling, store unused t-shirts for next year, return equipment to vendors, and countless other small things. If you have a big crew for either of these, make sure it’s clear who volunteers report to as their direct supervisor if it’s not you. 

 

Check-in team

These are your early risers. Coffee? These people don’t need coffee, they live off of sunshine and happiness. This is an important part of the event as this team greets runners and/or volunteers, makes sure they have everything they need, and answer any questions. It’s a fun and friendly role, perfect for someone who identifies themselves as a “people-person.” Whoever works with the check-in team has got to be someone excited to be there, so don’t try to force anyone onto this team. The people who love it though usually rock this job. (Note: Don’t actually forget to bring the coffee, ever. Or else.)

 

Water station 

Now we’re talking essentials people. The body cannot live without water, and runners will be glad to see a water station as they round the corner. Volunteers in this station will hand out water (Note: If volunteers holding cups from the bottom it’s easier for runners to grab it in a hurry), pick up and throw away the discarded cups, and cheer on the runners. Not only that, but this can be a fun and goofy place to encourage runners passing by with signs, decorations, and support for their journey left ahead. 

 

Course marshall 

For the volunteers who like telling people what to do or have always imagined what life might be like for a traffic cop–this is the job for them. Positioned throughout the course, these volunteers make sure runners stay on course and provide them with direction, be it with a megaphone, sign, or giant foam finger. Especially around a corner or at an intersection, course marshalls help runners know where to go without having to pack a map. Course marshals may also keep an eye out for runners’ safety and shout out encouragement. (Note: Discourage volunteers from saying the ever so-vague, “Almost there!” as runners pass–if it’s a long race, “almost” is never close enough.)

 

Finish line 

This group basically gets to do ALL of the jobs but during the best and last moment for the runners. So make sure the volunteers cheer people on, hand out water, pick up trash, tell runners where to go next, and help them with whatever may arise. Near the end is where more friends, families, and fans of the runners tend to congregate, so watch out for dogs, strollers, and over enthusiastic supporters! (Note: Make sure these volunteers are equipped with some basic info to assist runners, like where the nearest bathroom is or where to pick up their medal.)

 

All of these jobs are important, but can also be a ton of fun! The more the merrier as far as volunteers go. Just be sure to give volunteers clear communication about their goals, duties, and who to report to. And, if you really do have millions of eager volunteers, buy yourself some earplugs because that cheering section’s gonna be LOUD! 

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Event Production Tips to Produce a Flawless Multi-Day Experience

Rebekah Coenen

If you made the brave and perhaps daunting choice to host a multi-day event, we at VolunteerLocal applaud and support you! Coordinating volunteers for one day is crazy enough, and you have added a whole other layer. This can double the number of shifts, alongside the number of volunteers needed to fill them.

Here are some things you’ll want to consider as a means to keep everyone from burning out before the final shift has ended. 

 

1. Location changes – If you are coordinating for a charity race there could be a marathon one day, and a 5k the next, or maybe a kid’s race. Chances are the main event hub will stay in the same location but you might have a different starting or end point. Don’t forget to add or subtract those shifts. A good way to keep yourself from getting spread too thin is delegating one of the smaller tasks to a volunteer and having them help you coordinate.

 

2. Overnight Security – Are you leaving the merch tent over night? It would mean no unpacking and repacking the next day. It’s probably better to hire out security instead of recruiting volunteers. You need to coordinate and make sure the security company knows exactly what you need, but they should be able to handle the rest.

 

3. More Shifts – It’s a no brainer that more days equals more shifts which probably means more work, but it doesn’t have to mean getting overworked. Delegating is a great way to keep everything moving quickly and keep your sanity. You physically cannot be everywhere at once, so don’t try

 

4. More Volunteers – More shifts (hopefully) means more volunteers. This is a great place to use delegation too. Maybe you can organize a few tiers of volunteers, one tier would be daily volunteer coordinators. They would see that all the shifts on their day are filled. Another tier could be morning and afternoon coordinators. Having levels broken down would free up more of your time to focus on big picture issues and not get bogged down by filling every single shift.

 

5. Watch Out for Micromanaging – It is really easy to get wrapped up with having to know exactly what every volunteer is doing, or how many shifts everyone is signed up for. Communication will help everyone understand the mission and tasks for the event, so if you have communicated well, it’s time to let go and trust your volunteers.

 

Are you feeling overwhelmed by all you have to do? Make sure you take care of yourself and your passion. No matter how much you love your cause and working with volunteers if you don’t allow yourself any grace you could burn yourself out.

Check out our blog with strategies to make sure you keep your passion for volunteer coordinating alive: https://blog.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer-coordinator-burnout-and-how-to-avoid-it/

 

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6 Ways to Promote Transparency With Your Volunteers

Anna Elliot

Transparency is a word that’s thrown around a lot these days – from self-help books, to articles on workplace culture, to relationship goals – and for good reasons. One of which being that people don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses. Transparent managers are proven to foster better workplace relationships, better employee alignment with company vision, and higher performance & engagement rates.

 

Now that I’ve sold you on all the reasons you should want to be transparent (I totally did that, right?) let’s take a step back. Transparency means “easy to perceive or detect” and, when describing an organization, “open to public scrutiny.” (That second one might sound a little frightening – don’t worry, we’ll get there.) In other words, being clear and open with your volunteers.

 

Here are six ways to promote transparency with your volunteers and encourage all the great community-building benefits I mentioned above:

 

1. Explain Your Decisions

Many of your decisions may seem implied or obvious because you have the advantage of knowing the big-picture. But to your volunteers, a decision may seem sudden or leave them feeling like they don’t know where they stand. When possible, concisely explain what prompted the decision or what specific event or organization goal you hope the decision will help accomplish. This will contextualize the decision for your volunteers and also reinforce your broader mission.

2. Define Volunteer and Staff Roles

There are few things more frustrating than showing up to volunteer at an event and not knowing what you will be doing. Try including role descriptions in the signup process. These can be brief, but give an idea of what the person will be doing during their allotted time. Then, send a follow-up email explaining relevant information like: where to go, who on staff will be available prior to and during the event, and any other things your volunteer would benefit from knowing.

3. Personally Acknowledge Your Volunteers

Make it a point for you or another staff member to check in with volunteers throughout the day. Greet them when they arrive. Ask them how the day is going. And when you see a volunteer doing a great job – tell them! People like to know where they stand with others, especially their supervisors. Make an effort to let your volunteers know they are seen, heard, and appreciated.

4. Make Yourself Available 

Make it easy for your volunteers to contact you or other event organizers and staff members. If there are multiple staff working on the event, include who to contact for different questions or concerns. And finally, include ways to contact supervisors the day of the event for last minute clarifications. 

5. Encourage (and Invite) Criticism

Criticism is not always bad and it doesn’t have to be scary! (Here’s where that “open to public scrutiny” comes into play.) Positive and negative feedback is just that – feedback. Give your volunteers a way to talk about their experience and provide criticism. Then, allow yourself to depersonalize their thoughts and consider them without getting offended. There are so many ways you can make it easy for people to do this: send out a survey, ask them in person, follow up via email and ask what could be improved – however you want to ask, just make sure you do it. 

6. Own When You Are Wrong

Whew! I saved a tough one for last but trust me, how you fail is so much more important than the actual failure itself. Admit that you were wrong, address the shortcoming with the offended party (in person or on the phone if possible), and genuinely express your intent & plan to correct course. 

 

There you have it. Transparency doesn’t happen overnight, but with time, as you model these practices, you will increase trust and retention within your volunteer program.

 

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Should Volunteers Manage Their Own Data?

Linh Ta

Technology continues to evolve, and consumers are getting more and more accustomed to doing things both online and by themselves. No longer do you need to hire a travel agent to plan a vacation. Instead, you can utilize sites like Priceline or Kayak to book your own airfare, hotels, and make the perfect itinerary. While this is usually a welcomed new way of doing things, other processes that push the onus onto customers aren’t as widely accepted. For example, some of us are resistant to going completely paperless – while others frown upon having to log-in to a web portal to update their address or contact information.

So, how does this all fit into volunteer management? Well, technology solutions like VolunteerLocal have made it easier to recruit and manage volunteers as well as events. But when it comes to actual volunteer data, who should control it? Should volunteers be able to update their own address or phone number? Or, should organizations be ultimately responsible for making any updates? We believe that there is no right answer to this question, and it usually depends on your organization’s unique situation. However, we thought we’d lay out some pros and cons to these two approaches. 

 

Volunteers Self-Schedule (and Complete Registration) Online

  • This approach reduces manual work for you and your staff. Not having to reach out to volunteers to make sure their information is accurate can save a significant amount of time. 
  • Allowing volunteers to control both the registration process and their shift assignments gives them control (and ownership) of the schedules they build. Allowing users to manage their own information can be empowering.
  • Accuracy is improved. Consistently collecting new and updated information from your volunteers helps counter (sometimes) changing variables like t-shirt sizes, mailing address, or marital status.

 

Administrators Manually Input Data & Assign Volunteers

  • This approach gives you (the coordinator) total control of volunteers who are entered into your database, and the role(s) or shift time(s) they’re allowed to work.
  • Different organizations have different requirements for acceptance and admission to the volunteer program. Holding a little tighter to this volunteer data gives you the ability to fully vet and, when necessary, cross-check volunteer data to ensure that there is no false or misleading information in their profiles.
  • When you’re manually adding and assigning volunteers, you’ll naturally have better recall of your volunteers’ personal information, especially if you’re seeing someone’s profile picture each time you open his/her profile in VolunteerLocal. Who doesn’t want to be that coordinator extraordinaire who remembers every volunteer’s name, birthday and unique preferences?!

We hope these thoughts have been helpful to you! Please share in the comments what strategy you’ve chosen and why you made that decision.

 

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Tackling the Big Hurdles

Anne Summers

Congratulations! You’re in charge of organizing an event! Whether it’s your first time or your fiftieth, there are certain challenges that can disrupt your planning process. But have no fear! There’s always a solution or another way of looking at things. 

 

We each tend to have different things that intimidate us, and other items that don’t stress us out at all. Below are some typical categories of stressors you may encounter. Let’s take a look at some of these major obstacles and how you can set yourself up for success!

PEOPLE

Volunteers

I have vivid memories of recruiting volunteers during my first event. For me, defining volunteer job descriptions was an easy task. Coordinating volunteers and building relationships with them before, during, and after the event seemed to come naturally. But where in the world do you find these volunteers? That was the piece that seemed insurmountable. 

Thankfully my organization had an existing volunteer database that I could use as a starting point, and over time I learned how to extend and leverage my professional network to make recruitment a little easier. What assets are at your disposal? List them out to help you see your strengths as well as the gaps you need to fill.

No matter what part of volunteer management is tripping you up, VolunteerLocal has likely covered it! Take a look at some of these top posts. As with most things in the world of volunteer management, investing in solid strategies pays significant dividends in future years.

 

Event Attendees

Some people have a knack for resolving issues with guests or participants on the day of an event. For others it takes more planning ahead of time. Think through communication strategies to efficiently alert the necessary people of developing complications. Identify as many possible problems that may arise and have standard responses for each. As you incorporate these strategies and responses into your volunteer training, you can gain confidence and experience when the actual event arrives.

 

PLACES

Venue

Location is everything! But it’s also not worth being paralyzed about the decision. Before securing space, define the scope of your event as far as number of guests, type of atmosphere you’re hoping to create, etc. This list is now your wish list! It helps limit your search and focus on the essentials when visiting potential venues. Though there are times we have the means to get our dream venues, be sure to note which items on your wish list are negotiable. Many times simple décor and lighting tweaks can enhance ambiance; the location and number of bathrooms, however, cannot be adjusted. Think about the big picture and get creative!

 

Vendors

Once you secure a location, there’s usually still a myriad of vendors to select: catering, concessions, DJ, printers for marketing items, etc. Again, be sure to list out all your needs before you start calling potential vendors. Knowing what you’re asking for gives you more confidence and makes for more effective communication.

 

THINGS

Budgeting & Sponsors

Where would we be without the numbers? Creating budgets and securing sponsors make a huge difference, yet these two topics come with the biggest intimidation factor, at least for me personally. We have some great resources on this topic, as well, but be assured: research in this area really pays off! 

Just as with other categories of challenges, taking the time to fully define what you’re asking for makes a difference. Know your financial boundaries. Know what you’re looking for in a sponsor partnership, and know what you have to offer in return. 

 

Tackle the hard things, and you’re bound to have a great event!

 

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Requesting Feedback from Volunteers

Rebekah Coenen

What do you do after the race as been run, the kegs are empty, and the unsold art is safely packed away? 

Receiving feedback can sometimes be scary, but it is vital to improving our events and the volunteer programs that make them great.

It would be nice to have a break and not think or worry about your event for a few days, weeks, or even months. Maybe a few other things in your life have suffered as the event moved closer and your attention shifted to full-focus as you prepared for the big day. Before you can dust off your hands and say, “see ya next year,” we think you should consider one last item on that to-do list: get feedback.

Why is attendee (and especially volunteer) feedback so important? To help you uncover those blind spots. To make simple changes that can significantly impact the experience of all your volunteers on-site. To make the volunteer program more fun, accessible and impactful. To keep your best volunteers coming back, year-over-year.

Let’s dive in. There is more than one way to get feedback from your volunteers and you might find a combination of a few gets you the best information. No matter what you decide on make sure you read the responses and work to incorporate their feedback. 

 

Informal Questions/Chit Chat 

This includes conversing with volunteers as they check-out of their shifts, or at the post-event party. It can also include asking staffers or colleagues for their thoughts back at your desks, after the event is over. Sometimes, asking for feedback in this way (casual, informal settings) can produce the most honest, in-the-moment results – but you may not get the most thoughtful responses with this method.

Pros 

Cons
  • This doesn’t have to happen at the end of the event and could help inform some of your choices along the way. 
  • You can get feedback right away. It is easy for people to forget about what they would make comments about. 
  • Not everyone will be honest in an informal situation. 
  • You could get heat of the moment comments that aren’t accurate to the whole way someone feels

 

Digital (or Paper) Surveys

We recommend using a free service like SurveyMonkey or SurveyPlanet, but if you want to get fancy, you might consider a more advanced solution like Qualtrics. Online and paper surveys tend to have the highest submission rates when an incentive is offered to complete them – you could randomly choose one recipient to receive a free festival “basket” (leftover merch, anyone?!) or a set of passes to next year’s event.

Pros 

Cons 
  • People are more likely to be honest and they can think of how they want to word things. 
  • Can take place over week or two giving people time to think and give thoughtful feed back. 
  • There have to be a set of questions so it doesn’t leave much room for discussion or elaborating. 
  • You can’t force anyone to fill it out so you might not get as much information as you want. 

 

End-of-Year Meeting

This may entail bringing everyone together (staff, volunteers, and captains) in a conference room or – if you’d prefer a more open setting, a post-event party – to share ideas and feedback in a collaborative, discussion-oriented way. Virtual meetings count, too! Think: conference calls, Google Hangouts or Skype sessions.

Pros

Cons
  • Good time for everyone to get together after the event is over and maintain relationships
  • allow for more discussion on topics that are important to everyone. 
  • Not everyone is comfortable with conformation and may be less inclined to speak up about an issue. 
  • Happens at the end of the event so you can’t change anything during the event. 

 

Suggestion Box/Continual Feedback 

The old classic. It never hurts to have a brightly colored box stationed at check-in/out, with bits of paper and pencils nearby to deliver anonymous feedback in real-time. Sometimes, your biggest detractors (with the most valuable feedback) won’t take the time to complete an online survey, and certainly may not feel inclined to join the post-event gathering. An Honesty Box is a simple, low-cost and low-fi investment that is guaranteed to deliver.

Pros

Cons
  • Your volunteers will have the ability to be heard right away instead of waiting until they are called upon to deliver feedback, either virtually or in-person.  
  • You can start collecting feedback before the event occurs, and make changes leading up to the big day to ensure everyone has the best time possible. 
  • Feedback isn’t digitally stored or tracked in the cloud, so if you want any kind of reporting, you’ll have to manually enter this data into a system online.
  • If it is all anonymous it can lead to more of a venting tool than getting constructive feedback. 

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