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Volunteer Management Past questions and answers from Susan Ellis from live broadcasts aired by the Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations collaboration* Other Q & A Topics:
1) Is it realistic to expect to recruit volunteers in this day and age? What should our expectations be? Although it is true that people are busier and more stressed than ever before, there are a lot of data that prove volunteering is still alive and well. However, it is evolving in new ways. If you are used to the old model of the homemaker volunteer with many day-time-hours to spend with you, update your concept! Approach volunteer program development in its broadest sense as "community resource mobilizing" and you will find a wide variety of talent pools waiting to be asked to help your organization. This includes students fulfilling community service requirements, corporate employees on flex time projects, families volunteering together, and collaboration with all-volunteer civic groups (just to name a few possibilities). Today’s volunteer is likely to want a short-term assignment: something with a clear beginning, middle and end. But if that works out, the volunteer is just as likely to then say: "what can I do next?" Self-fulfilling prophecy is key: if you have a vision of volunteer involvement that expects the best—that’s what you’ll get! 2) What kinds of things should we ask volunteers to do? The sky’s the limit. Don’t ask: what can a volunteer do to help? Instead, ask: what needs to be done? When you have identified client and staff needs, you can then do task analysis to "carve out" activities that can be accomplished in, perhaps, 2-hour or 4-hour time spans. Some helpful questions are: What are we doing now that we could do more of if we had help? What might we do differently if we had different skills or schedules available to us? What would help our clients and/or their families that isn’t part of the job description of our paid staff to provide? What would benefit from the luxury of focus of someone who can concentrate attention on it? Remember: what you ask people to do affects who will be attracted to do it. It’s okay to have some low-level assignments for volunteers who prefer these. But make sure you have designed challenging assignments for qualified people who really want to contribute their expertise. Have options available: ongoing and short-term, individual and group activities, working with people or working with papers. 3) Why is there so often tension between volunteers and paid employees? It is inevitable that volunteers and paid employees will bump against one another at some time. But it can be predicted and often prevented. Most of the resistance paid employees have to working with volunteers can be traced to misperceptions. For example, do staff feel that volunteers are recruited simply in response to insufficient funding? If so, don’t be surprised that volunteers are seen as second-choice assistants. Clarify with both paid employees and volunteers why both parts of the team are important to the organization — for different reasons. Analyze what might cause tension in your setting. Here are some possibilities:
Note that it takes two to tango! Volunteers may also be resistant to working with paid staff supervision. The most important thing you can do is train people to work together. You’ll find that neither paid employees nor volunteers themselves have been taught simple ways to communicate and interact. 4) Can we fire a volunteer? Sure, if necessary. Of course, just as with employees, we all hope to "hire" the right people, nurture them, and prevent the kind of problems that result in termination of the relationship. But, in order to be comfortable in dealing with a difficult volunteer, you first need to have a clear, written job description outlining the tasks you expected from the volunteer and what they agreed to during their screening interview. Have written policies outlining bottom-line behavior, such as the requirement of client confidentiality. Provide orientation and training, including a "trainee" period during which the volunteer is not yet fully accepted into the assignment. Deal with problems as soon as they occur—as part of training. Keep a record of problems encountered and how you dealt with them. No one volunteers to do a poor job. So feedback and constructive criticism are actually forms of volunteer recognition. Don’t allow someone to flounder in a mismatched assignment. Whenever possible, offer a reassignment rather than outright termination. But always remember that if you do not deal with a volunteer who is doing things poorly, you send a very negative message to every volunteer who is doing things well: you’re saying it doesn’t matter! 5) Why do people remain committed as volunteers? There are about a hundred reasons why people volunteer in the first place. But the reasons they stay involved are much fewer. They remain if they can see that their volunteer work makes a difference, their efforts are appreciated, and they enjoy the time they spend with you. So designing meaningful work, giving sincere recognition, and a creating a welcoming environment are the three most important volunteer management tasks. 6) How do you deal with a board president who becomes involved in the daily operations versus setting policy? What resources are available for the Executive Director? See response following question #4 7) How do you deal with board members as volunteers when it’s not working out? See response following question #4 8) What measures should an Executive Director take when a board member is involved as a volunteer in a project that requires interaction as an organization representative with other organizations or legislators through meetings and personal contacts? See response following question #4 9) To what extent do we/should we expect board members to serve as volunteers? Can a board member be identified as a volunteer since they are involved in policy making? These four questions are variations on the same theme: what are the boundaries between board-level volunteering and direct-service volunteering? The answers are similar, too. Here are some thoughts: - Much depends on the size and age of your organization. If you have only a few employees, or if you are still in your first or second year of operation, it will be almost impossible to draw a clear line of demarcation between the board as policy-makers and as doers. In these situations, board members are the true front line. They are founding and building the organization. Sitting back and “governing” is a luxury they cannot yet afford. As the organization stabilizes and is able to hire sufficient staff, the board can evolve into the governance-only model. And that transition will have its bumps along the way. - Everything revolves around openly-stated expectations and clarity of roles. Too often board members “step in” to help with daily activities without considering which role they are in. Even a small or new organization can set certain rules and apply them uniformly to everyone. Some recommendations are: a. Board members only act in a board capacity when they are convened AS a board, with the other members. Individually, board members deserve respect but have no special authority. b. Write and USE board member job descriptions. In the case of officers, be sure to delineate the boundaries between the volunteer and the relevant employee. The Board Treasurer, for example, must have realistic expectations about interacting with the bookkeeper and outside CPA. The Board Chair needs to understand what are and are not appropriate subjects to raise with the Executive Director. Do not wait until it is too late and conflict has already arisen!! Review the job descriptions annually, and adapt as necessary to the different skills of volunteers (and employees) in key positions. c. If a board member is asked to do something in-between board meetings but as an extension of board service (such as accompanying the exec to a meeting with a prospective donor), clarify the parameters of the activity and the authority. What is the board volunteer going to do? What will the employee do? Who is in charge of the activity? Is any orientation or background information needed? d. Board members should be welcomed as front-line volunteers, but they must go through the same process as any other volunteer for that assignment: complete an application form and be accepted, attend training, be supervised. No one should assume that s/he automatically can do whatever s/he wishes by virtue of being on the board. Whoever interviews, screens and places volunteers will also do so with a board member who chooses to also be frontline volunteer. And whoever supervises other volunteers in a particular assignment will also supervise the board volunteer in this capacity. Be careful that you are not relying on board members too much. Recruit new volunteers to do new work--build your pool of supporters. If you are having a problem with a board member, even with the Chair, consider seeking help from other board members who may be as concerned about the situation as you are. If you have a Board Development Committee, this might be one of their responsibilities, since they should be charged with keeping board job descriptions up to date. Finally, the sub-question “Can a board member be identified as a volunteer since they are involved in policy making?” implies some confusion. By law, all nonprofits must have a volunteer board of directors, so of course policy-making “can” be done by volunteers! Instead of thinking of the word “volunteer” as a noun, consider it an adjective. The real titles of your unpaid workers will vary widely: tutors, mentors, counselors, board members, firefighters, whatever. Each is a volunteer position. 10) What do you do when you have a volunteer who oversteps her boundaries and when confronted has a reason for everything? If terminated we would have difficulties finding a replacement. And I have sat her down and confronted the issue...she is a good volunteer.” There are some conflicting sentiments here. Either she is a good volunteer or she is causing a problem--which is it? How serious are the boundaries she crosses? Who else is affected? You first challenge is to decide if you are ready and willing to make a stand. If you can live with it, stop worrying about it (given that you have tried to express your views). But if the problem really IS a problem, then take action. If you don’t, you run the risk of alienating all the people affected by the volunteer’s actions. Some steps to take: a. Review her job description and see if you have actually clarified the boundaries of her assignment. If not, meet together to define these and put them in writing. Either way, ask the volunteer to “sign off” and date the written description, to show that you have discussed these expectations. Make sure the volunteer has a copy. b. You say the volunteer always has a “reason” but this implies that you have accepted the explanations. If her reasons are truly reasonable (!), maybe your expectations are wrong. But if her reasons are excuses, say so. Hold your ground. Give a warning if necessary. c. If the behavior persists, re-assign the volunteer. You really have to do this if you want to set standards for everyone. Your concern about recruiting someone new may be based on fear of the unknown rather than on actually going out and asking someone to help. Remember that it may be better to live with a vacancy in that position for a while rather than continue with a volunteer who does the wrong thing. 11) What is/are the best ways to have volunteers, who have other full-time professions, adhere or comply with “deadlines” for important tasks in the nonprofit volunteer organization? First, create the timelines WITH the volunteers as much as possible. If people participate in setting their own deadlines, there are more likely to meet them. Second, stop apologizing for taking time out of their busy lives! They want to help and have already decided to do so. However, make sure your demands are realistic and flexible enough to accommodate special circumstances (such as tax time for an accountant). Third, create intermediate benchmarks, not just final deadlines. Not only does this provide a sense of accomplishment during the process, but it gives you some control--when it’s still early enough to troubleshoot--over work that is not getting done. Communicate these benchmarks with the entire group to use peer pressure. So, for example, you might circulate an e-mail that says “Update: At the 6 week mark, here is what you all have reported accomplishing to date:.............” If volunteers know that you are paying attention and being supportive (not punitive), they will keep your work on their busy to-do list. 12) What are your feelings about using “community service” to “repay a debt” to society? Do you think that it puts a negative twist on the concept of volunteerism when it is used as punishment? Can that have a negative impact when recruiting other volunteers? These are important questions and much has been written on this subject in the volunteerism literature. There are several perspectives to consider: that of the offender who receives the sentence; of the organization receiving the services; and of the non-court-ordered volunteers working side by side with the offender. There is also the perspective of the client. In all cases, the short answer is “it depends.” Yes, there are negative possibilities here if the program is poorly administered. Yes, philosophically I agree that I don’t want anyone to see volunteering as “punishment.” Ironically, I think a bigger problem is that community service is too often ridiculed as an “easy” sentence. But in practice--and we now have had almost 30 years of experience with this--alternative sentencing is much more benign and often extremely positive. If--and this is a firm IF--the court-ordered community service program gives the offender a wide range of choices as to where to do the service and in what role, gives the agency the freedom to accept or turn down a candidate, and tries to make the work done meaningful, then this can: a. Build the self-esteem of the offender. As I said in the broadcast, there is data to show that a percentage of offenders continue in their volunteer roles AFTER their minimum time is over. b. Give the agency real help. Community service participants represent the general population, bringing a wide range of skills. Why not put these to work productively? Generally, I do not feel that anyone in the agency other than the program coordinator needs to know if the newcomer is court-ordered or not. This will minimize friction with more traditional volunteers. 13) How do you handle/manage all-volunteer organizations? Obviously the answer to this question could fill a book or two (and has!). The condensed version, however, is that the PRINCIPLES of effective volunteer leadership apply to any setting, whether all-volunteer or a mixture of employees and volunteers. The 13 elements that I outlined in the broadcast are all necessary even if you rephrase “recruitment” to say “membership development,” or “supervision” to say “chairing committees.” The most important thing is for the officers of the all-volunteer organization to recognize the need to pay attention to “volunteer management.” Too often groups get so preoccupied with the nitty-gritty of their projects and goals that they assume the people end of things will take care of itself. Assign someone or a committee to be in charge of “people questions.” Make sure you know who is actually planning and carrying out a membership campaign. Who is welcoming newcomers? Who is checking to see if all members are active? Who says thank you? No mysteries here. But it may take some training (or at least some reading). Volunteers may not realize that they lack the skills to work with other volunteers. Remember that BEING a volunteer does not necessarily prepare you for LEADING other volunteers! 14) Please discuss the tax implications of using volunteer “in-kind” labor. I’m not entirely sure what this question means. Tax implications for the volunteer or for the nonprofit? Or does this refer to a corporation deploying employees in “in-kind” service donations? Quick answers from all 3 perspectives: a. Volunteers may NOT deduct the value of their labor as volunteers on their tax returns. Even if they are donating in-kind professional services. A law firm, for example, that gives free legal help may not “deduct” that as a charitable contribution. They may submit a bill, receive payment and then return the cash to the agency. But it is actually more advantageous to simply apply the cost of doing business (fully deductible) than to take the charitable deduction on a cash contribution which is only a percentage of the amount given. b. Since nonprofits do not pay tax on their revenue, the value of in-kind services does not affect anything. However, from an accounting point of view, it is often very useful to assess the value of donated services. Again, if this is a professional in-kind service, the volunteer can be asked to estimate the value of the work, had it been billed. But be careful! This only applies if the lawyer does legal work or the artist gives you a brochure design. If the lawyer and artist are both literacy tutors, their hourly fee does NOT apply. Their work should be valued at the amount a tutor would be paid. c. For corporate in-kind services, where the employees receive full salary but accomplish something for a nonprofit as a company donation, the same argument as in number 1 applies. It is more advantageous to deduct the full cost of running, say, the printing department but having the press run off a community newsletter for free, than to claim this as a “charitable contribution” which is only partly deductible. Either way, both are legal and acceptable to the IRS. If you have other tax questions, please consult an accountant in your state or province. 15) How do you involve volunteers in the daily office tasks...those boring jobs without a lot of social opportunities for the volunteers? As I responded during the broadcast, you can approach this issue in three ways: - Why give “boring” jobs to volunteers? Maybe these are exactly the tasks someone ought to be paid to do. Or, are they just “boring” from your perspective while someone else might find the work fun? Can these volunteer assignments be expanded in any way to include more variety? Can someone wear headphones and listen to music or foreign language tapes while working, thereby making the time more interesting? - Find volunteers for whom the tasks would not be boring. For example, people who are training to be secretaries might see this work as a useful learning opportunity. Programs for the mentally challenged might be able to assign someone who would feel rewarded by accomplishing what others see as tedious. - Consider sharing boring work equally. If you make one or two volunteers do all the filing or copying, it’s drudgery. But if everyone--volunteers and paid staff alike--are expected to spend 30 minutes each week doing some filing or copying, the work will get done and no one will resent it. 16) Please give me suggestions for the best ways - or just ways- to create a more “team like” atmosphere between staff and volunteers. Staff meetings? Other?- Jenny, Oklahoma City Recognize that most paid staff have never been trained to work with volunteers, but they “don’t know that they don’t know” how to do this successfully! Everyone’s expectations is that the relationship is easy and based mainly on common sense--until things get tense. First, make sure that supervising volunteers is NOT a burden. Pay attention to the staff’s concerns and diagnose valid issues such as inadequate space for volunteers to work, or certain times of the week at which volunteers would be harder to keep productive, etc. Deal with these types of concerns. Then make absolutely sure you are recruiting the most qualified people to fill volunteer roles. Watch your scheduling so that an employee doesn’t have to be interrupted several times in the same day by a new shift of volunteers. Offer to help in the training of newcomers, perhaps by buddying them up with experienced volunteers. The most important thing is to offer training to both employees and volunteers in how to work together. This should be a mix of “classroom-type” training and individual coaching. Clarify roles and limits of authority (on both sides). Explain the chain of command. Develop a procedure for voicing criticism and for giving praise. Teamwork also comes from small, daily actions. Consider: - Crediting, by name, both paid and volunteer staff who contributed to any project. There is no mystery to strengthening the relationship between employees and volunteers. All the principles of good human relations apply. Things break down when we ignore the situation and expect everyone to define their own terms. Give training and guidance. And listen--without being defensive--when staff raises concerns. They may be right. If they are prejudiced against volunteers, however, take on the role of in-house educator. 17) What is the best way to deal with a person who wishes to be a rigid watchdog and may discourage others but still has talents to offer? As I said during the broadcast, most of these situations develop because of a lack of clarity AT THE START of a volunteer's commitment as to what s/he will be expected to do, what the process of evaluation will be, etc. Without a written job description, it is hard to criticize someone's performance ("I didn't know you wanted me to do THAT!") or to question their role ("Why have you let me do this so long if you didn't want me to?"). So your first challenge is to sit down and define what this person thinks s/he is doing versus your expectations. Do this as part of a program-wide assessment and "capturing" of past job descriptions. The key is to troubleshoot as early as possible. Call everyone a "trainee" at the start of their service so that you can correct a poor placement decision. Deal with poor performance when it occurs as a form of training, not as criticism. Ultimately, however, bite the bullet and talk TO these volunteers about what concerns you and WHY (the consequences to the program). You may find that they are surprised, or welcome the chance to step back. In the last analysis, you owe it to all the volunteers doing a good job to tackle the problem of those who are not. 18) How does a volunteer organization which is 100% volunteers and most overwhelmed already, find a way to go through the 13-step program? How can't you??? In truth, there is no way to get around these steps. Think of all the time you are wasting now in trying to find members, delegating work, being frustrated by lack of follow up, finding people to run for office, etc. Of course, if none of these things is a problem, then don't look at the 13-step approach! Assuming you do want to make your organization more effective, the key is to develop committees who will: take the time to write and update position descriptions; orient (welcome) new members; conduct necessary training; provide recognition. I'm not trying to under-estimate the effort here, but it IS worth it-really! 19) What are some good Web sites to access information about recruitment and retention of volunteers or for volunteer coordinators to communicate with each other to share information or discuss issues or problems? I gave some Web sites in the Participant Packet. The place to begin is on the Energize Web site, http://www.energizeinc.com, where you will find links to all sorts of things. There is an active and useful online discussion group for the field called "CyberVPM" (stands for Cyberspace Volunteer Program Manager). This listserv has just changed its serve as of 5/1/00! The new way to subscribe is to send a blank e-mail to cybervpm-subscribe@egroups.com. Or go to the Web site and sign on from there: <http://www.cybervpm.com> 20) In training staff, what are the key elements to motivate staff to work with volunteers? 1. Knowing that their administrators expect working with volunteers to be done well, will reward it being done well, and will question it if not done well. 2. Making sure that employees have participated in defining the work volunteers will do, have a say in who is accepted into their unit as a volunteer, and can coordinate things such as schedules as appropriate. 3. Asking staff what they have done personally as volunteers as helping them to make the connection from how THEY like to be treated in those situations to how they should treat volunteers when they are the supervisors. 21) Regarding initial training, how many hours of training are reasonable? In other words, how many hours can you expect a potential volunteer to be willing to sit through? Also, regarding screening and criminal records checks, is there one particularly effective way of introducing this without turning off potential volunteers? "Reasonable" is dependent on what is TRULY needed. Design a training program that will teach volunteers what they need to know. If the work to be done is difficult, or needs special expertise, then it will probably require more hours than if the work is general. Volunteers will "sit through" whatever they perceive as USEFUL to them. But they won't accept a long training session that is boring, elementary, or an endurance course to "test" their commitment. When you know what training is needed, explain it when you recruit people and let them decide. But don't "negotiate" training time away-if it has to be learned, teach it (or give volunteers a formal way to "test out" of the sessions). The best way to introduce background checks is to tell the truth: they are required by state law. Explain this up front, during recruitment or interviewing. In truth, volunteers who care about client service will welcome the fact that you are protective of vulnerable groups. Those who protest may be volunteering in the wrong place anyway. 22) Discuss the difference in the dynamics between a non-paid volunteer and one paid by a third party retirement agency-and are these types of agencies on the rise? Can a dollar value be determined or calculated on the "bottom line" of the impact of the tasks done by a volunteer? Wouldn't this help in strategic planning? I'm not entirely sure what you mean here by "retirement agency." Are you referring to RSVP? They don't "pay" volunteers, but they help with reimbursement of expenses. Because of corporate work-release programs, work-study grants, and other such options, you may indeed have volunteers who are actually receiving a salary or stipend from a third party. The "dynamics" are directly related to whether or not the "volunteer" wants to do the community work. Someone in a welfare reform program may resent the activity, while someone in a corporate work-release program might love it. As to your second question, so many folks have asked this of me that I have posted a response on my Web site on "The Dollar Value of Volunteers." See: <http://www.energizeinc.com/art/afoc2.html> 23) What are the risks involved in recruiting volunteers of color (e.g., African-American), as a way to add diversity to staff who are mostly white? I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "risks," but I can tell you that it will be very obvious to any potential recruit if you are disingenuously "diversifying" your organization through volunteers of color while not hiring employees of color. So I guess the risk is lack of success in recruiting! Certainly, however, if you have a small core paid staff and many volunteers, it stands to reason you can have more diversity within the larger group. By the way, what's the demographic of your board of directors? They are volunteers, too, and here it would make a lot of sense to diversify as a signal that people of color are now being included in governance decision-making. The Board Profile Worksheet that Carol Weisman used in her Board Governance program back in November might be of some assistance here. 24) Should volunteers be considered a staff person? Sorry if I gave the impression that I was separating "volunteers" from "staff." I did not mean to do this and agree that volunteers ARE indeed staff. I usually say "paid" or "unpaid" staff. During the broadcast, however, I may have drawn the distinction to make sure everyone knew when I was talking about volunteers as opposed to employees, as there some issues that affect each group differently. 25) With confidential issues at agencies, how do you address management of volunteers and risk/liability to agency and volunteers? As I said during the broadcast, "confidentiality" is not an issue special to volunteers, nor is there any reason to believe that volunteers will violate confidentiality more than employees. However, you need to TRAIN volunteers in what confidentiality means, and why it is so important. You also need a written policy about the importance of confidentiality and the consequences of violating it (termination). And then enforce the policy. Also, when in doubt, always ask the client if it's ok to involve a volunteer in the case. Keep in mind that thousands of volunteer programs in AIDS work, juvenile justice and other arenas deal with this question every day. 26) How flexible can you be with volunteers on scheduling? We require 4 hours once a week, but some volunteers offer "every other week" service and wind up "sliding" on attendance over time. Yet other volunteers remain loyal because they say we are flexible on scheduling. Just how flexible should we be? There is no standard answer for this (I'll bet you're not surprised!). The way to decide on how flexible you can be is to answer this question: Does being flexible affect our ability to serve our clients/consumers efficiently and effectively? If the answer is yes, then you are being too flexible! A secondary question would be: Does being flexible provide more of a management hassle for the volunteer services manager than the worth of the services provided by occasional volunteers? Again, a yes answer would be a warning sign. But if it's comparatively easy to accommodate the needs of volunteers, why not do so? As to those "sliders," make sure they aren't dropping off because the agency isn't prepared for them, or there isn't enough work when they come in, or no one has followed up absences. Sometimes volunteers wrongly assume "it doesn't matter" If they don't follow the schedule because no one said anything to them about an unscheduled absence. 27) I have worked with a volunteer whom I find very valuable. She was unhappy with me for asking her to show a paid, part-time staff person how to perform a research task (the volunteer had a PHD and is a university professor in English). She felt staff members should be more qualified than volunteers and if she were asked to share her expertise, she should be paid. Can you give me your opinion on this? Obviously I don't have all the facts here. Some of the variables that would affect my opinion are: - What was the volunteer told when she was recruited? Was she asked to be an "assistant to" a staff member or was she told that she would be a specialist volunteer with a particular assignment augmenting paid staff work? - Along the same lines, is the new employee a replacement of a more qualified employee with whom the volunteer had developed a relationship over time? - If the "research task" was something the volunteer didn't ordinarily do within her volunteer assignment but knew how to do by virtue of her professorship, vs. if this was a task she routinely did in the volunteer assignment. - If this volunteer might have been interested in being offered the paying job herself (or even applied for it), and therefore is offended that a less qualified person was hired. Volunteers are often more qualified than employees, but BY DESIGN. In other words, they may have specialized expertise from the start, or become expert as they focus their time on one project. Just as a staff supervisor does not necessarily have to know all the skills that employees in his/her unit might need to do the work, those who supervise volunteers must concentrate on knowing what needs to be done and coordinating volunteers and other employees to do it. On the other hand, if the organization is purposely cutting costs by hiring low-level paid staff and relying on volunteers to be trainers, this may indeed verge on exploitation. So the answer is: it depends! 28) Please suggest volunteer management software programs. Rather than making a recommendation, per se, I'd rather direct you to information about the available software so that each person can evaluate the programs based on individual needs. There are a number of products out there and you should ask for references of customers using the programs in the real world. Any reputable company should give you that information. It is also very important to know what you want before you shop. Think about the data you are now collecting (will the software accommodate all the fields and sorting criteria you need?), how you will want to sort or search the data, what other management needs you hope the software will support (such as scheduling, or tracking vacant positions, or compiling recognition information). Don't make price your only criterion. Shop right and you'll be using this software productively for a long time. Shop wrong and you may be unhappy for a long time! The best place to start exploring the available products (with links to their own Websites) is the Association for Volunteer Administration Web site, specifically this page on software: <http://www.avaintl.org/resources/software.html> 29) How do you deal with competition for volunteers, first of all with ones that have less stringent screening processes? "Competition" is an interesting concept. With whom are you competing? In the program I commented on the fact that people have many interests and many motivations for volunteering. If you work with seniors, I don't think you are "in competition" with programs that work with children or with water pollution. Look at all the want ads in the newspaper. Yes, these prospective employers are competing for the attention of job seekers, but clearly not every reader will be interested in every position, no matter how wonderfully described. The same is true for volunteer recruitment. I doubt that you need a thousand volunteers (I may be wrong). If you follow my "mini-campaign" advice, at any given time you will be seeking perhaps two volunteers to fill position X, five to fill position Y, and one specialist for position Z. Surely Louisville has a large enough population to put the odds in your favor? I believe that if you design your recruitment campaign(s) to target the people most likely to be interested in your work AND qualified to do it, then you will be successful. Ideally, every volunteer program should be looking in different places. "Competition" only becomes a question if everyone goes to the same churches, the same civic clubs, the same classrooms. That's over-saturation of the wrong market! In terms of screening requirements, I have two thoughts: 1. If your screening process is not really necessary, takes a lot of time, and even costs money, then perhaps you ought to reconsider why you are doing it this way. Volunteers may be right to be turned off. 30) In an organization with only one employee, how can volunteers be used effectively without detracting from the day-to-day client services that can only be provided by professional staff? There are some interesting assumptions in this question. Unfortunately, I have no information about the type of services you are providing, but here are some counter-questions: · If your board of directors (I assume-I hope-you have these volunteers) has only done enough fundraising to pay for one employee, and they agree with your assumption that only YOU can serve clients, how many people do they expect to help? Even if you are Wonder Woman, there are limits to your time and strength. · Are you really using all your time in a way that requires your "professional" skills? As one employee, that must mean that you not only serve clients directly, but you order supplies, pay the bills, schedule appointments, make follow up calls, connect with community agencies, etc. Do YOU really have to be the one doing all that? Don't all those tasks "detract from the day-to-day client services"? · What makes you think that clients can only be "served" by you? First, it is possible to recruit volunteers with every conceivable professional skill (even doctors work in free clinics), so maybe you need to seek out volunteers with credentials similar to yours, willing to give the organization a few hours a week. You'd certainly be able to serve more clients, no? Second, is there nothing that a volunteer with different skills could do to be helpful? Again, I don't know what services you provide, but do clients need transportation? child care? home chore help? respite services? an occasional recreational excursion? Seems that a lot of different people could provide those kinds of help. When I first saw your question, I couldn't help but think: "How can you detract from client services by NOT involving volunteers?" 31) How do you assist paid staff in understanding the critical role played by volunteers? I believe that the entire broadcast gave many answers to this question. To summarize a few of the key points: · Top executives must be committed first. They begin the process by being able to articulate the value of volunteers to the organization, and then enact policies and enforce standards supporting this position. A written "statement of philosophy" about community involvement would be very helpful, too. · Work designed for volunteers must be real, well-crafted, and important-not just pretty icing on the cake. Maybe the staff is simply recognizing that volunteers are NOT "critical" because they do such peripheral tasks. · Volunteers should be recruited, screened and selected for their qualifications. · Paid staff should be trained in how to work well with volunteers; volunteers should be oriented to how to work with employees. · Recognition (of both employees and volunteers) should include a description of the work accomplished, the goals met, etc.-not just a tabulation of hours served. Always remember that just because volunteers may add value to the organization, it does not necessarily mean that each employee feels appreciative. On the one-to-one level, if volunteers are more work with little pay-off, you'll have a hard time convincing staff that volunteers are worth the effort. On the other hand, a well-designed and well-managed volunteer program will be self-evidently worthwhile. 32) How do you recruit volunteers for a long-term (1 year) commitment like in the CASA program [Court-Appointed Special Advocates] and maintain the initial enthusiasm? It is true that most new volunteers today prefer to start without making a long-term commitment, but that is not everyone. First, reluctance to agree to an open-ended assignment is different from making a specific commitment like "one year." Second, when there is a good and obvious reason for a duration requirement, people understand it. There are even some people who crave the challenge. They look for the "hard" things, which is why the Marines have the recruitment slogan: "All we want is a few good men." They are appealing to the pride factor-and you can, too. In your case, it is even more important to target your prospects carefully. Make sure you send you appeal to audiences that might truly be interested. Be completely up front about the time requirement. State it strongly, in fact. You can say things like: "I know it's popular to volunteer for one-day activities or short-term projects right now and I'm asking you for a year. Well, the people who are right for our work understand why we need a year. Here are our reasons:__________." I believe that the right candidates will respond to this. Don't apologize! Simply acknowledge that many people will not be interested, implying great praise for those who are. Maintaining initial enthusiasm is a totally different subject. First, I'd do some reality checking with current volunteers. How DO they feel after three months? six? nine? Are there predictable peaks and valleys to the work? Are these inherent in the process or due to something that could be corrected? Remember, people would rather be overworked than underutilized! Not to question your gospel, but do you actually need a year's commitment???!!! Some things that perk up low points: · Connect volunteers via e-mail, your Web site, etc. Keep them in the communication loop about the organization, and especially about successes volunteers are having. · Buddy up some volunteers and their clients on a fun project or outing. · Send a funny "thinking of you" postcard or electronic greeting card. · Rotate calling volunteers on the phone to maintain "check in" contact. Recruit team leader volunteers to call frontline volunteers more often. · Throw a party. · Post photographs to the Web site and encourage volunteers and their clients to add material about themselves. 33)How do you deal with a situation when you have strong and vocal volunteers who make or suggest a decision and the others follow? My assumption is that they are making decisions you don't like! I doubt this would be a "problem" if you were happy with the leadership! As always, it is difficult to answer this without knowing your setting, but it raises some analysis questions: · Do you have written job descriptions for volunteers that include any limits as well as responsibilities? For example: "Will do X, in consultation with supervisory staff." · Do you have a consistent mechanism for volunteers to voice both approval and disagreement? For example, is there a suggestion box? Do you convene periodic "feedback sessions" for interested volunteers? Do you explain to new volunteers how to make suggestions (channels, process, time needed)? · What is the history of the situation? Why do these volunteers feel that they can implement decisions on their own? Are they left independent most of the time but someone only cares what they do when it isn't the party line? Has anyone ever spoken to the leader volunteers about their role and actions? Do they actually know that they may be causing a problem? · Why are the "follower" volunteers following? Are they looking for direction in general? Are they getting it from anyone else? · Are these volunteers genuinely doing what they think is best or is this an insurrection for other reasons? What reasons? I believe that if you are able to answer these questions accurately, a solution will present itself. Right now I suspect that no one has actually spoken with these volunteers about the effect of their actions. Maybe they'd be happy to take direction if someone provided it. 34) How do you get paid staff to give enough notice on needing your volunteers for certain upcoming events or last minute needed volunteers? How to recruit weekend volunteers? What? You mean you don't leave a stock of volunteers in the freezer for over-night defrosting for such requests??? Clearly, in the past, you have "come through" whenever asked. While this is admirable, it also reinforces bad staff behavior. Try saying "no" when the request is really ridiculous. Or, say: "Do you realize how late this request is? It is disrespectful to expect volunteers to drop everything and rush in here on a moment's notice to do something you knew about weeks ago. Now, because we want to help, I'll do my best, but we can only provide half the number you requested. Had you asked two weeks ago, I could have provided you double." Note that this response is couched in terms that show the problem to the VOLUNTEERS, not to you, as a co-worker. Please look at the way you worded your question to me. You said "your volunteers" (meaning "my" volunteers). They are NOT "yours." Your goal ought to be for everyone to see volunteers as un-owned, but as colleagues of everyone. Even if you don't feel you can carry this refusal off and work all night to get the volunteers in, you can still make a face-to-face appointment with the offending staff member about a week later. Sit down-after the crisis is over-and debrief it professionally. No anger, just reason. Come with records of the effort you had to make to reach volunteers (including the number of people who said no because they had previous commitments). You second question about recruiting weekend volunteers puzzles me. Why would you recruit them any differently from the way I recommended recruiting any volunteer? Target people who are not working on the weekend and have the skills you need. 35) Don't want you to get away without addressing the question of "institutional obstacles" that you mentioned earlier.please amplify. Thanks for paying attention so closely, Hans! I'd be glad to. What I mean by "institutional obstacles" are things that we require or traditions we no longer question that pose problem for newcomers. For example: · Volunteer meetings are always held on weekday mornings, a time chosen years ago when most volunteers did not have paying jobs · New volunteers are expected to travel some distance from a branch office (where they will do the work) to a central HQ to have their i.d. photo taken because that's the organization's only "official" photo site. (This is a true example from a client I once had.) · All volunteers must "join" the auxiliary and pay dues, even if they only want to work on a specific assignment. · The organization's policies say: "all employees and volunteers must have a t.b. test" and there are no exceptions for one-time volunteers or for volunteers working off site. My favorite example is the woman in a workshop I conducted on recruitment who told me that her problem was attracting volunteers "willing to get the back of their cars dirty." Turned out it was a meal delivery program and the gravy slopped out of the containers! She resisted all suggestions, including the one from another workshop participant in the same program in another town who shared her solution of thermos bottles for the gravy. When the response to that easy suggestion was, "we can't afford thermos bottles," I said: "then you don't deserve volunteers." !!!!! She wanted to me to tell her how to find people willing to mess up their cars, not how to fix the problem. Thereafter, when I tell this story (which is told in more detail in my The Volunteer Recruitment Book, by the way) , I ask: "So, what's the gravy stain in YOUR organization?!"
*Responses were transcribed by Prof. Andrew Lewis from the live broadcasts produced by the Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations collaboration. |
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