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Volunteers for International NPOs (Part 2)
Hosted by Patrick O'Heffernan (August 2007)
Resources for Training and Managing Volunteers
Part 1 (Hiring Volunteers) is here.
Many NPO’s and NGO's could not function without volunteers. To some a volunteer is a person who comes into the office a few hours every week; for others, it means hundreds of individuals or professionals who are the NGO's day-to-day operation. Excellent sources for an overview of volunteer management are the Free Management Library, ServiceLeader and Volunteer Resource of the Points of Light Foundation..
Volunteer management begins with recruitment and selection. Always recruit with a carefully written job description detailing the tasks, level of expertise and education needed for the job. Selection can be done by reviewing an application form, conducting interview or doing background check. See the Canadian organization CASAanet for guidelines on background checks, and Energize Inc. for tips on interviewing.
Formal training can range from having an experienced volunteer train new ones on the job – an excellent process – to giving actual classes. Be careful about creating expectations for training. Since receiving training may be a motivation for some volunteers you must be clear that it is not given in exchange for the volunteer's time but so that they can carry out their role more efficiently. Training should be designed by and involve the staff members who will supervise the volunteers or who work in the same area. For help and information on training volunteers, see the UK site CharityDays, and the US-based Senior Corps Tech Center on motivating and training volunteers.
Managing volunteers involves insuring they show up, know and do their job, understand and follow your organization's rules, and fit into the organization without causing problems. The first three can be handled with training. Fitting in is best handled by screening out potential problems in the interview process. Since the motivation for volunteering can range from wanting to give back to looking for a mate, you must recognize and exclude potential volunteers who can interfere with the organization's mission by antagonizing staff or funders, gossiping, or otherwise engaging in inappropriate behavior. See Energize, Inc. and the World Volunteer Web for hints.
My preferred management method is to assign a staff member the role of Volunteer Coordinator, which may be a full-time job or be full time during recruitment and interviewing and then part-time during management. The Volunteer Coordinator manages the volunteers through training, volunteer meetings, monitoring their work and their punctuality, motivating them with events, awards, and recognition, and if necessary, retraining or even dismissing those volunteers who engage in inappropriate activities.
A special case for volunteer management is the use of volunteer professionals such as doctors or computer specialists or attorneys. Professionals rarely need close supervision but often require support in the form of information, access to files, contacts, as well as a basic grounding in the organization's mission and protocols. In addition to the volunteer management sources mentioned above, an excellent example of how an organization recruits, trains and manages professionals is United For Sight.
Let us know how you manage volunteers. Click here and join Patrick O’Heffernan in the conversation.
Part 1 (Hiring Volunteers) is here.
Many NPO’s and NGO's could not function without volunteers. To some a volunteer is a person who comes into the office a few hours every week; for others, it means hundreds of individuals or professionals who are the NGO's day-to-day operation. Excellent sources for an overview of volunteer management are the Free Management Library, ServiceLeader and Volunteer Resource of the Points of Light Foundation..
Volunteer management begins with recruitment and selection. Always recruit with a carefully written job description detailing the tasks, level of expertise and education needed for the job. Selection can be done by reviewing an application form, conducting interview or doing background check. See the Canadian organization CASAanet for guidelines on background checks, and Energize Inc. for tips on interviewing.
Formal training can range from having an experienced volunteer train new ones on the job – an excellent process – to giving actual classes. Be careful about creating expectations for training. Since receiving training may be a motivation for some volunteers you must be clear that it is not given in exchange for the volunteer's time but so that they can carry out their role more efficiently. Training should be designed by and involve the staff members who will supervise the volunteers or who work in the same area. For help and information on training volunteers, see the UK site CharityDays, and the US-based Senior Corps Tech Center on motivating and training volunteers.
Managing volunteers involves insuring they show up, know and do their job, understand and follow your organization's rules, and fit into the organization without causing problems. The first three can be handled with training. Fitting in is best handled by screening out potential problems in the interview process. Since the motivation for volunteering can range from wanting to give back to looking for a mate, you must recognize and exclude potential volunteers who can interfere with the organization's mission by antagonizing staff or funders, gossiping, or otherwise engaging in inappropriate behavior. See Energize, Inc. and the World Volunteer Web for hints.
My preferred management method is to assign a staff member the role of Volunteer Coordinator, which may be a full-time job or be full time during recruitment and interviewing and then part-time during management. The Volunteer Coordinator manages the volunteers through training, volunteer meetings, monitoring their work and their punctuality, motivating them with events, awards, and recognition, and if necessary, retraining or even dismissing those volunteers who engage in inappropriate activities.
A special case for volunteer management is the use of volunteer professionals such as doctors or computer specialists or attorneys. Professionals rarely need close supervision but often require support in the form of information, access to files, contacts, as well as a basic grounding in the organization's mission and protocols. In addition to the volunteer management sources mentioned above, an excellent example of how an organization recruits, trains and manages professionals is United For Sight.
Let us know how you manage volunteers. Click here and join Patrick O’Heffernan in the conversation.
Thank you
Very good advaice, especiallya boaut the periodic one on ones. too many organizations take volunteers for granted and seldom do that. It is especially important when the volunteers are board members or fund raisers. It is good advice for employees too!
Volunteer Recruitment & Development
I'm glad to see this perspective on volunteer development. We must remember that although volunteers are not salaried employees, they still are employees. As with the staff members on your payroll, each volunteer has a specific and important role to play in the organization, and a volunteer that is a poor fit for the job can be just as much of a liability as a low-performing employee.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has a wealth of information about recruiting, training and development, workforce motivation, performance management, and other staffing related concerns; although SHRM is targeted at the corporate environment, most of the same principles and practices apply to nonprofit volunteers.
It is always a good idea to take the same approach towards managing volunteer positions as you do with your salaried workforce - developing detailed job descriptions and key performance indicators for each volunteer position. Interviewing should always be structured, and not just a "sit-down" with the executive director or program manager.
Many successful organizations have an "onboarding" process for new volunteers, covering policy and procedure, values and mission, the expectations for their position, as well as a rotation throughout the organization to get a feel for everyone's responsibilities. A volunteer that doesn't understand how your organization functions can be disastrous, especially when volunteers are generally on the front lines and the first point of contact for your stakeholders.
It's usually a good idea also to hold periodic one-on-ones with each volunteer to get feedback about their experience. This can be very valuable when looking to improve efficiency or processes at the front line level, and head off problems before they arise. Remember, volunteers can become discouraged but generally will not take their concerns to management as they would on the job; they will simply disengage from the project or resign, providing no input and thus not giving you the opportunity to make improvements.