Useful Past Tips: Volunteer Management: Soliciting Advice From Volunteers One-Day Volunteer Projects Successful Screening Program Make Work Meaningful Screening Is Vital To Success Trust your intuition Service Learning, Getting Students Involved Standards for program managemen Working with endowment volunteers Making volunteering a welcoming experience Finding volunteers in the USA from other nations Volunteer management in cyberspace

1. Soliciting Advice From Volunteers.
Using volunteers to create an advisory committee can be beneficial to your organization, but there are 10 key questions you must answer when forming it, according to Susan J Ellis, president of Energize.inc., in Philidelphia. The web address www.energizeinc.com

• Do you want advice, decision-making, hands-on help or enhanced public image? What is the long-term purpose of the group?
• What's in a name? Select a name that communicates its function.
• What are the specific short-term goals/tasks you need accomplished?
• Will this group be self-governing and self-perpetuating or will you be the chair? Who initiates agenda items? What role do you expect to play?
• Which constituencies do you want represented, or not - and why?
• How will you go about selecting and inviting your preferred list of members?
• Job description of a member? Term of office?
• Where and when will you meet, and how often? Why?
• Will all discussion be in group meetings? Will you use electronic communications, and how?
• Are you ready for a permanent group or should you begin with a time-limited task force?

2. One-Day Volunteer Projects
Episodic or one-time volunteering is the norm. And while a portion of those volunteers tie on to the nonprofit for future events, groups must get the most out of these one-time volunteers. Here are some tips for one-day volunteer projects.

• Physical labor. It is true that volunteers who come once for a few hours are often willing to expend elbow grease on jobs that group effort makes more enjoyable -- and where the results are evident.
• Physical labor "plus." Why ask a group to do only one part of a job? Let the volunteers take some ownership of the project -- with your approval.
• Help client families. Rarely do you have time for your client's loved ones. Have a party to acknowledge their role in the well being of the client.
• Build your public relations file. Get volunteers to take pictures to build a photo file for publicity.
• Community outreach. Schedule one-day projects that coincide with another community event. Have the volunteers staff a display and hand out informational material about the organization.

3. Successful Screening Program
Screening volunteers is a tough job but it's one that all nonprofits have to do. The first step to creating a successful volunteer screening program is to make sure you have all legal bases covered.

Here are some tips and other tidbits that will help you screen and select the best volunteers.

• You should be screening them as much as they are screening you.
• An interview should take no more than 30 to 45 minutes and is to determine if the potential volunteer is serviceable for the organization -- nothing more.
• You have to allow people to screen themselves out. They can do this by explaining what they want and it being totally opposite to what the organization does.

4. Make Work Meaningful
Giving one-time volunteers a suitable job for the time they're with your organization can be a bit tricky. Oftentimes, using one-time volunteers' strengths is the way to go.

Here are some tips that may help you in finding that right job for one-time volunteers.

• Enrichment programs. Have volunteers take a group of clients on an outing that supplements your services. For example, a vocational training organization might have volunteers lead a shopping expedition to look for appropriate clothes for job interviews.
• Be the experts they are. If they are business people or students with a particular expertise, have them present a seminar or demonstration for staff, other volunteers, or clients. Subjects could be customer service skills, Internet research or trend forecasting.
• Community resource study. Ask volunteers to go to selected sites, complete observation sheets that you prepare in advance, and bring back the most current descriptive literature.

5. Screening Is Vital To Success
Having proper interviewing and screening techniques is very important regarding potential volunteers, and is necessary in placing volunteers where they can best help the organization.

There are a number questions nonprofits cannot ask possible volunteers. They include:
Someone's race, religion or gender, unless it is applicable to the organization;

• Sexual preference;
• Height/weight, or age;
• Their national origin;
• Financial status unless relevant to the cause; and
• If they've served in the military or their discharge status.

Protect yourself up front. For example, if one of the volunteer's job requirements involves carrying something a certain distance, and that prerequisite is necessary for the position, that question must be asked -- and possibly even demonstrated.

6. Trust your intuition
Selecting volunteers can often be a slippery situation. And, sometimes when you get that queasy feeling in your stomach about someone, you have to pay attention to it.

When interviewing potential volunteers you should have procedures in place that legally cover the organization should a potential volunteer not be accepted or one already working need to be terminated.

Here are some questions you might want to consider asking your next volunteer candidate.

• Is there anything you want to know about the organization?
• Why did you decide to be a volunteer now?
• What do you want to get back out of this? That is a good one, because everyone is trying to get something from volunteering. Getting the potential volunteer to tell you what they want out of the experience is key.
• Tell me your three greatest accomplishments?
• What would you like to do?
• What would you like to avoid?

7. Service Learning, Getting Students Involved
Service learning, the requirement that college students perform some kind of community service as part of their curriculum, is popular with many institutions of higher learning. It can also be quite useful for nonprofits. But there are certain guidelines that will help both the organization and the students gain the maximum benefit from the experience.

Have specific and clearly defined assignments for the students. This will help you in your planning, but it will also help eliminate problems down the road. Experience has shown that students with clear duties will perform them, but students who have nothing to do will often distract those who are working hard.

Remember the second word in the term “service learning.” It may be tempting to you to utilize intelligent, motivated people to sweep floors or stuff envelopes, but the students are supposed to be getting hands-on experience with community service, meeting the people they are helping and maybe even seeing results of their work. Real experience can be beneficial also when these students graduate and come looking for jobs.

Remember that college students like to eat. If you are staging an all-day event, it may be good policy to consider feeding your volunteers. History has shown that college students love to eat and are especially fond of pizza.

8. Standards for program management

Evaluation of volunteer programs is a necessary and useful, but there are certain caveats that should be kept in mind.

First, it is not possible to evaluate an entire program at once, so choices have to be made about what needs to be assessed. Second, it is necessary to know what the purpose of the survey is. It is not an end unto itself.

Once those considerations have been addressed, there are several types of evaluation, all of which can be valuable over time They are:

• Project Evaluation . Specific projects need to be assessed to assure satisfaction and quality. New projects should be monitored closely throughout the first year.
  
• Outcomes assessment . An evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of volunteer efforts. Are needs being met? Is it being done in the most efficient and beneficial way? Do our methods work? Be aware of only looking for problem areas. Look at successes, too, and learn from them.
  
• Volunteer Management Practices . Involves assessing the infrastructure of how the volunteer program is run, especially regarding recruiting and training of volunteers. It also pays to check relations between volunteers and paid staff.
  
• Individual Performance Assessment . This is closely tied to supervision, training and recognition. It should be an ongoing process and not just a periodic formal activity. View performance reviews as a two-way opportunity for feedback

9. Working with endowment volunteers

Keeping volunteers happily engaged in an endowment fundraising initiative takes particularly sensitive staff and volunteer leaders, according to Edward C. Schumacher in his book Building Your Endowment , published by the Fund Raising School at the Indiana University School of Philanthropy.

Schumacher offers strategies for helping volunteers succeed in endowment fundraising:

• Don't have any more meetings than are absolutely necessary. Guard volunteer time. It does not require a meeting for two people to talk to each other while others watch.

• Meetings should not exceed 90 minutes. Time is a valuable asset, and work should be efficient as well as effective.

• Create tasks that are time-limited and clearly defined. For instance, give a key volunteer the names of two prospects to cultivate and educate. A list of 10 or even five may be overwhelming.

• Honor effort as well as outcomes. Sometimes a volunteer will work long and hard with a prospect to no avail. A substantial effort should be noted.

• Respect the volunteer for what he or she brings to the process. Not everyone will be a good asker, but some might have a substantial body of knowledge about prospects, contacts, etc. Make sure the assignments fit the volunteers.

• Have clearly defined measures of success. Enable volunteers to know when they are doing well.

• Recognize volunteers. Have an ongoing, active volunteer recognition program

10. Making volunteering a welcoming experience

Volunteers are a vital part of any organization, but attracting good volunteers can be a daunting task. Nevertheless, it is an essential one, and Susan J. Ellis, president of Engerize, Inc., in Philadelphia, who specializes in volunteerism, offers several tips to aid in recruiting volunteers.

• Beware of acronyms. Always translate any alphabet soup labels that are applied to projects.

• Explain everything that has a special name, especially if it is not descriptive. Rather than saying: "Join our Rainbow Project," try "Join our Rainbow Project and help children discover the world of books."

• Consider possible misconceptions people may have about your organization, either because of outdated information or by inferring something from your name.

• Most nonprofit causes are overwhelming in scope and some individuals may believe they lack the skills to help. You can encourage them to join by stating ahead of time, "Training is provided and volunteers receive ongoing support."

• Remember that everyone today is stressed because of lack of time.

• Given the number of single and divorced adults, it is reasonable to assume that a percentage of your perspective volunteers is seeking social outlets. Show people interacting.

• Consider whether people may be concerned about issues such as personal safety in your neighborhood.

11. Finding volunteers in the USA from other nations

Any organization seeking an opportunity to increase its volunteer talent pool and add diversity at the same time may want to consider foreign nationals living temporarily in the United States.

Susan J. Ellis, president of Energize, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm on volunteerism, suggests that nonprofits think of think of such people, as offering an opportunity for both the person and the organization to benefit. These individuals can come from many walks of life, and in order to find them, Ellis offers several suggestions for searching:

• Assess which corporations in your community have foreign branches or offices and might therefore rotate foreign workers and their families. Contact their human resources departments and enlist their help in spreading the word about the possibilities and benefits of volunteering.
  
  
• Talk with the admissions offices of local colleges and find out which departments or faculty/staff members offer guidance to foreign students. Also, find out which organizations on campus sponsor international exchange programs or reach out in other ways to foreign students.
  
  
• Identify any community programs for immigrants, as well as organizations promoting "hyphenated" affiliations.
  
  
• Contact foreign-language newspapers to see if they would be interested in running a story about your organization.
  
  
• Collaborate with foreign-exchange programs, either for students or diplomatic visitors.
  
  
• Post your volunteer opportunities for foreign nationals on Web sites that have an international focus.

12. Volunteer management in cyberspace

In addition to its other advantages, the online environment provides many possibilities for volunteer recruitment and management. In her chapter "Volunteer Recruitment and Management" in the book Nonprofit Internet Strategies, Alison Li presents some of the online options that have become available to nonprofits regarding their volunteers:

• Online volunteer matching. Online volunteer matching services allow organizations to reach new prospective supporters beyond geographic borders. Would-be volunteers can search for opportunities by name of organization, location, mission or other criteria that matter to them. Volunteers can learn more about organizations with they are familiar and discover new organizations they were not aware of.
  
  
• Expanding the boundaries of volunteering. Internet resources can help managers rethink the way volunteers are recruited and managed, primarily by reaching those who do not fit traditional molds by virtue of age, disability, race, ethnicity or availability.
  
  
• Virtual volunteering. Opportunities are now open to people who find it difficult to volunteer in person because of disabilities or work or family responsibilities that prevent them from coming to an office during regular working hours.
  
  
• Managing and retaining volunteers. Online tools can allow volunteers to schedule their work and log their hours via email or an online scheduling system.
  
  
• Recognizing volunteer efforts. The Web is an excellent place to recognize the accomplishments of volunteers.
  
  
• Corporate linkup. Many corporations are searching for ways to help their employees volunteer and to serve their communities, and the Net helps them do this.

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