This document provides guidance on building and maintaining a volunteer base through effective volunteer coordination. It outlines key steps including recruitment, orientation, engagement and retention of volunteers. Specifically, it emphasizes the importance of personal connection to volunteers, having structured volunteer roles and stages of involvement, clear policies and strategies for recruitment, and ongoing appreciation and recognition to encourage long-term volunteer retention.

1. HIGH IMPACT VOLUNTEERING
Critical steps to building and maintaining your
volunteer base

2. AGENDA
 Personal Connection!
 Stages of Volunteer Coordination
 Recruitment
 Orientation
 Engagement
 Retention
 Things to Consider
 Useful Resources

3. PERSONAL CONNECTION!
 Be responsive
 Prompt answers & guidance
 Solicit feedback
 Enlist the help of seasoned volunteers
 Buddy system
 Mentoring
 Liaisons
 Matchmakers
 Create a community
 Teams
 Facebook
 Events
 Set realistic expectations

4. STAGES OF VOLUNTEER COORDINATION
1. Recruitment
1. Volunteer Roles
2. Policies
3. Strategies
2. Orientation
1. Application and Registration
2. Logistics
3. Presentation
3. Engagement
1. Orientation Follow-Up
2. Deployment
4. Retention
1. Vision
2. Metrics/Impact
3. Personal Connection/Community
4. Appreciation/Recognition

5. RECRUITMENT: VOLUNTEER ROLES
 Identify key areas of need and schedules
 Write position descriptions
 Describe essential duties
 Include skills and experience needed
 Describe the physical conditions
 Who will coordinate volunteers?
 Dedicated volunteer coordination (VC) committee
 Invest time/resources

6. RECRUITMENT: POLICIES
 Create Volunteer Handbook
 Set expectations
 Minimum time commitment
 Age guidelines
 Shelter environment
 Dealing with animals
 Outline do‟s and don‟ts
 Search online for samples

7. RECRUITMENT: STRATEGIES
 Overall organizational marketing is key
 APA! does little recruitment
 Strong brand awareness = more volunteers
 Leverage existing staff & volunteers
 Leverage the community
 Online recruitment
 VolunteerMatch, Craigslist, Facebook

8. ORIENTATION: APPLICATION AND
REGISTRATION
 Applications are a necessity
 Liability and release
 Capture key information
 Search online for sample applications
 APA! uses Zoho (free)
 Application auto-response
 To register or not to register?

9. ORIENTATION: LOGISTICS
 Location
 Someone‟s house, local business, church, etc.
 Supplies
 Copy of Volunteer Handbook
 Nametags
 Pens
 Choice sheets
 PowerPoint
 Donations/T-shirt sales

10. ORIENTATION: PRESENTATION
 Content
 Follow Volunteer Handbook
 History and mission of organization
 Specific volunteer duties and teams
 Necessary training and safety info
 Set expectations – The 3 P‟s
 Clear next steps
 Choice Sheet

11. ENGAGEMENT: ORIENTATION FOLLOW-UP
 Be Responsive
 Prompt follow up
 Add to email list
 APA! uses Yahoo Groups
 Send welcome letter
 Establish personal connection
 Connect volunteers with team leaders/liaisons
 Matchmakers
 VC team
 Share “insider” info
 Wiki page, Facebook groups, etc.

12. ENGAGEMENT: DEPLOYMENT
 Volunteer shifts
 Encourage accountability
 Provide direction for new volunteers
 Buddy system or mentors
 Pair new volunteers up with veterans
 Liaisons
 Link between ops team and VC team
 Provide training
 Volunteers know what to do and how to do it
 Check in/retrain

13. RETENTION: VISION
 Communicate Your Vision
 Remind & refer to vision often
 Tie into metrics/impact

14. RETENTION: METRICS/IMPACT
 Share success stories
 Communicate metrics
 Celebrate accomplishments

15. RETENTION: PERSONAL
CONNECTION/COMMUNITY!
 Be responsive
 Enlist the help of seasoned volunteers
 Create a community
 „Uniform‟
 Teams
 Facebook
 Events
 Set realistic expectations

16. RETENTION: APPRECIATION/RECOGNITION
 Appreciation
 Parties or gatherings
 “Thank you” and a positive attitude
 Recognition
 Volunteer of the Month
 Veteran volunteers
 Meaningful items as reward
 i.e. Volunteer t-shirt instead of a plaque
 Organization-wide and team-specific

17. THINGS TO CONSIDER
 Tracking hours – APA now
 Unique cases
 Walk-In Volunteers
 Group volunteers?
 Pro: Good for large projects
 Con: Require more management, short-term
 Under 18?
 Pro: Recruit and retain parents
 Con: Safety concerns, management
 Community service
 Pro: Increases number of helping hands!
 Con: Less invested in the organization, more oversight

18. USEFUL RESOURCES
 Your organization‟s website
 Other organizations‟ manuals, articles, how-to‟s
 Zoho
 Volunteer response templates (canned responses)
 Google docs & forms
 Yahoo or Google groups
 www.idealist.org
 RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program)
 HSUS‟s Volunteer Management Discussion Group
 Local Volunteer Management Groups