This document provides an overview of volunteer management best practices. It defines what a volunteer is, outlines a 5-step logic model planning process for volunteer programs including needs assessment, recruitment, orientation, supervision and recognition of volunteers, and evaluation of the program. It also discusses motivations for volunteering such as praise, accomplishment, affiliation and influence. The document recommends using a logic model for both planning and evaluation of volunteer programs.
Bart Simpson introduces his family which includes his two sisters Lisa and Maggie, his parents Homer and Marge, his dog Spasitel, and his grandfather. Bart is 10 years old, Lisa is 8, and Maggie is 2. Homer has three hairs and enjoys doughnuts and beer. Marge has long blue hair and is a homemaker. Lisa enjoys reading and is very intelligent while Maggie likes toys due to her young age.
The document discusses YouTube, noting that it was created by PayPal in 2005 and started as a dating website. It has had over 490 million users per month since 2011. The document outlines strengths of YouTube for education, including various learning videos and opportunities to learn in different ways. Potential weaknesses are that it can be time-consuming to search and easily distract students. Opportunities include finding new teaching ideas and seeing how others present information. Threats are minimal and can be filtered through settings.
The document discusses the challenges faced by HR in developing strategies that balance global best practices, local employment laws, and business needs. It notes that while HR has tools and data from decades of work, the increasing complexity of varying regional contexts and the speed of business change can cause disconnects between strategies and reality. It argues that HR needs to develop multi-layered, region-specific strategies and business plans that are structured based on financial forecasts and market data to better support corporate and business goals.
Motley's History, Aspirations And DutiesMotleyEditor
This document outlines the history, aims, and duties of Motley Magazine, a student magazine at University College Cork. It discusses Motley's past nominations and awards, its sections covering topics like news, sports, and music. The document emphasizes Motley's goals to showcase the best of UCC and Cork while helping contributors improve through feedback. It lists Motley's key readership statistics and notes section editors' responsibilities include meeting deadlines, communicating with contributors and the editor, and holding meetings to ensure high quality issues.
The document provides an overview of the basics of volunteer management, outlining a 5-step process. It discusses the importance of planning tasks and goals, recruiting and placing volunteers, providing orientation and training, supervising and recognizing volunteers, and evaluating the entire volunteer program. It also notes that understanding volunteer motivations, such as praise, accomplishment, affiliation, and influence, helps with recognition and retention.
Bart Simpson introduces his family which includes his two sisters Lisa and Maggie, his parents Homer and Marge, his dog Spasitel, and his grandfather. Bart is 10 years old, Lisa is 8, and Maggie is 2. Homer has three hairs and enjoys doughnuts and beer. Marge has long blue hair and is a homemaker. Lisa enjoys reading and is very intelligent while Maggie likes toys due to her young age.
The document discusses YouTube, noting that it was created by PayPal in 2005 and started as a dating website. It has had over 490 million users per month since 2011. The document outlines strengths of YouTube for education, including various learning videos and opportunities to learn in different ways. Potential weaknesses are that it can be time-consuming to search and easily distract students. Opportunities include finding new teaching ideas and seeing how others present information. Threats are minimal and can be filtered through settings.
The document discusses the challenges faced by HR in developing strategies that balance global best practices, local employment laws, and business needs. It notes that while HR has tools and data from decades of work, the increasing complexity of varying regional contexts and the speed of business change can cause disconnects between strategies and reality. It argues that HR needs to develop multi-layered, region-specific strategies and business plans that are structured based on financial forecasts and market data to better support corporate and business goals.
Motley's History, Aspirations And DutiesMotleyEditor
This document outlines the history, aims, and duties of Motley Magazine, a student magazine at University College Cork. It discusses Motley's past nominations and awards, its sections covering topics like news, sports, and music. The document emphasizes Motley's goals to showcase the best of UCC and Cork while helping contributors improve through feedback. It lists Motley's key readership statistics and notes section editors' responsibilities include meeting deadlines, communicating with contributors and the editor, and holding meetings to ensure high quality issues.
The document provides an overview of the basics of volunteer management, outlining a 5-step process. It discusses the importance of planning tasks and goals, recruiting and placing volunteers, providing orientation and training, supervising and recognizing volunteers, and evaluating the entire volunteer program. It also notes that understanding volunteer motivations, such as praise, accomplishment, affiliation, and influence, helps with recognition and retention.
This document discusses volunteer management and motivation. It provides a 5-step process for volunteer management: 1) create a plan using a logic model, 2) recruit and screen volunteers, 3) orient and train volunteers, 4) supervise and recognize volunteers, and 5) evaluate the program. It also discusses common motivators for volunteering such as praise, accomplishment, affiliation, and influence. Recognition is important for retaining volunteers by matching it to their motivations.
New to volunteer management? Looking for a refresher on the basics? This webinar will walk you through the three primary Rs - recruitment, retention and recognition. We'll discuss the most popular program components such as interviews, orientations, volunteer handbooks, and more. And, we'll talk about the importance of managing risk for your program and your organization. All attendees will also receive a sample packet with examples of program documents and program assessment checklists to help you evaluate your existing program.
As nonprofits consider the problem of program sustainability and capacity building; volunteers are a part of the answer. Effective organizations seek to engage volunteers in a variety of roles and responsibilities. This presentation provides information organizations can use as they seek to implement a volunteer program. This information will be helpful for organizations with current programs as ongoing review and revision is a part of effective volunteer management.
This document discusses school counselor agreements and the role of annual agreements between principals and school counselors. Annual agreements outline the counseling program, align it with school goals, and help principals understand counselors' roles. Agreements include details on counselors' time, data collection, mission/goals aligned with the school's, and professional development criteria. They also identify non-counseling duties and assess counselors' use of time to determine which program tasks and activities could change to better serve students.
Community Health Project Permission Form Paper.docxstudywriters
This document provides instructions for students to complete a community health project which involves selecting a site for an educational presentation, obtaining permission, and documenting project hours. Students are asked to select a community site for their presentation, draft a 250-300 word essay explaining their site selection, and submit a permission form and project hour log from the site. The project aims to provide students experience in collaborating with healthcare professionals and community members to develop and present an educational project.
The document provides details of a 3-part lesson plan on goal setting and career planning for high school students. Part 1 focuses on goal setting and creating an Individual Pathways Plan account on the myblueprint website. Students complete a goal setting worksheet and reflection. Part 2 explains personality types based on John Holland's theory and has students take a personality test and reflection. Part 3 reviews the high school application process and Ontario Secondary School Diploma requirements, and has students explore course options and complete a final reflection.
The document provides an overview of a workshop on obtaining federal grants. It discusses assessing organizational capacity, developing goals and objectives, writing the proposal concept, needs assessment, evaluation measures, sustainability planning, developing a federal budget, and the grant writing process. Key areas covered include building the proposal based on requirements, developing timelines and partnerships, and qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods.
Rotary Peace Centers staff provide you with tips on what to include in your resume and how to write an ideal essay for the 2016 application. During the webinar you will be shown examples of what successful essays and resumes look like and will be given advice on how to submit the best application possible. View the recording: https://vimeo.com/125070337
Data-Driven Student Success Programming in Residence Life - ACUHO-I 2013Ryan O'Connell
Here are a few suggestions for how to sensitively and helpfully discuss non-cognitive assessment results during a mock intervention conversation:
- Focus on strengths and growth areas, not weaknesses. Point to skills and mindsets that can be further developed.
- Emphasize that the results are meant to foster self-awareness and connection to resources, not label or judge. Everyone has room to grow.
- Suggest campus activities, services or people who could provide support in areas identified. Offer to make introductions if wanted.
- Ask open-ended questions to understand the student's perspective and priorities before advising. Listen actively.
- Recommend following up to check progress, but avoid an evaluative
Fall Directors 2014: Junior/Upperclass Research Projects PresentationBonner Foundation
This document discusses connecting community-based research projects to the Bonner student experience. It describes how community-based research recognizes community strengths, promotes co-learning between community partners and students, and aims to benefit both parties. Examples of potential projects involve areas like volunteer management, program development, fundraising, and communications. The Bonner Center's role includes helping partners identify research questions, facilitating approvals, providing student support and advising, and ensuring results are disseminated to benefit the community partner. The goal is for research to enhance partners' capacity while also providing valuable learning experiences for students.
The Individual Development Plan for Postdoctoral Professional Developmentauthors boards
Purpose of the Individual Development Plan
The Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a tool designed to assist with (1) assessing an individual’s skill set relative to their career goals; (2) identifying professional goals and objectives; and (3) developing a plan to acquire the skills and competencies needed to achieve short- and long-term career objectives. While the IDP is not new, its recognition as a best practice in postdoctoral professional development is fairly recent. The Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) was an early proponent of using IDPs for postdoctoral career planning. Dr. Philip Clifford, Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Education at the Medical College of Wisconsin, played a key role in drafting and promoting the FASEB model of the Postdoctoral IDP. Because of its demonstrated usefulness in fostering professional development, the IDP is increasingly recognized as an important instrument for postdocs in a broad range of positions. A well-crafted IDP can serve as both a planning and a communications tool, allowing postdocs to identify their research and career goals and to communicate these goals to mentors, PIs, and advisors
The chapter worked with campus administration including the Campus President and Deans to develop a College Project called the Retention Initiative for Student Success (RISS) to increase retention rates. RISS included two initiatives - a Community College Completion Initiative and Ask Phi Theta Kappa events. The chapter met regularly with administration to determine objectives, which included increasing usage of support services and registration rates. A week-long event series and leadership training helped achieve a 6-10% increase across key metrics and provided lessons for future collaboration.
KAVCO VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP MODULE THREE SUPERVISIONConnie Piggott
The Volunteer Leadership Training Series is a peer-to-peer program researched, complied and created through an initiative of KAVCO members. This series of training is focused on sharing the vital elements of leading volunteers.
The document provides an overview of the Arlington Reads literacy program. It summarizes Arlington Reads' mission to increase literacy rates through free and low-cost programs for adults, youth, and families. It also serves non-readers, poor readers, and immigrants struggling with English. The program coordinates literacy initiatives through the Arlington Public Library and relies on staff, Americorps members, and volunteers to serve as teachers and tutors.
An introduction to recruiting and using skills based volunteers for nonprofit agencies. This presentation was developed for the 2009 Mental Health Corporations of America. Inc. Summer Conference.
Signature Assignment CUR 528: Planning a Needs Assessment EricaLJonesMAEd
The school district wants to improve instruction to better prepare students. A needs assessment will determine what professional development teachers need in areas like content mastery, teaching strategies, social-emotional learning, and more. Over 1,750 teachers will complete surveys and focus groups. Results will be used to design training for teachers before the next school year. The goal is to support teachers and help more students succeed.
The document discusses the components of curriculum including need analysis, aims, goals, and objectives.
It defines need analysis as activities involved in collecting information to develop a curriculum meeting students' needs. Goals are general statements of a program's purposes focusing on what students should be able to do after completing it. Objectives are specific, measurable statements describing the knowledge, behaviors, or skills students will demonstrate by the end of a course. The document provides examples and discusses properly defining goals and objectives based on the results of a need analysis.
Do you have a program or project you would like to see funded? Are you considering applying for an upcoming Nebraska Library Commission grant to support this project? Anyone interested in providing continuing education and training for Nebraska library personnel or improving library and information services to Nebraskans is welcome to participate in this session. Kathryn Brockmeier will provide a grant information session leading up to the December 2009 grant deadlines for two of the Nebraska Library Commission’s grant categories: the Continuing Education/Training Grant and the Library Improvement Grant. Kathryn will be joined by Laura Johnson and Richard Miller, who will answer specific questions about Library Commission grant priorities and review.
The session will provide the following:
* An overview of two grant categories of the NLC: the Continuing Education/Training Grant and the Library Improvement Grant
Eligibility requirements
* A detailed study of the application process and grant review, including timelines and deadlines
* Grant proposal writing hints
NCompass Live - November 12, 2009.
This document provides tips for writing an effective nomination for the 2008 Governor's Volunteer Award. It emphasizes describing specific examples of the nominee's contributions and attributes, using clear language. Nominations should highlight accomplishments and results achieved by the nominee within a specific time frame. The selection committee relies on detailed information, so nominations need thorough explanations to help the committee understand the nominee. Nominations are due February 18, 2009 by 4:30pm.
This document discusses volunteer management and motivation. It provides a 5-step process for volunteer management: 1) create a plan using a logic model, 2) recruit and screen volunteers, 3) orient and train volunteers, 4) supervise and recognize volunteers, and 5) evaluate the program. It also discusses common motivators for volunteering such as praise, accomplishment, affiliation, and influence. Recognition is important for retaining volunteers by matching it to their motivations.
New to volunteer management? Looking for a refresher on the basics? This webinar will walk you through the three primary Rs - recruitment, retention and recognition. We'll discuss the most popular program components such as interviews, orientations, volunteer handbooks, and more. And, we'll talk about the importance of managing risk for your program and your organization. All attendees will also receive a sample packet with examples of program documents and program assessment checklists to help you evaluate your existing program.
As nonprofits consider the problem of program sustainability and capacity building; volunteers are a part of the answer. Effective organizations seek to engage volunteers in a variety of roles and responsibilities. This presentation provides information organizations can use as they seek to implement a volunteer program. This information will be helpful for organizations with current programs as ongoing review and revision is a part of effective volunteer management.
This document discusses school counselor agreements and the role of annual agreements between principals and school counselors. Annual agreements outline the counseling program, align it with school goals, and help principals understand counselors' roles. Agreements include details on counselors' time, data collection, mission/goals aligned with the school's, and professional development criteria. They also identify non-counseling duties and assess counselors' use of time to determine which program tasks and activities could change to better serve students.
Community Health Project Permission Form Paper.docxstudywriters
This document provides instructions for students to complete a community health project which involves selecting a site for an educational presentation, obtaining permission, and documenting project hours. Students are asked to select a community site for their presentation, draft a 250-300 word essay explaining their site selection, and submit a permission form and project hour log from the site. The project aims to provide students experience in collaborating with healthcare professionals and community members to develop and present an educational project.
The document provides details of a 3-part lesson plan on goal setting and career planning for high school students. Part 1 focuses on goal setting and creating an Individual Pathways Plan account on the myblueprint website. Students complete a goal setting worksheet and reflection. Part 2 explains personality types based on John Holland's theory and has students take a personality test and reflection. Part 3 reviews the high school application process and Ontario Secondary School Diploma requirements, and has students explore course options and complete a final reflection.
The document provides an overview of a workshop on obtaining federal grants. It discusses assessing organizational capacity, developing goals and objectives, writing the proposal concept, needs assessment, evaluation measures, sustainability planning, developing a federal budget, and the grant writing process. Key areas covered include building the proposal based on requirements, developing timelines and partnerships, and qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods.
Rotary Peace Centers staff provide you with tips on what to include in your resume and how to write an ideal essay for the 2016 application. During the webinar you will be shown examples of what successful essays and resumes look like and will be given advice on how to submit the best application possible. View the recording: https://vimeo.com/125070337
Data-Driven Student Success Programming in Residence Life - ACUHO-I 2013Ryan O'Connell
Here are a few suggestions for how to sensitively and helpfully discuss non-cognitive assessment results during a mock intervention conversation:
- Focus on strengths and growth areas, not weaknesses. Point to skills and mindsets that can be further developed.
- Emphasize that the results are meant to foster self-awareness and connection to resources, not label or judge. Everyone has room to grow.
- Suggest campus activities, services or people who could provide support in areas identified. Offer to make introductions if wanted.
- Ask open-ended questions to understand the student's perspective and priorities before advising. Listen actively.
- Recommend following up to check progress, but avoid an evaluative
Fall Directors 2014: Junior/Upperclass Research Projects PresentationBonner Foundation
This document discusses connecting community-based research projects to the Bonner student experience. It describes how community-based research recognizes community strengths, promotes co-learning between community partners and students, and aims to benefit both parties. Examples of potential projects involve areas like volunteer management, program development, fundraising, and communications. The Bonner Center's role includes helping partners identify research questions, facilitating approvals, providing student support and advising, and ensuring results are disseminated to benefit the community partner. The goal is for research to enhance partners' capacity while also providing valuable learning experiences for students.
The Individual Development Plan for Postdoctoral Professional Developmentauthors boards
Purpose of the Individual Development Plan
The Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a tool designed to assist with (1) assessing an individual’s skill set relative to their career goals; (2) identifying professional goals and objectives; and (3) developing a plan to acquire the skills and competencies needed to achieve short- and long-term career objectives. While the IDP is not new, its recognition as a best practice in postdoctoral professional development is fairly recent. The Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) was an early proponent of using IDPs for postdoctoral career planning. Dr. Philip Clifford, Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Education at the Medical College of Wisconsin, played a key role in drafting and promoting the FASEB model of the Postdoctoral IDP. Because of its demonstrated usefulness in fostering professional development, the IDP is increasingly recognized as an important instrument for postdocs in a broad range of positions. A well-crafted IDP can serve as both a planning and a communications tool, allowing postdocs to identify their research and career goals and to communicate these goals to mentors, PIs, and advisors
The chapter worked with campus administration including the Campus President and Deans to develop a College Project called the Retention Initiative for Student Success (RISS) to increase retention rates. RISS included two initiatives - a Community College Completion Initiative and Ask Phi Theta Kappa events. The chapter met regularly with administration to determine objectives, which included increasing usage of support services and registration rates. A week-long event series and leadership training helped achieve a 6-10% increase across key metrics and provided lessons for future collaboration.
KAVCO VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP MODULE THREE SUPERVISIONConnie Piggott
The Volunteer Leadership Training Series is a peer-to-peer program researched, complied and created through an initiative of KAVCO members. This series of training is focused on sharing the vital elements of leading volunteers.
The document provides an overview of the Arlington Reads literacy program. It summarizes Arlington Reads' mission to increase literacy rates through free and low-cost programs for adults, youth, and families. It also serves non-readers, poor readers, and immigrants struggling with English. The program coordinates literacy initiatives through the Arlington Public Library and relies on staff, Americorps members, and volunteers to serve as teachers and tutors.
An introduction to recruiting and using skills based volunteers for nonprofit agencies. This presentation was developed for the 2009 Mental Health Corporations of America. Inc. Summer Conference.
Signature Assignment CUR 528: Planning a Needs Assessment EricaLJonesMAEd
The school district wants to improve instruction to better prepare students. A needs assessment will determine what professional development teachers need in areas like content mastery, teaching strategies, social-emotional learning, and more. Over 1,750 teachers will complete surveys and focus groups. Results will be used to design training for teachers before the next school year. The goal is to support teachers and help more students succeed.
The document discusses the components of curriculum including need analysis, aims, goals, and objectives.
It defines need analysis as activities involved in collecting information to develop a curriculum meeting students' needs. Goals are general statements of a program's purposes focusing on what students should be able to do after completing it. Objectives are specific, measurable statements describing the knowledge, behaviors, or skills students will demonstrate by the end of a course. The document provides examples and discusses properly defining goals and objectives based on the results of a need analysis.
Do you have a program or project you would like to see funded? Are you considering applying for an upcoming Nebraska Library Commission grant to support this project? Anyone interested in providing continuing education and training for Nebraska library personnel or improving library and information services to Nebraskans is welcome to participate in this session. Kathryn Brockmeier will provide a grant information session leading up to the December 2009 grant deadlines for two of the Nebraska Library Commission’s grant categories: the Continuing Education/Training Grant and the Library Improvement Grant. Kathryn will be joined by Laura Johnson and Richard Miller, who will answer specific questions about Library Commission grant priorities and review.
The session will provide the following:
* An overview of two grant categories of the NLC: the Continuing Education/Training Grant and the Library Improvement Grant
Eligibility requirements
* A detailed study of the application process and grant review, including timelines and deadlines
* Grant proposal writing hints
NCompass Live - November 12, 2009.
This document provides tips for writing an effective nomination for the 2008 Governor's Volunteer Award. It emphasizes describing specific examples of the nominee's contributions and attributes, using clear language. Nominations should highlight accomplishments and results achieved by the nominee within a specific time frame. The selection committee relies on detailed information, so nominations need thorough explanations to help the committee understand the nominee. Nominations are due February 18, 2009 by 4:30pm.
The Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service (KCCVS) is a statewide group appointed by the governor to engage Kentucky citizens in community service opportunities. The KCCVS works to connect volunteers, organizations, and businesses and provides leadership and coordination of volunteer activities across the state. It offers programs like AmeriCorps, volunteer recognition awards, training for non-profits, and insurance for volunteers. The KCCVS newsletter and website provide information about opportunities to address Kentucky's needs through service.
This document provides information about applying for an AmeriCorps grant, including the application timeline and process, funding priorities, grant amounts, member benefits, selection criteria, and budget requirements. Key dates include the December 1, 2009 deadline to submit proposals and the June 2010 announcement of grant results. Applicants must identify an unmet community need that AmeriCorps members will address. Funding will prioritize education, clean energy/environment, health, and veterans programs. Fixed amount grants are available for full-time members and do not require detailed budgets or reports. Selection considers program design, capacity, cost-effectiveness, and budgets. Performance measures should track outputs, outcomes, and end goals.
The document discusses motivational theories and how to motivate and retain volunteers. It describes McClelland's theory of three social motivators - achievement, affiliation, and power/influence - and what types of recognition appeal to each. It also lists factors that influence volunteer retention such as expectations, rewards, climate, and impact. The presentation concludes by asking attendees to identify one action they will take to motivate or retain volunteers based on the discussion.
AmeriCorps members are prohibited from engaging in partisan political activities, religious instruction, or influencing legislation while serving. They cannot organize or participate in protests, strikes, or union organizing. AmeriCorps service cannot benefit for-profit businesses, labor unions, partisan political organizations, or organizations engaged in religious activities or abortion services.
Successful Multi Generational Volunteer ProgramsKCCVS
This document summarizes information about multi-generational volunteer programs. It discusses the characteristics and defining experiences of four generations: the Silent/Veteran Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y/Nexters. It then provides tips for volunteer management, including recruitment strategies, screening, and placement of volunteers from different generations. The rest of the document outlines national service programs in the United States like AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America. It discusses changes to these programs under the 2009 Serve America Act.
This document discusses recruitment and retention of volunteers. It notes that volunteers choose to act without concern for monetary profit to help address needs. Some key reasons to have volunteers are credibility since they are unsalaried, volunteers can extend influence and approach assignments with less pressure. Recruitment involves determining why volunteers are wanted, developing positions, brainstorming sources, communicating opportunities, and screening applicants. Volunteers should be oriented, trained, supervised, recognized and the program evaluated to justify funding and accomplishments.
The CVA credential is a mark of excellence for volunteer management professionals that is granted by the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration. It involves passing an exam testing core competencies like ethics, organizational management, and leadership. Candidates must have 3 years of relevant experience. Maintaining certification requires earning professional development units over 5 years. The credential aims to be generic, performance-based, and developed by peers in the field.
This is the most important step. “Buy In” – especially important if you will have volunteers working along side staff and/or staff responsible for supervising volunteers. Policy Checklist – An important part of risk management is written policies. A common practice, even is not written down in a policy handbook, will still be considered policy by a court of law.
A logic model is a planning tool. It summarizes and visually presents the relationships between the key elements of a plan, such as goals, needs, inputs, outputs and results
You can use this to measure your progress.
Once you have completed the logic model writing a position description should be relatively easy. You already know how many volunteers you might need and the types of activities they will be doing. Think of the position description as the who, what, where and how. These are all important things to have in place prior to recruiting any volunteer. You can find sample position description forms on our web site at www.volunteerky.ky.gov. Group activity – complete the position description for a volunteer position at your service site. Count off by fives, select one person to report back to group.
We have to be creative about recruiting these days. One of the benefits of having completed the position description and used the logic model to plan is having all the information necessary to launch a recruitment campaign. If you want to do radio spots or newspaper ads you will already have the information written down. If you need to think creatively about what type of person you want to recruit you can start with the qualifications you outlined. Screening applicants – after you have recruited potential volunteers, you will want to do some sort of screening. Screening can include review of written application, face to face interview, reference checking, police record check, FBI screening, etc. This is another step in risk management. Unfortunately we live in a world where we hear more stories about awful things happening. We have a responsibility to protect the people we serve. My suggestion is to follow the agencies screening process for new hires for any volunteer that will be with you long term or who will have any interaction with children or vulnerable populations such as children, people with disabilities or the elderly. This may seem like a lot of work, but these days you can’t be too careful. In thinking about screening you must consider the risk versus the cost. If you have 200 people volunteering to walk in a walk-a-thon you have low risk as opposed to having a one on one mentor with a troubled youth; you would do far less screening for the walk-a-thon participants. If you have any questions about screening I would recommend you talk with the person who does this kind of things for paid staff, usually someone in human resources or the principle of the school.
Orienting and Training are other tools in the risk management tool box. By giving new volunteers this type of information you avoid the “I didn’t know” excuse for mistakes. Orientation covers topics like a volunteers schedule, dress code, what door to use, “clocking” in and out, and information about the culture of the agency. Training is providing volunteers with the skills they need to complete their assignment.
Volunteers need to know who to report to, who to go to when they have questions and who will be evaluating their performance. This should be the same person. This person should be able to tell them details about their task and assist if needed. It does not have to be a paid staff; it could be another volunteer with more experience. Each volunteer should have a time to meet with their supervisor to go over their service and talk about impact, performance, etc. Volunteers need feedback; they want to know how they are fitting into the overall structure of the organization and how their time is helping to accomplish the mission. Appropriate recognition – more on that later
In most non profits we have to justify what we are doing to some funder or “higher up”. We have to be able to provide data about the success of the volunteer program. The volunteer coordinator should be able to answer questions like “what is the profile of the average volunteer, age, race, gender, etc; what exactly do they do, do they perform their tasks successfully and how do you tell, how often are they in contact with the public, what suggestions have been made by volunteers that might be helpful”. It is also a good idea to put a monetary value to the volunteer efforts; this has a tendency to get people’s attention. According to the Independent Sector, an advocacy group for volunteers and community service groups, the estimated value of a volunteer’s time in 2007 was $19.51 an hour. Points of Light web site has a page where you can get a more accurate estimate by putting in the exact work being completed by the volunteer. www.pointsoflight.org,
Get answers from audience. Write on flip chart. Now, think of a time when you felt completely satisfied at the end of a project or effort. This can be real or fantasy. (pause for a few moments). Ask for examples and write them on chart. Not that some of the folks had different things that left them feeling satisfied. This shows that folks have different “measuring sticks” for their success. It is important to find out what a volunteers measuring stick is and use that to motivate them.
Motivators are different from reasons. We are going to break the world down into simple, neat categories and obviously this would be hard in real life. But we can gain an understanding of the concept of the basic motivators by looking at each one separately. I am going to describe the basic motivators and introduce you to a volunteer that has each. We will then work in small groups to develop a sort of “bio” for each volunteer based on their motivator. Your task is to get to know your volunteer and different aspects of his/her life or characteristics and to introduce them to the rest of the group. You must draw as many inferences as you can based on the volunteer’s motivator. One person will need to report to the larger group. Hand out “Finding Clues” for future use.
Praise is one of the most common motivators yet one of the hardest to admit to because of our fear of appearing immodest or dependent on others’ opinions of us. One can tell if one is praise-motivated by checking to see if a compliment, an award, or some other type of approval from another person or persons is what makes one feel successful. Praise motivated people need feedback, need to hear your opinion of how they’re doing, or they cannot feel successful. One should evaluate all volunteers, but it is especially important with praise-motivated people who need feedback to know if their on the right track. Meet Penny, it is important to Penny that she does a good job in others’ eyes.
On the other hand, accomplishment motivated people, while appreciating a compliment, only need their own senses to tell if they are successful. These are people who must have physical evidence of completion to feel successful; a full “out” box, boxes stacked neatly in rows, ten dozen cookies baked, etc. In fact, if your compliment is overly warm and doesn’t match their own assessment of their success, they won’t believe you. These volunteers can only feel effective with projects with tangible results. Meet Andrea, it is important to Andrea that she can see the results of her hard work for herself
Affiliate people identify with a team or group, whether a partner or friend, a family group, a company, school or organization, or even a nation. What matters to them is that their team is successful: they draw their sense of their own success from association with the team. If their college team wins the Bowl game, they themselves fell victorious. These volunteers need to be proud of the organization itself, but also are happiest working within a team setting or with others they respect and like. Hearing their team praised means more to them than individual praise. Meet Albert, it is important to Albert to feel he is part of a team he can be proud of.
This motivator is often called just “power”, but that word has negative connotations of control. While there are controlling volunteers, they are not the majority of individuals with this motivator. Far more simply want to feel their ideas are respected and valued enough to be taken seriously, so we call them influence-motivated. They are unhappy as “cogs in a wheel” – much happier as part of the steering mechanism of the metaphorical vehicle. They want their suggestions and examples to instruct and inspire others to make positive changes, whether it’s putting an at-risk youth on the path to better choices or helping a whole organization get better contacts in a new community. Meet Inez, it is important to Inez to feel her ideas and example will lead other people or groups to make better choices. Now, count off by fours. All the ones, twos, threes and fours get together and use this “Our Volunteer” work sheet to write the short bio for their volunteer. And come up with 5 ideas for appropriate recognition for this volunteer. We will take about 30 minutes for this.
Contact me for information about borrowing a book There are just tons of web sites. I would recommend energize.com and pointsoflight.org