Real challenge to creating a volunteer program

Properly screening your volunteers can be tremendously beneficial for your nonprofit as well as your volunteers. You want to make sure everyone is safe and that you preserve your organization. Properly screening your volunteers may take time but it is worth it. Using a volunteer management software will help make your onboarding process simple.

Not only will it help automate some of the work but it will help you organize all of the volunteers into groups. Organizing your volunteers into groups will help you see where they are in the onboarding process.

It is important to make a good first impression. Developing a training environment that makes your volunteers feel at home will increase your retention rates. Strive to provide an environment where your volunteers will feel welcome from the moment they step through your doors. Now that you have developed a solid training program and begun the onboarding process, you are ready to begin training. You want to build a program that is easy to follow and sets the right tone for your volunteers moving forward.

In your introduction to training, you want to establish expectations, guidelines, and procedures. Establishing your expectations upfront will help determine if your recruited volunteers are the right match for your cause. This also creates transparency. They will know your goals and where your organization is trying to go. Volunteers want to feel as though they are gaining something by working with your nonprofit. This could be a transformational experience or help volunteers with their skill development.

The execution of your training program is just as important as the process itself. This is where your volunteers will feel the value they can add and the growth opportunities they could be given.

Once your volunteer training program is complete, it is time to celebrate with your volunteers. Although training is an ongoing process, celebrating milestones can have a big impact on your volunteers. Every interaction your volunteers have with your nonprofit is an opportunity for learning and growth.

Training never stops. If you want your volunteers to be lifelong supporters, create an environment of growth and development. Supervising, supporting, and evaluating your volunteers will assure them that they are just as valued as your employees.

Someone who is not performing or being helpful can slow down any event or the entire organization. Prior to the day of the event, they received their volunteer handbooks and already returned to you the required forms. On the day of the event, you choose to hold a quick 5-minute group orientation and then release the volunteers to their stations where employees or trained volunteer leaders are ready to engage the volunteers in safety and job-specific training.

The point is you can customize your orientation and training to the needs of your volunteer program. Volunteer supervisors are an important link between volunteers and the goals of the organization, and good supervisors support volunteers in their work by doing things like providing clear instruction, checking in regularly to monitor progress and help resolve issues, and providing constructive feedback.

Volunteer supervisors ensure the creation of meaningful, impactful work for volunteers while creating an environment of mutual accountability in their team.

One of the most powerful motivators to keep people coming back and volunteering for an organization is meaningful service. Thank your volunteers and let them know how much you appreciate them. Many hands make light work. You need volunteers to get more done, grow your nonprofit, and change more lives.

Oh my God ,this has been a very helpful article for me. I will make it exactly as you taught me. Talk about being on cloud nine! Volunteers can help by Providing direct service to your clients. Offering expertise or experience that your nonprofit needs. Serving on your Board and committees. Supporting events and fundraising efforts. And so much more. What is a volunteer program? PLANNING To start a successful volunteer program, think through what you want and need from volunteers and what it will take to engage volunteers in a meaningful way.

Intake forms and processes — This is the human resources component of your volunteer program. Create documented procedures for recruitment, onboarding, training, supervision, and collecting and tracking data like the number of volunteer hours donated this month.

Create a volunteer handbook and give a copy to all volunteers. Your volunteer handbook should provide all the information the volunteer needs to do the job including policies, useful organizational information mission, history, goals, etc.

Use a volunteer database to make managing your volunteer program easier and more efficient. The right database can automate processes, capture information, offer reporting, and much more. Check out these free volunteer software options. The smartest thing you can do is to simply ASK. When things go well and the volunteer is doing a great job, celebrate it. When a project is completed, celebrate that, too. Acknowledge volunteers and share with them details about the impact their work makes.

The Bottom Line. Additional resources. About the Author: Leah Holt. Leah helps new, small, and growing nonprofits with their grant needs, including grant research, grant writing, grant coaching, and grant review.

Some are simply looking to fill a void in their lives or develop new skills. At Wreaths Across America, we have been blessed with a large, committed and dedicated group of volunteers. I suppose it began in , when my husband, Morrill, owner of Worcester Wreath Company, had a surplus of 5, wreaths. The experience was life changing, and before he left he vowed we would continue to bring wreaths to Arlington each December. We received some unexpected news coverage several years later in , when a U.

Air Force photographer took a photo of the 5, wreaths resting against the stones in a light snowfall. It was posted on the Internet with a poem, and, amazingly, went viral. By January , we had received over 6, emails from people all over the country who wanted to participate and help — who wanted to be part of what we were doing.

We were faced with trying to figure out how to organize a burgeoning volunteer force. Soon a second problem emerged. Requests for wreaths and wreath ceremonies came in from all over the country. By December , things had changed dramatically. We formed a board of directors and Wreaths Across America became a c 3 in Since then, the volunteers have come to us in droves. Our volunteer fundraising groups have grown in number from 1, active groups in to 2, active groups in Volunteers in donated trucks delivered every single wreath that was donated this past year to more than 1, locations nationwide.

Volunteers organized every single ceremony held last year. All our volunteers come to us with a singleness of purpose.