volunteerplaintalk

Category: volunteer recruitment

  • Luncheon and Food for Thought…

    Luncheon and Food for Thought 001

    Get your dancing shoes on! This year, volunteer appreciation week in the US is April 23-29. It’s coming up in May for Australia, and June for the UK and New Zealand.

    If you have a luncheon planned, you’ve long ago selected the venue and contacted the speakers. You’ve ordered the cute online mini calculators for giveaways. (of course your calculators were shipped late because the vendor mixed up your order with one from the company, “Meals on Wheelies” who is actually a pizza delivery joint in Appleton Wisconsin) You will give up your Friday night tickets for the punk concert, “Zombie Brains Munchfest” and instead, you will sit alone, wrapping the calculators in cute purple tissue paper (which serves nicely to dab your tears) because your friends and family say they are tired of being unpaid labor.

    Volunteer appreciation events vacuum up our time and emotional energy like giant tornadoes trailing balloons. Expectations are high. Is the food great? Are the speeches sincere? Will I be able to make each volunteer feel special? But what about the volunteers who are out-of-town or are ill or just can’t come? What about the day after the event? The week? The year? Do the speeches and chocolate fountains last?

    I’m not against events. Not at all. I am though, for grabbing any opportunity to improve volunteer engagement. What if we made volunteer week a kickoff, rather than a stand alone event?

    Why not use volunteer week as a brightly colored launch to enlist staff support for acknowledging volunteers all year-long? It makes sense to jump on the festive events as a springboard for a volunteer recognition calendar. With our orchestration, ongoing volunteer appreciation can become a learned behavior within organizations.

    While the “we heart volunteers” posters are up, the splashy balloons float in the hallways, and the staff is sampling that star shaped cherry cheesecake, it’s time to pounce! As these vibrant visuals draw attention to your volunteers, it’s the perfect time to visit each department and share your recognition calendar for the year.
    A sample calendar can look something like this:

    The Volunteer Department Yearly Calendar of Volunteer Recognition!
    Every first of the month I will pass around birthday cards for the volunteers who are celebrating birthdays. I would appreciate your signature. The cards will then be mailed to the volunteers. These simple but effective cards remind each volunteer that the entire organization appreciates them on their special day. Individual recognition goes a long way towards volunteer retention.

    Every third Wednesday of each month I will visit one department to write down testimonials from staff on the incredible impact volunteers have on supporting our mission. These testimonials will be published in our volunteer newsletter which is shared with all volunteers. In addition, the testimonials will serve to recruit prospective volunteers as well. Here is the list of scheduled departments for the next twelve months. Please be thinking about our volunteers and their contributions. Your testimonials serve to reinforce the volunteer support your department deems beneficial. (Bonus: keep all the testimonials for other purposes such as recruitment ads, speeches to groups etc.)

    Every quarter I will be videotaping several staff members expressing a simple ‘thank you’ to our volunteers and I will be showing the videos at the beginning of our volunteer meetings. These videos will serve to remind the volunteers that they are important members of our team. (Bonus-you can show all of the videos at next year’s luncheon)

    I will remind everyone in an email blast the first of each month. Thank you for participating in our plan to retain our valuable volunteers and to encourage new volunteers. Staff appreciation is a motivating factor in cultivating a supportive team.

    Your written plan can include:
    A-what and when (the schedule)
    B-how (the particulars)
    C-why (the benefit to volunteers and organization)                                                                       D-in addition, your reminder schedule

    Volunteer recognition is meaningful and fun on event day. We serve up praise along with chicken salad and we may even give awards for volunteer of the year. But awards look backwards. Let’s also look forwards. Let’s develop a plan to set the tone of appreciation for the coming year. Heck, maybe announce that at next year’s luncheon, there will be an additional award for the staff members who excel at engaging and recognizing volunteers.

    Now wouldn’t that be something to truly celebrate?
    -Meridian

  • New Words Added to the Volunteer Management Dictionary

    Added to the Volunteer Management Dictionary

    It’s that time of year when the Committee to Define Volunteer Management gets together at a back table in Pete’s Bar, Grill and Bait Shop. Together, these brave members scratch their heads over several pints and attempt to come up with a succinct explanation of volunteer management. This year, they gave up once again after rejecting the phrase “herding cats,” but they decided to add the following words to the dictionary of volunteer management.

    Volvorce: When a volunteer divorces the organization as in “No, I just can’t go get new volunteer Dinesh, because since no one called him back about getting started after I introduced him to finance, he volvorced us.”

    Meetcolepsy: When too many meetings cause you to simply fall into a stupor at the thought of another talk-fest as in “No, I couldn’t make that fourteenth meeting about using the volunteers to stand by the back door in case someone gets confused because I contracted meetcolepsy. Want to see my doctor’s slip?”

    Latespectation: A last-minute request for volunteers that is expected to be filled as if you were given weeks to prepare, as in “Oh, so you need 5 volunteers tomorrow morning for an assignment that you said was extremely important? Your latespectation is showing.”

    Creditjacking: When another staff member takes credit for a successful endeavor that you or your volunteers accomplished as in “Yes, I’m glad you praised that project during the senior managers’ meeting, but let’s not creditjack the volunteers’ work, ok?”

    Duhtistics: Stats that are so incredibly obvious, like volunteers are super nice as in “I won’t bore the board with duhtistics that you’ve heard before. No, instead I want to point out some new and exciting projects we are undertaking.”

    AVOL: A volunteer who inexplicably does not return calls, emails or letters as in “I’m glad you noticed volunteer Myrna has been missing lately. I’m trying everything in my power to get in touch with her. Right now she’s AVOL.”

    Volunteer Lite: A request for a volunteer to do a menial, mindless task as in, “You’re asking me for one of our highly trained volunteers to clean out the storage closet so you can use it for your supplies? You don’t want a full-bodied volunteer, you want a volunteer lite.”

    Miracalls: Calls made to volunteers for an especially challenging or late request as in, “Woah, that’s a really challenging request (or time frame). I’ll be holed up in my office for the rest of the day, making miracalls.”

    Informashunned: (pronounced in-for-may-shunned) Not given the essential information needed to properly place a volunteer as in “I have recruited four of our best volunteers for that assignment, but my pleas for crucial information have been ignored. Right now, our volunteers are informashunned.”

    Nopinion: Volunteers wanted, but not their opinions as in, “I’m glad you were able to use volunteer Mark’s expertise, but he felt rebuffed when he offered additional knowledge. I guess you really want an expert but nopinion volunteer.” 

    Vombie: That volunteer everyone is afraid of and no one wants to council or fire, as in, “I know Janey is a handful and she’s been here for what, twenty years now. I guess she’s been allowed to attain Vombie status and now that I’m here, I will deal with it in a professional manner.”

    Callwaiter: The notion that volunteers sit by the phone just waiting to hear from us as in, “It is Friday afternoon and most of our volunteers have already made plans for tomorrow. I’ll make some miracalls, but our vibrant and diverse volunteers aren’t callwaiters.”

    Marathonitor: The running around, checking, double-checking and rechecking to ensure that volunteers have all the information and tools they need to succeed as in “Our fifteen volunteers are ready for Saturday’s important annual event, but in order for them to excel, I will be marathonitoring their involvement, so I won’t be attending any meetings tomorrow or making miracalls to fill latespectation requests.”

    Well, there you have it. As one of the senior members of the Committee to Define Volunteer Management said after several glasses of Pinot Grigio, “Dang, defining volunteer management is really impifficult.”

    -Meridian

  • Induction vs. Orientation: The one year volunteer committment

    Induction vs. Orientation

    Two volunteer managers, Jessup and Chloe were both excited when the brought in new volunteers.

    Jessup, who manages volunteers for a start-up, said, “I was asked to find volunteers to help with our kick off campaign. I brought in a trio of talented volunteers and one of our marketers patiently showed them what needed to be done. The volunteers did exceptionally well, but they didn’t stay with us very long. I had to recruit again and again.”

    Chloe, meanwhile, who manages volunteers at a different start-up said, “I recruited a few volunteers to help with our kick-off. I was a bit worried because the volunteers were from varied backgrounds and had really different talents. But, you know, although it took them a bit to get going, all the staff here helped out. Those volunteers are still with us today.”

    Volunteer retention is a nuanced and complicated concept. Some parts of it can be controlled and some cannot. But one thing we can control is induction and orientation. Why does a seemingly perfect volunteer become disinterested? Why does another volunteer fit in like a glove? How do volunteers gel with the mission?

    Let’s look at induction and orientation: Can we get away with offering one and not the other?

    Induction is the formal process in which to introduce a volunteer to their job. (the mechanics)

    Orientation is the integration of the volunteer into the organization. (the gel)

    Jessup’s organization lost volunteers because they did not orient them. Chloe’s on the other hand, used both induction and orientation.

    As volunteer managers, we need to use both induction and orientation to retain great volunteers. And, our entire organizations must be involved. Here is an example:

    Induction:

    1. Volunteer manager shows volunteer where break room is, supplies are kept, what the policies are, etc.
    2. Staff member who best knows the job shows volunteer how to do the work, where bathroom nearest station is located, etc.

    Orientation:

    1. Volunteer manager welcomes, presents organizational goals, history etc.
    2. CEO welcomes volunteers to organization, emphasizes contributions from volunteers.
    3. A seasoned volunteer is paired with newbie to mentor and encourage.
    4. Staff introduces themselves to volunteer, thanks, offers assistance, assures volunteer they are appreciated and part of team.

    Both induction and orientation are vital to engaging volunteers. If we make them feel a part of the team, but do not give them the knowledge and equipment to do their jobs, they will leave. If we give them all the training in the world, but do not integrate them into our mission, they will also leave.

    And here’s the thing. Most of us toy with the idea of having a volunteer sign a one year commitment. But maybe that’s just backwards. What we might do instead is ask our entire organization to sign a commitment for each and every volunteer. This commitment would look something like this:

    I, the undersigned, ___________________________ commits to do my part in  orienting, inducting and engaging each and every new volunteer for as long as that volunteer is ethically representing our organization and mission.

    Ask the CEO to require each staff member to sign this commitment. And maybe if you are feeling a bit ambitious, you can point out that volunteer engagement should be part of each employee’s yearly evaluation.

    Woah, be still my heart.

    -Meridian

     

  • The Inner Volunteer

    The Inner Volunteer

    Do the words, skilled volunteers make you shudder?

    One day Marcel reported his recruitment efforts to the executive action committee. “I had just reported on the addition of several new corporate groups when the executive director stopped me and asked why I couldn’t just get public school teachers to come in on Saturdays and read to the children at our shelters.”

    The CEO asked, “wouldn’t it be a lot easier because teachers already have the skill set?”

    Marcel continued, “In my head I wanted to ask her if, after a hectic week directing a charity organization, why didn’t she go on her day off and volunteer to run a startup charity organization. I mean, yes, I’m recruiting teachers because of their skill sets, but so many other types of volunteers passionately want to read to our clients’ children. To me, passion is what makes for a great volunteer.”

    Skilled volunteers are often equated with perfect volunteers. Often, the term skilled volunteer becomes synonymous with the notion that volunteers are easy to recruit. Why not just get a lawyer, or a carpenter or an IT technician? But we know it isn’t so simple. Does a person with a certain desirable credential want to use that credential in volunteering? Sometimes, but of course, not always.

    We’ve all had volunteers who wanted to forgo their professional skill set. We’ve seen them unlock their inner volunteer and utilize a side that would never appear on paper, but one that excites them and ultimately serves us so well. For example:

    The FBI agent that becomes a hand holder for older male clients, This agent’s inner skill set came from having to listen carefully when interviewing suspects. Now he uses that skill in a new and gentle way.

    The IT professional that creates an art therapy program. While her left digital brain is writing code, her right analog brain thirsts for the inner creativity she passionately exercises while volunteering. Ironically this volunteering outlet makes her better at her IT job.

    The Stay at Home Mom who takes charge of a new program and excels at giving direction and getting results. At home, her inner manager directs her family’s activities, finances, and schedules with a precision borne out of love and necessity. She brings these honed skills to the program and treats her fellow volunteers as beloved family. They flourish under her direction.

    And on the flip side, what about the skilled volunteer who taps into their inner director or educator and looks for more ways to help? What if they offer their expert advice and opinion on the workings of our organizations? Are our organizations prepared to accept this advice? For instance:

    • The teacher who wants to replace the reading program at the shelter because it is outdated and insensitive.
    • The carpenter who advises that the repairs on a project are unsafe and non-compliant with code.
    • The attorney who suggests that policies and procedures are antiquated, potentially a risk management nightmare and need a complete overhaul.
    • The marketing expert who points out that the latest campaign is fraught with errors and tired themes.

    This begs these questions:

    • How does an organization define a skilled volunteer?
    • Are organizations willing to accept the advice that comes with experienced and accomplished people?  
    • Do organizations view skilled volunteers as peers, useful tools or something else?

    This is why clarification is so important. When an organization asks for skilled volunteers, we need to ask these questions:

    • Do we value skill over passion and commitment?
    • Who is responsible for a skilled volunteers’ mistakes? Are these volunteers’ licenses or credentials at risk?
    • What are the legal ramifications of utilizing volunteers in a professional capacity?
    • Who is going to field expert questions from skilled volunteers? The CEO?

    As organizations ask volunteer managers to recruit skilled volunteers for expert help, clarification is essential. Clarification goes far beyond a simple job description. It goes to the very core of the inner volunteer. Passion vs. skill. Sideline expertise vs. full skill set participation. Legal consideration vs. a laissez-faire attitude. Hands on vs. hands off risk management.

    With skill there is ramification. Are we prepared legally to engage volunteers with licenses and certifications?

    With skill comes expert advice. How much skilled advice are we willing to accept?

    Or, are we just throwing out a poorly defined concept?

    -Meridian

    For a great article on skilled volunteering, please see Rob Jackson’s post on this subject.