volunteerplaintalk

Tag: NGO

  • Helicopter Volunteer Management

    photo of helicopter on flight
    Photo by Alex Broski on Pexels.com

    Yvonne looked at her watch. “Oh my gosh, it’s 12:30, I have to get up there.” She hastily threw the rest of her lunch away, closed her office door and headed upstairs to the workroom. Her volunteer, Angie was just settling in for her Thursday afternoon work recording client surveys. Angie picked up the rubber banded stack and opened the computer program on the aging desktop.

    “Hey, Yvonne, how are you?” Angie asked. This corner of the workroom, designated for volunteers was quiet, a bit dark, since the clouds outside threatened rain.

    “Great, now that you’re here.” Yvonne turned on the lamp a few feet from the desk. Do you have everything you need?”

    “I think so,” Angie said, looking around. “I’m not sure if all the new surveys are here, but I can work with these.”

    “Oh,” Yvonne put her hand on Angie’s shoulder. “I’ll go find out where the new ones are and bring them to you.” She headed back to her office. After several phone calls, Yvonne tracked Garth in compliance down and was able to retrieve the latest pack of surveys and bring them to Angie.

    Helicopter volunteer management. When does making sure that volunteers are engaged border on hovering and intrusion?  When does the desire to give volunteers a meaningful experience devolve into swaddling them in bubble wrap?

    We, volunteer managers can often walk an emotional tightrope when we “hand over” a volunteer to a department. We can feel like the typical proud parent, especially when we have spent precious emotional time cultivating a volunteer. We recruit with an impassioned plea. We interview with laser focus, zeroing in on the volunteer’s strengths and desires. We train with patience, allowing enough time and questions to ready the volunteer for greatness. We instill in them what a great experience they will have.

    And unfortunately, we carry scars, too. We’ve turned over excellent and ready volunteers, only to see them leave due to being under utilized or given confusing directions or not contacted quickly enough. We see all our upfront work wasted, our emotional investment dashed and we think of “what could have been.”

    Sometimes, we just want to pick our battles. We know that if we complain that certain staff members don’t take working with volunteers seriously, we will be rebuffed, or labeled “negative” by senior management. And so, we pick up the slack, or follow a volunteer about, making sure that he has everything he needs. And maybe it’s not even that. Maybe we realize that departments are just not going to cuddle our volunteers and that scares us a bit.

    While we have the best interests of the volunteer and organization at heart, does helicopter volunteer management have its drawbacks? What might they be?

    • We perpetuate the stereotype that volunteers are low-skilled. By running around making everything ok, we send a message to the staff working with them that volunteers are not capable of doing the job without our help.
    • We create volunteer dependence. When we subtly say to our volunteers, “you need me in order to succeed,” we create a dependence on us and rob the volunteers of using their common sense and being able to forge a relationship with the departments they work for.
    • We use precious time better spent elsewhere. When we follow volunteers around, we miss opportunities to recruit other volunteers, or create new programs.

    So, how can we let go of helicoptering?

    • Pull a new volunteer if a department doesn’t reach out to them within 3 days. Re-assign that volunteer to another department, or better yet, keep that volunteer and ask them to help you with your projects. Don’t chase a department, begging them to call the new volunteer. And don’t be so quick to get them another one, but explain that if they cannot contact new volunteers in a timely manner, then volunteers won’t wait.
    • Prepare volunteers as well as you can and give them instructions to call you if they need you.
    • Praise staff who work well with volunteers. Create awards for key staff, Trust the time it takes for them to forge relationships with volunteers.
    • Expect some amount of failure. Unfortunately, failures will occur. It’s important to not blame yourself, or to fall back into the helicopter mode.
    • Appoint seasoned volunteers as mentors. Ask them to take new volunteers under their wing and to check in with new volunteers often at first.
    • Gather feedback, especially from new volunteers. Prepare a “new volunteer report,” and include their comments, both positive and negative. Share with senior management.
    • Prepare departments individually to work with volunteers through a “new volunteer integration plan.”
    • Continue to educate staff. Create training through in-person, video, manuals, posted tips or cheat sheets. Help staff learn how to work with volunteers.

    Our desire to hover over our volunteers is understandable since it is most often based on experiences we’ve had when helplessly watching volunteers leave due to being under utilized or due to the amount of effort we put into cultivating and readying new volunteers.

    Instead of hovering, which simply band-aids any problems, we can begin to work on fixing our tendency to helicopter by addressing the underlying issue: What do we think happens to volunteers once they leave our cocoon of cultivation?

    • Do we assume they will be mistreated?
    • Do we assume they are not capable of handling themselves?
    • Do we think that once volunteers ask questions, or need something, they will be labeled “difficult?”
    • Do we secretly desire to be the only person who can get the best out of the volunteer?
    • Is it more than just doing our jobs for us?

    We have to be careful in how we view volunteers and our role. If we operate in an “us vs. the rest of the organizational staff” bubble, then we are going to helicopter our volunteers. And we’re going to take any shortcomings by staff personally. Stress will follow us everywhere.

    If, instead, we open up and begin to work within the system, (good and bad) we can start to clearly see where challenges lie and then, in a professional way, find solutions.

    One of the areas that may need tweaking is in that zone where a new volunteer joins a department. Before a new volunteer is assigned, help your organization’s departments answer these questions and formulate a “new volunteer integration plan:”

    • Does my department have a plan in place for new volunteers?
    • Do we have a departmental staff member to mentor new volunteers?
    • Do we have someone designated to answer questions?
    • What is our course of action should the volunteer need more help than we can give or is not working out?
    • How do we help the new volunteer succeed, but continue to get our work done?

    Once these questions are adequately addressed, a new volunteer should fit into a department more comfortably, thus removing a lot of the anxiety felt by the volunteer manager who placed the volunteer in good faith.

    Cultivating volunteers is a highly emotional experience. We get caught up in the volunteers’ passion and desire and sometimes their issues. We want to help them. While noble, this desire to see them flourish can take an emotional toll on us.

    Can we set aside our emotional investment and let them fly? Can we forcefully, yet professionally advocate for top-down respect for volunteers and their time? Can we partner with other departments to set up a system for integrating new volunteers? Can we meet out consequences in a solution-related manner when departments fail our volunteers?

    We, volunteer managers invest heavily in our volunteers with our time, energy, mentoring, and passion. It’s time we also invest in our own emotional health by setting our organizations up to successfully integrate new volunteers so that we can refrain from helicoptering and move forward to recruiting and creating innovative programs.

    -Meridian

     

     

     

  • Velp or Vichelin Stars, Whichever

    Velp or Vichelin Stars.png

    Do you clap on Medium or use Yelp or TripAdvisor or any of the rating systems? Do they influence your reading habits or purchases?

    What if we were to institute ratings for volunteer organizations? “Yipes, are you nuts,” comes to mind. But, in reading Jayne Cravens’ excellent post, Volunteers should be talking about their experience online, on volunteers and social media experience sharing, it reminded me of something I posted a few years back.

    In my post entitled, Of Tires, Stars and Volunteer Organizations, I argued that we should adopt a sort of Michelin Star rating system for volunteer organizations, one in which a central volunteer agency awards Volunteer Centric Stars based on attaining specific volunteer centric goals. Points of Light already does offer a path to becoming a service enterprise organization through their program. I’d love to see an expansion on that idea, one that has visual impact (stars) and levels of deeper commitment to volunteer engagement so that volunteers, donors and the community can easily see how much effort is placed on volunteerism.

    Why would that visual make a difference? Well, why do we stop at hotels that have 5 stars, or why do we aspire to eat at a 3 star Michelin restaurant? Because there is accountability involved, whether it is through public rating or through an organization that creates standards.

    At this point, volunteers have little to go on when choosing a volunteer organization, unless they have been a recipient of services. And with little to no rating system, why should any organization try to do better?

    And what is the purpose of rating anyway, at least in theory? It’s feedback for entities being rated and guides for people looking for the best place to spend money or time. Let’s look at this example of the power of feedback:

    Ben owns a small, upscale restaurant. Traffic has been down lately. He thinks, it’s got to be the quality of the food, so he sits down with his chef, Alisha and tells her that the diners are not happy. He sends Alisha to scope out other restaurants in the area so that she can mimic their menu. Alisha dutifully does as Ben asks, but there is no increase in traffic. Frustrated, Ben looks for another chef and replaces Alisha with Jorge. Together,  Ben and Jorge revamp the menu. Ben advertises a grand re-opening and for a few short weeks, traffic increases, but it falls to a level that is lower than before the re-opening. Perplexed, Ben finally joins a review site and to his amazement, the overwhelming complaints shared by his patrons are the rude wait staff, charging for water and the dirty bathroom. Ben had blamed Alisha and her food for the drop in customers, but it was other areas of his restaurant that drove them away. Ben had forgotten that dining is an experience and that every person and area in his restaurant contributes to that experience.

    It’s no different with volunteers. Every person and area in an organization contributes to the volunteer’s experience, including the volunteer manager and other volunteers, ease of getting started, scope of work, etc.

    The question, then becomes: What would volunteers say? It might be a frightening thought at first. But, how do we fix what we don’t know? How do we back up the idea that keeping volunteers motivated is everyone’s job? How do we illustrate our assertion that volunteers are looking for flexibility, or projects or skills based volunteering opportunities?

    Until there is a volunteer rating system, if ever, can we just cut and paste one? Yes, we can and do. It’s our surveys or exit interviews, our conversations with volunteers and as Jayne Cravens so brilliantly points out, our monitoring of volunteer comments on social media.

    Anonymous surveys can give volunteers a chance to be honest with us and provide the feedback that supports our assertions. If you do send out a survey, there are some feedback by-products that you might want to utilize:

    • At the bottom of the survey, give an option to include the volunteer’s name with the promise that anything that needs to be addressed, will be done in confidence. Follow-up with the volunteer.
    • Indicate on the survey that quotes will be utilized for recruitment purposes. Then, use the positive quotes as testimonials on your recruitment information, even if they are anonymous.
    • Share the positive and negative responses with upper management as an instructive way to show what is working and what is not working. If volunteers indicate that certain departments are not utilizing them or taking too long to contact them, then upper management needs to know that. Prepare a report based on the feedback you receive. Do it in a professional, instructive way, not in an emotional, “see, you guys are mean, and I’m frustrated,” way. Based on feedback, come up with recommendations to fix the negatives such as enhanced training for staff, better software to capture data, a review of jobs and positions, etc.

    Scour social media sites for any comments on your volunteer program. Add those to your feedback report.

    Even though there is not yet a Velp or Vichelin Stars, there is still organic rating going on in the form of word of mouth, social media and surveys. Feedback helps us cement the things we know, while we discover the things we don’t know. Think of the ways to use it to your benefit and encourage volunteers to give their feedback.

    We can preach all we want about the path to meaningful volunteer engagement. But, if we really want things to change, it’s time to back it up with concrete evidence.

    -Meridian

     

     

     

     

  • Volunteer Chaos Theory: If a butterfly flaps its wings, will Jeremy volunteer?

    pexels-photo-587085.jpeg

    I’m on a short vacation this week, so I’m revisiting a post I wrote in 2015 and tweaking it just a bit.

    Volunteering needs to have its own chaos theory:  You know, the one that starts with “if a butterfly flaps it’s wings in Brazil, will it spawn a tornado in Texas…”  because engaging volunteers can be quite chaotic.
    Have you noticed that a lot of really smart people look at volunteerism in a very linear way? Their volunteering theory in no way takes into account any chaotic variables that affect whether a potential volunteer follows through, or an existing volunteer stays. Instead, it all depends upon how well volunteer managers “sell” the program.
    Their linear theory  goes something like this:
    Volunteer Manager (VM) sitting at desk. A long line of prospective volunteers stand outside the door patiently waiting for their turn to do good.

    VM: Who’s next? May I help you?

    New Volunteer Jeremy (J): Hi, I’m answering your ad for volunteer help. Can you tell me more about it? I really want to do good and I can’t do good on my own so I came here.

    VM: Why yes, we need someone to do good by helping put up supplies.

    J: Oh my gosh, this is unbelievable, I have a Master’s Degree in putting up supplies! I’ve put up supplies for most of my life. I love nothing more than to put up supplies! When can I start to do some good?

    VM: Well, you first have to go through some orientation and training. There’s four sessions starting tomorrow. That might be a bit last-minute.

    J: Tomorrow, huh? Well I had some important surgery scheduled for tomorrow, but I think I’ll reschedule that. To do good by putting up supplies is far more important. I can take the pain a little longer for the chance to volunteer here.

    VM: Wonderful. After that we need to do a background check. It needs to be done before you come to training. That just gives you this afternoon to get it done.

    J: This afternoon, huh? I actually have an interview for the job of my dreams this afternoon. It’s a job in putting up supplies, but hey, I’ll bet they’ll understand if I don’t come. I’m sure another job of my dreams will come along in another decade or so. After we speak, I will go to the police station and do the background check. I’ll pay for that myself. While I’m there, do you want me to pay for some other volunteers?

    VM: No, that’s not necessary, thank you. Let me check the schedule for the all-important supply put-uppers. Are you available to work on Tuesdays?

    J: Wow, Tuesdays, huh? That’s the only day I have to take my elderly Mother out of the nursing home. She really loves our outings, but hey, what the heck, putting up supplies for you guys is so much more important. I can maybe write my mom some letters. I’ll be here every Tuesday doing good! By the way, what kind of supplies are we talking about?

    VM: Well, our organization gets shipments of office paper supplies on Tuesdays. No one here is willing to do that work.

    J: Office paper supplies, huh? I’m violently allergic to office paper, but you know, my college thesis was on the body mechanics of putting up office paper supplies! That’s where I learned I was allergic. But, I’ll just go to my doctor after the background check and get some stronger medication. Is there an emergency room close by here, just in case the medicine doesn’t work?

    VM: There’s a hospital about five miles from here.

    J: That’s fine, I’m sure they have ambulances.

    VM: You do know, Jeremy that you will have to work alone in a hallway closet. There’s not much light or air, but that’s where the supplies are kept. Is that all right?

    J: I do have a fear of the dark, but what the heck! My minor in college was working alone in a closet, where I learned I had a fear of the dark, but I’ll just bring my own flashlight.

    VM: Great, we will see you tomorrow. Thanks so much for volunteering. Next!

    So, in this linear theory, volunteers pretty much show up, then set aside and overcome any and all barriers to volunteering, because nothing will stand in their way. But, in reality, even the most well-intentioned and eager volunteer can be thwarted by outside factors.

    Have you ever recruited the most promising, amazing human being, only to have a change in job status, unexpected move or family circumstance steal them from you before they even get started? It can shake you and make you feel that all your hard work has been wasted.

    Chaos surrounds volunteerism. Unlike a paid position, any extenuating circumstance can interfere with a volunteer’s commitment to follow through. The tenuous bond volunteers establish with us can fray at any moment due to events beyond our control.

    It happens to all of us and when it does, it feels like that chaos butterfly is slapping us in the face with their wings. There’s no point in obsessing over the stories of “the volunteers that got away,” so we dust ourselves off and continue on, hoping that chaos will smile on us and allow the next eager volunteer to actually get a chance to become a valued member of our team.

    We keep that potential volunteer’s information in a drawer. Sometimes we get lucky and the butterfly wings flap in our direction. When the volunteer is able to return, they will, because we didn’t guilt them about a family member falling ill or a child of theirs needing help and instead, made them feel as though we understood that circumstances kept them from us.

    It’s those nuanced moments that can affect the direction our chaos takes us. Treating volunteers as more than bodies to fill tasks leaves a lasting impression on them. And even if circumstance never permits them to return, they will spread the message to others that our program cares about volunteers as people with real lives.

    Maybe we have to endure more chaos than most. And maybe it’s difficult explaining the variables that keep volunteers from following through.

    But maybe, in this chaotic world, the next great volunteer is waiting for us to find them.

    -Meridian

  • Annual Volunteer PerBoreMance Reviews

    Annual Volunteer PerBoremance Review

    “I quit, yeah I did.” Christi poked at her sushi. “I mean, I volunteered there like, a year and everything was fine.” She clicked the chopsticks together in rhythmic thought. “Well, I thought it was, anyway. But at my performance review they told me I wasn’t doing the job all that well and that I needed improvement. You’d think they would have said something before a year, wouldn’t you? Now, I figure, everything I did for them was a waste, so I quit.”

    The Annual Volunteer Performance Review (AVPR). It didn’t help Christi, did it?

    The department Christi volunteered for felt that something had changed with Christi and in the past few months, they had to go behind her and fix all her mistakes. But, did they address it with her? No, they chose to just sigh and throw up their hands while muttering, “volunteers, go figure.” And so, when it was time for Christi’s AVPR, that’s when the department decided to address the issue. And so, she quit. Maybe that’s what they wanted all along, but was that the right way to handle it?

    While the AVPR is set up to deliver constructive feedback, there are a few inherent problems with this model:

    • a yearly review more likely reflects the volunteer’s performance of the past month, not year
    • if a problem has not been addressed with the volunteer before the review, then the volunteer is blindsided when finding out they have not been doing well
    • it takes time to put a review together and because we’re volunteer managers, we agonize over making it just right, which takes more time
    • it gives everyone involved anxiety, i.e., the volunteer and the volunteer manager, especially when the volunteer hasn’t received much feedback up to this point
    • oftentimes it is a requirement, but it doesn’t carry any follow-up or plan of action
    • it can suck the soul from volunteering when everything is boiled down to line items
    • it doesn’t measure the real value of the volunteer’s contribution

    So, should we just throw it away, even if it is a requirement? Ok, well, maybe we can’t get rid of it entirely,  but maybe we can tweak it so that it better fits our needs.

    We know that volunteers need on-going feedback. More so, actually than staff. The longer the time spent away from a job (staff spends about 40 hours a week at their job and volunteers spend on average maybe 4 hours at their volunteer assignment), the greater the learning curve. Volunteers don’t have the on-going repetition of learning a job, don’t have the daily back and forth between co-workers, don’t experience the atmosphere of expectations for hours on end like staff does.  So, volunteers’ feedback needs are exponentially greater than staff’s.

    Besides, they may not stay for a full year, so feedback is vitally important while they are actually volunteering.

    Addressing a problem after it has been ignored for a time, creates this sinkhole of confusion, hurt feelings and anger. Ignoring problematic behavior until you can’t any longer just deepens the hole. How?

    • The volunteer is blindsided
    • You can’t really justify why you let it go on so long
    • You render your policies and procedures meaningless
    • You erode your position as a leader
    • You water down the integrity of the mission

    Performance reviews imply something must be addressed. If everything is going well, then the review is a pat on the back, unless you are compelled to come up with an area that needs improvement (and a lot of performance reviews have this requirement). So, you make something up for the volunteer to work on, which renders the review pretty meaningless.

    So, what can we do instead?

    Give mission related feedback:  “Hey there, you’re doing a great job,” is nice in a broad kind of way, but specifics are much more meaningful. Why is the volunteer here except to further the mission? Mission related feedback can be peppered into conversations. “Thanks so much, Jep for coming out last-minute. Because of your quick response, the wife of our client Ari, was able to get to our support group. She has missed the last three group meetings and they are crucial to providing families with education and support. Do you realize that your actions directly impact our mission to support and educate our patients and their families?” These are the instances that fulfill mission centric volunteering and they need to be recorded, both in the volunteers’ files and for those all important volunteer reports.

    Expect excellence: Expecting nothing more than showing up gets us, well, nothing more than showing up. (and not because the volunteers are lazy, but because the message we are sending is “we don’t expect much because we have nothing meaningful for you to do, it’s all just busywork.”) Being wishy washy nice and afraid to hurt feelings gets us a heck of a mess. Volunteers want to be part of something excellent. Let’s not rob them of that by excusing any and all behavior.

    Volunteers want leaders: Leaders aren’t afraid to lead. If volunteers wanted us to be their best friend, they’d get a dog instead. They want us to inspire them, mentor and coach them to excellence. Look at your feedback in that way-“I want you to be the excellent volunteer I know you can be and by working together, we are going to accomplish great things.” (my dog never told me that, well, not in actual words anyway…)

    Turn the work around: Yep, offload when you can. Instead of wracking your brain to fill out some form, ask the volunteer to come into your review meeting with 2 things they’ve accomplished over the year and 2 mission related goals they have set for the coming year. Discuss their accomplishments, how they achieved them, and then give them any suggestions you have for improvement.

    And here’s the weird thing: Don’t fear that if the volunteer comes in with their perceived accomplishments, you won’t be able to address their shortcomings. Why? Because the accomplishments they point to will always somehow involve the areas in which they need improvement. How can that be? I don’t know, it’s one of those blow your mind physics things like you always hit the stop lights when you’re late. Just trust me.

    After you discuss accomplishments and shortcomings, take a look at their goals.

    The beauty of listening to their goals gives you an opportunity to:

    • learn more about the volunteer, where they are headed, what they value, where they feel they fit in
    • redirect any potential behavior that needs to be worked on
    • discover more about the volunteer program, what volunteers think of it, where challenges might lie, what visions volunteers have for the future
    • discover what the volunteer thinks about the organization, it’s mission, structure, staff, rules etc.
    • recharge your role as the inspirational leader of volunteers
    • re-direct everything back to the mission
    • and finally, for crying out loud, learn what it takes to keep this volunteer engaged

    We can re-purpose annual reviews into goal setting discussions geared towards keeping great volunteers coming back. And then, throughout the year, we can provide the feedback that guides each volunteer towards excellence.

    We can turn a perboremance review around and call it the setting of mission centric volunteer goals. 

    Besides, reviews look backwards, goals look forward.

    And isn’t looking forward the way to progress?

    -Meridian

     

     

  • Volunteer News Stories: Does This Good Press Really Help?

    Volunteer News Stories Does this good press really help
    Courtesy of https://gratisography.com/

    Emma set her cup down on the table and opened her laptop. She could hear the kids arguing upstairs as they got ready for school. Jenna needed to be picked up after soccer practice, and Harvey still needed to finish his science project or he’d get an incomplete. Emma’s phone pinged. Her mother’s tests came back. The cancer had returned. Holding back the tears, Emma scrolled through her news feed. She clutched at her life spinning out of control, desperately grasping at something to ground her. She read the headlines. So much political in-fighting. Too many vapid celebrity news stories. One heading came from her local newspaper: Volunteer Receives City Council Award. Emma paused for a second, and then scrolled on.

    For years, I thought that any story on a volunteer would produce a tsunami of people trampling each other to join our team. “I want to be just like Herman, or Zafir, or Maria,” they’d proclaim, their fresh smiling faces eager to give back. “Pick me! OOOOOhhh, pick me!” They’d come in wearing t-shirts sporting the face of my smiling volunteer. It would be cult-like, but so what, my volunteer was a star!

    Having press cover volunteers was so rare, that once a reporter showed up, I was slobbery grateful for any mention at all. I grovelled at the reporter’s Birkenstocks. And so, stories about volunteers receiving some plaque or attaining some milestone were all I could get. I never challenged the content and I always suspected the reporter was being punished by doing a “filler” or “human interest” story and really wanted to get on to digging out news stories about that bank robber wearing the Nixon mask or the mayor’s brother suddenly being awarded a lucrative city contract.

    While scrolling through news-feeds this week, it felt like the I was back in the 90’s. I could hear Alanis Morissette singing in the background. Ironically, the overwhelming majority of volunteer news stories are identical to the ones written about my volunteers 20 years ago. Here are some news-feed headlines from just two days worth of searching articles: (names and places removed)

      • Seniors recognized for volunteer work
      • Doing what comes next: Man keeps working, volunteering
      • Volunteering “immensely rewarding” for local woman
      • Duo shares gifts through volunteering
      • Local woman finds volunteering a positive influence
      • Local man honored for volunteering by Service Center
      • Couple’s love of volunteering keeps them on the go
      • SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Volunteering can have numerous benefits
      • Volunteer receives medal for dedication
      • These volunteers provide help, friendship

    Have you nodded off yet? And to think I used to titter excitedly, “my volunteer in the newspaper, wow, we’re at the summit of the recruitment mountain! Break out the oxygen!” Seriously, what was wrong with me?

    I’ve been reading targeted news-feeds for years. Anything of real substance I share on my Pinterest site, Volunteer Management Talk. But most articles on actual volunteers by actual reporters are frothy little yawn-fests. Yes, they’re positive. Yes, they paint volunteerism in a good light.

    But where are the meaty stories that outline the results of volunteering? Where are the intriguing headlines that proclaim, “These Volunteers are Alleviating Homelessness,” or “These Volunteers Are Creatively Saving the Wetlands,” instead of “These Volunteers Have Really Big Hearts and Are as Boring as Their Organization’s Website.” (ok, sure, I made up the last part-sorta)

    I was wrong about the recruitment potential of the few articles that were published in my local press. There was no mad rush to volunteer. I didn’t see our phone lines light up, or volunteers stampede in with news that their friends and neighbors were outside, clamoring to join our awesome team. I didn’t yell, “Put more coffee on, guys, it’s going to be a long night!”

    In retrospect, I failed to get the real message out. The real message is the impact.
    Volunteer managers everywhere are fighting to elevate the volunteer role by changing the perception of volunteer contributions and volunteers. If we want volunteers to be recognized for their work, we have to take volunteers out of the “human interest” column and push it into the “news” division. But, how?

    When a reporter shows up to cover that award or story about Jane and Hermione, partners and your volunteers for 10 years, ask the reporter these questions:

        • “Where does this story fit in your publication’s divisions? Why?”
        • “What is the end game of this story? What do you want readers to take away?”
        • “Do you want to know the bigger story, that of the impact on our community?” (be prepared to offer relevant information and if you can, an interview with someone helped by your volunteer)
        • “Can you come back and do a follow-up story on the results of the volunteers’ work? We have some juicy human interest stories to share about the people who have been impacted by our volunteers.
        • If the reporter is doing a story on a particular volunteer or volunteers, (let’s take life partners, Jane and Hermione) prepare some eye-opening stats about them. “Yes, it’s true that Jane and Hermione have been here for 10 years, but here are the stats and stories on the impact they’ve had on our homeless population and by the way, that’s the reason they’ve been here for 10 years. “

    I know you’ve experienced this. A volunteer is chosen as the subject of a local newspaper piece because of an award or milestone. The humble volunteer doesn’t want to be the center of attention. The reporter is just on an assignment. You convince the volunteer to do it because it will inspire others to volunteer. You tell them that whatever they say will be inspiring, because hey, they are a great representative of the work, right? Well, maybe they really don’t know what to say.

    Well, why not take it one step further and plan with the volunteer what he/she will talk about? Pick out real impact stories to focus on and explain to the volunteer that these stories are the impetus for encouraging others to get involved. Tell them to turn the interview message around from “you can be like me,” to “you can impact our clients too, in these ways.” And throw in, “we can sure use more help.”

    Why not help the reporter see that they could turn the story into something more, something with real substance? Plant that “juicy” story in their heads.

    There’s a complex mathematical equation that explains the phenomena surrounding news stories about volunteers: It’s tricky and complicated, but it goes like this:

    Press Stories on Volunteer+Fluff=Where are the new volunteers?

    We have more than just our organizations needing to be convinced that volunteers are not just decorative marshmallows of pillowy goodness. We also have to target press, media and the community.

    I’m disappointed and sorry I didn’t do anything about this disconnect before. But, the perception of volunteer contributions needs to change, both within and without. I think that together, we can change this perception, one story at a time.

    -Meridian.

  • Top 3 Theme Ideas for Volunteer Appreciation Week

    Top 3 Theme Ideas for Volunteer Appreciation Week

    Is it time to buy those cute banners and balloons for the annual volunteer luncheon? Do you wonder which phrase is better, “Volunteers are Priceless,” or “Volunteers Are Helpers Extraordinaire?” Don’t have unlimited resources for volunteer appreciation but need to decorate the halls with messages of thanks? I’m here to help.

    You can scour promotional product websites and find some great posters with nice sayings such as “volunteers, work with heart,” or “volunteers put the care in caring,” or “volunteers, you brighten our day,” but it will cost you. And if you’re a budget conscious volunteer manager, or more likely have only the $13 in change from all the times you were roped into running out to get food for senior management meetings, then you’ve come to the right place.

    And anyway. why use old cliché themes to celebrate the volunteers? Why not actually save money and create the kind of honest theme that will really resonate with your volunteers? Here are my top picks for this year’s themes.

    Volunteers, Love the Box You’re In! Ask friends and family to give you their old boxes, like shoeboxes, used gift boxes, cardboard shipping boxes, etc. Place them in strategic areas under a banner that reads, “We love our volunteers so much, we are keeping them safe in a pretty box!” Plaster copies of your rules and policies on the walls and play games such as “pin the broken rule on the volunteer.” If you’re lucky and can score an appliance box, decorate the inside and create a photo booth. Take pictures of your volunteers and create memes, adding text quotes such as “It’s cozy and safe inside my organization’s box,” and “the mission needs me to adhere to the rules so I don’t run amok!”

    Volunteers are the Plastic Bags of Charity.  Who doesn’t have a thousand of these grocery bags stuffed into a closet? Tape them all over the walls next to a huge sign that proclaims, “Volunteers are for using, like plastic bags-we stuff ’em in a closet and yank ’em out for whatever we need!” You can even fill some plastic bags with leftover garbage and picked up dog poop to scatter about the room for effect. (see, these bags have many uses) Give out the golden plastic bag award for the volunteer who completed the lousiest assignment without complaint.

    Volunteers, Thanks For the Time, But It’s About Donations! This one is easy. Buy a pack of construction paper and cut out dollar (or pound sterling) signs and tape them all over the place. Invite the fund-raising arm of your organization to hover around the meeting room and hit up volunteers for money. Instead of reading out stats on volunteer hours given, (pffft, who cares anyway, right?) read out the names of volunteers who haven’t donated money lately. Then, play pass the basket. You might even want to enlist your cousin Dwayne, who is an amateur body builder, to stand at the exit door and look menacing.

    No matter what theme you choose, volunteer appreciation week can be a real source of stress and frustration for any leader of volunteers. Do all these sweet messages printed on candy hearts and breast of chicken lunches really convey true appreciation for volunteer contributions? Do you feel the burden of making the volunteers feel valued fall onto your shoulders? You’re not alone.

    This week creeps up on every volunteer manager. I know, I used to scramble to make appreciation meaningful. There’s not enough time nor brain power to do the job of the volunteer manager and plan mind-blowing events at the same time.

    So, I’d end up relying on silliness, weird dancing and my general refusal to be embarrassed. We always had fun. And sometimes, that can be enough. Fun is a bonding experience.

    Please don’t stress yourself too much. (I know, easy to say) Try to have some fun with your volunteers. Try not to wonder if it’s all enough.

    And maybe, we, volunteer engagement professionals, will all keep moving collectively towards pushing organizations into strategically recognizing volunteer contributions. As one strong voice, we will keep pulling organizations into the twenty-first century and move them to abandon outmoded ideas on volunteer services so that you don’t have to scramble during this week every year and volunteer appreciation becomes organic. We will keep advocating as a tightly knit body of experience, so that leaders of volunteers are an integral piece of strategy planning and volunteer recognition is woven into all organizations’ grand schemes.

    Now, that would be something worth celebrating.

    -Meridian

     

  • 5 Things Your Volunteer Manager Isn’t Telling You

     

    1. I’m the one who convinces volunteers to stay after they are ignored or are treated poorly. Yep, that’s me calling volunteers to convince them that it was just a one-off or that a staff member had a bad day. It’s me you see when you walk by my office, sitting and having a long heart-to-heart with a volunteer. You may think that I’m just socializing, but in reality, I’m doing my job. I’m retaining a good volunteer who is on the verge of quitting.
    2. I may look like I’m just having fun but I’m hard at work ensuring the volunteers are connected to our mission. Uh, huh, it may look easy, but creating an inclusive, welcoming atmosphere is exhausting. I can’t have a down day; I have to be “up” and empathetic and positive at all times, no matter how I feel. I’m the one running all over town to get the balloons, ordering a cake, creating signs with positive messages that I say come from staff, but really it’s just me making them up because staff is too busy. I make sure I learn about every volunteer, their motivations and interests. I keep dates of volunteers’ birthdays in my head, along with their favorite books, or the heartfelt stories they tell me about clients. I juggle so much information because each volunteer wants to personally connect with our organization and most of the time, I am that connection.
    3. You may think I work 9-5, but actually, I’m recruiting volunteers and answering their questions at all hours, everywhere I go. Um, yes, I recruit at my kids’ soccer game when I meet a dad who has a big heart, at the gym when I meet a lady who is organized, and at my place of worship when I see a person who makes everyone feel welcomed. Besides, my open door policy means I am available to the volunteers whenever they need me. I’m not complaining, but don’t ever think that I’m not working at all hours towards creating an excellent department. I am. I just don’t broadcast all the things I’m doing. It’s not about me, but know I’m doing so much more than you can imagine.
    4. I can’t make volunteers do what they don’t want to do. Sigh. Nope, I can’t. Don’t forget, they’re not paid and I can only encourage, beg, convince, cajole, or promise so much. If your request is something they don’t want to do, well, they won’t. They know when I’m trying to “sell” them on an assignment. Volunteers are quite perceptive and I teach them to have boundaries and to not say yes to everything because it keeps them from burning out and we need them for mission centric work. I’d truly appreciate help with making sure volunteer assignments are worthy of our volunteers’ interests and skills so that we don’t drive them away. And actually, my time is better spent engaging our volunteers with meaningful work than trying to get them to do something no one wants to do.
    5. I know our volunteers’ potential and you need me to plan their involvement. Yes, it’s time you understand this. I know the volunteers inside and out and if you want them to support our mission, then I’m the one who can shape their roles so that it’s a win-win for all. The reality is, only I can design the roles our volunteers want to fill. I can create positions that make volunteers want to do more. I want our organization to succeed, and engaging our volunteers is a leap towards excellence. Let me be of greater service by planning our volunteers’ involvement together, with you.

    There, I said it.

    -Meridian

  • Let’s Design Mission Centric Volunteer Engagement

    Let's Design Mission Centric Volunteer Engagement

    Strategizing priorities when receiving volunteer requests ensures that volunteers are engaged in meaningful, mission critical work. (see Attention: The Volunteer Department Now Has Ground Rules )  By creating a weighted system around organizational priorities, volunteer services becomes focused on mission centric volunteer engagement. But there is one huge caveat that needs to accompany the priorities for volunteer requests. One very big one.

    After strategizing mission centric volunteer engagement priorities, the areas that rise to the top are most likely:

    • working directly with clients
    • supporting the smooth day-to-day running of the organization
    • supporting work with key stakeholders

    These three areas are where organizations spend the vast majority of their time, resources and efforts and the areas where volunteers’ contributions create the biggest impact.

    So, why a caveat in these three areas? What is missing?

    It is the inclusion of the volunteer manager in the planning, creation and continued input into the volunteer positions within these areas. Edicts, directives and mandates that exclude the input of leaders of volunteers are doomed to be ineffective or worse, fail.

    Creating volunteer positions without the volunteer manager’s input is like a team showing up to a baseball game without bats, balls or gloves.  The players just stand there, unable to hit home runs and unable to catch a ball. The gear is integral to playing the game with success. We, volunteer managers possess the gear.

    We, the equipment holders have to take a stand. Our volunteers need us to champion their involvement. Our organizations need our knowledge. Our clients need the excellence only we can provide. When advocating for a seat at this planning table, continually refer to the benefit of having you there.

    My knowledge of our volunteers’ skills and motivations is necessary to strategize the most effective volunteer involvement. I bring our volunteers’ passion and will elevate the ways we can move forward while saving time, money and effort. I will shape these positions so that our volunteers are invested and will not only stay, but want to do more. I have the experience necessary to design each position in order to boost volunteer interest.

    The most important volunteer positions must be defined by the person who leads volunteers, not only to maximize program results, but in order to ensure volunteer satisfaction and sustainability. Volunteer managers have the equipment needed to unlock volunteer potential while increasing results and retaining volunteers.

    What happens when organizations fail to include the volunteer manager in planning volunteer engagement?

    • skilled volunteers quit due to lack of meaningful roles
    • potential game changing programs never get created
    • a vicious cycle of recruiting volunteers as “warm bodies” is perpetuated
    • the organization is viewed as archaic and out of touch
    • highly motivated volunteer managers quit
    • clients are denied excellent support
    • a toxic negativity borne from frustration prevails
    • organizations become stuck in outmoded ways

    We, volunteer managers have to be willing to lobby for our seat at the planning table, not only for ourselves, but for our volunteers, clients and communities. Our organizations promise to deliver quality service and it is up to us to ensure that the volunteer piece provides excellence.

    Mission Centric Volunteer Engagement means strategizing the priorities that further the mission, deliver the most bang for the buck, and ensure volunteer sustainability. None of this can happen without volunteer manager input at the planning table.

    I’ll take my seat now, thank you.

    -Meridian

     

     

     

  • Attention: The Volunteer Department Now Has Ground Rules

    Ground Rules for Volunteer Departments

    “I need 8 volunteers or maybe 9, no wait,” she says, grabbing your arm in the hallway, “yeah, make it 10, the more the better, right?” Her attention is on the person down the hall, but she glances over her shoulder. “Have them at the Reed Center at 9 tomorrow.”

    Well, hello ground rules. Continuing the conversation from last week, (and a big shout out to everyone who weighed in here and on LinkedIn with great ideas on their excellent ground rules) here are two ways to look at setting them up.

    MY OWN PERSONAL FANTASY GROUND RULES:

    Three staff members request volunteers. Count the number of letters to determine which request gets top priority: The smallest number of letters wins.

    Amy: A

    Roz: R

    Herschel: H

     

    Ground Rules

    As you can see, Herschel clearly wins even though he only gave 3 days’ notice to find volunteers versus the week Roz gave.  And Amy, well, it will be a cold day in Honolulu before she gets a volunteer, unless it’s the guy that has to do court ordered volunteering, the one that talks incessantly about how he only had two beers when he crashed into that tree. Yep, Amy, I got your back.

    Ok, now for real. What are some of the priorities that can actually be weighed against less important requests? When proposing the adoption of priorities versus non-priorities to upper management, bring a few examples of how you look at prioritizing volunteer engagement.

    And don’t be afraid to drop the “S” word: Strategy. As in, “in order to better serve the mission, let’s strategize our priorities.”

    Your list of examples will spur senior management to adopt a “Priority Principle.” Setting priorities means asking the following questions and assigning a weight to each one. Weight determines priority status.

    Do the clients come first, no matter what? What does the mission say? Clearly, the client’s needs are the reason we exist. This is a great place to start, because weight should be the highest.

    What does the organization need to run smoothly? Volunteers are vital in keeping the organization running. Do volunteers fill in for staff when they are absent? Do volunteers take weekend shifts? Do volunteers occupy roles that must be filled in order to serve clients? The weight here has to be really high.

    Which stakeholders count the most? Donors, dignitaries, potential clients and influencers all carry weight. What events or strategies involve the most bang for the buck? This is where weight will flesh out low priority requests. Staffing a booth at a last-minute  weekend fair carries little weight against an annual festival with high visibility attended by key stakeholders.

    Is the time frame reasonable? Weight needs to balance up and down between last-minute and timely requests.

    Is the request feasible? It may be hard to define feasibility, because we typically entertain all requests. (which does not imply all requests will be met) Having a listing or report outlining the skills, availability and interests of the volunteers can be applied against requests. Weight is equal to feasibility. For example, you can say…

    At this time, we do not have any volunteers who have an interest in washing the board members’ cars as a ‘thank you.’ Time spent trying to convince our volunteers that this activity is more meaningful than engaging with clients or keeping the reception desk staffed will deplete precious time from requests that further our mission.

    What is the amount of work involved when enlisting volunteers? Work=time=there’s only so much, even if you work sixty hour weeks. How many volunteers are requested? How specialized are the skills needed?

    Are any of the following factors within the request out of the norm? (timeframe, location, ability to get to assignment, duties, weather, duration, stress level, etc.) Complicated requests require additional time and if the complicated request holds a high priority, then the weight of other requests is reduced by a factor reflecting the extra effort needed to obtain volunteers.

    How does this engage volunteers? We must add this one into the mix. Volunteer retention or sustainability is directly related to engagement. Strategizing retention must be highly weighted and given top priority.

    We may not agree with all of the decisions made when administration strategizes priorities, but we have to be flexible because having administration’s ‘stamp of approval’ will be worth it the next time a flurry of requests are dropped on your desk.

    Volunteer services is not a buffet of ordering without end. Actually, even buffets have a limited number of choices if you think about it. I can’t get Tantanmen at any of the buffets in my area, although I crave it. So, why should anyone be able to “get” a volunteer to sit outside the chapel “just in case an upset family member should enter?”

    Professional, efficient volunteer departments need ground rules in order to ensure the priority requests are met. After all, at year-end, the organization is no better off because you ‘got’ five volunteers to dress up like clowns at some poorly attended event, right?

    -Meridian

     

  • Volunteer Department Ground Rules

    volunteer department ground rules

    In this dream you walk up to a woman sitting at a desk. Behind her, a closed-door is visible in an otherwise blank wall. “I need,” you say to her, “two camels, a box of jellied donuts and a ladder.”

    “When?” she says, writing it down.

    “Tomorrow.”

    “I see.” She rips the sheet of paper off the pad and disappears behind the heavy door, closing it with a thud.

    That’s volunteer management. Where has she gone? Are there actually camels back there? Will the donuts be fresh? Is the ladder being used by someone else? Is mine the only order she is filling? Will she be back by tomorrow?

    This is why there are ground rules. Take baseball. If a batter hits a ball that bounces off the left field grass and goes into the bleachers, that’s a ground rule double. It prevents the runner from unfairly advancing and the left fielder from climbing into the bleachers and fighting the fan who picked up the ball. (well, ok, that’s a bit overblown) But without ground rules, how can anyone requesting volunteer help know what goes on behind the closed-door? How can they possibly know priorities, or time frames, or volunteer availability or the feasibility of their request?

    Too often, volunteer departments operate reactively, disappearing behind the door to field multiple requests at a time. Many of those requests are last-minute, some are more complicated than others, and some morph on a daily basis. On top of these requests, the volunteer department is tasked with keeping revolving or permanent volunteer spots filled, spots that are routinely being vacated by volunteers who are absent for a myriad of reasons such as illness, vacation, moving or quitting.

    And sometimes, if we are brutally honest, the most reliable and skilled volunteers are paired with the squeekiest wheel and not the most engaging assignment.

    So, let’s imagine two volunteer spots are vacant. One spot is for a volunteer receptionist on the weekend when the staff receptionist is off. Phones have to be answered. The other spot is for a volunteer to deliver vital equipment to a client, also on the weekend. The client needs the equipment. Which one of these vacant spots takes priority?

    With no ground rules, volunteer managers are expected to fill all spots, every time and in every time frame. It doesn’t matter when the requests are made, or how many volunteers are needed, because there are no ground rules. So what if the volunteer manager is fielding ten requests at once.

    Volunteer departments need ground rules in order to end the scrambling madness. We need to outline the process behind the door in order to organize our systems for the good of everyone. With that in mind, what might these ground rules include?

    Priorities: What volunteer requests are the most important and need be filled first, should all requests come at the same time? Client based? Permanent or recurring roles that fill in for staff? Recurring roles that make the organization work such as kitchen or receptionist help?

    Time frame: Should a request made two days before an event have the same priority as one made weeks in advance? Having a clear chronological order or queue is a necessary ground rule. First asked, first filled will force staff to amend the last-minute request behavior. But wait. What if a volunteer calls in sick last minute for a higher priority position? Does that go to the front of the queue?

    Feasibility of time spent: Requesting 20 volunteers who are willing to wait tables versus 5 volunteers to pass out flyers have differing time investments. How can this be addressed? Does a request requiring more time spent finding volunteers take precedence over one that is simpler? Or does one major event attended by potential donors and stakeholders take precedence over smaller, lesser events?

    Setting ground rules won’t work if the volunteer department simply types them up and hands them out. There must be a buy in from the CEO on down through the department heads and a willingness to support the volunteer manager in the instituting of them. Asking senior management to outline priorities in say, a task force is not unreasonable and may also have the added benefit of encouraging the hierarchy to outline other organizational priorities as well.

    Look at it mathematically. If there are too many requests with too little time frame and not enough skilled volunteers, then some requests will go unfilled, right? With priorities set and ground rules established, the most beneficial, most time worthy and most bang for the buck requests will be filled first.

    How many times have we mused that “no one knows how to do our job until they do it?’ We are like that lady in the dream. We take the order and then disappear behind the closed-door. We are hiding the effort, the juggling, the piecing together, the circling back, the reaching out, the doubling down, the soothing over, the listening to, the rearranging, the sorting, the skills assessing and all the other components needed to engage volunteers. We are tearing our hair out behind the door and then smiling, stepping back outside while covering our bald spots with that crazy hair paint.

    Ground rules are not just for baseball. Next time: Setting ground rules, or how to prioritize what’s going on behind the door.

    Volunteer managers, let’s set some ground rules and play a better game of baseball.

    -Meridian