volunteerplaintalk

Tag: non-profit

  • The Volunteer Periphery is Expanding

    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    The Covid pandemic has forced many active volunteers into furloughs. It has put vital in-person training on hold. It has stalled volunteer-rich projects. It has created a giant periphery of volunteers who revolve around organizations like Pluto orbits the sun, not knowing if it’s a planet or a dwarf planet.

    Unlike HR folks, who contend with active staff, volunteer managers are tethered to every volunteer, whether they are actively volunteering or they’re rotating in the periphery. This includes:

    • potential volunteers
    • retired volunteers
    • volunteers on leave
    • sick or injured volunteers
    • episodic volunteers
    • volunteers awaiting training
    • volunteers awaiting placement
    • student volunteers
    • community service volunteers
    • corporate volunteers

    Often, our volunteer periphery exceeds active volunteers. How do we juggle this giant system? And for those naysayers who tell you, “just purge the roster,” that’s not acceptable. Every volunteer has value. Soooooo, what do we do?

    Organize those pesky lists

    Create categorized email lists: Categorize prospective volunteers, group and corporate volunteers, temporarily inactive volunteers etc. Send targeted messages to each group, such as upcoming training sessions, newsletters, notices about volunteer events or vacancies, etc.

    If a volunteer fits onto more than one list, make sure not to count them twice. Slot them into their primary category and color code or asterisk them on other lists. Send general information to all categories, because recurring communication keeps them engaged.

    Get help

    Recruit volunteers to oversee the periphery: Lists are only helpful if they are accurate. It’s humbling when you take a call telling you that volunteer Dave died a year ago and his family keeps getting mail addressed to him.

    A volunteer or volunteers in charge of overseeing other volunteers on the periphery can keep lists up to date. Volunteers can also make phone calls, conduct interviews, do impromptu surveys, offer new opportunities, gather information and compile statistics. The scope of the potential work can fill a full-time volunteer position or several part-time positions. Besides, a personal check-in from a fellow volunteer creates the team feeling.

    For the love of all that is sane, show your work

    Report your time spent managing peripheral volunteers: Don’t let this be one of the duties we shrug about and mutter, “yeah, it comes with the territory.” Managing the periphery requires your expert time, so report it as part of your volunteer recruitment, retention, and cultivation.

    Capture stats from your efforts to engage “prospective volunteers, retain episodic volunteers, build community awareness, increase visibility, maintain relationships, create partnerships, cultivate donors, supporters, etc. This nuanced area of our work is critical, time consuming, and we must account for it.

    Peripheral volunteers have value

    Volunteers who are not actively working still:

    • share experiences with friends, family, neighbors, clubs, co-workers etc.
    • continue to advocate for our work
    • provide us with community resources
    • share the pulse of the community with us

    A volunteer team is fluid. Savvy volunteer managers know that volunteers on the periphery are valuable assets.

    It’s time our organizations realized peripheral volunteers’ worth. It’s time organizations thought about how to engage peripheral volunteers. Oh, wait, there’s someone in the organization already doing just that:

    The leader of volunteers.

    -Meridian

    this first appeared as:

    The Volunteer Periphery

  • Finding One Another is Our Future

    We, leaders of volunteers (#LoVols) have shared experiences, shared hopes, shared challenges and a shared future. We are a family, a team, a brother/sisterhood. We are a LoVols kindred. When one of us succeeds, all of us succeed and all volunteerism succeeds.

    Forging alliances, finding one another, speaking with shared voices (we don’t have to agree on everything) strengthens us and our volunteers. Recently, Marina Paraskevaidi, Volunteer Manager at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich wrote to me and wanted to share her thoughts with all of you in a LoVols kindred moment. Marina hails from Greece, has lived in Italy where she served as a volunteer coordinator with the NGO Service Civil International and since moving to the UK, she works as the Volunteer Manager at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, overseeing the overall strategic direction of the Volunteering Programme.

    Each one of us can share our challenges, successes, questions, frustrations, and hopes with one another because we get each other and guess what? We support each other, want to see each other succeed, and we all are working towards the same thing: Elevating volunteerism. Here is Marina’s message:

    When joining the Old Royal Naval College a little less than a year ago, I could never have imagined our site being closed same time this year due to an unpredictable pandemic that would keep us all at home (like a sci-fi post-apocalyptic movie). But amidst the uncertainty, our communities stay strong.

    The past two weeks have been a rollercoaster of reactions and emotions for all staff and volunteers. First, the uncertainty kicked in when the news spread about COVID-19 cases rising across Europe, while we were still on a let’s-pretend-it’s-all-normal mode on site, planning volunteer-led private tours, organising group reciprocal visits to other museums, conducting volunteer recruitment interviews and preparing upcoming induction training sessions.  Then, following the announced set of restrictions, the situation escalated so quickly, and we had to make swift changes to our everyday lives. A regular day in the beginning of March now feels a distant past. We had to take the decision to close our site to the public, while still processing the prospect of many of us having to isolate for weeks, even months, thinking especially of our volunteers who are in the most vulnerable groups.

    Ten days later, our new home-based routine is the norm and it looks like we are adapting to new virtual ways to keep in touch and support each other in the best way we know: sharing the love. 

    From volunteers asking about their peers’ wellbeing and sending personal warm wishes, to our staff mobilising team efforts to produce resources that can be accessible remotely; from our CEO’s reassuring message, to people going beyond and above to show solidarity and help each other while working remotely with limited resources. 

    It’s the same warm welcoming feeling that sparkles around in the Visitors Centre when volunteers put on their best smile to greet our visitors, it’s this shared love for what we do and who we are that drives solidarity among our communities.

    A lot of things remain uncertain and yet to be figured out: how do we keep in touch with those not online? How do we ensure we look after our staff and volunteer’s mental health? How can we be creative using virtual technology to communicate, offer online learning opportunities and organise local initiatives? How can we continue sharing our history and engage the public while closed? Can we think outside the box and create remote volunteering opportunities?

    The most difficult times might be yet to come, but I have always been a strong believer in the power of communities (and that’s also why I have chosen to work with volunteers): through the challenges we will learn, pave new paths and come out stronger on the other side. 

    Spread the love, Marina

    Thank you Marina for reaching out to all of us. We appreciate your courage, your conviction and your connection. I appreciate your LoVols kindred spirit.

    Spread love, knowledge, support, a shoulder to cry on, a tip on recruitment, a success story, a cautionary tale, an innovative project with each other. Find one another and use this time to build momentum. Volunteers are counting on us.

    It’s not easy, building a movement, but we are in this together.

    -Meridian

  • What We Do Know

    Uncertainty sucks big time, but guess what? We, volunteer managers deal in uncertainty all the time. Think about it. Everyday we wonder…

    • Will anyone who attends my speech at the local Classic Car Collector’s Guild on Saturday actually sign up to volunteer? Will one or two attendees fall asleep in the back and snore so loudly I have to shout over the noise?
    • Can I trust that Magda in event planning will communicate the revised meet-up spot to the volunteers and not forget again? Will I get a frantic call from a volunteer asking where he should be while I’m at my son’s violin recital and then I get shame-shushed by snarky Heather who always sits behind me?
    • Will volunteer Trevor stop bringing his herbal supplements to clients’ homes or do I have to have another conversation with him? Will he ever stop trying to sell his energy pills to everyone? (huh, maybe that’s why I’m so jittery...)
    • Will I come in to work this morning and find a volunteer has once again written a letter to the editor of the local paper, calling out the lack of volunteer department budget? (after I’ve patiently explained that going to the press ensures WE WILL NEVER GET THE MONEY NOW!)
    • Will the A/V equipment break in the middle of my presentation to the chamber of commerce and then I’m stuck drawing a graph on volunteer impact from memory on a chalkboard? (and I hastily draw a graph that resembles male body parts) 
    • Will I have to carpool volunteers to the luncheon because finance did not pay for the bus and driver I reserved? (and we arrive late because volunteers have to stop to use the restroom along the way)
    • Will the printing company get this year’s appreciation theme correct and not print 400 balloons saying, “Volunteers have no heart.”

    We, volunteer managers routinely operate in an uncertain world so we’re already positioned to navigate these times.  But wait. Not everything is uncertain so let’s look at what we do know.

    • People want to help: If anything tell us that volunteerism is alive and well, this pandemic proves it. From neighbors helping neighbors to social media groups that mobilize participants to 750,000 people signing up in the UK for the NHS, people are still volunteering. The spirit of volunteering is alive. 
    • We know there will be an end: There’s always an end. Sure, there will be a new normal with new challenges so this is the time to start strategically planning for the new normal in a way that benefits you, your volunteers, and your volunteer initiative. How do you envision yourself coming out of this? Better equipped to speak up and mold your volunteer program for this new normal? 
    • Change is an opportunity. No one is more adaptable than a volunteer manager. We can come out of this with the adaptations that fit the modern volunteer. Change can be an opportunity, so let’s make it work for us.

    • Priorities rise to the top: What does that look like for you? Communicating with volunteers, serving clients or revamping archaic systems? Challenging circumstances have a way of exposing flaws and outdated methods while highlighting the greatness of the things working well. Now is the time to sort through and document what is working, what is not working and why, so that moving forward, you have supporting information that will back-up your plans moving forward. 

    • We are in this together. Yep, we are, because we, volunteer managers have a common purpose. Let’s take this time to find each other, band together and further our goals. Volunteer organizations are forced to stream their volunteer award events. These are the events we can all support by virtually attending or commenting on in a show of solidarity. 

    We are no strangers to uncertainty and the same strength, courage and resolve we employ everyday will see us through these times. We will come out of this stronger, more resilient and more determined to see volunteerism and our volunteers elevated. 

    We will come out of this more connected to one another, more supportive of one another, and more able to speak as unified voices. One thing we can do to create a swell of united support is to stream more. Let’s use this time to record, stream, and create videos showing volunteer impact so we can build an audience that sees the work firsthand. Let’s not relegate volunteer awards to a nice lunch at a moderately priced hotel, seen only by attendees. Let’s share volunteer value and impact with the world. Let’s go big and take our message to everyone. 

    Because our message is crucial.

    Of this, we are certain.

    -Meridian 

  • What do volunteers want? f/u.

    “Wait. you caught me off-balance.”

    What? You thought I meant… No, f/u=follow up. Like sending volunteer managers to leadership training, it’s sadly nonexistent these days.

    Lately, as a volunteer, I’ve experienced a rash of major lack of follow/up. Most of the time, follow/up applies to a new idea or project, but it can include things like getting answers on an assignment .

    Truth is, I’m guilty of it too. But when you experience it from a volunteer perspective, it is a motivation killer. No follow/up is like saying to a volunteer, “this is not important or worth my time. YOU are not important or worth my time.”

    When I was confronted by volunteers for not following up, I would feel off-balance and I’d use the excuses, “I’m working on it,” or “I haven’t gotten an answer yet,” (when I hadn’t even asked) or “I was just about to call you.” I’ve strung people along, put them on hold, shelved them, or ran the other way when I saw them coming; all because the follow/up wasn’t there. (But I was trying, so that made me a good person, right?)

    Why do we do this to our volunteers and to ourselves?

    • we have the best of intentions- but the road to the volunteer apocalypse is paved with good intentions
    • we can’t say no-which creates a loop in which we never get anything done
    • we are caught off guard-and we have no comeback prepared
    • we live in a visionary world-but we have no visionary strategy
    • we think we must prop up all volunteers-so we feed a need in some that may not align with our mission work
    • we are “nice” people-but we mistakenly equate nice with doormat

    The bottom line is this: if we can’t follow/up, we have no business engaging in the first place. What are some ways to prevent the volunteer f/u syndrome?

    • Make priorities known: It’s ok to say, “that is an interesting idea. Right now, our priority is to fill these volunteer roles. Can you help us do that first?”
    • Share the responsibility for f/u with the person: “I’m swamped with this event coming up. Will you remind me after the event?”
    • Be honest: “I might forget because we are in the middle of a recruitment campaign and I don’t want you to think I’m just giving you lip service, so can we revisit this at a later date?”
    • Weed out the serious from the non-serious: “That is an interesting concept. We have a volunteer task force that meets monthly and one of their objectives is to choose and implement a new idea. Would you come to the next meeting and make a pitch?”
    • Define the f/u: “What do you need from me? I will put it on my calendar and get back with you on the 20th of next month after I speak with the finance director.”
    • Don’t sugarcoat the no: “I’ve spoken to our CEO and at this time, she is unable to allocate the resources to your idea. It is not because the idea isn’t a good one, but because we are about to implement a new initiative and it’s all hands on deck right now. Try again after we’re successful.”
    • Don’t own the work: “I would like to help with that, but we are in the middle of volunteer appreciation planning. Can you work up a proposal with specifics and examples and get it to me? Without a fleshed-out proposal, I can’t get an audience to hear your idea.”

    I’ll not lie. I’m disappointed in my recent experiences with f/u even though I understand the why because I’ve been there and had those good intentions. But, still, lack of f/u kills motivation.

    So, let’s not make volunteer f/u an actual….F…. well, you know what I mean.

    -Meridian

  • What do #LoVols do all day?

    What do #LoVols do all day?

    Do #LoVols chat up potential volunteers, make a few phone calls and then go home to binge watch Mind Hunter while eating Cheetos and petting the rescue cat? What do we do all day, exactly?

    We say things like, “I do a bit of everything,” or “I’m a jack of all trades,” or “depends upon the hour, ha ha,” which gives the impression that we are not in control and have no direction. Here’s the thing though: We are in total control and every portion of our day is devoted to engaging volunteers and creating volunteer impact. It’s time we show the world we are proactive, not reactive. Let’s gather all of our people skills under one term, “volunteer engagement skills” and stop downplaying our role. We’re a Jack of the volunteer engagement trade which consists of all kinds of skills, each one working towards a single purpose: creating an effective volunteer experience and team.

    We wear volunteer engagement and impact gear. Our skill set is people- saturated. What looks breezy is calculated. What looks effortless is deliberate. What looks casual is strategic.

    We may appear to be socializing but we are establishing a welcoming and meaningful atmosphere through the hard work of making it look effortless so volunteers are engaged and add value. There is method to our madness as we strategically create a team of effective volunteers through each people-saturated element:

    • vetting
    • on-boarding and/or orienting
    • looping
    • efficiently and effectively communicating
    • training to position
    • educating
    • adjusting or agile thinking
    • mediating
    • structuring

    let’s look at each element and why it is crucial to volunteer impact:

    • vetting: includes background checks, reference checks, one on one interviews, sit-downs and all other “getting to know a volunteer” tactics.
    • Why is this important? Volunteer engagement professionals (LoVols) weed out potential harmful volunteers and redirect volunteers to a fit that works for all stakeholders ensuring clients and staff work with competent people that do no harm and produce results.
    • onboarding and/or orienting: includes introduction and immersion into the mission. Whether by formal or informal methods, the LoVols connects the new volunteer to the work. Orientation is the emotional glue that binds a volunteer to the organization.
    • Why is this important? Volunteer engagement professionals ensure each volunteer understands organizational purpose and intent and is in sync with mission goals and objectives, thus equipping a volunteer with the necessary emotional connection to embrace the mission.
    • looping: includes checking in and checking back with clients, staff and the volunteer in a continuous loop to ensure satisfaction by all stakeholders.
    • Why is this important? Feedback is key to volunteer, staff and client satisfaction. Continual feedback and adjustments create impactful, working relationships, and prevent missteps, misunderstandings and potential disasters. Unlike employees, volunteers work less time without pay so looping is crucial to volunteer success.
    • efficiently and effectively communicating: includes emails, chats, phone calls, meetings and all other methods providing information to volunteers.
    • Why is this important? LoVols balance inspiration and expectations to ensure volunteers understand expectations and organizational direction while reaping the positive benefits of volunteering.
    • training to position: this includes on the job training for the volunteer role. Unlike onboarding or orientation to mission, this training is specific to job requirements. Whether the LoVols trains personally or has been instrumental in guiding staff to train new volunteers, training to position ensures volunteers are equipped to function within their roles and produce results.
    • Why is this important? Volunteers free staff to accomplish their objectives. Essential training equips volunteers with the confidence to fulfill their roles and allow staff the additional time to accomplish their objectives which becomes a dual benefit.
    • educating: this includes newsletters, seminars, workshops, email blasts and other methods to inform volunteers not only about organizational news, but about topics relevant to volunteers’ lives.
    • Why is this important? Education is high on employee and volunteer lists of desirable perks. Continually educating volunteers equips the volunteer team with correct and current organizational information, especially since volunteers are WOMM (word-of-mouth marketing) ambassadors to the community. Educational offerings speaks volumes about the commitment to the volunteers’ positions within an organization and to their well-being.
    • adjusting or agile thinking: this includes reevaluating volunteer involvement or placement, utilizing innovative methods of retention, matching volunteers to roles, flexible adjustments and any other method to address individual volunteer needs.
    • Why is this important? LoVols balance organizational needs with volunteer needs to create a symbiotic relationship that adds value and furthers mission goals.
    • mediating: this includes intervening when necessary, balancing the advocating for volunteer rights while promoting organizational needs, finding middle ground that satisfies all stakeholders and honors the mission. It includes having difficult conversations with volunteers, putting the mission first, dismissing a volunteer when necessary and advocating for volunteers to be treated with respect.
    • Why is this important? Improving or salvaging a relationship with a volunteer is crucial. Poor experiences affect volunteers, staff and clients. LoVols mediate to ensure all stakeholders are satisfied so that mission goals are achieved.
    • structuring strategically: this includes creating innovative new roles to engage today’s volunteers, revamping outdated volunteer positions, policies, procedures and methods of communication, gathering feedback and involving volunteers in strategies.
    • Why is this important? As volunteerism evolves, LoVols structure volunteer initiatives to sustain and attract today’s volunteers by creating new roles, offering flex scheduling, sharing jobs, ensuring diversity, engaging virtual and one time volunteers and including volunteers in strategic planning. As demand for volunteers grows, LoVols are busy structuring for future growth and laying the groundwork to attract and sustain a team of effective volunteers who add value.

    The next time someone stops and says, “gee, it looks like you’re having a lot of fun,” smile and reply, “I’m actually hard at work because one of my volunteer engagement skills includes making fun look effortless. Thanks for noticing.”

    -Meridian

    Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile on Pexels.com

    P.S. Feel free to share this with anyone who doesn’t understand your job…your grandpa, your snotty cousin Mildred, all your old college roommates, staff at your organization, your CEO…

  • Surviving “that” conversation at holiday gatherings-a guide for volunteer managers

    Surviving “that” conversation at holiday gatherings-a guide for volunteer managers

    courtesy https://gratisography.com/

    Yup, holiday gatherings are upon us and everyone fears the inevitable politics-driven shouting between grandpa and cousin Timmy, but guess what? Those conversations are nothing burgers compared to what we, volunteer managers must endure. You know what I’m talking about.

    You arrive at a party and the snarky attorney guest of a friend of a friend of a friend is introduced to you. She hears “manager of volunteers” and looks down her nose at the scuffs on your Gucci knockoff shoes that you bought at your organization’s thrift store, because, hey, you have a conscience and want to contribute some money instead of just spending it and besides, recycling is the way to go, but you just keep mum and let her rake you over with her eyes like you’re some bargain basement hobo.

    So, in the spirit of defending our #lovols profession, here are some comebacks for those inevitable questions that arise when you are introduced to uppity distant cousin Prunella or your best friend’s very successful investment banker neighbor, Chase who is usually alone on holidays.

    Q: “So, you’re a volunteer manager, did you say? I’m confused. Does that mean you volunteer for the job or do you actually get paid to do that?”

    A: What a great question. It’s complicated. I don’t get paid in money, but I do get to pick from all the stuff that is donated to my organization. Last week I got a case of lentil soup. The cans were out of date, but that’s ok. I’ve not gotten sick from donated food yet, unless you count that time I was throwing up for a week, but I don’t think it was from that out of date cheese, and heck, I picked off all the mold, but you never know. Anyway, I’m hoping for a toaster oven this week. Mine’s like 20 years old and it only toasts on one side so you have to turn it over and run it again.

    Q: “Volunteer manager, you say, what’s that? There’s no degree in that, is there, I mean, you’re basically a party planner, right?”

    A: You wouldn’t think we’d need any skills, would you? Actually, I have a Bachelor of Science in cat herding, with a minor in balloon animal engineering. It’s a pretty popular degree but the work is intense. I mean I think I’m still suffering the effects of helium-osis (raise your voice’s octave to a squeak) which makes me speak in a higher than normal voice at times. Currently, I have a scholarship at Nancy’s Nonprofit University for a Master’s degree in Little Old Lady Management. I hear the internship is brutal, you know all that tea drinking and knitting and getting shanked by a wayward knitting needle while scrambling for the ball of yarn the 17 cats ran off with. There’s this one class I hear is really hard, it’s ‘The Symbolism in Grandchildren Stories, or Does Grandma Secretly Despise Her Offspring?’

    Q: “You work with people who don’t get paid? That’s not really management, is it?”

    A: You got me. Don’t let this get out, but when a volunteer signs up, we pretend to give them a tour of the organization and we usher them into the basement and lock them up in a room until they complete their assignment. We all take turns poking them with a stick until they do what we want. Sometimes, and this is the hilarious part, we just poke them for laughs. I have my own special stick made out of hickory. I call it “Ol’ Persuader.” And you’re correct, it’s not management at all, ha ha, it’s so much easier and more fun.

    Q: “So, you work for one of those nonprofits, right? You know, they’re always bothering me for money. Don’t you people just get money from the government? Why are you people hounding me?

    A: Ha, ha, awww, we can’t fool you, can we? Don’t let this get out, but we actually get millions and I mean millions from the government but since we don’t need money, we invented this game. We like to see if we can get gullible people to donate and we give a prize at the end of the year to the staff member with the most lucrative sob story campaign. And I shouldn’t be telling you this, but do you know what we do with all those extra donations? One word. Stock market. Hey, it’s almost the end of the year. I wonder if I won the award with my “Life Sucks, Give Me Cash, You Cheapskate” campaign.

    Q: “Wow, managing volunteers, that must be really easy, right, I mean how hard could that be?”

    A: Oh, you, you are so perceptive. It’s hands down the easiest gig I’ve ever had. I’ve got volunteers who bring me coffee in the morning and volunteers who clean the office while I just sit back and watch YouTube videos. I even have volunteers who do my laundry, can you believe that? And, don’t tell anyone but I even have a volunteer who rubs my feet in the afternoon. Yeah, crazy, isn’t it? Crazy good! I’ve been told the foot rubbing and come to think of it, the volunteer who pays my bills violates some sort of fair labor practices, but hey, they volunteered, right? They’re not protected by anything, ha ha ha ha ha!

    Well, there you have it. Use these answers in good, holiday health and don’t stress about those absurd questions.

    You are welcome.

    -Meridian

  • 10 Things Organizations Don’t Know About Volunteer Management

    I’ve always wanted to see a shareable pamphlet entitled “Volunteer Management, The Cliffs Notes.” It would list all the things we want organizations and senior management to know about volunteers and volunteer management. Here’s 10 of them:

    10. Volunteers do not sit by their phones waiting for us to call. We don’t just “order up” when staff asks for eight volunteers who can work twelve-hour shifts, outside, tomorrow at 8 am. No one wishes it were that easy more than we, volunteer managers. Take volunteer Charles for example. Asking him to volunteer at the last minute when he has a job, other volunteering activities, managing his elderly mother’s affairs, and a family is unrealistic. He can’t drop everything to help us. It takes a wise volunteer manager to know how to sustain volunteers’ involvement so that volunteers are not overwhelmed and look forward to coming in to help.

    9. Managing volunteers is not like managing staff.  Volunteer managers engage two to ten times the number of paid staff. Instead of a paycheck to dangle, volunteer managers must inspire volunteers. Volunteers typically spend 4 hours a week volunteering while staff spends upwards of 40 or 50 hours a week working for the organization. That’s at least ten times the amount of “plugged in time” staff has over volunteers. Therefore, volunteer managers must be able to “plug-in” volunteers every time they arrive on scene, motivate them to keep that connection and keep them informed of changes and updates.

    8. Volunteers are everyone’s responsibility.  Staff doesn’t necessarily see working with volunteers as part of their jobs, but any staff can make or break a volunteer’s experience. Let’s make a comparison. What if the CEO cultivates a donor and then another staff member comes along and insults or ignores or abuses that donor? There would be heck to pay. We need our administrations to set the same tone for the treatment of volunteers.

    7. Volunteer managers are real managers.  No matter what titles are given, coordinators, specialists or team members, volunteer managers are as much a manager as anyone on staff. Volunteer engagement skills are a not a “jack of all trades, master of none” haphazard bunch of chaos skills, but rather a carefully constructed combination of the ability to inspire, listening with empathy, the ability to match talents with opportunities, and so much more.

    6. Volunteers want meaningful work. But organizations often need meaningless stuff done. Who will do it? Volunteers do not want to only do things the staff doesn’t want to do, they want experiences that make a difference. And since we don’t pay them, we should consider meaningful work as pay. But, a great volunteer manager with awesome engagement skills can lead volunteers to occasionally do tedious work if tedious work isn’t all that is offered.

    5. Volunteers want sincere appreciation from more than just the volunteer department. Volunteers see through the once a year speech at a luncheon that is just lip service. Volunteers want CEO’s and staff to acknowledge their contributions. They want to be included in reports, grant applications, websites, and media coverage as contributing members of the team.

    4. Volunteers are not just elderly ladies drinking tea.  Volunteers are diverse in every way, including age, background, culture and experience and it requires major skills to manage a group of diverse people. But even if some volunteers are older, they are former executives, professors, leadership experts and full of wisdom and great ideas. And they’re more than willing to share their wisdom for free.

    3. Volunteer managers are not lap dogs.  Are volunteer managers treated that way by staff? Is there an “order up” culture in which volunteer managers are expected to get volunteers without having any meaningful input into volunteer requests? Volunteer managers have their fingers on the pulse of the organization and are privy to every aspect of the mission via volunteer involvement. A volunteer manager has ideas and solutions that will move the organization forward.

    2. Volunteers are aware and talk. When a volunteer hears negative speak from staff, or sees something less than perfect, they talk, to each other, to friends, relatives, and the cashier at the Quick-Mart. Volunteer managers keep volunteers motivated and inspired and mediate constantly to make sure the volunteer’s concerns are resolved and their experience is positive. In this world aching for transparency, volunteers are the town criers who can proclaim the worth of an organization or do damage to its reputation.

    1. Volunteers don’t stay forever. No, they don’t. Does staff stay until they die? Neither do volunteers. We should recruit, train and cultivate our volunteers just as we do staff, but not expect them to continue until they’re carted off in an ambulance. And, just like staff, sometimes we don’t want volunteers to stay, so that’s why the volunteer manager’s professional skill-set is crucial. A volunteer manager’s professional resolution to a challenging situation is an organization’s best chance to avoid legal woes and negative publicity.

    So, there you have it. Ten things organizations should know about volunteer management.

    And yes, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

    -Meridian

    This is an update from 2015: The Top 10 Things Executive Directors Need to Know About Volunteer Services.

  • Volunteer Management: A Kiddie Pool or an Ocean?

    Volunteer Management: A Kiddie Pool or an Ocean?

    Photo by Matthias Zomer on Pexels.com

     

    “Coffee break again?” Clara laughs. “Yeah, this is my 6th coffee break today and I’m wired from all the caffeine. But each so called ‘break’ is with a volunteer who needs my attention. I’m not on break, I’m sustaining volunteers.”

    Volunteer managers universally struggle with showcasing the complex work involved in the 3 “ainings:” Attaining, Training and Sustaining volunteers. We keep stats on all sorts of volunteer activities. We may even include anecdotal stories to illustrate volunteer impact. But how do we show everything we bring to the 3 “ainings” table? (Sometimes it feels like bringing a kiddie pool filled with water to describe the ocean.)

    What if we had a report form that showcased the soft work required to attain, train and sustain volunteers? It would explain why our hard stats (shown in bold) are fluid, like an oceanic ecosystem:

    DAY 1 at 9AM:  Trusted my instincts to spend extra time with a 5 year volunteer whose partner has just been diagnosed with cancer. I can see he needs to take some time off and I have placed him on the inactive list thus reducing the number of active volunteers. He may or may not resume volunteering, but, due to his positive experience so far, will remain an advocate forever. I will be spending time to check in on him periodically because I hope he returns to volunteering, but also, because I care about him as a person (and make no mistake, our volunteers know the difference between sincerely caring about them versus giving them lip service). My personal attention to volunteer needs increases the overall number of active volunteers. It also creates satisfied volunteers who will advocate for us no matter whether they continue volunteering or not.

    Day 2 at 2PM:  Realized that a situation requiring a volunteer was overwhelming for just one volunteer so took the extra time (three days) to find and enlist the right two volunteers who could support one another while dealing with a very difficult and challenging assignment. Did not meet goal of finding a volunteer in 24 hours, but instead, created a better outcome that avoided placing an excellent volunteer in a difficult situation. I retained two key volunteers, ensured our client received excellent care and thwarted a potential misstep.

    Day 3 at 11AM: Temporarily removed a marketing volunteer from staffing events because of recent health challenges. Although volunteer insists that he is physically able to carry boxes, his wife informed me that his doctor has prescribed no lifting or standing for three months. As a result, I reduced the number of available marketing volunteers but salvaged this volunteer’s future potential and eliminated the substantial risk for a workman’s comp claim should this volunteer injure himself while under his doctor’s orders. More importantly, we sent a message to all volunteers that their health and well-being is important to us and we view them as valuable assets, thus increasing overall volunteer sustainability.  I am currently exploring other areas with this volunteer and he is interested in moving into a deeper volunteer experience, so with additional training, we will have a new client volunteer who, BTW already has proven himself to be a great volunteer.

    Day 4 at 3:15pm: Spent 45 minutes with a prospective volunteer who admittedly can’t volunteer until sometime next year. This prospective volunteer’s father was helped by our organization and she is interested in giving back, although current commitments are preventing her from taking training. I have set reminders in my calendar for scheduled contact with her throughout the year as I perceived her as an excellent future volunteer. Rushing her at this time will only increase her overload of responsibilities and will cause her to quickly quit. As a result, no new volunteer stat has increased but time spent will pay off in the future because this potential volunteer also belongs to several key civic groups that I have been recruiting. She’s already booked a speaking engagement for me next month. I expect several new volunteers from forging a relationship with this group.

    Day 5 at 6pm: Attended funeral of long-term volunteer who retired due to health reasons more than two years ago. No stat will be affected, but I did it because this is the right thing to do. *Addendum: Received a phone call from the volunteer’s son whom I spoke with at his mother’s funeral. He is a VP at the largest investment firm in our area and is very interested in setting up a corporate volunteer program with me. There will be substantial work involved. And, BTW, he and the firm will be donating in his mother’s name.

    The soft work we do is an ocean compared to the kiddie pool stats we report. Our instincts flow like a current, over and under the waves of volunteer requests. We create an ecosystem in which results are symbiotic and may take up to weeks or months, sometimes years to see. We nourish relationships that reach beyond volunteering and affect donations, future staff, community standing, and so much more.

    It’s time we begin to connect the hard results from the ocean of our soft work.

    -Meridian

    This post is an update of an original post in 2016 but don’t feel like you have to read it-this new one is hopefully better anyway 🙂 https://volunteerplaintalk.com/2016/07/20/huggable-book-of-volunteering-stats-or-why-a-kiddie-pool-cant-explain-the-ocean/

     

  • The Terrible, Horrible Phone Call or Why Purging Matters

    The Terrible, Horrible Phone Call or Why Purging Matters

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    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    I answered the phone one day to hear, “Yes, this is Juan, the son of Adelia and I just received an invitation in the mail for my mom to this year’s volunteer luncheon. She died. Last year. I thought I’d let you know.”

    “Ohhhhhh, crap.”

    I also vividly remember sitting at a sign-in table for an invitation only event attended by donors, volunteers and dignitaries. And I looked up to see the volunteer we dismissed two months before presenting the invite we sent him.

    Countless volunteer managers have said that the first thing they had to do when they came on-board at their organizations, was purge hundreds of volunteer names off the list.

    We have a difficult challenge because we don’t manage employees. Employees are either in or out. They’re working or they’re not.  They don’t get paid once they quit, move, get fired or die. They are removed from rosters and lists and don’t get official invitations or phone calls. They don’t get calls asking them to “please, just come in for a few hours because we need extra help this week.” Nope, doesn’t happen. We can’t do that. Our volunteers don’t get paid. They exist in a grey area. And we work hard to keep our volunteers engaged enough in this grey area so they return again and again.

    We worry that if we remove a volunteer due to temporary inactivity, we will forget to contact them and therefore, lose them permanently. I remember the thought of forgetting good volunteers was more horrifying to me than leaving my stove on.

    But when can we remove volunteers from an active list? After six months, two years, death? The problem with keeping volunteers who are not active on an active list, is we can’t give an accurate volunteer count. If we say we have 125 volunteers, then staff assumes we have 125 volunteers to choose from when they make a request. That’s far different from choosing from 60 currently active volunteers.

    So, how can we keep volunteers, yet not confuse temporarily inactive volunteers with active ones?

    • Enlist the help of a key volunteer. Ask your volunteer to help maintain a current list by making check-in phone calls. Not only will you be able to distinguish who is active at the moment, you can ask the key volunteer to conduct an informal survey on satisfaction, training, communication or any other topic. And this periodic “checking in” will flesh out problems before they get out of hand.
    • Send the volunteer newsletter to all volunteers. Keep everyone in the loop. Newsletters are great for showcasing new projects, calls to action and for encouraging inactive volunteers to get involved again.
    • Remove the “quitting” stigma. Assure volunteers that you don’t view stepping back as quitting. Show them you have other volunteers on a temporarily inactive list and explain there are many reasons for volunteers to step back. Encourage them to take time they need and let them know you will be checking in with them periodically because they are valued.
    • Keep several lists or use templates that allow you to sort. I’m a big proponent of categorizing volunteers by locale, assignment, training completed, and current availability. It gives a much clearer picture than putting all names on one list. We wouldn’t expect all staff to be listed as substitutes for social workers or accountants. (“Hey, call accounts payable and see if one of their staff can come and do wound care for a day.”) It’s no different with volunteers. If your volunteers need specialized training for an assignment, then just like staff, only those volunteers who have had the training should be in that category.

    Leading volunteers casts a much wider net than managing employees. You don’t hear the phrase “episodic employees” for a reason. Volunteers drop in and out, and some hover on the periphery. (for a take on periphery, see https://volunteerplaintalk.com/2017/09/06/the-volunteer-periphery/ ) (more…)

  • Ever Want to Go Back in Time?

    Ever Want to Go Back in Time?

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    Photo by Buenosia Carol on Pexels.com

    You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along’ …Eleanor Roosevelt

    Ok, maybe we, volunteer managers don’t live through horror. (unless you consider that time when that group who asked for volunteer orientation had no AV equipment except an ancient TV so there was no way to show the super duper PowerPoint and then for four grueling hours you had to wing it…) But seriously, do you ever want to go back in time? Are there things you wish you had done differently? Me too.

    If I could turn back the volunteer manager clock I would:

    • Call that volunteer who had to quit because she got sick instead of telling myself that I would get around to calling her.
    • Be more patient with that volunteer who had so many questions and even burst in on my annual job review.
    • Not drive that volunteer home that one night. (cause it got real creepy……….. real fast).
    • Stop that volunteer from talking to the press at that event (or at least tell the reporter our organization had no official position on the mayor’s race)
    • Not tell that story in front of the CEO about running over a donor’s mailbox when I picked up a donation. (I ran it over with a truck-but I did pick up the letters from the street)
    • Not get so frustrated with staff who were also overworked.
    • Keep that volunteer from bringing in their special yummy, homemade tuna casserole, the one that made everyone sick. (I think it was tuna, but then again, it kinda had this weird smell)
    • Explain volunteer management in better, more impactful ways.
    • Listen to my inner voice and not let that teen volunteer bring her boyfriend in with her because….(well, I just turned my back for a minute, I swear!)
    • Carve out more time for me to prioritize and progress.
    • Not tell everyone in a meeting that I was going back to my home planet. (You had to be there and frankly, any planet except this one seemed better at the time)
    • Not take a new volunteer to that house where they were engaging in a side business (hey, who knew?)
    • Not accept that mysterious heavily taped up box at the thrift store…. (I don’t think the stains ever really came out of the carpet)

    Sure, we’d all love to go back and make everything perfect, because I believe that we, volunteer managers tend to be perfectionists. (gasp, no, ya think?) We inwardly seek to create:

    • the perfect volunteer experience for every volunteer.
    • the perfect client experience so every client is satisfied.
    • the perfect appreciation so every volunteer feels engaged.
    • the perfect understanding so our work is valued.
    • and for the above to be perfect, then we have to be perfect.

    But if we were perfect, we wouldn’t learn, or grow or move forward. A cherished friend (yep, one of the volunteers-yeah, yeah, my perfect boundaries are not so perfect) told me that I should be thankful for the experiences that taught me something instead of bemoaning them. How else would I get better?

    Volunteer management means every day, we have millions (ok, maybe hundreds) of interactions and experiences. Each and every one teaches us something we can use for the next. That is why our “jobs” are in reality, a continuous journey.

    We all wish we could change some things, from having more patience with volunteers to standing up for ourselves in meetings. Past experiences can haunt us. Dwelling on them can prevent us from moving forward. There’s no shame in admitting, “hey, what I did there was far from perfect, but you know what? I’m learning and dang it, I’m getting better.”

    Courageous leaders are not perfect. We’re not perfect. I think Mrs. Roosevelt nailed it all those years ago:

    With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts…Eleanor Roosevelt

    Anyone in volunteer management will tell you: I’m not the same person I was a year ago. No, I’m better. I’m smarter and stronger. And with each passing day full of experiences, I’m learning.”

    So, when you wish you could go back and “fix” things, do this instead. Say to your past self, “thanks for teaching me. I’m a better volunteer manager today because of you.”

    -Meridian