volunteerplaintalk

Tag: volunteer program strategies

  • 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 

  • Volunteer Managers, We Have the Picture; We Just Need the Frame

    Volunteer Managers, We Have the Picture; We Just Need the Frame

    You would never think to put the Mona Lisa in an orange plastic frame, would you? Of course not, because frames should enhance a work of art, not detract from it. The right frame borders the image, complimenting the subject and showcasing the work. The right frame makes sense.

    Volunteer added value is a complex and beautiful picture. The stories we share about our volunteers connecting with clients, serving our missions and advocating for our organizations are inspired, and meant to be viewed with appreciation. The value our volunteers bring needs the right frame.

    However, without the proper frame, throwing out super positive phrases about our volunteers can be like this board. “Volunteers are selfless,”or “Volunteers give so much,” can be so broad and gooey that the meaning is lost. If every message about volunteers is so wonderful, so inspiring, so amazing, so terrific, the message becomes diluted and nothing is wonderful or inspiring anymore. It’s just noise without form. If we make volunteers seem like magic faeries that just rise from the garden and buzz on over to do good work, we diminish the effort they bring and the work we do to develop and ready them.

    We have to be honest about volunteer management and its complexities. We need to share the challenges along with the feel-good stories. Volunteer synergy (those pure mission moments when a volunteer connects with a client or helps a staff member or solves a problem) does not occur by happenstance. Those moments are the result of a volunteer manager’s diligence, practice and experience. Synergy occurs because the volunteer manager vetted the volunteer, oriented the volunteer, matched the volunteer’s skills and needs to an assignment, and courageously stepped in to guide the volunteer on a successful path.

    Photo by Nadine Wuchenauer on Pexels.com

    We, volunteer managers are the frame. We are the right frame, the best frame, the correct frame. Our attentiveness, our tenacity, our persistence, our determination, our sincerity and our resolve shape the volunteer experience. We surround our volunteers with the knowledge, tools and encouragement volunteers need to create a complex work of art. We “become” the frame each volunteer needs. For some volunteers, we are the ornate, gold frame and for others we are a simple black band receding into the background.

    Without our guidance, volunteers are simply pictures taped to organizational walls. These haphazard pictures curl up; they fall off and they yellow. But, when we frame volunteer engagement and impact, we create an art gallery that has a flow, that makes sense, that is ordered and sustainable.

    International volunteer managers day was yesterday (November 5). The theme for this year was Change the Tune. We talk about change all the time and I think we need to ask ourselves, “what exactly do we want to change?” How we engage volunteers? How we encourage, develop, inspire and mentor volunteers? How we drop everything to make sure volunteers are successful? How we put volunteering ahead of our own personal needs? We’ve got all that down.

    I think what we need to do is to frame our critical role in volunteer engagement and impact. We need to stop allowing organizational leadership to think that engaging volunteers takes little effort. We need to stop allowing organizations to view volunteers as tools and not as complex human beings that require thoughtful management. We need to stop allowing organizational leadership to assume that volunteers don’t need support from every staff member. We need to stop allowing organizational leadership to plan volunteer involvement without our expert input. We need to stop allowing organizations to operate in an outdated normal and instead embrace the here and now by investing in the volunteer manager frame that surrounds volunteer programs.

    We are a profession. We deserve recognition befitting our expertise, our hard work and our skills. No one will just magically give it to us. We must stop glossing over the work we put into developing volunteers (by vetting, onboarding, training, supporting, stepping in when necessary, sustaining and encouraging) who successfully support and further organizational missions.

    In Rob Jackson’s latest post, he lays out real solutions that will move our profession forward. You can read Rob’s post here.

    So, this International Volunteer Manager Day, the change I want to see is one in which we elevate our critical role and become the “frame” around vibrant, contributing volunteer teams.

    We’re leaders of volunteers. We got this.

    Happy International Volunteer Manager Day to all of you frames out there.

    -Meridian

  • Removing the Headache from Corporate Volunteering

    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    We’ve all had that splitting headache. You know, the one that occurs when a
    corporate leader calls and wants to do a team building activity for a group of employees. Oh, and it has to be this Saturday. There are 15 people signed up, but the leader doesn’t really know how many will actually show. And she picked your organization from a list; the employees really don’t know what your mission is or what you do, exactly.

    Now, let’s add in something we seldom talk about: No one in your organization feels like they have to give up their Saturday because well, the word “volunteering” follows the word, “corporate,” so the
    responsibility falls on you, the volunteer manager. It’s your job. No one
    thinks beyond just placating the group for an afternoon. They don’t think about the potential partnership with a corporation that follows a volunteer activity. They don’t consider the donations that might pour in when a corporate group sees firsthand the good work being done. Nope, it’s “just” a one and done volunteer afternoon. Move along, nothing to see here.

    Corporate volunteering is becoming a “thing.” From the Starbucks
    initiative to the millennial generation wanting more involved companies, we are seeing an increase in participation by employee groups. This added volunteer role requires more time and skills from already stretched thin volunteer managers, especially when the volunteer manager is left to manufacture activities without organizational buy-in. What a short-sighted view of corporate volunteering.   

    Sure, volunteer managers can refuse groups but we all know that refusing is unrealistic. Why? Because senior management perceives our jobs as spending time and energy with anyone and everyone who even breathes the word, “volunteering.” To refuse is to be seen as inadequate, or negative
    which is worse than, well, just about anything in the non-profit world. Also,
    because positive volunteer managers never question the wisdom of old methods or suggest that there might be more efficient ways to engage volunteers. Positive volunteer managers don’t point out that volunteer programs affect every aspect of an organization, including community standing, resources, donations, staff satisfaction and marketing. Because being viewed as “positive” often boils down to accepting old ways without question.

    Are we stuck? Do we have to give up our Saturdays for headache inducing
    chaos with little to no return on our time and efforts? Or do we have to refuse to take corporate groups in order to save our sanity? Actually, there is a better way.

    I used to run around desperately trying to find a somewhat meaningful
    experience for corporate groups. It was exhausting. Then I realized how much time I was spending on activities that weren’t in my control. I couldn’t
    control what happened in our gardens. I couldn’t make changes to our programs, so I was stuck with very limited ways to engage corporate partners.

    Corporate volunteering is like having a group of strangers drop in on you at
    your apartment one afternoon, saying, “We need a buffet dinner and we want to be entertained.” You’re not set up for groups in your apartment, and you have no real control over your apartment building’s clubhouse, pool or game room.
    You have to run around, seeking permission to use facilities and even with
    permission, there’s no one to help you buy the food or cook or entertain. If
    the facilities are being used, you have to squeeze the group of strangers into
    your cramped living room while you rifle through your worn-out board games and try to rustle up a meal from your sparse refrigerator.

    As it exists now, corporate volunteering is trying to create a meaningful
    partnership with no time, no additional help and no control. And even if you’ve managed to pull off an exhausting afternoon, running around, trying to condense your mission into sound bites, making sure the members are not idle too long, you go home completely spent because you know there can be so much more.

    Our volunteer programs are like an apartment within the organizational
    building. We may be invited into other department’s apartments at times, but we are not allowed any control within those apartments. The lack of organizational involvement and limited availability for corporate groups make corporate volunteering so frustrating. Honestly, corporate volunteering is just one example of a much larger challenge: Volunteer manager control over volunteer programs and the integration of volunteer programs into organizational planning.

    Volunteer managers must be free to spend the bulk of their time on engaging key volunteers, advancing the volunteer program and positioning volunteer services to attract and sustain modern volunteers. Corporate volunteering has its place in a volunteer program only when the volunteer manager controls the strategic plan that benefits everyone.  

    The time to think about corporate volunteering is now, when no group has
    approached you. That’s when you can clearly plan for a corporate volunteering program that will keep headaches from happening. The critical part of a corporate volunteering plan is to first determine who, what, when, where and why. The 5 “W’s” will lay a groundwork the will help stop the soul-sucking corporate volunteering days from occurring. (and we all know there is plenty in volunteer management that suck our souls dry without adding in another crushing duty)

    Next time: What does a corporate volunteering program strategic plan look
    like and how do we determine the 5 “W’s?”

    -Meridian

     

  • Do Volunteer Managers Implement or Manage Volunteer Programs?

    Do Volunteer Managers Manage or Implement Volunteer Programs

    “I am a volunteer program manager,” I’ve said countless times to confused faces at networking events.

    “Oh, that’s nice,” The person who just asked me what I do for a living would mutter and then turn to find someone who has a job that is understandable and doesn’t take a lot of martini sipping time to comprehend.

    What does the job title “volunteer manager” mean, anyway? What do I manage? Is it people as in, you know, get people to do things? Or is it work, like filling the tasks that need to be done? What exactly am I in charge of?

    There is a huge difference between managing a program and implementing a program. This is just semantics, I know, but in semantics we find perception, so please, just stick with me a moment, ok?

    Most volunteer managers implement their volunteer programs. The word implement means “carry out” which implies the volunteer manager fulfills the directives from non-profit boards and senior administration who determine how volunteers can be helpful.

    This creates a contradiction: Although most volunteer managers are encouraged to think in strategic ways, they are primarily expected to fulfill requests from key staff or departments which leaves little time for vision or innovative engagement. And strategic innovation is the basis for leading a program to full potential.

    Let’s examine how volunteer management normally fits under organizational missions. Words such as “enhance,” “expand programs,” “enrich experiences,” and “enable increased staff output” define the volunteers’ participation. But vague idealism is like telling your child to “just go out and be good.” Should they wear clean underwear or be polite to the next door neighbor or stop trading their lunch for six candy bars? What is being good?

    Non-specific phrases are so broad they become meaningless. And meaningless phrases lead to implementing a volunteer program versus managing it.

    Being governed by broad phrases creates this gigantic task soup. Anything and everything can be thrown in, including the kitchen sink (think “hey, we have less staff now, let’s get the volunteers to run errands.”). But does this soup actually taste good? Is it a defined recipe for success or is it a chaotic mess?

    This is why we, volunteer managers need to step in and take some control. We can’t (and hopefully don’t want to) alter the mission, so how can we get away from broad concepts and control implementing managing the volunteer portion? The answer is actually found by breaking the mission down into its subordinate parts: Goals and Objectives. The break down looks something like this:

    Mission statements are lofty and broad. For example, “To eliminate human suffering due to unsanitary conditions.”

    Goals are what we are aiming to achieve. For example, “To reduce the number of people who have no clean water.”

    Objectives are the steps to realizing goals. For example, “To raise funds to purchase 100 installed water filters by end of year.”

    As we break our missions down into tangible goals, we can then begin to craft concrete objectives that we have control over. Setting goals with organizational administration will give you the flexibility to create the objective steps that will fulfill those goals.

    Invite senior administration and/or your board to meet with you in a planning session. Ask for specific volunteer department goals for the year. For example, if, under your mission statement your volunteers “enrich clients’ lives,” ask for a defined goal to achieve that lofty ideal by defining what that will look like.

    Let’s say that by end of planning session, the goal becomes, “by end of year, 20 clients will experience less stress through volunteer involvement.” Bingo! That’s a measurable outcome that you can own and control through your creative objectives.

    And, by owning the objectives, we control the volunteer actions that accomplish the objectives that meet the goals that support the mission.

    Next time: Goals, Objectives, Actions in a yummy whole-grain wrap called Strategies.

    -Meridian