Issue 7
October 21, 2002
NEWSNOTES is a monthly email newsletter published by Nonprofit Enterprise at Work. It includes items of interest to the nonprofit community in Washtenaw County and the surrounding areas, as well as resources available at NEW. Feel free to share NEWSNOTES with friends and colleagues -- encourage them to sign up for their own subscription.
NEW would like to recognize the generous support of its partners:
| Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation | Ford Motor Company Fund |
| Pfizer Global Research and Development | The Power Foundation |
IN THIS ISSUE
| LEAD STORY |
| FEATURED ITEMS |
|
| REGULAR FEATURES |
LEAD STORY
Volunteer Recruitment and Management: Five Steps to a Successful Program
Volunteers play a vital role in Michigan's nonprofit sector. According to Economic Benefits of Michigan's Nonprofit Sector, a 1999 study conducted by the Aspen Institute, almost 90 percent of all charitable organizations in Michigan rely on volunteers to some extent. The study estimates that more than one million volunteers contributed nearly 60 million hours to Michigan charitable organizations in 1997, equivalent to the work of more than 28,000 full-time employees and nearly $760 million in donated labor.
Nonprofits value their volunteers and, in turn, volunteers value the role they play in helping their communities succeed. The challenge is in effectively recruiting, managing, and retaining good volunteers in order to give the best possible service to clients. Volunteers deserve meaningful work, respect, training, and effective supervision. The following steps give some guidelines for how to run a successful volunteer program. Links to other resources will take you deeper into the topic. Volunteer Management: Mobilizing all the Resources of the Community is recommended as a basic handbook.
Step One: Prepare Your Organization for Volunteers
Before recruitment begins, be ready for your volunteers. First impressions are important.
- Define the Volunteer's Role
Rather than asking what a volunteer can do to help, ask yourself and your staff what needs to be done in your organization. Since the word "volunteer" designates a pay category, not a title (Susan Ellis), a good job description is critical in providing volunteers with a clear understanding of the work expected. Likewise, it assists volunteer managers in matching skills with the task.
Staff Worksheet:Planning a Volunteer Position
Writing Volunteer Position Descriptions
Pre-Recruitment Checklist - Allocate Resources
Is there room in the budget to support the recruitment effort and volunteers once they are part of the organization? Will each volunteer have appropriate space and equipment to work effectively?
- Formulate Policy
It is difficult to anticipate what problems might arise in your volunteer program. Written policies provide a strong management structure and can help alleviate dangers and risk.
By Definition: Policies for Volunteer Programs
Legal, Accountability, Risk Management & Legislative Issues - Consult with Staff
Ask your staff for input on the design of the volunteer program. If it is met with overt resistance or passive indifference, it won't succeed. Learn from staff about where they may be having trouble reaching their goals; together you can develop meaningful positions for volunteers.
- Design Record Keeping Methods
Facts and statistics on your volunteer program will be valuable for many purposes, including public relations efforts, funding proposals, demonstrating community support, and evaluating the program.
- Designate a Volunteer Coordinator
One person in the organization should be designated the volunteer coordinator, whether it is a full-time position or a part-time "hat" for someone. Be careful not to overburden a staff member with this as an "extra" task without adequate compensation or job shifting.
It Starts With You ...The Volunteer Administrator
Staffing the Volunteer Program
Step Two: Find the Right Volunteer
- Recruit and Market for Your Organization
Every recruitment effort needs a compelling message to attract potential volunteers. Include these three essential parts: the statement of need, how the volunteer can help the problem, and benefits of the job. Be creative about where you seek volunteers and don't hesitate to ask -- your organization is performing a valuable service to the community!
Register for these upcoming workshops at NEW to learn more about volunteer recruitment:
- Volunteer Recruitment for Results: Thurs., December 5, 9 am-noon.
- Engaging Families as Volunteers: Wed. October 30, 9 - 11 am
…or visit these helpful websites:
- Interview and Screen Prospective Volunteers
A standard procedure for the interview and selection process will help you find the right person for the right job.
Volunteer Management includes a sample "volunteer interview record" and a form to verify permission to perform a background check.
Screening
The Process for Completing Audit (see the section entitled "Interviewing and Screening")
Step Three: Integrate the Volunteer into the Organization
- Orient the New Volunteer
A well-planned orientation will make volunteers feel welcome, give them an overview of the organization, and help them to understand the importance of their work within the context of the organization's mission.
- Provide Adequate Training
Effective training of volunteers must be an ongoing process. The design of a training program depends on what information they need to perform the work, what skills they may or may not have, and what approaches they need to use with clients.
- Continually Supervise and Motivate
The volunteer manager's role is to see that volunteers' talents are used to best advantage. This often means training the staff members who will be directly supervising, motivating and recognizing volunteers. If the screening process has gone well and the volunteer and the job are a good fit, the task will be easier.
7 Deadly Sins of Supervisors
Supervision
Retaining Volunteers/Keeping Volunteers Motivated
Step Four: Program Evaluation
Regular evaluation of individual volunteers and your volunteer program should be an integral part of your overall program plan. Ask volunteers for input on how to improve the volunteer program or the organization's procedures. Their unique perspective can be a valuable source of information for improving client services.
Give Volunteers a Voice
Evaluating by Comparisons: Watch out for the Traps!
Performance Appraisals (Evaluations)
Step 5: Retain and Recognize Your Volunteers
The effort put into recruitment is only worthwhile if volunteers are motivated to stay. They need to feel good about what they do. Volunteer coordinators must lead with words and actions, but the messages of thanks should come from all members of the organization.
Retaining Volunteers/Keeping Volunteers Motivated
Recognizing Volunteers
Enough Formal Banquets! Let's Transform Recognition Events
Additional Resources
For many more online tools and resources for volunteer recruitment and management, please visit NEW's Volunteer Management Resources page.
FEATURED ITEMS
Education and Training: Upcoming Workshops
Learn about important nonprofit benchmark practices from your Michigan
colleagues! Upcoming workshops at NEW include:
- Engaging Families as Volunteers
- Join Nicole Shugars, Program Director, as she discusses how the Volunteer Center of Battle Creek has made family volunteering work in Calhoun County. (more…)
- Wednesday, October 30, 2002, 9:00 am - 11:00 am, NEW Center - $35
- Register
- The 2002 Michigan Nonprofit Compensation and Benefit Survey
- How can you best use salary survey information as a working tool? (more...)
- Donna Van Iwaarden, Director, Margaret Sellers Walker, Associate Director, Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership, Grand Valley State University
- Wednesday, November 6, 2002, 10:00 am - 12:00 noon , NEW Center - FREE
- Register
Explore the challenges and opportunities in leading your organization.
Join us for these fall seminars and get inspired for the new year!
- The Leader's New Work
- This seminar provides an overview of new ideas of leadership put forth by contemporary authors including Peter Senge, Margaret Wheatley and Peter Block. (more...)
- Richard Lampkin, Senior Campaign Director, Washtenaw United Way
- Friday, November 15, 2002, 8:30 am - 11:30 am, Washtenaw Community College, 4800 E Huron River Drive, Ann Arbor, Business Education Building, $50
- Register
- Leadership Resolutions: Small Actions, Big Returns
- Do you find yourself consistently high on effort but low on time and resources to accomplish your goals? Are you achieving the results you want? (more...)
- Julie Hayden Maloney, President, Wisdom Works, Inc. of Michigan
Wednesday, December 4, 2002, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, NEW Center, $95 (lunch included) - Register
Nonprofit Reference Library: Recent Acquisitions
New titles on all aspects of nonprofit management arrive regularly in the library at the NEW Center, which is open to the public. Three recent titles of note are from Carter McNamara's Authenticity Consulting firm in Minneapolis. These "Nuts and Bolts" guides are packed with easy-to-find answers to all kinds of reference questions. (2002)
- Nuts-and-Bolts Guide to Developing and Operating Your Nonprofit Board of Directors. A handy reference guide to help establish basic processes, critical to nonprofit success. Get answers to questions on issues such as how to start a nonprofit, roles of board and staff, how to hire staff, and basic board development.
- Nuts-and-Bolts Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation. Provides guidelines for all critical aspects of designing, marketing and evaluating a nonprofit program "from the ground up." Includes checklist of nonprofit management indicators.
- Nuts and Bolts Guide to Leadership and Supervision for Nonprofit Staff. Leaders and supervisors can find the guidance they need to ensure that all staff and volunteers contribute directly to achieving the goals of the organization.
Board Builders
Board Builders, NEW's board connecting program, serves nonprofit organizations by providing valuable, easy-to-use resources for finding trained, motivated and diverse candidates. Join us in connecting with active and energetic board members and learning more about our convenient online matching capabilities. Orientation sessions are scheduled at your convenience, so contact Liz Peintner (734-998-0160) today to start expanding your board with committed and skilled community members.
MNA Public Policy Alert
The Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) is calling on nonprofit organizations to support the Michigan Nonprofit Agenda - Policy Recommendations to the Next Governor and Legislature. The Agenda, compiled by comments from the nonprofit community, will be presented to policymakers in January.
Go to MNA's Web site to read the policy and download a copy of the form, which should be returned to MNA by November 11, 2002.
New Voices Fellowships to Support Nonprofits and Promising New Leaders Committed to Social Justice and Peace
New Voices is a national program to help nonprofit organizations bring innovative new talent to their staffs. It awards salary-support grants to small nonprofits demonstrating a commitment to cultivating and strengthening the leadership potential of "new voices." The program is administered by the Academy for Educational Development with funding from the Ford Foundation. Find out more.
Technology
Virus Vaccination Day: NPower
Michigan, a nonprofit dedicated to helping other nonprofits use technology
to serve their communities better, is presenting a Virus
Vaccination Day for Ann Arbor and the surrounding areas on Friday,
November 15, from noon to 5:00. NPower is still looking for volunteers
to fan out across the community to install free Symantec anti-virus software
on nonprofits' computers, and conduct mini-tutorials on how to keep non-profit
networks running virus-free. If you would like to be trained as a volunteer
installer, or if you know of a nonprofit group that is interested in benefiting
from this service, please visit NPower's
Web site.
REGULAR FEATURES
Nonprofit Bulletin Board
Visit NEW's Nonprofit Bulletin Board to post and view notices about free resources, fundraising opportunities, and other items relevant to the southeast Michigan nonprofit community.
Nonprofit Calendar of Events
Visit the Ring!Michigan Calendar to find and post upcoming nonprofit events. Just select a county below and GO!