five good ideas: working with volunteers
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Five Good IdeasVolunteer Management
November 18, 2009
Also, Affectionately Known as Herding Cats
Daily Bread Food Bank 2008/2009 Key Volunteer Statistics
• Group Volunteers 8,741• Individual Volunteers 4,585• Public Sorting Volunteers 2,195• Total number of Volunteers 15,521• Total Volunteers Hours 107,259• Percentage of New Volunteers 72%• Percentage Returning 28%
Our Vision: Fighting to End Hunger In Our Communities
Mission
• Providing Food and Resources for Hungry People
• Mobilizing Greater Support, Involvement and Action
• Creating Social Change to Reduce Poverty Through Research,
Education and Advocacy
Good Communications across the volunteer organization
Benefits and Impact
• Shared Learning• Increased Morale• Better Retention Rates• Easier deployment across
departments
Considerations
• Logistical challenges with off site volunteers
• More time required by managers to ensure open communications
Understanding and Forecasting your needs for volunteers in your organization
Benefits and Impacts
• Increases volunteer satisfaction
• Maximizes the use of volunteer time
• Identify some work that can be done remotely (such as data analysis)
Considerations
• Predicting the changes in the business environment on an on-going basis
• Develop processes such as weekly meeting amongst departments
Clear and concise position descriptions and volunteer attributes required
Benefits and Impacts
• Helps with the selection of appropriate volunteers for the position
• Volunteer experience more rewarding and effective
• Staff will have a better understanding of roles and expectations
Considerations
• Ensures those actually supervising the volunteers participate in developing the description
• Ensure the position descriptions are reviewed regularly
Effective training of staff in volunteer management
Benefits and Impacts
• A better work environment for both staff and volunteers
• Allows more junior staff to gain experience in managing people
• A forum for staff to discuss issues and seek resolutions
Consideration
• Staff will have varying levels of experience in managing people so there needs to be a diversity of courses offered
Formalized volunteer recognition process
Benefits and Impacts
• Recognition is directly linked to retention
• Highly motivated volunteers return as well as spread the word within their networks
Considerations
• Recognition should be directly linked to the values of the organization
• Formal recognition programs require a consistency and this requires a substantial effort from staff in organizations with a lot of volunteers
Additional Resources
• http://volunteer.ca/resources• http://serviceleader.org/new/managers/index.php• http://www.pavrol.on.ca/pavro_resources.shtml• http://www.energizeinc.com
Advising the Community Together (ACT)What is ACT?
ACT is a group within Deloitte Consulting which was started by junior resources to provide pro-bono advisory services to non-profit organizations serving youth
All consultants work above and beyond their day-to-day client commitments to serve the community by volunteering their hours
ACT’s objective is to build capacity within non-profit organizations to ensure sustainability for the future
Areas of Focus
Daily Bread Food Bank (DBFB) Project
Technology
Human Resources
Strategy & Operations
Help non-profit organizations maximize their IT investments
Help align human resources and business strategies by focusing on the organization’s governance model and people-related factors
Help non-profit organizations address strategic, management and operational issues
Client Issues Approach Results
Challenges were identified with DBFB’s volunteer management
DBFB needed to assess its volunteer organization and develop a roadmap to improve the program
Developed a maturity model for volunteer management, including leading practices
Assed DBFB’s current state, and identified opportunities to improve
A prioritized 3-year roadmap of improvement opportunities
A Volunteer Handbook to support volunteer onboarding
For additional information, email: [email protected]