Managing Volunteers by Amy Delamaide: Part One

A Tale of Two Volunteer Opportunities…

In October, I volunteered for two different community events. The people running these events had several things in common: both organizations depended on a few staff people and hundreds of volunteers to make a large, annual event possible. They had a few differences: one had seven years’ experience gathering and organizing the volunteers they relied on; the other was running its inaugural event and learning for the first time how to manage volunteers.

Nonprofits thinking about how to manage volunteers can learn from what both organizations did well.

The two organizations both did several things well:

• They held a pre-event informational meeting for volunteers.
• They assigned volunteers to particular staff person for supervision of the volunteers’ activities during the event.
• They held “thank you” parties for the volunteers, with food, drinks, and celebration of the volunteers’ contributions to the event.

The organization with years of experience in managing volunteers did a few more things well:

• They respected my time – The informational meeting in advance of the event wasn’t too long, there was food available, I met and got to know other volunteers, and I met the volunteer coordinator and the staff person to whom I was assigned.
• They had several points of contact - They built “supervisory redundancy” into their system of volunteer oversight. There was one primary volunteer coordinator. Then each different type of volunteer reported to the staff person who oversaw that function. If I had a question, there were at least two people I could call for help.
• They had a central Volunteer Spot – During the event, the volunteer coordinator was available at a central location. I could access information about the event, instructions on how to help, and food or drink at that location.
• They had info available - Printed information about the event was available to all volunteers at several locations. This helped me feel equipped to answer the questions of event-goers.
• They gave me meaningful work - The activities I volunteered to do were clearly vital to making sure the event went well. I felt that my service was necessary—if I hadn’t been there, the event would not have gone as well.

What does your organization do well in its management of volunteers? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Picture courtesy of Mike Baird