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 Articles
In his article, People
Are Just Too Busy: Recruiting Volunteers in a Self Employed Society, Tom discusses the
four essentials which test to see if our volunteer recruiting methods will survive a
changing culture.
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Course Outline
Behavioral Objectives
Volunteer Myths
- Volunteers aren't as committed as paid staff
- People are too busy
- You can't fire a volunteer
- 10% of people do 90% of the work
Volunteer Credo: "People don't want to make a contribution; they want to make a
difference."
Recruitment
Develop positions
- People centered recruitment
- Position centered recruitment
- A strategic plan for volunteer service
Develop leads
- Ads
- Posters
- Signage
- Brochures
- Sign-up cards
- PSA (Public service announcements)
- Press releases
- Radio spots
- Word of mouth (overall the most effective)
Screening
- Application and references
- Initial interview
- Committee interview
Selection
- Saying "no" to the volunteer
- Clear communication
- Position charter (job description, letter of agreement)
- Saying "yes" to the volunteer
Dealing with
rejection
The five productive responses to "no"
Recruitment Credo: Harvey Mackay - "Dig your well before you're thirsty."
Training Program
- Orientation
- Mandatory structured classes
- Video-taped instruction
- Mentoring programs
- Apprenticeship: on-the-job training
- Graduation -- a big event
- Additional specialized training
Training Credo: Spend 20% of your time training and managing volunteers.
Expectations and
Commitment
- No difference in paid staff and volunteer expectations
- Appearance/dress/uniform expectations
- Performance contract
- Example: Agree to volunteer 1 day a week for a year--review at end of year
- Active status
- Minimum expectations
- Policy on absenteeism
- Written volunteer manual containing policies and procedures
- Career path: upward mobility — a clear path
- Good supervision
Commitment Credo: Paid staff must be 100% committed to volunteers.
Supervision
- Clear lines of communication
- Team meetings
- Insurance policies (level of accountability so no one drops the ball)
- Chain of command
- Job evaluation
- Purpose
- Written instrument
- By peers
- One-on-one feedback
- Corrective action
- Exit interview
- Dismissing (firing the volunteer and living to tell about it)
- Motivation
- External: Perks (eg, Volunteer's lending library, etc)
- Internal: Personality profiles, belief systems, values
Motivation Credo: People do things for their reasons, not yours.
Recognition
- Graduation certificate
- Hour bars and 5—10—20 year pins
- Outstanding volunteer recognition in each department
- Special awards
- Dollars budgeted for recognition in each department
- Published results
- Coffee and food
- Social committee
- Devote 10% of budget to volunteers
- Thank you cards (eg, at the California State Railroad Museum, each supervisor has 200
thank you cards at the beginning of the year and they must have used them all by the end
of the year.)
Recognition Credo: Volunteers are not free.
Teambuilding
- Goal setting
- Synergistic volunteer teams
- Team meetings
- Problem volunteers
- VIPs (very important people -- to themselves)
- VDPs (very draining people)
- VNPs (very negative people)
Teambuilding Credo: Synergy: 1 + 1 = 24
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