Recruiting, Training,
Managing
and Keeping
Volunteers

Volunteers are the most important asset of a Community Network. They represent your organization in the community, they are the primary point of contact and involvement by users and they enable your Community Network to greatly expand what it can do.

There are many different opportunities for volunteering for a Community Network, and not all of them involve computer skills! Having volunteers who can answer your telephone or handle office filing, for example, can save many hours of staff time.

There is a list of characteristics and needs relating to volunteers:

  1. Volunteers want to help your organization succeed. That’s why they are offering themselves. Respect them and their desire -–and let them know you do.
  2. Volunteers need regular, public recognition for their work. Annual recognition celebrations, awards, monthly recognition programs, immediate "thank-yous" and other feedback are vital to maintaining good volunteers.
  3. Volunteers want meaningful work to perform. Don’t expect volunteers to have all the skills they need to help you. But once they do have the skills, they want to use them and be truly useful. Match volunteers to the most meaningful task you can find for their skill levels.
  4. Not all volunteers can come to your office. Students can work from school on mailings, shut-ins and disabled people can provide online assistance to users. Web content managers can manage sections of your web site from their homes. To get the m ost from volunteers, you need to be as flexible as possible about when and where work can be done.
  5. Volunteers need to be interviewed as if they were being hired for positions. In most cases, you will not need to do criminal background checks for volunteers. At the same time, part of the matching process requires that you take the time to rev iew with potential volunteers their skills and desires. Sometimes people put one thing on the volunteer form but, given the opportunity, actually would like to do something other than what they originally cited. Careful and proper placement, respecting te mperment, skill level and availability is important.
  6. Volunteers need to be placed in volunteer roles they want, or they won’t do the work. Matching volunteers to appropriate tasks is very important. Match carefully for happy, successful volunteers!
  7. Volunteers need a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities and limits. Part of the interviewing process should include defining clearly what peoples roles are, what your expectations and needs are, as well as answering any volunteer questions.
  8. Volunteers need someone to report to, someone to be accountable to for their work. Without this, volunteers can get lost, overstep their proper boundaries or not complete assigned or agreed-upon tasks. It is crucial to keep up with what volunte ers are doing and any needs they might have to complete their tasks.
  9. Volunteers need to keep up with the tasks and amount of time they volunteer. The person they report to needs to keep records of this volunteering. Keeping good records is important in tracking as best you can what it actually takes to operate y our Community Network. The reports also can be used in some grant matching and reporting.
  10. Volunteers need training: training in your procedures, perhaps in how to use your computer system, how to work with particular groups. Sometimes, volunteers just need to round out a particular technical skill, or need time or help getting comfo rtable with a software program. They also might need "sensitivity" training if they are going to work with special groups of people.
  11. Volunteers need to be kept informed about changing needs and expectations through regular meetings. Getting volunteers together regularly keeps them "in the loop" and sometimes will bring out issues that need resolving on a broader ba sis. It also provides opportunities for volunteers to get "official" reports on the impact of their work for your network. Also, by meeting regularly, volunteers can get to know each other and thereby form another "community" within yo ur Community Network.
  12. Volunteers need access to appropriate materials to do their work. If you want volunteers to do training, for example, make sure they have the proper handouts, reference material and lists, so they can provide good, complete answers to people th ey are working with.
  13. Volunteers need to be listened to; they often have great ideas for better ways to do work effectively. Volunteers are full of ideas, and not all of them will be ones you will be able to use. But their input is important because they are on the front lines of the Community Network. Their suggestions can make materials and programs better. Listen to them openly, without defensiveness.
  14. Volunteers need to be trusted. Once interviewed, trained and placed, volunteers need to feel they are trusted members of the team. Give them appropriate responsibility and support and let them do the work!
  15. Volunteers need to be emotionally mature and able to take direction. The interview process should reveal any shortcomings in this area. There is no place in an organization for immature of "my-way-or-the-highway" types of folks.
  16. Volunteers need to be evaluated. By regularly assessing the work of volunteers, you can make decisions about whether they are being effective or whether they might consider a different role in your organization.
  17. Handle disciplinary issues directly. This is a basic management tenet. If a volunteer is doing something unacceptable or inapporpriate, then it needs to be addressed, privately, with the volunteer directly and immediately.

Here is another view: seven steps to having an effective volunteer program, from the Canadian FundRaiser:

1. Define why you need volunteers

Are you looking for volunteers to enhance the services that you provide, to strengthen your community involvement, to enrich your exposure to certain communities? Is there a genuine reason to use volunteers?

Every volunteer program must begin with an understanding of why your organization wants or needs volunteer support. Ensure that you have the support of your board of directors and senior administrators before embarking on a recruitment campaign. At the initial stage, it is also essential to establish desired outcomes for volunteer involvement. Establishing these outcome objectives early in the process will help to guide the types of volunteers that you recruit, and the way that you manage them once they have come on board.

2. Design valuable volunteer opportunities

By designing valuable volunteer assignments you provide volunteers with challenge and motivation for continued success. Lay out the responsibilities of each job. Plan training and support programs to facilitate volunteer learning and development, and ensure that volunteers are aware of the goals and outcome objectives for their involvement.

3. Recruit carefully

When you've designed your volunteer opportunities, target the appropriate audiences to recruit those who are truly interested in the project. Understand the characteristics of your existing team, and recruit volunteers to mirror this team. Be honest about the workload and time commitment involved in the project. Above all, ask for help but don't plead - you want volunteers who want to be there.

4. Screen, interview and place cautiously

Screening and interviewing potential volunteers facilitates their commitment to the organization or to the project at hand. It shows potential volunteers that you take both the project and their time seriously. Screening also gives you an opportunity to match qualifications and skills with your needs and the needs of your volunteers. An interview is also the best time to define availability and schedule activities that fit both the organization and volunteers.

5. Bring them on board with training

Comprehensive orientation and volunteer training programs give volunteers a feeling of belonging and status. It shows that your organization values them enough to make an investment in them and, again, helps to reinforce their commitment to the cause. Orientation also helps set the tone of the work area and allows volunteers to adapt more easily to the organization's surroundings.

As part of the volunteer training sessions, you should provide a general orientation to the organization, including a discussion of its mission and philosophy. Outline the organizational framework, and any codes of conduct that are enforced. Offer any project-specific training that is necessary to develop needed skills, and don't forget to tour the work area and point out the sometimes-not-so-obvious features like washrooms and water fountains.

6. Recognize. Recognize. Recognize.

Recognition programs show that your organization values volunteer support. They also provide a motivation for continuing commitment from your volunteers. Recognition should be both formal and informal, with events supported by the organization, as well as personal notes and communication. Don't forget to recognize volunteers publicly when newspaper or other media opportunities arise or when it's time to write the annual report again.

7. Follow-up effectively

A final element of a successful volunteer program is continual follow-up and evaluation. Effective follow-up provides feedback to volunteers and staff and opportunities to improve service to both. With a careful plan, and continual volunteer communication and training, it should be easy to evaluate your success and improve your program with time.

Based on a presentation at the 1997 Annual CCAE Conference by Diane Morrison, Vice President of Patient Programs at Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton, NB.

Why do volunteers, well, volunteer? Here are some reasons, based in part on research from the Texas Commission on Volunteering and Community Service:

Career Enhancement

Some volunteers are looking for new skills, and one of the ways they can gain those skills is through helping an organization that does the kind of work they are interested in. This is especially true for Community Networks: the Digital Age skills peop le can acquire by helping you can open new job and career paths for under-employed, other-employed or unemployed people.

These people are very important to your organization. While they might not stay too long, and while they might have their own personal development as their motivation, they still can provide valuable services. It is important to make sure these volunte ers stay on the tasks you need, rather than merely focusing on aspects of a particular task or set of tasks that will benefit them personally.

Giving Back to the Community

Some volunteers merely want to help their community become a better place. They are energetic, often full of ideas for better ways to do programs and are eager to help your Community Network be successful. These often are the most flexible, "whate ver-you-need-I’ll-do" volunteers.

Personal Growth

Some volunteers are looking for a new outlet for themselves, looking for a way to grow personally through their volunteering. By letting them grow with the program giving them opportunities that they wouldn't get outside of a volunteer position, you fi ll their needs while getting yours filled, as well.
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