6 Power Steps to Managing Volunteers That Every Volunteer Coordinator Should Know

So what is involved in managing volunteers. It involves bringing volunteers into the organisation, looking after them while they fulfill their duties, and then planning for when they leave. Volunteer Management involves 6 stages. These are: Volunteer Management Model 1. Recruitment 2. Selection/ Screening 3. Orientation 4. Training/ Development 5. Recognition 6. Retention/ Replacement I want you to imagine that these 6 stages are set up in a circle. Although volunteer management does not have a start and end point they are linked and is an ongoing process. Now lets have a look at each stage individually; Stage 1 - Recruitment Recruitment is the process of attracting new volunteers to your organisation. So, when you approach a potential volunteer, it is important to promote your organisation as an exciting and positive organisation to be involved with! Here are some strategies to source volunteers and how to recruit them. o Produce volunteer information kits This should include position descriptions for each volunteer role. People are very aware of committing to a position if they don't fully understand what is required in regards to skills and time. Would you take a paid job if you didn't know what it invovled and how many hours were required. Of course not!!!!! Then why would we expect volunteers to do it?

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o Check past and present membership lists for potential volunteers. o Ask members for their occupation on your membership form to identify skills that may be suitable to a volunteer position (e.g. if a member has indicated that his/her occupation is a registrar, you may be able to approach them as a potential Secretary or Treasurer). o Provide new members with information about ways they can get involved with your organisation as a volunteer (include in membership information). o Use the local community newspaper - Place a classified advertisements, letter to the editor or feature article. - Avoid simply saying - "We need volunteers" indicate the type of roles that need to be fulfilled and the great benefits of being involved in your organisation. o Produce posters, pamphlets or flyers that promote the organisation and the types of things volunteers can do - distribute where potential volunteers may visit. I am also betting that there is a person in you organisation that could produce very professional looking materials. You never know until you ask. o Organise community notices on the radio. o Ask private companies to include volunteering in pre-retirement training sessions. o Promote your organisation's volunteering opportunities to schools, TAFE and universities. o Advertise volunteering opportunities through corporations, businesses, and sponsors. o Offer young members the opportunity to take on the role of apprentice volunteers. Use existing and experienced volunteers as mentors. o Promote your organisation and volunteer roles at local retirement villages and organisations. o Advertise for volunteers on your organisation's website. o Offer volunteers the opportunity to "job share" their volunteer role with a friend or partner. o Try the personal approach... simply ASK! Do not under estimate this powerful strategy. Approaching people in a professional way dramatically increases your chances of getting people to say yes to your request. STAGE 2 - SELECTION AND SCREENING For many volunteer organisations it is rare to have more volunteers than positions. So, they may have little experience in having to choose the right person for a volunteer position. But you still need to have screening processes in place to ensure that volunteers are suitable for the positions they fulfil.There are many ways to select and screen potential volunteers. You might like to consider a combination of the following; o Position descriptions; o Application forms; o Interviews; o Referee checks; o National Police Clearance or National Police Check; o Working with children checks o Declaration forms; and o Code of Conduct forms.