Volunteer Management Guide for Nonprofits

Implementing a volunteer management system will ensure nonprofits fully utilize their team. It will also help nonprofits discover new and exciting ways to help their team grow as individuals along the way.

Isn’t that what a nonprofit is all about… helping others, supporting the community, and enriching lives? To help your nonprofit start putting together its own volunteer management system, GrantWatch has created its own volunteer management guide below as a template.

1. Provide Orientation

Each volunteer should receive an orientation. If you offer a valuable orientation volunteers will learn how they can contribute. Use multiple approaches. Decide how you will provide the information and how often orientations will be required. Orientations can come in many different forms, such as handbooks, volunteer interviews, pamphlets, and more. Find the methods that work best for your organization.

Build a program that will be easy to maintain. Show up on time and offer helpful information. Do not leave volunteers with a bad taste in their mouths because you were unprofessional. A bad reputation can be detrimental to a nonprofit, especially a new one. Volunteers should be aware of the nonprofit’s mission, history, and structure. If a volunteer is ever asked about the volunteer work, their response should clearly identify and state your nonprofit’s mission. They are one of the faces of your organization, so it is important they know about your organization.

For any volunteers looking to learn more about a specific foundation, GrantWatch.com provides valuable information with its 990 Finder and Foundation Search, including mission statements, financial history, and board information.

2. Set Realistic Goals

Be specific when communicating your goals. When individuals who are volunteering for your nonprofit can see the overall picture, they will better understand how they fit in and how to advance the cause. Furthermore, express your passion for the nonprofit’s mission, so volunteers understand why their work is important. Most people will eagerly agree to volunteer when they understand the mission and can imagine how their efforts will positively impact others. This will help the volunteers remain interested in what they do and keep them coming back to help.

3. Create Clear Assignments

To recruit and retain good volunteers, you must also create assignments that advance your organization’s cause and benefit the volunteers who participate. Implementing a straightforward task schedule will help you organize your duties according to importance and skill. While volunteers are giving their time for free, they are still not your slave. Make sure each task is clearly outlined to avoid confusion and frustration among your team. Let them know precisely what they will be doing. People like to know what’s on the docket, whether that’s selling tickets, serving food, or setting up tables. If they need training beforehand, let them know so they can see about making time in their schedule.

4. Help Volunteers Develop Skills

In addition to contributing to a cause, many volunteers participate in hopes of developing their own skills. A big part of this happens during volunteer orientation, but it is also important to offer regular additional training for volunteers. Training isn’t the same thing as orientation. The training you provide should be ongoing as long as the volunteer is part of your organization. Training is a chance to teach volunteers about safety precautions and relevant policies. For example, are volunteers permitted to accept gifts from the clients with whom they work? If the media asks your volunteer event coordinator to comment at a public meeting, are they allowed to speak on your organization’s behalf? What does a board member need to know regarding legal responsibilities? Training is an excellent tool to keep volunteers motivated, informed, and engaged.

Grants are available to nonprofit organizations for professional training and education projects that significantly focus on staff and personnel working with seniors.
Cooperative agreements are also available to a nonprofit, statewide, local, community, or faith-based organization to provide training related to legal aspects of organizational effectiveness.

6. Track Volunteer Hours

Volunteer management also includes tracking your organization’s volunteer hours. Not only does tracking give you a visual of how volunteers impact your organization, but it also allows you to calculate exactly how much hourly pay your volunteers have saved your organization. This is important when asking for funding from foundations because it shows them the steps you are already taking to lower costs. For this reason, you should track the hours of each volunteer. Some volunteers will put in more hours than others, while some individuals may not be able to put in as much time as they wish. Regardless, it is still important to recognize those who have dedicated more time.

7. Show Appreciation

Most nonprofit founders acknowledge that volunteers are the backbone of their organization, but do your volunteers know that to be true? You should acknowledge and thank your volunteers directly. Proper acknowledgment of your volunteers will keep them coming back to help. Come up with creative and thoughtful ways to show how much you value your volunteers. Sending out a mass thank-you email after an event is a thoughtful gesture, but you should also make an effort to thank each volunteer personally.

8. Open Communication

Let volunteers know you welcome and value their feedback. This will increase the likelihood of volunteer input in the planning and decision-making process. For example, host annual or semiannual meetings to get feedback from your volunteers. Create a survey to learn about each volunteer’s experiences and gather ideas for the organization. Other ways to get volunteer feedback include emails, office postings, and articles in your newsletters. In addition to contributing to a cause, many volunteers want to learn more about the nonprofit world. Allowing people to speak their minds will bring your team success using their decades of experience to help the nonprofit’s mission see success.

9. Open Recruitment

Recruitment should begin at first contact with your supporters. Using your current network of volunteers to boost your ranks takes little effort and is extremely helpful. Ask for help throughout the year. Even if someone can’t assist with one event, they may be able to help out next time. Because of this, it is smart to send out reminders throughout the year. You never know when someone’s schedule may become free. Also, ask your volunteers whether they have friends or family who’d be interested in joining them. Search for people who have already participated in events to support similar causes and ask whether they’d like to help out. Also, did you know that you should be applying for “In Kind” grants for your nonprofit? Many organizations do not realize that you can win a grant for volunteers, education for your team, and more.

In-kind grants of promotional products are currently available to nonprofits, registered charities, faith-based organizations, and schools. Promotional materials may be used for advertising, to thank donors, to attract volunteers, and to provide comfort to people in need

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