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by Penny Kern

This weekend, I helped at an open house for a wildlife rehabilitation center. This is a VERY grassroots, mom and pop organization and the volunteers are people like me - they have an interest and a desire to help.

Being an experienced volunteer manager, this type of set up drives me nuts. I keep thinking it should be better run. Position descriptions, interviews, background checks, etc., etc. etc. I can see so many places that a good volunteer manager could make a huge difference in making it BETTER and run more smoothly.

Then, at the end of the day, after helping over 200 people see the animals and learn about when the rehabilitation center does, I look at what happened and realize that it works just like it is. Two men came to volunteer - just dropped in off the street - and we put them to setting up a table to house the collage of pictures. They helped cut down some thistles and walked around the grounds to make sure there were no tripping hazards. They signed the visitors log, made a donation, and left content that they were of help.

I DO NOT recommend this for other organizations but, for this one and the mom and pop who run it, there’s no better way. As they get to know people, they allow volunteers to get more involved. If they keep coming back and show some aptitude for working with the animals, they help them learn more about how things work.

I think my point is that not all organizations can or should be run by the book. Even though it looks easier and certainly lower risk, it may not be in the long run.

Penny Kern is a retired manager of volunteers and is a featured blogger.

by Michele Ober

While I was a middle school math teacher for only a few years, two principles have recently proven useful – develop your own “If I Get Hit by a Bus” book and “don’t reinvent the wheel.”

As a teacher I’d hear horror stories of new teachers reporting to school, being handed keys to the classroom and an attendance sheet, and struggling to get through their first weeks of school. During one of my many professional development days, I heard about the “If I Get Hit by a Bus” book, the guide to running your classroom from school policies and procedures to lesson plans to grading to classroom management. Regardless of any certification earned, a new teacher would indeed find a book like this helpful to get through the basics of the first few years of teaching while developing their own personal style.

When I came upon the volunteer management scene, I was certainly a novice. I had no professional training but had worked with the previous volunteer coordinator as a volunteer and knew of a few of her responsibilities. Some were written down, others not; none of which was in one central location. Over the past two years, I have learned, on my own, the various functions of volunteer management and have been trained in many others.

In 2009, I attended a 4-day Volunteer Management for the 21st Century course which incorporated the Competencies for Managers of Volunteers (Anne Schink and Larry Ullian, instructors). In this class session, I realized how important it is to organize a toolkit with best examples for the recruitment, training, retention, scheduling, evaluation, and recognition of volunteers.

While I now have a working binder which holds those examples I like best and I have a CD filled with best practices thanks to Anne and Larry, writing my “If I Get Hit by a Truss” book is still in the works. And I know I don’t have to reinvent the wheel!

While serving in AmeriCorps, I received a workbook “Developing and Managing Volunteers”, February 2006, one in FEMA’s professional development series. VolunteerMaine.org boasts a healthy resource center including the “Need to Know Basics” and the Competencies. At a recent VAMM conference, I was introduced to Jill Friedman Fixler and Sandie Eichberg’s philosophy and practice of collaborative volunteer engagement, redefining any organization’s relationship with volunteers. I also have affiliate examples available through Habitat International’s support center.

With so many resources, I feel confident by the end of the year my book will be complete or at least in working order. I look forward to increased productivity and comfort in my profession. I will also feel better knowing that the next volunteer coordinator will be better prepared when s/he is given keys to this office.

Michele Ober is the Volunteer Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity / 7 Rivers Maine. She is a guest blogger.

By Ann Swain

Not all non-profit organizations utilizing volunteers recognize the importance or significance of identifying ‘volunteer leaders’ and often don’t view volunteers as leaders. However, many volunteers have actually come from years of the corporate world and can offer a wealth of information and expertise that we might otherwise not have access to without paying out large sums of money.

Volunteer leaders give credibility to our non-profit programs in a number of ways.
 They are great recruiters
 They are usually very good at fundraising
 They often have terrific ideas about what volunteers want in a program
 They make good liaisons
 They are good community outreach for your non-profit
 They often can alleviate volunteer manager stress

The question is, ‘how do you attract a good volunteer leader and how do you keep them interested?’

I’m not sure you really ‘attract’ a good volunteer leader but you will usually find one within your own program’s pool of volunteers. They are usually the one with good ideas on more than one occasion, they are thoughtful about offering ideas and they seem to be the one person, other than the manager, that other volunteers will go to with questions or concerns.

The next step is to nurture the leadership skills within that volunteer you may have identified as a ‘leader’. Ask them if they are interested in becoming a ‘volunteer leader’. If the answer is yes and your program does not yet have a formal ‘volunteer leader’ program, enlist the skills of the newly identified ‘volunteer leader’ to help establish a ‘volunteer leader program’ within your non-profit. Be sure to formally identify your new ‘volunteer leader’ in their new capacity so that other volunteers have a clear understanding of this volunteer’s position in the organization. Once a set of guidelines has been established for your ‘volunteer leader program’, your organization is well on its way to offering skills to its volunteers that enhance the volunteer experience. And you, as a manager of volunteers, are on your way to enjoying the full potential of your volunteers. It’s a wonderful experience as a manager of volunteers to play a part in opening doors for volunteers to meet their fullest potential as a volunteer.

A word of caution: not every volunteer you identify as a leader has interest in becoming a ‘volunteer leader’. They may choose to volunteer their time and leave it at that. Happy volunteers, happy manager of volunteers.

Ann Swain is the Director of the Senior Companion Program at the University of Maine Cooperative Ext.

by Michael Aiguier

In order to celebrate the work of volunteers in the United States, Richard M. Nixon signed an executive order in 1974 to establish a period of time set aside as “National Volunteer Week”. Since that time, every president has signed a proclamation promoting the week. President Obama did so last year when he signed the Kennedy Serve America Act. Governors, Mayors and town councilman also use the opportunity to promote volunteerism in their community.

Organizations with volunteers use this opportunity to honor those volunteers with awards of many different types. The highest award given by these organizations that is associated with the White House is the President’s Volunteer Service Award. This award is a chance for organizations to bestow national and presidential recognition for their most dedicated volunteers.

Rewarding volunteers for their hard work is always important, but doing it when the nation is focused on it is especially important. This can be an opportunity to honor all of your volunteers collectively or individually, or you can combine both. Having volunteers help you plan the ways to celebrate their achievements and the achievements of their peers is a great way to help ensure that the things you do make the volunteers feel appreciated.

The nation’s increased focus on honoring volunteers is also an excellent opportunity for promoting your organizations goals and opportunities for helping achieving those goals. The entire month of April is National Volunteer Month, and here are a few of the organizations that have opportunities listed specifically for the month on VolunteerMaine.org:
The Owls Head Transportation Museum
The WW&F

The Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine
Friends of Acadia
Heritage Radio Society Inc.

Michael Aiguier is an AmeriCorps VISTA with the VolunteerMaine Project serving at the United Way of Eastern Maine and is a featured blogger.

By Noble Smith

Having spent nearly fifty years in the business of working with and for volunteers at non-profit organizations does not make me an expert at anything. However, one aspect of serving as a volunteer that I have carried into my professional life has been the trait or characteristic that governs a successful volunteer experience.

I have seen these experiences especially over the last twenty years being a volunteer at a number of organizations and as a member of various commissions, task forces and quasi-governmental agencies - make darn sure that the volunteer has a clear understanding of what is required, that the task is well-structured, well supervised and that it fits into a total integrated framework of the non-profit.

Today’s non-profits now have a plethora of baby boomers who are (or shortly will be) descending by volunteering their professional and personal skills, time and commitment and as the masses increase, non-profits best hone and fine-tune their enlistment, training and management skills. As we are observing, baby boomers are better educated, healthier, have less free time, and high levels of work experience that perhaps the previous generation. Non-profits better be in top-notch shape to handle this growing influx.

Cited below are the most frequently stated observations by both volunteers and those who run the non-profits that I have experienced as a volunteer, a development staffer and as a consultant. (The reader will certainly have many other valued observations and recommendations.)

What are you as a volunteer looking for in volunteer opportunities?

Clear job descriptions of what is expected;
Matching my life experiences with the task assigned;
Responsibility with authority, although all volunteers must recognize that they are working, as in business, for others, others who must possess and execute clearly visible leadership traits;
A genuine pat on the back for a job well done (or a constructive overview where improvement can be made);
Follow-up reports on the effectiveness of the volunteer effort.

What attracts the volunteer in the search for opportunities?

Well-organized volunteer program;
Good volunteer management supervision;
Organizations that dovetail with my personal interest/skills;
Recognition;
Timeliness of task and its functionality;
Impact that volunteers have on reaching the vision, mission and core values of the organization.

What do volunteer managers need to know about working with older volunteers?

Know the volunteer’s life experience and match accordingly;
Know exactly what you want the volunteer to undertake and accomplish;
Provide appropriate and realistic training;
Treat volunteers as though they were your parents;
Listen carefully to the volunteers 4 Cs - comments, concerns, compliants and compliments;
Provide personal follow-up, and visible recognition;
Know how to discharge, relieve a volunteer who is in the wrong place, wrong task and at the wrong time.

We all need to keep firmly in our minds, whether we are the organization or the volunteer, that in equivalent payroll, volunteers are indispensable to our society. They are a commodity that merit’s our highest degree of quality care, a solid business-like approach to their involvement and, most importantly, treat them like your parents - they certainly qualify!

Noble Smith is a former Commissioner, President of Noble Smith Associates (Development and Marketing Consultants) and a featured blogger.

By Penny Kern

I’m still cleaning out drawers. After almost twenty years in the volunteer manager business, I don’t think this chore is going to end any time soon.

Anyway, I found a packet from a workshop I did in 1992. It was on leadership and on the very first page there was a quote from John Foster Dulles, Secty of State under Eisenhower. He said, ” The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.”

That makes me stop and think! Do you continue to have the same problems, complaints or concerns year after year? Maybe it’s time to take a deeper look at yourself and how you do things.

Have any suggestions for how someone can get off this treadmill?

Let us know!

Penny Kern is a retired manager of volunteers and is a featured blogger.

By Emily Brackett

If your organization relies heavily on volunteers, make sure there is a system for easily maintaining your brand standards. Your brand is an extremely valuable asset, and you want to ensure that your volunteers value, maintain and promote your brand identity correctly.

If you’re lucky enough to attract volunteers, you should feel confident that your mission and organization means something to the volunteers. So, you already have a group of “brand evangelists” ready to work for you. But without the right tools, it is difficult for your volunteers to help you without also creating problems of brand dilution.

One of the risks with using volunteers is that there are generally lots of people, many of whom are undertrained. So you need to make it easy on yourself and your volunteers to adhere to branding standards.

Letter writing
If you have volunteers sending letters or emails, provide templates for them. Templates should be created in Word (or the software of your choice) and should have the identity items already in place. That will ensure the correct organization name, colors, and layout is maintained. Additionally, you may want to provide some writing examples so that a consistent and professional tone of voice is maintained. You need to be consistent so the recipient feels confident they are coming from a trusted source. Especially, no one wants to give money if they think there is something unreliable or maybe even downright forged about an appeal letter. While you should encourage volunteers to add a personal note to recipients they know, make sure there is a uniform look to the paper, the graphics, typography and the text, and then leave an area for personalization.

Identify your volunteers
If you have volunteers out in the field at a special event, make them easy to find. T-shirts are the easiest way to quickly identify volunteers and spread the brand identity at your event. But hats, visors, arm bands or lanyards are other possibilities. Make them easily recognizable to build brand identity and attractive enough for volunteers to wear afterward to further promote the event.

Give volunteers key information
It’s easy for your patrons to get frustrated if your volunteers are not helpful. A great idea is to create a “cheat sheet” that is on the back of a lanyard-hanging name tag. The whole card can be branded with your look and feel, and the “cheat sheet” can have FAQ type of information for the volunteer. For example, it should state the mission of the organization, how someone can get involved, who the key organizers are, the web site address, etc. Although your volunteers may be committed enough to spend some time with you, they may not have the whole picture of how your organization works.

Create great signage
I’m always amazed how little signage there are at events such as charity walks, fun runs and fundraisers. Great signage brands an event and helps the volunteers. Signage can build a robust brand identity for your event and organization. You probably already have a logo and key graphics in place, but seeing how this rolls out to signage adds visual appeal and is helpful. Pointing people directly to registration, starting lines, refreshments, and bathrooms allows you to focus on other details that need your attention.

It’s worthwhile to create systems for your volunteers so that design and branding standards can be maintained. Your brand is partly about identity (logo, colors, graphics) and partly about the reputation and personality your organization maintains. Because volunteers often are jumping into a situation with little or no training, providing easy-to-use templates, communicating key information and using your brand standards to build useful things like signs and shirts will help them put your organization’s best foot forward.

Emily Brackett is president of Visible Logic, Inc., a boutique graphic design firm that works across all media, and a guest blogger.

by Jen Lobley, M.ED, CVA

Having been with UMaine Cooperative Extension for almost 10 years working in the area of 4-H Youth Development, I now find myself with a new challenge. I have recently been named Statewide Extension Educator for Volunteer Development.

Cooperative Extension provides research-based information from the Land-Grant University through a variety of educational programs to local people. Cooperative Extension volunteers play a unique role among volunteer agency programs in that they can extend the reach of Cooperative Extension into every Maine community and help provide a link between the Land Grant University and the people seeking out information. Did you know that 7,987 Extension volunteers devoted more than 151,428 hours to their communities last year? These volunteers are working in a variety of areas including: youth development, horticulture, coastal and freshwater water quality monitoring, environmental work, nutrition education, senior companion programs, sustainable coastal community programs, and parenting education.

I am excited about the challenges this new position will bring as I begin to work to create a volunteer delivery system which will increase our organizational capacity to engage more volunteers. This in turn will help provide long-term program sustainability and expand Extension’s economic, social, and environmental impact on the state of Maine. In the process of getting this work underway, I have set three goals for myself:

1. Make training and resources available for Extension staff members that enable them to gain skills and confidence in building volunteer capacity. Helping staff understand the foundational components of a volunteer system and then helping them create volunteer programs that are reflective of current trends in volunteerism will make up a large part of my work. Trends such as episodic volunteerism, virtual volunteerism and catering to the Boomer generation are all areas to be aware of and consider as we design volunteer opportunities.

2. Utilize research to build effective training opportunities and educational programs in which volunteers will be educated and empowered to assume or accept service or leadership roles. I believe volunteers are the heart of Cooperative Extension. They have played a critical role in the 95 year history of Extension here in Maine and will continue to actively do so in the future. However, the volunteer of today is different than the volunteer of yesterday and this will impact how we work with them.

3. In the near future, Extension will be viewed by other organizations around Maine as a place to find research-based volunteer development trainings, opportunities, and resources that they can access and adjust to fit their individual needs. I envision Extension collaborating with the Maine Commission for Community Service and other groups to help build new partnerships and tap new community resources to expand volunteerism. Just think of the endless opportunities!

So that’s a lot to accomplish, huh? You might be wondering where on earth would she start? The real work will begin internally within Extension. Although I have a general sense of the various programs we offer, I will need to spend time learning about current volunteer engagement within our various program areas and spend time on needs assessment. I am also forming an advisory group. By having an advisory committee to provide input into determining priorities,long-range goals, policy and procedure, I believe a better volunteer system will emerge than if I were to try implementing something alone.

I know demands on our staff in terms of time are tight. As I develop training opportunities I will need to keep this in mind. I will work to develop and provide easily digestible “chunks” of information including monthly Volunteer Management Minute trainings (narrated video clips lasting five minutes or less with a few PowerPoint slides), a series of volunteer management tips that will be emailed out on a regular basis, and create an internal web page for staff members that will host a variety of or resources. (I must note that I am very fortunate to have a VISTA volunteer helping me get these projects started!)

I am proud to work for an organization that supports having a position that is focused completely on volunteer development. Our administration truly understands the value of volunteers. I will make every effort to communicate the importance of volunteers both within and outside the organization- not just to our volunteers, but to paid staff, executive committees, funders, local officials and administration. This truly is an exciting time to be working in the volunteer development profession and I look forward to the work ahead!

Jen Lobley is the Extension Educator for Volunteer Development at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and is a guest blogger.

By Anne Schink, CVA

I recently taught a class for managers of volunteers and it was interesting to see who actually showed up for the class. We had an executive director (the only paid staff) of a local land trust, an office manager of a nonprofit that was almost entirely run by an all-volunteer board, a department director of a housing complex, an event planner from a local business development organization, a brand new staff member of an animal rescue organization, and three staff members of a large youth-serving organization. I point this out only as a reminder that who we define as a manager of volunteers varies widely from organization to organization. On the up side is the fact that organizations of all types and sizes recognize the importance of volunteers in achieving the organization’s mission.

Clearly no one job description would cover this disparate group of participants. Yet many of their concerns were the same. While they all expressed the desire to increase the effectiveness of their volunteer programs, their expectations about what these people would do and what kind of people they were trying to attract was all over the map. Most of them had a mental picture in their heads about who was ‘typical’ for their organization. It took some stretching for them to see that they might have to re-think their vision if they were going to attract tomorrow’s volunteers.

In a recent Webinar I attended, the presenter said that tomorrow’s volunteers wanted the four F’s in their volunteer assignments—Flexible, Fast, Friendly, Focused. That goes for Board members, volunteers functioning as external consultants, behind the scenes administrative support, or direct service positions. No one, in any generation, is signing on for life these days. Flexible means that the position is shaped to match the volunteer’s schedule, not the other way around. Fast means a quick response to their initial inquiry and a quick turnaround in placing them. If you don’t catch them the first time they try to reach you, they will go elsewhere. Friendly means that you need to welcome them, make them feel part of your organization, and give them a meaningful role working with others. Focused means deadlines, time limits, and real measurable outcomes.

This may fly in the face of more traditional ways of creating a volunteer program, but it is a reminder that this is an ever-changing landscape. Having clearly defined job descriptions is the foundation of a sound volunteer program, but the experienced, adaptive manager of volunteers will make the changes required to build a creative program that meets a wide variety of interests and personalities.

Anne Schink, CVA is a Consultant in Volunteer Management and a featured blogger.

By Noble Smith

You think that you know all the earthly sins in the world, particularly those surrounding the Art of Asking, well what are the three most flagrant ones in all of philanthropy?

You are right if you immediately uttered -
“I forgot to ask the prospect for financial support“,
“I didn’t ask for a specific project, amount or need“, and
“At the last moment, I had another event to attend and did not visit the prospect personally - just sent a little hand-written note.”

In nine out of every ten solicitations that are not successful, these three items are, at least, one of the main reasons for failure and no bacon!

Many, many solicitors do do their homework, rehearse their visitation, but when confrontation is at the doorstep, the orderly and essential process enters the mental round basket.

Every seasoned and successful fund raiser knows that 90% of any fruitful solicitation is planning with only 10% being the actual face to face opportunity to encourage and motivate a “lively suspect”. Tactics, strategies, relationships and associations, partnering - these words, and many like them, are all an integral part of that planning process - leave any of them out and you become more than a charter member of “The Half-Asked Society”.

You have never heard of “The Half-Asked Society” (THAS) - a very unwelcomed introduction to you. THAS is the demon, the curmudgeon of fund raisers, the jester who warned you not to make the same mistake twice and, THAS, unfortunately, is one commodity that will assist you in applying for Chapter 11. It is the resting home for staff, Board members and volunteers who do only 10% planning and 90% fund-raising, who let panic reign over common sense and organization, and who are consistently late for their prospect appointments.

If you are not planning, you are not fund raising!

Planning is the quintessential element for elevation to that promised land of successful fund raising, whether it is for annual support, capital needs or for planned and estate giving. Everyone needs to be involved not just the CEO, CFO, and the other institutional Os - an essential degree of involvement for staff, Board members and most importantly, volunteers.

All serious potential prospects (I call them suspects) must be thoroughly convinced that the non-profit has completed its homework, has structured itself in a business-like manner and knows how to get the most out of each buck. Without that level of confidence, the organization is just building expanded membership in “The Half-Asked Society.”

So as you begin to master the art of asking and to avoid membership in THAS, thorough planning is quintessential AND matching the right suspect with the right solicitor for the right funding objective and for the right amount of support is mandatory.

Next Blog - a detailed outline of what works in the successful art of asking!

Noble Smith is a former Commissioner, President of Noble Smith Associates (Development and Marketing Consultants), and a featured blogger.