Resource Roundup: Need to Know Basics
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by Christy Monroe
Happy Friday! Although we’ve never made a formal announcement, Friday is our “resource roundup” day on the Volunteer Maine blog. From upcoming events and trainings to suggested resources for Maine’s managers of volunteers, Fridays are filled to the brim with a coffee-break’s worth of useful information.
Many of our readers are seasoned volunteer administrators with years of best practices under their belts (good for you and we hope that you’ll share some of your knowledge using the comment tool). Yet others are struggling with their new responsibilities of managing volunteers and are searching through layers of information for the keys to success (we’re here for you and encourage you to ask the tough questions by using the comment tool).
Today we’d like to introduce one of our latest ventures in providing you with the baseline of information that EVERY manager of volunteers needs to know. We call them Need to Know Basics. These brief documents are boiled down versions on various topics in Volunteer Management. They are the least you need to know, not to be confused with the multitude of supporting information and advanced concepts in the field.
What for example are the commonly recognized best practices in volunteer management? And how do I know that my organization runs a quality volunteer program? These topics are covered in the Need to Know Basics of Volunteer Management Best Practices -a must-have collection which contains the Essential Elements of Volunteer Resources Management including:
• A Best Practices Checklist to guide your organizations in determining the quality of volunteer programs
• Information about how to put those practices into place in your organization
• A Bibliography with written resources and a list of valuable websites where you can find the most up-to-date info about managing volunteers
Not to worry, we won’t stop there! This is just a sneak peek of what is to come–a series of one-page Need to Know Basics on topics like Managing Psychological Contracts, Situational Leadership, Cultural Competency, and Group Dynamics are coming your way.
We’re ready to tailor more topics to your needs, novice to expert! Just leave a comment and let us know what new challenges lie ahead for you. We’ll do our best to craft key resources that you can consume in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee (or tea).
Investing the time to learn and grow as a Manager of Volunteers doesn’t have to cost a lot, and seeing your well managed volunteers make a difference in your community is, well …priceless.
Christy Monroe is the Training VISTA at the Maine Commission for Community Service.