Volunteer Managers are Important!
A competent manager of volunteers has a powerful effect on staff and volunteer morale, the work ethic of the organization, and recruitment and retention. The manager also sustains the program by providing or arranging for rich, varied, useful, and fulfilling experiences for volunteers that support the priorities of the host agency and by extension, meet the needs of the community.
In developing the Volunteer Management Competencies, we realized that these broad areas of responsibility are neither developmental nor hierarchical. Some people begin their careers in leadership and over time may acquire skills in management, supervision, or technology.
Not all volunteer managers need the skills in all of these categories, but most do. They are not developmental across categories - i.e., a volunteer manager may have considerable expertise in community leadership and may never need to acquire the skills of financial management. The point is that not all volunteer managers start their career in the same place.
The purpose of this module is three-fold:
- Introduce Volunteer Management Competencies ;
- Complete self assessments to check your skill level; and
- Create a self-directed learning plan.
