Are You Ready For Volunteers?

Every fledgling nonprofit eventually reaches a point where they are ready to start accepting volunteers into their organization. When that time comes, it's important that you are properly prepared for the work that comes from managing these individuals.

Gail Nyberg, executive director of the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto, Canada, wrote in the book "Five Good Ideas: Practical Strategies For Non-Profit Success" that there are five techniques organizations should use when they are dealing with their first volunteers.

• Communicate clearly, broadly and often. Letting regular volunteers know what’s happening and making sure they understand how their efforts are furthering your work fosters a sense of engagement and keeps them coming back.
• Understand and forecast your volunteer needs. A program should serve your organization and advance your mission, not accommodate every volunteer’s every wish.
• Have clear and concise position descriptions. This can ensure genuine buy-in, with people signing up for what you need.
• Train your staff in volunteer management. This is an opportunity for professional staff development by offering management training to employees who might not otherwise have the experience.
• Institute a formal volunteer recognition process. Even small tokens of appreciation can add up to a system of rewards that acknowledge the people who make invaluable contributions to your organization.

Accepting the first volunteers can be a nerve-wracking experience for any nonprofit, but following the tips above will ensure that you have done everything you can to prepare. Have any other suggestions? Feel free to share them with us in the comments section.

Thanking Your Volunteers

Volunteers are an incredibly precious resource for nonprofits. That's why it's so important to make sure they never feel like their hard work is not going unappreciated. So when it comes to thanking your volunteers, here's a rule you should follow: Don't wait until the end.

When a volunteer feels appreciated, it increases their morale. Whether someone has high or low morale can be the difference between someone who is productive and someone who is not. In his book "The Idiot's Guide to Recruiting and Managing Volunteers," John L. Lipp wrote that it is important to make your volunteers feel welcomed from the beginning. Waiting until they leave to say "thanks" won't do you much good.

With this in mind, Lipp suggested 10 easy ways to integrate volunteer recognition activities into your organization:

• Get name badges for your office volunteers.
• Have an annual "Design the Volunteer T-Shirt" contest and use the winning design as that year's shirt for special events. Long-term volunteers will be able to wear their t-shirts from past years.
• Have a small budget? Ask a local company to pay for having volunteer t-shirts printed in exchange for having their logo tastefully printed on the shirt.
• Have a "Volunteer of the Month" and post his or her personal story on your web page.
• Ask a volunteer if he or she would like to take a 15-minute coffee or snack break with you.
• Create holidays in honor of your long-term office volunteers.
• Name rooms or office equipment after outstanding volunteers.
• Schedule a monthly drop-in potluck for volunteers who work in the field but would like to get to know one another in a social setting.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper making a statement of gratitude to all of your volunteers.
• If you send a regular newsletter to your volunteers, include an "Above and Beyond" section where you publicly acknowledge individual volunteers for specific actions.

Nonprofits Want Talent, Not Cash

When leaders from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation convened nonprofits involved in the 2008 Summit on Corporate Volunteersism, they had one question: What resources do you need to continue to build sustainability?  Their answer was not more money, it was more talent.

The Washington Post published an article today by Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation, in which she discussed the nonprofit sector's need for more talent in strategic areas of importance.  On the other side, businesses are having trouble retaining their talent and differentiating their products and services in order to stay competitive.  These two needs have led to the expansion of pro bono work, which is when businesses allow their employees to volunteer for nonprofits in need.

Businesses of any size can let their employees do pro bono work, but large corporations have led the way.  Companies like Deloitte, IBM, and Morgan Stanley have already provided more than $300 million worth of volunteer time to their employees.  This is not to say smaller companies are not doing their part.  In fact, Case wrote that these companies are starting to increase skills-based volunteering in their communities.  She cites the Omaha-based Nebraska Global, a software investment fund, which has seen its 51 employees volunteer over 4,500 hours to local nonprofits like the Boys & Girls Club of Lincoln.  The company also plans to lead a campaign to recruit 100 Nebraska business to start their own pro bono programs.

Has your organization been the recipient of any pro bono volunteers from local businesses?  We'd like to hear any stories you have.  Meanwhile, you can read the full story on this topic in The Washington Post.

Accommodating Your Youth Volunteers

The job market is proving difficult for everybody, and college students are no exception.  That's why the amount of time they volunteered increased from 2009 to 2010, according to USA Today.  Volunteering remains a popular way for young people to keep themselves busy while they are looking for work.  It also looks great to nonprofits on a resume.  With the number of youth volunteers increasing, nonprofits need to come up with ways to accommodate them.

In his book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Recruiting and Managing Volunteers, John L. Lipp offered some ways that nonprofits can accomplish this goal:

• It all starts with flexibility.  If the volunteer is still taking classes, it might be tough for them to commit more than two hours.  This is especially the case near the end of the semester, when work loads typically increase.
• Lipp says that most young people like working together, so pair up students to promote teamwork skills.
• Keep your volunteers engaged by making mundane tasks more fun.  For example, have an envelope stuffing party with pizza and videos.
• Involving youth volunteers not only addresses short-term needs of an organization, but also long-term needs. Try to engage these volunteers as best as possible so they will turn to your organization in the future when they have disposable income.

Make sure to read the full article on this subject over on our website.  This is a very valuable subject in this day and age.

The Future Of National Service

As you are probably aware, the Dec. 1 issue of The NonProfit Times was just released the other day.  Included in that issue was a special report entitled "2012: The End Of The World Or Nonprofit Renaissance?"  This report features six columns by major nonprofit personalities like Adrian Sargeant of the Center on Philanthropy and Ben Duda of AmeriCorps Alums. 

Duda, who works as executive director at the organization, wrote a piece about national service and volunteerism.  And sticking with the end of the world theme, he discussed what place they have in America in the future.  He argues that they will endure as long as citizens demand that they do.

AmeriCorps was kind enough to blog about the piece he wrote for us, which we are very grateful for.  You can read the entire article in his blog post, but here's an excerpt from it to whet your appetite:

I’m not buying the “end-of-days” hype. I’m fully confident the Mayan Calendar will join the list of dubious doom predictions, alongside Harold Camping’s end of the world timing in 1994 or May 21, 2011, no, wait, Oct. 21, 2011, the hysteria of the Y2K computer failures, and those classic National Enquirer cover stories from the supermarket checkout line. But since we’re talking predictions, here’s where I think we’re going as a sector and as a country.


There’s a new wave of critics on the value of national service, as the (Mayan) calendar turns to 2012, with some in the House of Representatives advancing a zero budget going forward for AmeriCorps. That is not a very good idea. Its not very good for our country, especially for a generation of young Americans who want to serve their nation, and who will one day lead this country.


Is it the end of the world? No, although it certainly feels like a re-run of a bad sitcom. National service will endure and we’ll be thankful it does as a generation of nonprofit leaders, elected officials, and entrepreneurs ascend with a common career arc that is rooted in volunteerism and defined by national service.


More than 700,000 Americans have served in AmeriCorps since 1994. For 1,700 hours in service to the country this year, a member gets $5,550 toward loan repayment or future education. That’s a good investment in our future workforce and future leaders. Best of all, it represents a $2.01 return in essential services for every federal dollar, nearly unmatched when analyzing government spending.

A Nonprofit For Miniature Horses

You've probably heard of people bringing dogs to visit senior citizens and hospital patients, but what about horses?  If you're wondering how they get these animals into the rooms to begin with, I have two words for you: Miniature horses.

Mini's Making Miracles, which is the subject of a story in The York Dispatch, is a nonprofit based in York Haven, PA, that brings young miniature horses to local nursing homes and hospitals to help patients.  For the founders, Kevin and Vickie Tyler, the organization represents a dream of theirs to turn their love of volunteerism and mini horses into a nonprofit that can improve the morale of patients.

According to the Dispatch, the Tylers spend between $3,000 and $5,000 every month on feed, transportation, vet bills, and insurance costs.  It's a hefty salary for a small organization, but Kevin Tyler says he is actively searching for sponsors and volunteers to help offset costs.  More information can be found about Mini's Making Miracles on their website.

Nonprofit Management Tip: 5 Ideas For Handling Evaluations

Nonprofit organizations rely a lot on the help of volunteers.  Whether it's assisting with an important fundraising campaign or helping out at a special event, their work can really help out.  That's why nonprofits need to know the finer points of volunteer management.  In this week's nonprofit management tip, we examine how organizations can evaluate their volunteers:

Volunteer management is so important that training sessions and orientation programs for volunteer managers can pay big dividends. Instituting such programs might not be easy, however.


Susan J. Ellis, a Philadelphia, Pa.-based consultant who specializes in volunteers, believes that volunteer leaders often need to be acquainted with the approaches that will help them to help other volunteers, as well as working to the benefit of such initiatives.


For example, it could be helpful to tell them that:


• It is worse to talk negatively about someone with others than to confront the person directly about poor performance;


• It is more flattering to suggest that a volunteer could do better at something than to act as if you think they’ve already done their best;


• If you want to recognize good volunteers, then deal with volunteers who are not doing the right things. Otherwise, you send the message to the others that it doesn’t matter whether they do something well;


• It could be a relief to the volunteer that you are offering options for improving a situation that the person also believes is not working well; and,


• Stress self-fulfilling prophecy. Set high standards and don’t settle for “Well, we’ve got to accept whatever volunteers do.” Expect the best and that’s what you’ll get. But don’t assume that everyone automatically comes with positive expectations, even volunteers.

Evaluating your volunteers can be a challenging task, so hopefully these tips were helpful to you.  Feel free to share your volunteer management stories with us by posting in the comments section below.

Half Of Adults In Louisiana Are Volunteers

Note: This is a summary from a story in the latest episode of The NonProfit Times TV.

A new study by Louisiana State University revealed a fascinating statistic: More than half of the state's adult population volunteer their times to nonprofit or religious groups. In fact, LSU says that the rate is probably more than the 51% found in an April survey. The survey was commissioned by Volunteer Louisiana, and it interviewed 720 people 18 or older in 216 cities and towns. Most of the respondents also said that they considered the work they do to be helping, not volunteering.

United Way Sets Up Volunteering Connection Website

Note: This is a summary/reaction of an article from an outside news organization.  If you want to read the original article, please follow the first and last links in this post.

Looking for a good way to boost your volunteer activity in New Jersey this Spring?  United Way has a solution for you.

According to an article from The Star-Ledger, The United Way of Northern New Jersey/Sussex County has launched a new website, called the Volunteer Link program, to help New Jersey residents connect with volunteer opportunities at a variety of nonprofit organizations.  Kathleen Nelson, coordinator of the program, told The Star-Ledger that new site is meant to be a "one-stop shop" for would-be volunteers in New Jersey.  Currently, there are 33 Sussex County nonprofits participating in Volunteer Link, and Nelson said that she expects it to grow throughout North Jersey in the coming months.

To access Volunteer Link, simply go to Sussex United Way's website and click on Volunteer Link.  From there, users can search volunteer opportunities by a variety of different methods, including keywords, zip code, or type of volunteer job.  As of this writing, there are about 50 volunteer categories currently listed on the site, like homelessness, literacy, and drug abuse.

Read more about Volunteer Link and The United Way of Northern New Jersey at The Star-Ledger.

City Year CEO and Co-Founder Talks Volunteerism

Note: This is a summary of a past story from NPTtv about how volunteerism can help solve problems.

Michael Brown wants Americans to know how important volunteering is, and he came to The Nonprofit Times TV to share his views on the subject.  The CEO and co-founder of the volunteer organization City Year talked about how being involved in "volunteerism" can help solve everyday problems. 

Brown thinks that volunteering is essential to the "spirit of America" especially, he says, in recent years.  He cites how the so-called "millennial generation" is growing up with service in their lives, and how all Americans these days are signing up to volunteer in droves.  Brown's own organization has actually seen three times the amount of young people volunteering.  He also cites President Barack Obama's call for Americans to serve more as a turning point for volunteerism.

Brown ends by saying that, despite all of this good news, more Americans are still needed to volunteer.  He says that if we all unite together to help our communities, we can make this country a better place.  And he's right, of course.  We all need to give back to our community and there are so many different ways that we can do this.