So you need volunteers badly for your next big campaign or event. And as volunteer manager – or executive director, or whatever position in your organization manages your volunteers – you want to make sure it’s an experience the volunteers remember, cherish, and work at effectively without ruining your reputation.

Some of the best ways to maximize the effectiveness of your volunteers are all about how you present your mission to them.

BP your volunteer VIPs

According to Ruth MacKenzie, president of Volunteer Canada, a pre-established set of best practices can go a long way to managing your volunteers at a crucial time.

“When possible, templating a process is always the best approach. It saves time but allows ongoing adaptation and refinement as new lessons are learned. We currently offer training on event planning using the HandsOn Network model for volunteer engagement. Components include using trained volunteer leaders as facilitators, building on the one-time experience, and leveraging the opportunity for continued service. Modules include Volunteer as Leaders and Managing Large Scale Days of Service,” she says.

Over in Calgary, Rhonda Risebrough, provincial director for The Terry Fox Run of Alberta, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, believes that while having best practices can help, her organization relies more on constant communication with volunteers to help manage their activities and keep their enthusiasm high.

While The Terry Fox Run recruits volunteer event organizers primarily through PSAs every spring, Risebrough screens applicants looking for those displaying “passion” for the run and cancer research.

“This passion ensures that they will give their best to the event,” Risebrough notes. “We try to make sure that they recruit a committee of volunteers and don’t try to do it all themselves. We try to keep them engaged through newsletters, emails, and Facebook throughout the summer so that they are well informed and supported. We provide them with promotional and fundraising materials to put on their event, but we give them no budget. Everything is 100 percent donated or covered by a third party. All events are 100 percent organized by volunteers. This empowers them.”

Risebrough also notes that her organization does have “policies and guidelines” that volunteers need to follow, though her organization doesn’t organize the events itself.

“We have one volunteer workshop in the spring, at a different location in the province every year. We do not cover [volunteers’] costs to attend this meeting, but we get a great turnout as it is part pep rally, part volunteer appreciation, part instructional and always well-received by those who attend,” she says. “We try to bring in a Fox family member as a guest speaker, or someone who was close to Terry and a part of The Marathon of Hope in 1980. All costs for the workshop are donated.”

In Toronto, Rachel Somarya Naipaul, administrator of volunteer resources for WWF-Canada, tells CharityVillage that her organization has its own set of best practices as well as a rewards system for volunteers.

“We hold an annual volunteer appreciation evening [where we] invite in-house volunteers and our ‘stellar’ and long-term serving CN Tower Climb event assistant volunteers and ‘stellar’ emissaries,” she says.

NOTE: According to Naipaul, a ‘stellar’ volunteer is any volunteer – long-term or first-timer – who performs extremely well at the CN Tower Climb event and “gets noticed and marked by staff as such.” They are then reported to the administrator of volunteer resources.

WWF volunteers also receive a certificate signed by the organization’s CEO and president, Gerald Butts.

Right place, wrong person: A nonprofit nightmare

When asked if picking the “wrong” volunteer could have adverse effects on an organization’s campaign or event, the experts above all answered “yes.”

“This is why we have orientation sessions for new event volunteers – specifically for the CN Tower Climb – so we can evaluate each volunteer and find out if they are appropriate for the team they’ve signed up for, or if they’re not appropriate at all,” Naipaul says, adding: “We have a disclaimer on our application form that states we reserve the right to revoke any placement at anytime, on various grounds, but not limited to those grounds.

Having a ‘wrong’ volunteer is not 100 percent avoidable. Not every single volunteer can attend the orientation session, so you don’t know their quality until they show up for the event and start working. Also, even if they attend the session, they may present well, but may slack off or may even be under the influence or uncooperative at the actual event. The costs are: waste of time [for] staff and other volunteers on the team, financial if the person actually steals money, and damaging to our image if they are an unprofessional representative.”

MacKenzie’s philosophy centres on eliminating the wrong person from crucial roles.

“Obviously with a large group of volunteers, a single ‘wrong’ volunteer is not going to have a huge adverse impact. The crucial point is team leadership. If you’ve got the wrong volunteer in that role, the whole thing can unravel. The model Volunteer Canada uses trains on engaging volunteers as leaders and provides solid information on the kinds of skill sets and commitment you need to be sourcing,” she says.

Though this scenario hasn’t happened often to Risebrough’s organization, she says the wrong volunteer can be “well-intentioned” but often ends up not having enough time to commit to an event. “The event happens, but it is not necessarily as good as it could be or as well promoted in its community as it should have been,” she says.

ROI for nonprofit volunteer managers

WWF-Canada has developed a set method to maximize its volunteer pool.

“It is costly to have high volunteer turnover. Over the years we have greatly reduced our turnover and we have many volunteers who serve on a long-term basis,” Naipaul says, adding that the emphasis on WWF’s volunteer retention program is through team-building.

Some examples of how her organization keeps its volunteer outreach proactive include:

• explaining to volunteers the connection the organization’s mission and goals, by illustrating how important their work is, even if it’s “stuffing envelopes”;
• developing and sustaining excellent staff-volunteer relationships;
• thanking volunteers repeatedly both casually and formally throughout the year; and
• near-daily communications via e-newsletters.

According to Naipaul, all this has helped WWF-Canada to a “50 percent return rate of ‘veteran’ volunteers, i.e. volunteers who [worked] at the last CN Tower Climb event.”

MacKenzie also stresses that for volunteers, a link to the mission of the organization should be prevalent in any project. “Commitment to the cause is a significant motivator for volunteering, so individuals want to be able to know that their time is going to help the organization reach its goals.”

She also adds a bit of advice for sector executives who may want some guidance on how to treat volunteers.

“It’s essential that executive directors value volunteer involvement in their organization – that’s not a given – and recognize that volunteers are crucial to their success. Volunteers need to be considered in organizational planning, HR planning, and financial planning to ensure they are leveraged in a strategic and intentional way… and that they have the necessary support and resources,” MacKenzie says. “Leadership is key, and so is proper planning at the front end. A reflection piece is critical for any ‘day of service’ or event. It’s important to create space for volunteers to reflect on their contribution, to learn from it in terms of their ability to affect change, and to see how their gift of time has been important to the organization and the community. It takes them back to the reason they came, it can link to the objectives of the project and mission tie-in and embed’s the experience.”

In Edmonton, Leslie Cleary, president of the Volunteer Management Group advises executive directors to budget for a volunteer management position whenever possible.

“EDs need to invest in a professional volunteer manager for their volunteer program. This is not a tack on to someone’s job. They should see the value volunteers bring to their organization as they are not free labor,” Cleary says. “A well-defined volunteer program with a paid professional – either full-time or at least part-time – will enable the organization’s needs to be met. Formalized policies and procedures, job descriptions, and a budget for the program are all pretty basic concepts here.”

Nonprofit volunteers are golden

Risebrough issues one last thought on volunteers which she hopes sector managers will remember:

“Volunteers are gold. Volunteers are special people. Volunteers do not want to be treated like disposable employees, nor should they be. Our volunteers know that we – staff – work for them, not vice versa.”

Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf is president of WordLaunch professional writing services in Toronto. He can be reached at andy@wordlaunch.com.

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