Over the past few years, the need for a more structured volunteer environment appears evident. Charitable organizations are taking a much more business-like approach toward their volunteers in order to employ their skills as effectively as possible. Therefore, many organizations are streamlining their volunteer departments and hiring a variety of coordinators, managers and supervisors in order to oversee the volunteer staff.

Such is the case at the Canadian Cancer Society – Alberta/NWT Division, where Kelly Bitz is the volunteer resources specialist. In her division of the Canadian Cancer Society, there are nine units, each with its own volunteer resource person. As she states, “they are the ones that manage the volunteers directly and I am the one that is managing them.”

Responsibilities and operations

Bitz is responsible for managing all of the volunteer resources staff as well as managing leadership volunteers. She is also in charge of file management for both their major gifts and gifts planning advisory cabinets. “I’m in charge of planning, budgeting and reporting. Any reports that go to the executive team or to the board come from me,” she explains. “I am also the national representative for volunteer resources so I hope to be involved more nationally this year.” As part of her duties, Bitz leads all conference calls with volunteer resources staff in her division, as well as all internal communications. She also manages the rewards structure and implementation, and is the lead for the divisional awards ceremony every year (known as Daffodils). “Finally, I am responsible for forming strategic alliances, joint ventures, community partnerships at a divisional level.”

There is no question that Bitz’s duties are plentiful and ever-changing on a daily basis. This is in part because the position of volunteer resources specialist has only existed in the Alberta/NWT division of the Canadian Cancer Society for a little over a year. As Bitz observes, “We are still looking at cleaning up. We are standardizing our documents, policies and procedures, as well as working on team targets and reporting. I am also trying to put together a team toolkit so when new coordinators start they have a ‘how to’ guide.” She’s also trying to help streamline things at the divisional level. “I get a lot of calls from all over the division from people that report to me to clarify questions. As well, I work with all of the departments in the organization because we need to know what other departments need in order to meet everybody’s needs efficiently.”

Recruiting, interviewing and retaining volunteers

As a whole, Bitz’s position relates more to the structure of the organization’s volunteer department. However, obtaining volunteers is still important. The most effective means of recruitment is through friends – the word-of-mouth phenomenon. They also use different forms of media such as posting on the Canadian Cancer Society website and other external websites. Essentially, they use as much free media as possible.

Once volunteers are found, they must be screened to discover if they are skilled enough for the position in question. As Bitz mentions, “It depends upon which position we are recruiting for. We have a standardized basic interview, but depending on which stream the volunteer would like to volunteer in, they may also complete a specialized interview. For example, the volunteer driver program would have a more in-depth interview to begin with. Then they would have a reference check, a criminal check, a driver’s abstract, proof of insurance, etc. Whereas, if they would just like to volunteer at a special event, we would just do an application and a waiver form. It really depends upon what the stream is.”

Once the organization has volunteers, it is crucial to retain them. According to Bitz, challenging their volunteers and giving them different things to do is the organization’s approach for retention. She also feels that recognition, both informally and formally, is also very important. Finally, it is important that volunteers and paid staff happily coexist. One way to achieve such harmony is by having the paid staff directly responsible for supervising their own volunteers. Having an effective and efficient volunteer then reflects positively on the employee.

A necessary position

When asked why she feels the role of volunteer resources specialist is an important one to an organization, Bitz says that “it keeps our team together and it keeps us functioning cohesively as a unit. The position gives leadership and it helps gel us all togetherÖI used to be in a volunteer coordinator role for Calgary and what I found is that before we had this [specialist] role it was more difficult to keep the team together. We were all doing different things, whereas now we are all working toward all having the exact same processes and doing the exact same things throughout the division. Also, our department supports the whole organization so we need to be extremely high-functioning to achieve our goals. I believe this role helps achieve that.”

In terms of the proper background for the position of volunteer resources specialist, Bitz thinks that a background in nonprofit management and human resources are most important. She puts emphasis on human resources because volunteer resources and human resources are so closely related. She also believes in the importance of having Canadian Administrators of Volunteer Resources (CAVR) certification. “It’s an asset because you learn about things that you may take for granted. When you are trying to do the certification you have to write two papers so you are researching and learning more about what you are doing. Also, visit the CAVR website because it has a lot of information about the profession of volunteer resources/volunteer management.” She also believes that you should be a volunteer first before managing a volunteer. She suggests talking to your local volunteer centre for more information.

In terms of necessary skills to bring to the job, Bitz says multitasking is definitely at the top of the list. You also have to be extremely organized and have the ability to meet multiple and changing demands. As she declares, “What you come in thinking you are going to do on a particular day may not be what you end up doing.” She also feels project management and leadership skills are very important.

Challenges to overcome

A thirst for knowledge is a key component that directly speaks to Bitz’s goals. “Personally and professionally, I think that it is important for me to be challenged. I always need to be growing in any position I am in or in whatever it is I am doing. I need to constantly be learning and expanding my skills and knowledge.” When asked what her biggest challenges are, she says it’s “keeping up with changing external environments and internal environments…Needs are changing internally and things are changing with the economy externally. Just keeping on top of it and making us proactive instead of reactive is the biggest challenge.”

Certainly, the voluntary sector is not immune to the current economic climate, as Bitz is already finding out. “I have heard other units saying they’ve had volunteers that quit their duties because they need to go back to work and find a part-time job. I have actually experienced it too. I was trying to form a partnership with an external organization. They said that they had cancelled their employee volunteer program so they could focus just on the essentials until they get through this crunch.”

The fruits of one’s labour

But this job isn’t just about the challenges; it’s about rewards. So what keeps Bitz going? “The most rewarding aspect for me is meeting the volunteers and hearing their stories. It’s just incredible some of the things that they have gone through,” she says. “We have volunteers that are actively going through cancer treatment. They will come in and volunteer in the morning and then go to their cancer treatment in the afternoon. I just think that is so selfless, incredible and motivating.” When asked if she had anything else to add regarding her position, she simply concludes that “I think it is a really rewarding field to be in. You can go to work every day and think ‘wow, I am making a difference.’ I think it’s a wonderful way to feel rewarded and challenged.”

What a terrific sentiment for all of us to strive for professionally!

Karl Noseworthy is a freelance writer from Newfoundland who currently resides in Kitchener, Ontario. He can be reached at karlnoseworthy@hotmail.com.