About Volunteer Management
Volunteer management training involves properly managing volunteers. There are numerous tools that aid in this. Management can make sure that volunteer resources are properly coordinated. With strong management, volunteer organisations can run smoothly. It’s essential to use management techniques that work for both the volunteers and the organisation. There are many management strategies that can be implemented. We draw inspiration from volunteer management literature from around the world. We strive to find the best ways to utilise and coordinate resources.
Organisations must recruit from a limited pool of volunteers. It’s important to retain volunteers as much as possible. Many of our clients report that they want to attract more volunteers, strengthen management strategies, and get a better sense of the impact that volunteers are having. Individuals that choose to volunteer have numerous opportunities available to them. Organisations must compete for these volunteers.
Currently, there are more than 1.4 million volunteering opportunities available. 47,000 organisations are looking for volunteers. This means that it’s all the more important for organisations to handle volunteer management appropriately. This will make it easier to retain volunteers and to draw in new ones.
These suggestions will make it easier for your organisation to appeal to volunteers:
When potential volunteers show interest, you’ll want to act quickly. You’ll also want to ensure that you give them the information they need. According to a national survey conducted by Do-it, 36% of prospective volunteers did not have enough information about the opportunity or had an application that was not responded to.
Learn more about what the volunteer is looking for. What are they hoping to get out of volunteering? What do they have to offer the organisation? Asking these kinds of questions allows you to build a positive relationship.
Let volunteers how they are contributing to the work the organisation is doing. Show them that their role is leading to positive outcomes.
Work to make roles more appealing. Share pictures of people volunteering. Give volunteers job titles that describe their role. Emphasise the positive impact that volunteers have.
Ensure that your site is accessible on mobile devices. More than 50% of potential volunteers will be visiting sites via a mobile device rather than a computer. Opportunities should be listed on a site with a responsive design.
The Best Volunteer Management Tips
Find ways to evaluate and track your progress. Use the Investing in Volunteers best practice standards for guidance.
Make sure that volunteers have the support they need. You may want to provide them with access to advisers or connect them to a peer-to-peer community. Work to help volunteers feel more confident and give them the knowledge they need for their role.
Celebrate volunteer achievements, such as contributing hours, earning new qualifications, achieving positive outcomes, and other impressive achievements.
Utilise CRM solutions that will make it easier to coordinate teams and operate more efficiently. With the right solution, managing and tracking information from volunteers will be easier than ever. As an example, Economic Change assists organisations with volunteer management via Salesforce CRM.
How to Measure Volunteer Impact
Stakeholders want to see that volunteering has value, and volunteers do as well. Because of this, it’s crucial to collect the right information, analyse it appropriately, and use it effectively. To start, you’ll want to build an impact framework that makes it possible to gather many types of information, such as:
- Volunteer demographics and goals
- Delivery provided by volunteers, such as cash contributions and hours
- The economic, personal, and social benefits provided to volunteers
- The impact that volunteers have on the organisation
- How volunteers are helping your organisation to grow and become more sustainable