Volunteer Managers wear at least twenty hats and probably more. Among your many roles, you are human resource specialists, marketers, facilitators, systems experts, and data analysts. That’s a broad list of skills to master, and we receive little formal training to bring us up to speed.
This blog is my contribution to the skill-building piece. If you search through these pages, you will find over 150 posts covering practices in just about every area of volunteer engagement. Here’s to doing your important work with more confidence and ease.
Note: 2021 is a special year, with all of the blog posts authored by practicing volunteer managers. Enjoy hearing directly from your peers!
Guest Post: Why it’s worth allowing volunteers to lead (even when it’s uncomfortable)
For CVA Krista Gilmore, the point of volunteer management is to cultivate volunteer leaders Give away the good stuff. That was the advice I received 25 years ago from an experienced volunteer director. I was new to a children’s ministry position and had little...
Guest Post: Maintaining a connection with pandemic-inactive volunteers
A first-hand account from a CVA who succeeded in sustaining the connection to volunteers sidelined by the pandemic Covid-19 has been a game changer for all of us: it challenged my program at the Smithsonian in ways large and small. Smithsonian Associates (SA), which...
You’re already practicing something that will improve your management skills
While we're waiting for the pandemic to end, you may see parallels to your own program goals One of the wisest pieces of advice I ever received came from a supervisor of volunteers at my former workplace, a CASA program. CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocates...
How to ramp up staff engagement with volunteers (and have fun in the process)
Are buy-in and inclusion two haves of the same whole? Right now I have a great project – I’m working with a museum client to create a Volunteer Engagement Strategic Plan. It’s a year long undertaking rather than the typical short-term one. That’s because the actual...
#LOVols, do this and be happier with your online meetings
If you want a fully engaged audience, spend time planning this part, too Have you experienced this? You’re leading an online orientation for prospective volunteers – or perhaps it’s a volunteer training – or even a staff meeting – and the energy in the room never...
When props don’t cut it – advocating for your virtual volunteer roles
Or, why it’s better to invest in what you need than improvise with props When the pandemic first hit, my stepdaughter, Ali, had to make a video. As a veterinary resident, part of her job involved teaching, and that responsibility did not end with the shut-in. Ali was...