Guest Post: The Iron Hug — Nurturing Relationships with Strong Leadership
IRON (resolve, not avoid conflicts) HUG (gain their trust) — let’s get into some conflict resolution From an outsider’s eye, volunteer management may look easy: just be friendly when volunteers come in and thank them when they leave; be thankful you even have...
Guest Post: Murphy’s Law — sometimes simpler is better in technology for volunteer management
When low(er) tech is the answer to our scheduling needs Back in the late aughts I had my first brush with volunteer management, when I volunteered for a second year with a film festival in New York City. In my first year, I just stood at the entrance to a 25-screen...
Guest Post: How to Build Capacity with Roles that Volunteers Enjoy: a process in 4 easy steps
When the pandemic hit, this volunteer manager created volunteer roles that were a win-win for staff and volunteers When the calendar turned to 2021, we all knew COVID-19 was not going to disappear. We are still living in the midst of a pandemic while trying to...
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...