in discussion Mechanism of Action / Working with online volunteers » The secret: Valuing volunteers
What Every Organization Needs To Know Before Developing a Volunteer
Program
November 07, 2001
Contributed By Nan Hawthorne
Why do organizations seek volunteer help? There is no more important
question you can ask before you initiate a volunteer program at your
organization. Your answers will demonstrate your awareness of the
potential of volunteers and define how well they will fit into and
contribute to your success.
If you believe volunteers only make you look good to the community or
are just a tradition, you will miss a great deal of the benefit a
volunteer program can offer. It is likely that you will need to
create largely unnecessary work for them, underestimate the skills
needed to contribute to your work and miss many of the sound volunteer
management principles better understood in better designed programs.
Let's start with the first very simple reason an organization, any
organization, involves volunteers:
1. There is important work to be done.
The "important work to be done" is the individual organization's
mission in the community. You must start here. Too many
organizations and their volunteer resource managers operate from the
point of view that volunteers are an end unto themselves. They put
volunteers first. In reality the organization's mission always comes
first. Volunteers, and paid staff as well, are there to serve that
purpose, not the other way around. Not only does putting volunteers
first put the organization at risk by, for example, allowing very bad
volunteers to interact with clients and the public. It robs the
organization. You cannot use volunteers' skills well unless you know
what skills are needed. To do what? To do the important work that
has to be done.
Once you identify the important work your organization is doing,
you can begin to understand what role volunteers can play.
2. Volunteers are part of the best way to get that important work done.
That is, they are much more than just free labor. If you recruit
for skills, you can find people who will be happy to offer them. You
simply could never pay for the talent and knowledge these volunteers
want to give you.
They can bring material help through their extended contacts in
your community. They have access to resources from their employers or
their own businesses. They know journalists, civic leaders and
philanthropists. They know what the community beyond your four walls
thinks about what you are doing.
They bring money. Not only are volunteers generally devoted
donors as well, they raise money for you just through their enthusiasm
about what you do. The public relations extends to people who,
looking for a worthy destination for their money and time, see that
you have a thriving volunteer program, evidence of wise use of their
donations in a world where charities are not always trusted.
It is a mistake to underestimate the freshness a volunteer brings
to an organization. While staff can become inured to the routine,
volunteers' focus, commitment and enthusiasm can energize and refocus
staff and make them happier and more productive.
Pay attention to the fact that we said "part of the best way."
All-volunteer organizations, they are not always the most effective in
solving community problems. But because volunteers can bring in more
and different skills and resources, having a volunteer program allows
you to get your important work done more effectively.
If you understand the potential of a volunteer program, you will
understand that strong and skillful leadership is a key ingredient.
3. Good volunteer management makes sure that important work gets done
well.
Effective volunteer management makes sure you do not waste time,
money, resources, good will and people. To make sure the
organization makes best use of these valuable voluntary human
resources, its leaders must recognize that it is that not just anyone
can manage a volunteer program. Volunteer resource management is a
set of skills, tools and knowledge. Hiring and supporting a
professional volunteer resource manager is essential if you want to
get the important work of your organization accomplished in the best
possible way.