Measuring the Results of Your Volunteer Efforts With acknowledgement to Nikki Russell, United Good Neighbors of Jefferson County

How Are You Telling the Story of Volunteer Value? You are asked to present to your board/funders the value of your volunteers to your organization. What do you currently tell/report to the funder?

Beyond the Mantra: Sharing the Real Value of Your Volunteers  How can your organization share the value of volunteers?  How can you share the difference your volunteer make (what changes for your organization as a result of volunteer activity)?

Results:  Understand the value of measuring results  Know the steps to measuring results  Have tools and strategies

The Whole Story of Volunteer Value Why do we engage volunteers? To what end? What are the benefits or what changes as the result of their involvement?

The Whole Story of Volunteer Value Leverage existing resources Leverage existing resources cost effective cost effective Credibility Credibility Luxury of focus Luxury of focus Connection to community Connection to community Advocacy Advocacy Extend sphere of influence Extend sphere of influence Outside/inside perspective Outside/inside perspective Free to experiment Free to experiment Bring resources and skills Bring resources and skills

Nine in ten nonprofits report benefits from volunteer involvement Increase in quality of services or programs More detailed attention to the people served Increased Services or levels of service provided Increased public support for programsLeverage limited budget/resourcesIncreased Access to specialized skills Balancing Act: The Challenges and Benefits of Volunteers, The Urban Institute, 2004

An Added Value… For giving households, the average contributions were $2,295 from volunteers and $1,009 from non-volunteers.

So…How do you share the real value of your volunteers?

By Evaluating Results What is the measureable change resulting from our volunteer engagement efforts?

How Do You Feel about Evaluation?

You Are Not Alone

National Study Only 30 % of Nonprofits utilizing volunteers measure the impact of volunteers annually Volunteer Management Capacity Study, 2003

Why Don’t We Measure Results? What gets in the Way? Who sets the expectation?

Getting Started It doesn’t have to be scary Who Me? I’m not scared…

Evaluation The systematic collection of information about the activities, characteristics and outcomes of programs

The Value of Evaluation What gets measured gets done If you don’t measure, you can’t tell success from failure If you can’t see success, you can’t reward it If you can’t reward success, you are probably rewarding failure If you can see success, you can learn from it If you can recognize failure, you can correct it If you can demonstrat e results, you can win public support Excerpted from “Measuring the Difference Volunteers Make…”

Evaluation Design  Takes Forethought  Is part of your planning process  Should be outcomes focused

3 Steps to Effective Evaluation Step 1: Plan for Evaluation  Start with the Goal of the Volunteer Activity (what outcome sought?)  Identify Outcome Measure (What will indicate success?)  Decide how you will collect the data Step 2: Evaluate  Gather data,  Analyze Data  turn it into results Step 3: Report the results

Planning for Evaluation Start with… Defining the results you expect from the volunteer, program or project. Ask “So What?”

Um…where are the results? 5,871 volunteers put in 48,729.3 hours this quarter; that's an average of 8.3 hours per volunteer, valued at $20 hour for a total dollar value of $974,586

Find the Result… Six RSVP volunteers are calling parents of children who have been absent from school, unexcused for two or more days. The volunteers spend a combined average of 10 hours a week and called more than 60 families. Since Implementation Absenteeism at the school has decreased by an average of 30 percent compared to the previous three years

Youth Mentoring Program  What are the goals/objectives/desired results for the activity? Youth in mentoring program develop a trusting and positive relationship with an adult

Then… Determine how to measure each result. What information would tell us that the result is being achieved? How will we collect it?

Measuring Results:  Define the Outcome Measure: How many youth have developed a trusting and positive relationship with an adult?  Set a Performance Standard: 80 percent of youth, 70 percent of mentors and 75 percent of parents express satisfaction from mentoring relationship

Identify Information Needed Numbers, “quantity”, list of responses given. How many teens reported a positive relationship ? Quantitative Data Data collected through open-ended questions: text, pictures, video, audio (anything other than numbers). Can you describe how you feel about the relationship with your mentor Qualitative Data

Evaluation Instrument Questionnaires or surveys Documentation review Interviews Observation Focus Groups

Collect Data and Turn Into Results Determine how to collect your data: Questionnaires to assess the relationship between mentee and an adult are conducted at three, six and 12 months Collect, Analyze and Interpret data Who’s in charge???

Communicating Results  What is the context for the report?  What information is most important to communicate?  What action will be taken in response to the findings.

Ways to Communicate Results

Have a plan for sharing results!! Who do you report to? How will you report the results?

What about Cost? Volunteers are not free What is the real cost of involving volunteers in your organization ? Betty Stallings, 12 Key Actions of Volunteer Program Champions

Cost Vs. Value Added Return on Investment When the value that volunteers bring to the organization exceed the costs of dealing with recruitment and support of volunteers

Review  Plan! focus on outcomes/results  Decide what to measure  Decide what data to collect  Keep it simple  Collect and Analyze  Celebrate and communicate success

Volunteer Involvement Strategy Mission and Vision + Strategic Plan Marketing and Recruitment Screening and Placement Orientation and Training Ongoing Supervision and Management Evaluation Volunteer Management Cycle

That’s a Wrap