Creating Opportunities for your Volunteers to Be and Do More K RIS S HABESTAR M EALS ON W HEELS OF G REATER L YNCHBURG

Volunteerism in America  1.6 Million tax-exempt organizations in the U.S.  1.1 million are 501(c)(3) organizations  Nonprofits employed 13.7 million people (10% of workforce)  5.5% of US GDP $805 billion in output  25% + of Americans volunteered last year (about 62.6 million people)  7.9 billion volunteer hours

Value of Volunteers  National estimated value of volunteer time is $22.55 per hour  Worth $175 billion  Volunteers more likely to give to organizations they volunteer for.  73% of charitable giving came from individuals

Why Volunteer?  Commitment to organization/mission  Value/proof of work  Professional development  Convenient

Evaluation  Evaluate your Volunteers  Who are they?  What skills do they bring?  Is there a “typical” volunteer?  Evaluate your Program  Who manages the volunteers?  What opportunities are available?  What else could they be doing?  Dream big and outside the box!

Expectations  Training – volunteers need to:  Know what is expected  Where to turn when there is a problem  Why they do what they do  Rewards  Opportunities

Opportunities  Make opportunities known and easy to sign up.  Every employee’s job to get to know the volunteers.  Let volunteers “try it out” with new opportunities.  Ad-hoc members.  Give volunteers an elevator speech or help them develop their own unique voice.  Encourage volunteers to advocate and tell their friends.  FOLLOW UP!

Communicate   Websites  Newsletters  Social Media  Presentations  Meetings  Volunteer “Areas”  On-line Volunteer Boards  Local & National

What do Volunteers Need to Become More?  Information  Encouragement  Opportunity