Do you find that your volunteers sometimes interrupt you from very important tasks?

Have you ever had a volunteer who did not show up for a very important task, educational class, support group, etc.?

Do you find you just don’t have enough time for another volunteer?

Do you have volunteers and just don’t know exactly how to use them?

Do you find low retention rates among your volunteers to be a major problem?

Do you want more volunteers but don’t know all the roles and jobs they can do?

So now that you have volunteers, what are you going to do with them?

“Now That You Have Volunteers, What Do You Do With Them?” NAMI Center for Excellence Liz Smith & Jinneh Dyson June 27, 2013

Team Mission: To provide technical assistance and develop the resources, tools and education needed by NAMI State Organizations and NAMI Affiliates for excellence in nonprofit and organizational management.

‘Nita Brown – Vice President, NAMI Colorado Board of Directors Colleen Duewel – Director, NAMI Education, Training & Peer Support Center

Session Overview Review: Volunteer Action Plan How to Create A Volunteer Program: Part 1 How to Create A Volunteer Program: Part 2 Creating Change at Home

 1. Organizational Self-Assessment  2. Volunteer Recruitment Strategies  3. Volunteer Management & Policies  4. Volunteer Retention Practices A Quick Review: Creating a Successful Volunteer Action Plan for NAMI Affiliates Key Planning Areas:

 Isn’t obligated to work for you,  Often works long hours,  Frequently travels long distances,  Doesn’t receive any money, and  May actually spend money on gas, food and office supplies to fulfill their role.

 A way to help others; do good deeds  Volunteerism increases self-esteem and competence; training for employment  Studies show that people who volunteer live longer, healthier and happier lives.  Volunteers want to “give back” to organizations like NAMI, who have been there for them. What are the benefits of volunteering?

 Builds organizational capacity  Builds friends  Provides training opportunities  Builds leadership  Decreases current volunteer burn-out  Provides peers with roles and responsibilities

 A volunteer program requires organization  Can make you vulnerable - risk management  Demands timely responses and meeting deadlines  Creates new responsibilities  Will need job descriptions and supervision  Volunteers cannot be taken for granted  You must develop real roles with real outcomes and structured time and results

Volunteer Assessment Checklist  Review your Affiliate Annual Action/Strategic Plan.  Review the status of your Goals and Objectives.  Review your yearly Program Activities and Events.  Assess your need to grow your presence in the community.  Assess what you don’t get done and why.  Study how many people currently do how many tasks. Next: Hold an Affiliate Board/Membership Meeting and complete the Volunteer Needs Assessment Checklist.

 Define community stakeholders – traditional & nontraditional partners  Hold community events  Direct mail, print & social media  Radio & broadcast media  NAMI Signature Programs

1. Bring your NAMI Affiliate leaders together. 2. Use the Volunteer Needs Assessment Checklist to prioritize where you need help. 3. Use the Volunteer Project Worksheet to define the task and responsibilities, skills required, and time commitment. 4. Recruit volunteers with a clear and compelling message. 4 Steps to Success:

There is only one thing worse than training your volunteers and having them leave, and that's not training them, and having them stay. - Unknown

Review: Volunteer Action Plan How to Create A Volunteer Program: Part 1 How to Create A Volunteer Program: Part 2 Creating Change at Home

Step 4:  Know the need of your organization ◦ Why? ◦ What? ◦ How?  Develop your vision and mission  Build the foundation ◦ Utilize and engage your stakeholders ◦ Create policies and procedures ◦ Create job descriptions for volunteers How To Create a Volunteer Management Program…

Step 4:  Tracking and Evaluation ◦ How will volunteer information be tracked? ◦ How will the success of the program be evaluated?  Training and Orientation ◦ Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?  Risk Management ◦ How will risks and challenges be addressed? ◦ How will they be mitigated? ◦ By whom? How To Create a Volunteer Management Program…

Step 4:  Volunteer Recognition and Appreciation ◦ Recognizing volunteers leads to retention! ◦ How will they be recognized and appreciated? ◦ What time frame? ◦ Who is responsible? You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give. -- Winston Churchill How To Create a Volunteer Management Program…

Review: Volunteer Action Plan How to Create A Volunteer Program: Part 1 How to Create A Volunteer Program: Part 2 Creating Change at Home

Step 4:  About Us  Why a Volunteer Management Program? ◦ More volunteers = meeting more affiliate needs  1 st step was to assess the needs of our affiliate  2 nd step was to determine who do we have in our affiliate to help develop this program How To Create a Volunteer Management Program—Part 2

Step 4:  Defined Our Vision and Mission  Created an infrastructure ◦ Needs list with job descriptions ◦ Application ◦ Policies ◦ Orientation/training ◦ Supervision ◦ Database ◦ Liability Insurance ◦ Track hours ◦ Appreciation Event How To Create a Volunteer Management Program— Part 2

 Developed Process to Engage Volunteers ◦ How do we recruit and sustain more volunteers? ◦ How will our volunteer program evolve?  Tools We Used ◦ Family to Family Classes ◦ Meetings ◦ Website ◦ Volunteermatch.org How To Create a Volunteer Management Program— Part 2

 Various Roles of Volunteers ◦ Education, Advocacy, and Support (Please see Needs List)  Who is in charge???? ***Volunteer Coordinator (Yes this is a volunteer position!)  Key to program  Engaged with Affiliate and sees the need for the program  Good with people  Serious about the responsibility  Has the time to commit and is a self-starter  Persistent  Co-coordinator How To Create a Volunteer Management Program— Part 2

And introducing... The NAMI Volunteer Code of Conduct!

Review: Volunteer Action Plan How to Create A Volunteer Program: Part 1 How to Create A Volunteer Program: Part 2 Creating Change at Home

Thank you to each and every one of you! You are Super Stars!