1. Managing a Successful Volunteer Program
Presenter: Brianne Fitzgerald
Communications & Engagement Officer with Volunteer Iowa

2. Welcome! With our time today, I hope you take away:
Trends in Volunteering
Social Motivators
Building a strong volunteer program
Recruitment and retention
Helpful resources and considerations
I would like to acknowledge that some of you in the room might already be volunteers for your organization, and some of you might be volunteer managers or hold another position in your organization. If you are a volunteer and do not work for the organization – please remember that some of the best volunteer programs are sometimes run by volunteers! So regardless of your ‘position’, I hope that you find value in what I’ll share today.

3. Trends in Volunteering
Overall, in Iowa in 2015:
32.5% of residents volunteer, ranking us 10th among the 50 states and Washington, DC.
34.0 volunteer hours per capita
55.0% of residents donate $25 or more to charity

4. Key findings that you should know…
Every generation wants to volunteer – Generation X has the highest rate, but Generation Y (Millennials) are right behind. The Boomers are coming!
Volunteering can help you find a job
Volunteers already are, or are likely to become donors
Volunteer management is key – poor management = high turnover

5. McClelland’s Theory of Social Motivators
Psychologist David McClelland pioneered workplace motivational thinking, developing achievement-based motivational theory and models and promoting improvements in employee assessment methods. His ideas have since been widely adopted in many organizations and applied in a variety of ways in workforce management. His theory has also been applied to volunteers as a way to help understand their motivations.
David McClelland is most noted for describing three types of motivational need, which he identified in his 1988 book, Human Motivation:
• Achievement
• Affiliation
• Authority/power (influence)
The Need for Achievement
The “achievement” motivated person seeks achievement, attainment of realistic but challenging goals and advancement in the job. There is a strong need for feedback in regard to achievement and progress and a need for a sense of accomplishment.
The Need for Affiliation
The “affiliation” motivated person has a need for friendly relationships and is motivated towards interaction with other people. The affiliation driver produces motivation and need to be liked and held in popular regard. These people are team players.
The Need for Authority and Influence
The “authority” motivated person has a need to be influential, effective and to make an impact. There is a strong need to lead and for their ideas to prevail. There is also motivation and need towards increasing personal status and prestige.
McClelland said that most people possess and exhibit a combination of these characteristics. Some people exhibit a strong bias to a particular motivational need, and this motivation or needs “mix” consequently affects their behavior and working/managing style.
In order for behavior change to occur, three elements must be present – motivation, ability and trigger. If one is missing, the behavior will no occur.
McClelland’s Theory of Social Motivators

6. Needs vs. Contributions
“Perhaps the most important human need is the need to contribute to life, to enrich life, to make life more wonderful for everyone.” – Dr. Marshall Rosenberg
What needs are you and your organization trying to meet?
What contributions do you want volunteers to make?
What needs do you think the volunteers have?
What contributions do you think volunteers want to make to your organization?
How can you make this clear and actionable?

7. The Strong Volunteer Program –
It’s a Cycle!

8. What does it take to follow the cycle?
Finding volunteers
Interviewing & placement
Building out an orientation & training
Management of volunteers – who does this from beginning to end?
Time/Capacity
Management support
Identify ways a volunteer can help
Creating volunteer job descriptions
Training staff for volunteer supervision

9. Don’t be overwhelmed – it takes time
Consider your mission – what needs can volunteers fill (think beyond the traditional)
Do a volunteer & staff needs assessment
Get the team on board to embrace volunteers – it’s more than you
Review your organization for risk potential – identify, evaluate, control & plan
Here is a list of potential questions you could include in a volunteer needs assessment.
 If money were not an issue, what would you be doing that you are not doing now?
 What is on your wish list?
 What is on your to-do list that never gets accomplished because you don’t have the time or resources?
 Is there a population that needs to be served that you have not been able to serve?
 Is there a program that you want to start but don’t have the resources?
 Are there marketing, technology, financial, training or other types of skills needed to support any of your projects?
Why a staff needs assessment? Because you need to know their experience and readiness to engage volunteers. Think of asking about their previous experience – have they supervised a volunteer before or worked previously somewhere that engaged volunteers? Are they themselves a volunteer somewhere and what has their experience been like? What type of work do they do where they could use a volunteer? Do they know what a skills-based volunteer is? What trainings would they like to receive?

10. Recruiting and Placing Volunteers – don’t gamble!
Help your organization achieve its goals
Helps find the best person to fill a position
Maximizes organizational resources
Can other staff help with recruitment and screening? It’s like bringing on another team member (however permanent or temporary) – and culture is important.

11. Volunteer Job Description Example
This is an example of a straight-to-the-point, job description.
Are your job descriptions engaging? Do they have/show impact? Can a volunteer read this and see what difference they could make?

12. Speak to the large amount of applicants we’ve had and highlight ‘why’…

13. Target Audience
Look at your position description and answer these questions:
Who is your target audience?
What are important features of the position?
What would appeal to them about the position?
What are some possible barriers?
What additional things do we need to know about the audience?
What strategies should you use to reach your audience?
Identify your target audience. Look at your position description and answer these question:
 Who is your target audience?
 What are important features of the position?
 What would appeal to them about the position?
 What are some possible barriers?
 What additional things do we need to know about the audience?
 What strategies should you use to reach your audience?

14. Design a communication strategy. This is the “how” step
Design a communication strategy. This is the “how” step. How will you reach those who you want to hear your message? Different generations and target populations respond to some methods of communication better than others. Strategically consider your audience before sending out blasts or spreading fliers around town.
Market your message. You can use countless ways to get the word out about your volunteer opportunities. Whether it’s with fliers and brochures, reaching the community through social media or the “personal ask,” different avenues make sense for different audiences and opportunities. You need to think about your volunteer recruitment message.

15. Screening, Interviewing and Placing
Ensures applicant has the necessary qualifications for the position
Determines support the individual needs (orientation, type of supervision)
Develops relationship with applicant
Helps applicant learn more about the organization
Allows applicant and interviewer to determine fit for position

16. Orientation – 3 components
Cause: Introduces the volunteers to the mission and purpose of the organization. (Answers the question: “Why should I volunteer here?”) System: Introduces organizational structure and systems and situates the volunteer role within the organization as it relates to the mission of the organization. (Answers the question: “How will I be volunteering here?”) Social: Introduces the volunteer to the social context/community they are being invited to join. (Answers the question: “Where do I fit in?”)
"Orientation is the process of making volunteers feel comfortable with and understand the workings of the organization and to let them understand how they can contribute to the purpose of the organization.“
Think of it in a who, what, where, when, why and how idea…

17. Training – 4 steps
1. Identify training needs 2. Design the training 3. Deliver the training 4. Assess and refine the training
Training does three principal things for participants:
 Increases knowledge, the information that someone has about something
 Increases skills, the ability to perform tasks
 Changes attitudes, the way a person feels about something or the way he/she sees it
It should be: relevant, build on participants experience (facilitated discussion to learn more about them), be interactive (small group work or problem solving to see how they work in teams), include visuals, and demonstrate value to the organization
Don’t simply hand out piles of paper, but make sure someone actively reviews the information with volunteers. Provide opportunities for volunteers to communicate an increase in knowledge and understanding.
 Cover only items relevant to the volunteer. For example, a one-time volunteer doesn’t need to know about the refrigerator cleaning schedule.
 Create a culture that encourages questions.

18. More About Training
Training does three principal things for participants:
Increases knowledge, the information that someone has about something
Increases skills, the ability to perform tasks
Changes attitudes, the way a person feels about something or the way he/she sees it
It should be: relevant, build on participants experience (facilitated discussion to learn more about them), be interactive (small group work or problem solving to see how they work in teams), include visuals, and demonstrate value to the organization
Don’t simply hand out piles of paper, but make sure someone actively reviews the information with volunteers. Provide opportunities for volunteers to communicate an increase in knowledge and understanding.
Cover only items relevant to the volunteer. For example, a one-time volunteer doesn’t need to know about the refrigerator cleaning schedule.
Create a culture that encourages questions.

19. The Volunteer Experience!
Leading and supporting your volunteers so they can be effective
Instructions
Direction
Feedback
Correction
Information
Freedom
Resources they need to perform their tasks well
Continuous process improvement!
Evaluation – why and what decisions do you want to make based on the feedback?
Data Collection – biggest challenge is harnessing and analyzing the data in manageable, affordable, and scalable ways to improve your program.

20. Resources for you to consider

21. Cost: $125
Registration information available at volunteeriowa.org

22. Thank You!
Contact Information: ;
Volunteeriowa.org
Volunteeriowa.org/volunteercentersiowa