8 Ways to Love Your Volunteers
One of my favorite opportunities is a regular volunteer gig I do here in my hometown. I have been a guest for a local nonprofit with an incredible mission, and the staff do a superb job of making me feel valued and welcome. I hear from the organization regularly throughout the year and feel like part of the extended family. I am grateful to be among them and glad I can offer my time and talent to the important work they provide in the town I love.
Contrast that with a tale I heard recently about a colleague who agreed to help an organization at an event. After he had made plans to give of his personal time, what he found out about the expectations made him feel taken for granted. He was asked to arrive early, stay late, be idle for hours throughout the event, and was not given information about meals or instructed on his role upon arrival. Plus, no one thanked him when he was there! He still loves that organization, but he will think twice before volunteering again.
No doubt your organization has a few events or programs that rely on the goodwill of volunteers. Especially when the labor market is unpredictable, some folks shift resources to encourage volunteering to help their events run smoothly. A badly run volunteer experience can leave a bitter taste in a person’s mouth – and lose your office a valuable resource.
In times where staff time is stretched thin, the care of volunteers – often positive-minded folks who are not around your team very often – can slide down the priority list. As the leader-boss, you need to help your team maintain your volunteer corps. Certainly, you cannot afford to lose the goodwill of a helper! But moreover, volunteers are great ambassadors for your mission, and they provide a boost of energy at the time your team needs it most. Add “Create a Great Volunteer Experience” to the event to-do list with these tips.
Tap into their passion. People volunteer because they love the mission of the event/organization, the audience it serves or the people who invited them. Whatever your volunteers love about the job – put it front and center. People who love kids should hand out balloons or treats; people who like celebrating others should get to watch graduation; people who want to get connected to the community should welcome folks as they arrive. Ask your volunteers what their favorite parts of the event/organization are and assign them accordingly.
Make it worth their time. Time is a person’s most valuable nonrenewable resource. Be sure that you use your volunteer’s time well. A volunteer chooses to take part in your event, and you want them to feel useful and fulfilled when they leave. That means that you keep them busy doing important work that they value. What does that take from your team? Organization and foresight. Make sure all that the volunteers need is available and ready to go when they arrive. Don’t ask them to arrive and then leave them twiddling their thumbs.
Communicate early, often and clearly. Volunteers thrive on being included. They need information early and often! Once you know any details about the volunteer job, drop them an email – and then with every subsequent email, re-iterate the prior information. Each time you reach out, you solidify the volunteer’s commitment to the event and organization. Pro tip: if your volunteers start contacting you for information, that’s a cue! You are late!
Good training = confidence = perky volunteers. Before they begin – both the day of the job and prior to the job – hold a training that explains the structure of the event, the role they will play and the specific items that will be accomplished. When they arrive, be sure to welcome them and give them a tour of their “station,” even just showing them their table. All too often, the volunteer arrives and the harried organizer rushes through getting the volunteer acclimated – orientations are the “first impression” you only get the proverbial one chance to make.
Treat them like a valued guest. Every job at an event is important – and all of us have gifts and preferences. But there will always be some jobs that are less glamorous or appealing than others. Volunteer jobs should be ones that guests get a hand in choosing and not the ones that your team knows “no one likes.” Your volunteers will thrive when they do tasks that feel dignified and important.
A little appreciation goes a long way – but don’t stop there! When a person gives of their time, it is rarely for the attention or the free t-shirt. However, the way your organization thanks a volunteer crew says something about how much you are willing to invest in them. Thank you gifts should be ones that are beyond the scope of the job – the polo that your volunteer is required to wear may be a giveaway, but it need not be the only way you thank them. Same for the “free lunch” you provide during their shift. One thing people notice: when the head person comes to thank the volunteers personally, in small groups or one-on-one.
Roll up your sleeves and improve their experience for next time. If you or your team has not done the job you are asking of your volunteers, how can you improve on the experience? Be sure that you are taking a turn in all the spaces – or send a team member – to observe and to collect volunteer feedback about the ways to make the event stronger. You don’t have to work the whole shift – the reason you need volunteers is to help free your time – but if you work side-by-side, you’ll learn a lot about their role. (And you can thank them while you are there!)
Volunteer retention. What do you do in between the events to keep your volunteers invested in your organization? Do you do an annual volunteer event for all the people who worked with you to thank them? Do you provide them access to aspects of your organization at reduced rate or behind-the-scenes access? Send a card to them once a year updating them as you would a cherished friend? Retaining volunteers is an art and is a year-round effort, but it sure pays off when you have experienced people staffing your programs!
1 Comment
Elaine Lovelace · July 12, 2023 at 1:24 pm
This was a valuable resource piece. Thank you.
Comments are closed.