 | | Good Neighbor Tool Kit: Leading a Charity Recruiting Volunteers and Keeping Them Happy | | ||
|  Nonprofit Nuts and Bolts The Art of Fundraising Recruiting Volunteers and Keeping Them Happy Marketing and Public Relations Leadership and the Board Good Neighbor Tool Kit Main Page Good Neighbor Home Page | 8 Tips for Training Volunteers Volunteers need appropriate training in order to contribute effectively. It takes time, effort, and patience to build a strong volunteer program, but the results will justify the investment. Here are some training tips: 1. Make someone responsible for volunteer training and management. Try to appoint one person dedicated to the interests of your volunteers. A senior volunteer can even hold this position. 2. Determine what jobs are available for volunteers. Ask yourself these questions:
3. Develop a basic training program. Despite good intentions, volunteers may come to your organization without much actual knowledge of what it does. Develop a starter program that helps volunteers understand your organization and the kinds of volunteer support it needs. TIP: The length of the program depends on the nature of your organization and its scale, sophistication, and specific volunteer needs and demands. The program might be just an hour or it might be spread over a number of sessions. 4. Elements of a training program. A training program will likely cover:
5. Make training convenient. Try to offer training sessions in the evening or on the weekend, or at least offer such sessions as an additional option to daytime, weekday programs. 6. Take advantage of volunteers' special skills. Many volunteers will come to your organization with special skills to be mined, such as knowledge of accounting, marketing, or writing. Be sure to discover who your volunteers are and how they can best help you. 7. Extend training beyond the training program. The first weeks of a volunteer’s service should be monitored very closely. Develop a system for checking on volunteers and their comfort with their assignments. Even better, develop a mentoring system in which long-term volunteers or staff help newer volunteers. 8. Consider advanced training programs. There may be more demanding jobs that volunteers can perform with additional instruction. Volunteers will be willing to invest in serious training in order to play a more challenging role in your organization. Develop the programs that will allow them to fulfill their interests. 10 Ways to Thank Volunteers > | |