Introduction to Skills Based and Pro Bono Volunteer Recruitment and Management

Skill-based volunteerism is service by individuals or groups that capitalizes on personal talents or core business skills, experience or education. More and more, agencies are struggling to meet their bottom line in fact, a 2006 Deloitte/Points of Light IMPACT study indicated that:

• Nine out of 10 nonprofits realize that volunteer skills are extremely valuable
• Seventy-seven percent of non-profit organizations believe they would benefit from corporate volunteers ; but,
• Sixty-two percent work with corporate volunteers and only 12 percent of agencies align roles with skill

This gap means that many agencies are missing out on a precious resource—the talent of individual volunteer leaders and corporate teams who can use their skills and products to increase the capacity and effectiveness of nonprofits. Skill-based volunteerism or SBV comes in all shapes and sizes it can include:

• Individual volunteers, corporate paid or non-paid volunteers, groups, loaned executive, or interns
• Projects completed in one day, short, medium or long-term projects
• Activities performed during working hours or on individual time
• Planned in advance or spontaneous (such as disaster response) projects
• Application of all types of skills and talents from business professional experience to hobbies
• Content from non-profit infrastructure efficiency effort to direct “in the field” projects
• Local impact to national and international

Volunteer Alexandria can help your agency seize the opportunity to leverage talent and engage businesses around their brand and core business. With information, research, and easy-to-implement tools, this training will help you build a strong Skills Based Volunteer program to meet your mission.

Presented by: Terry Campbell, Assistant Coordinator of Special Events and Public Safety, former Corporate Volunteer Program Manager with Volunteer Jacksonville, and Melinda Patrician, Executive Director of Volunteer Alexandria

When: Wednesday, April 14, 10:00am-Noon

Where: Volunteer Alexandria – 123 N. Alfred St, Alexandria VA 22314

Fee: $35

Register: Contact Jennifer Styles at 703-836-2176 or jstyles@volunteeralexandria.org

Notes about Recruitment and Placement of Volunteer Leaders

These notes were taken at the March Roundtable and were written by individuals at each table.  If you attended the roundtable and can fill in the gaps on what was talked about, please add your comments to this thread.  If you were not present, but have comments or questions regarding Recruitment and Placement of volunteer leaders, please add your comments to this thread as well.

NOTES:

Pay attention to communication preferences

Gauge interest

Facebook

Opportunities available

Clear and distinct time slots for volunteering

Fun – Purpose – Investment

Explain the importance of what your volunteers do

Build relationships

Don’t pigeon hole people in tasks / jobs

Awareness of overall vision & action plan

Volunteer Arlington / Volunteer Alexandria websites, Idealist.org, volunteermatch.org, craigslist

Grad schools with programs related to subject matter

Churches

“Identify invisible barriers” (socio-economic, generational, multicultural, etc.)

Can’t recruit with social media alone, need word of mouth