A Professional Development Journey

This blog post was originally published on the HandsOn Blog.

How fast does three years go by?

Three years ago I was joining AmeriCorps in hopes of getting training in the career of volunteer management.

In 2007, I was serving as an AmeriCorps member in northern Arizona and it was my responsibility to launch a volunteer program to help homebound seniors and disabled adults.

Just out of college with a history degree I found myself in charge of recruiting people, matching them with opportunities to serve, orienting and training them, as well as supervising and recognizing them.

I had jumped right into the volunteer management profession, without a single course in management.

Typical, I know.

It was my great fortune that Rick Lynch and Steve McCurley, co-authors of the best selling book on volunteer management and legendary for their training in the field, came to Arizona that year and presented a two-day training on volunteer management.

Over those two days we went through theory and practice on the soup to nuts of volunteer management.

Their insights about how people relate to one another, why people volunteer, and what the role of the volunteer manager is, were critical to my personal and professional development.

The binder I got that day has become my volunteer management bible which I carried with me through the next three years.

Jumping ahead in time to today; I am still in the field and now have the unique opportunity of bringing Rick Lynch to my new network of volunteer managers in the DC area.

I now work at Volunteer Arlington, a HandsOn Network Affiliate and we provide support to volunteer managers.

Having been in their shoes, I know how valuable it is to get the chance to participate in a well-designed and well-researched training with peers who are experiencing the same sort of challenges that are unique to this profession.

I am very excited about this training event and hope that it will serve as a key part of my peers’ professional development in the way that it did for me.

Volunteer Arlington, along with Volunteer Fairfax, Volunteer Alexandria, and the Northern Virginia Association of Volunteer Administrators are pleased to present Management 2011: Advanced Volunteer Management Training with Rick Lynch on Thursday July, 22, 2010 in Arlington, VA. Visit the website for more details.

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

Online Volunteer Recruitment Training

Are you looking to improve your recruitment of volunteers through online portals such as Volunteer Arlington’s Online Volunteer Connection and Volunteer Alexandria’s website?

Volunteer Arlington and Volunteer Alexandria are co-hosting a computer training this Wednesday for volunteer managers who would like to get their questions answered about making the most of online recruitment.

• What happens when you post an opportunity on a volunteer center website?
• What is the difference between Volunteer Arlington and Volunteer Alexandria’s online recruitment sites?
• How can you maximize the free advertising while minimizing the time and effort it takes you to post?

We promise to answer all of these questions and more at Wednesday’s session.

When:  Wednesday, March 31 – 1-2:30 pm

Where: Computer CORE,  3846 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302

Please RSVP to Jennifer Styles at (Ph) 703.836.2176 or by email.

Orientation and Training 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 Orientation and Training of volunteer leaders, please add your comments to this thread as well.

NOTES:

Provide broad overview

Ownership in planning phase

Provide volunteer training

Awareness of overall vision

Let volunteers help run training for new volunteers

Interviews – Ask how they like to be recognized (simple thank you!)

Interviews – Ask the best way to communicate (emails or text messages)

Provide timelines

Define role

Structured attainable environment

Detailed specific job descriptions, contracts

Outline duties

Find a mentor

Deadlines and action plan

Conduct volunteer orientation and training

Set your volunteers up for success! Do they have all the tools & knowledge they need?

Clear understanding of expectations between volunteers and staff

Team member

Treat everyone like they could be a leader

Enact a “take your volunteer to work day” and show them the ropes of what you do, thereby empowering them to take ownership of what they are about to embark in … =)

Train volunteers to do what you do

Ensure leaders have tools & resources

Clearly defined tasks