October 22, 2009
Task Force Proposes Ways to Help Volunteers Have More Impact
By Suzanne Perry
A task force of more than 20 nonprofit, government, and business leaders issued a report this week proposing ideas for better managing volunteers so they can have more impact.
“People volunteer for many reasons, but mostly because they want to make a difference,” says the report, Reimagining Service. “We must value their time by ensuring it is used to make the greatest difference possible.”
The report says organizations too often focus on what the volunteers want to do instead of developing good management systems to mobilize them to solve pressing social problems.
Among suggestions in the report for improving volunteer management: apply corporate human-resources practices, create special funds with government and philanthropic dollars, establish a network of powerful leaders such as state secretaries of service, use technology to develop new tools like a national database for background checks, and develop ways to measure effectiveness.
President Obama and his wife, Michelle, have made a big push for community service since entering the White House. As one indication of the interest they have generated, television networks this week are peppering their shows with public-service announcements, plot lines, and other messages about volunteering through their “I Participate” project.
But some nonprofit leaders fear many charities are not well equipped to handle an influx of new volunteers.
“Organizations are eager to take advantage of the expertise and time of volunteers, but they often lack the management bandwidth and systems to appropriately manage this rich resource,” the report says.
The task force now plans to consult other people about its project, says Evan Hochberg, national director of community involvement for Deloitte, the consulting firm. “Our focus is engaging as many people as we can on this agenda, these ideas,” he says.
Mr. Hochberg is one of the task force’s five lead organizers. The others are Karen Baker, California’s secretary for service and volunteering; Bill McClements, acting president of Be the Change, the group that manages the ServiceNation coalition; Michelle Nunn, chief executive of the Points of Light Institute; and Bobbi Silten, chief foundation officer of Gap.
The task force is seeking comments on its Web site.
Comments
Commenting is closed for this article.
Previous: Opinion: Attacks on Acorn Signal a Bigger Problem for Charities Dealing With Controversial Issues
Next: For Executives, Study Shows Foundations Prefer to Hire From Outside
Glad to see that this high-profile task force is giving volunteer management the attention it deserves. While programs like iParticipate are phenomenal for inspiring volunteerism, we all know that if new volunteers aren’t onboarded quickly and given a positive, meaningful experience when they show up, they won’t be back.
At VolunteerSpot, we solve one critical pain point in the volunteer experience – getting volunteers signed up and reminded quickly and easily. Our simple focused tool saves critical coordination time has had a huge impact on recruitment, turnout and retention rates for both small nonprofits and subteams in large ones.
Since today’s volunteers will grow into tomorrow’s donors – improving the volunteer experience is a tremendous leverage area for all our nonprofits.
Karen Bantuveris
Founder and CEO
VolunteerSpot, DOING GOOD just got easier!
www.VolunteerSpot.com
— Karen Bantuveris Oct 22, 01:32 PM #
It is encouraging to see this way of thinking rising to the top. For over eight years we have been advocating for the use of management tools that utilize volunteer’s time as efficiently and effectively as possible.
We have strived to create volunteer management software that will do for volunteer managers and their volunteers what online banking has done for the banks and its customers. It’s about a controlled approach to engaging the participants to be a part of the administrative process. It means less menial work for managers of volunteers and a higher level of satisfaction for volunteers.
Tony Goodrow
President of Volunteer² (www.volunteer2.com) – Fostering growth in the Volunteer Sector
— Tony Goodrow Oct 23, 12:31 AM #
This is certainly an exciting time for volunteerism, as the administration promotes it more individuals and funders are giving it attention.
Now let’s put some money behind efforts to improve organizations’ capacity to engage volunteers. To do it well they need training, systems, technology and more.
This is more than just finding something for someone to do. It’s about engaging the entire community effectively towards fulfilling mission. That’s no easy task!
— Virginia Edelstein, www.VolunteerVancouver.ca/blog Oct 23, 11:12 AM #