General Volunteer Program Management Resources

Welcome to AL!VE’s General Management Resources page!  Please feel free to read, use, and explore any or all of the links below.  Become a member of AL!VE for access to even more articles, guides, podcasts, and videos on this topic and more.
 

• Finding the right volunteers for your organization starts with asking applicants the right questions.  Check out the helpful Screening and Retention Tips from VolunteerPro for a guide to developing useful interview methods.

• Determine how you want your volunteer program to function and what needs it should meet within your organization with United Way’s Volunteer Program Management Guide.

• Behind every successful volunteer program is a thoughtful strategic plan.  Start here with Authenticity Consultings’ Framework for Basic Strategic Plan Document for a Nonprofit.

Recruitment and Screening

Job descriptions

• Starting from scratch?  Mission Box Global Network offers some useful tips for writing volunteer job descriptions.

• Find some samples to get you started writing your volunteer job descriptions from Americorps--a template to get you started.

• This skills-based volunteering assessment toolkit from Common Impact walks you through each category to consider when developing a job description for your dream volunteer role.
   

Recruitment

• Make your online volunteer search easier and more effective by reading VolunteerPro’s article “How To Recruit Volunteers Online with Powerful Calls to Action.”

• Refer to Verified Volunteers’ 2018 Volunteer Screening Trends and Best Practices Report 2018 to ensure your organization is up-to-date on meeting its volunteer recruitment goals and challenges.

Applications

• Use this Volunteer Application Template to provide a guide to developing your organization’s volunteer application.

Interview Process

• Galaxy Digital’s guide to the Volunteer Interview Process walks first-time interviewers through the process, while providing plenty of insight and suggestions for seasoned volunteer-engagement interviewers. 

Onboarding

• What is the significance of a volunteer onboarding process?  What does it aid?  Wild Apricot explains in 4 Reasons You Need An Onboarding Process.

• Arguably the most important point in volunteer retention, the importance of the onboarding process is explicated in Tobi Johnson’s Volunteer Onboarding Process.

Have more questions about the recruitment and screening process?  Still not sure if a volunteer program is right for your organization?  Become a member of AL!VE and find more guides, tips, and templates to ensure your program gets a successful start.  Already a member?  Log in here.

Training

• In this age of increasingly-common remote work, make the move to online volunteer training seamless with VolunteerPro’s article “Training Volunteers Online: How Your Nonprofit Can Keep Your Volunteers Up To Speed.”

• Points of Light walks you through the step-by-step process of developing, training, and retaining virtual volunteers in “Starting a Virtual Volunteer Program.”

Management

• Once you have recruited and trained your volunteers, how do you track their successes?  Refer to VQ Volunteer Strategies’ Volunteer Performance Evaluations for some failsafe ways to provide feedback.  A great source for templates!

Ongoing Engagement

• Keep your volunteers engaged!  United Way offers a comprehensive practical guide, full of resources for further reading, in its 501 Commons Guide to Volunteer Management Best Practices.

Retention, Recognition, and Appreciation

• High volunteer turnover is not inevitable!  Read the Energ!ze discussing volunteer programs, assumptions about turnover and why it’s not unavoidable. 

• Read this VolunteerMatch article for a list of great suggestions to recognize your volunteers’ contributions and show your appreciation!  7 Reward Systems for Recognizing Volunteers.

AL!VE members get access to more--more management resources, more blog posts, more peer-to-peer conversations.  Want to learn more about ongoing volunteer engagement?  Become a member and you can access the full AL!VE library of volunteer-engagement best-practices research. If you’re already a member, click here to log in.