Creating / Improving a Volunteer Program without Enough

Time or Resources

Megan Webb, MBA

• Volunteer manager at the Oakland Animal Shelter for six years.

• Founder of the Friends of the Oakland Animal Shelter, a 501c3 Non-Profit

• A coordinator of the Bay Area Volunteer Managers’ Coalition (shelters and rescue agencies)

• Speaker, consultant and instructor for the Humane Society of the United States / Humane Society University

• Founder of www.volunteerforanimals.org

• Masters in Business Association (MBA) from UC Berkeley / Columbia University

In this talk:

• I’m going to ask you to reconsider what you spend your time on when managing volunteers;

• And, I will give you some hands-on tools to do some things differently to save you time.

Animal organizations face unique challenges related to volunteer management.

We are all understaffed

and overwhelmed with animals in need on a

daily basis.

Every day can be a

CRISIS!

HELP!

Plus, volunteer managers in animal organizations are often responsible for much more than volunteer management, including:

-Foster programs

-Community outreach

-Humane education

-Fundraising

-Communication with rescue groups, etc…

HELP!

Recruit volunteers who aren’t

right for the program

Provide little trainingor guidelines or support

Spend time

“hand-holding” and putting

out fires!

Staff further distrusts program

“Right” volunteers

become frustrated and leave

HELP!

Chaos Crisis Spiral

Add on the “Unfair” Advantage

The “Unfair” Advantage

• We might think that an organization that is more desperate for help and in “CRISIS!” would automatically get more volunteers.

However, this is often not true. People want to

be part of a success. They want to know that there important donation of time is going to be used well. Desperation can send the “right” volunteers away.

HELP!

Chaos Crisis Spiral

What can we do?

1. Give yourself permission to take time out to plan how your organization will best utilize new volunteers.

In a culture of crisis it can feel wrong to take this time for planning. You have to anticipate people not understanding and thinking you are “wasting time”.

2. Define the purpose of the volunteer program.

Create short and long-term “do-able” goals with a timeline.

Try to avoid taking on multiple purposes that the program isn’t ready for (such as programs for children, etc).

3. Define what skills/qualities your volunteers need – including mental, physical and emotional qualities.

3. (cont.) Define what skills/qualities your volunteers need – including mental, physical and emotional qualities.

Every organization / group will need different types of skills/qualities.

You may need very different qualities (such as conflict resolution skills) at the beginning of the program than you do later.

One “wrong” volunteer in your organization can have disastrous consequences.

Volunteers that are attracted to an organization in a “chaos crisis spiral” are often not the volunteers you need.

4. Define a method to determine when and how a volunteer becomes “official”.

Have a volunteer agreement that they review and sign. This is especially useful when “letting go” of a volunteer.

Create very clear expectations/ guidelines for volunteers with consequences (including removal from the program).

5. Training will save time!

- Find innovative ways to train:- Mentors- Online training using videos (4act.com)

www.4act.com – online training

www.4act.com – online training

7. Analyze and revise how you use your time.

Write down what you do in a day and how long it takes you. Review and revise. Most likely the solutions to your time problems already exist!

Examples of Common “Time Users”:

• Tracking volunteers– An excellent database

• www.volgistics.com

• Scheduling trainings / volunteers– Online systems

• www.instant-scheduling.com• www.doodle.ch

www.instant-scheduling.com

www.instant-scheduling.com

www.doodle.ch

8. Develop a strong communication mechanism with volunteers.

• Not communicating well can cause lots of lost time later.

• Spend time with your volunteers one on one. Often overlooked because we are in the chaos crisis spiral. But it does pays off!

• Hand written thank you cards• Emailed updates

- www.graphicmail.com• Communication mechanisms among volunteers

- www.proboards.com• Others – www.privatephone.com, www.spitfire.com

Communication (cont.)

• It is very important to listen to ideas/suggestions from volunteers and respond/act on them.

• Beware of defensiveness which is especially difficult when we feel overwhelmed and stressed!

9. Think like a volunteer! What may not seem like a priority to you, may be a

priority to a volunteer! If you spend time on issues that are priorities to volunteers, then you will save time!

Is your program / organization:• Welcoming• Fun• Friendly• Warm and inviting• Easy to understand• Non-threatening / non-confusing• Non-overwhelming• Etc…

What subtle messages are you sending your volunteers?

Volunteer Space (Before)

Volunteer Space (After)

Other Examples of Want:

• Recognized• Acknowledged when they don’t show up• Structure• Not to feel overwhelmed• Supported (one on one communication)• Friendship• Positive environment• Connection to the entire organization• Etc….

Additional Recommendations:

• Humane Society University Volunteer Manager’s Certification (www.humanesocietyu.org)

• www.animalsheltering.org (inc. listserv)

• www.petfinder.com (including volunteer list, library and make use of press release help!)

• www.volunteermatch.com

• Meet with other volunteer managers in your area

Find ways of slowing down and removing yourself from the

chaos crisis spiral. Choose a few manageable goals for the

program and focus on strategically planning them.

This will have a wide reaching positive impact on your

volunteer program.

Glad to Help! Contact Me:

Megan Webb, MBA

mwebb@oaklandnet.com

510-535-5604

www.volunteerforanimals.org