Volunteer Mgt

Managing volunteers is an important role. It can be hard to attract quality volunteers, and it can be even harder to retain them. Many organizations, especially non-profits, rely heavily on volunteers. Recruiting, training and maintaining volunteers can be a challenge. Attracting and keeping volunteers involves implementing an effective screening and matching process, providing effective communication with volunteers and engaging all generations in volunteer opportunities.

Communication

Communicating with volunteers is important. Things change rapidly in non-profit organizations. Events are changed and rescheduled. This can be frustrating for volunteers, but making sure they are aware of the changes rather then finding out at the last minute can alleviate hard feelings. With today’s technology, communication is easy to manage with email and text messaging. In addition, social networking sites enable volunteers to stay connected with one another and provide support to each other.

Engaging Generations

Offering opportunities to a variety of generations can be a key to attracting volunteers. Many high schools require that students volunteer as a requirement for graduation, so providing an option for students is a great way to fill a void. Newly retired adults are often looking for something to do, and volunteering can help fill their time. Senior citizens who want to keep active and stay connected to the community are often looking to volunteer as a way to do this. Families often seek opportunities to volunteer as a way to teach their kids the importance of giving back.

Volunteer Yukon would like to share with you a very interesting Prezi presentation from Volunteer Canada about "Engaging Baby Boomer volunteer"

Volunteer fair in 2010: Freedom Trails

Youth volunteers at the 2011 volunteer fair