As the year comes to an end and things slow down at your organization for a week or two, this is a good time to think about reviewing some of the basics your organization should have in place to ensure you are getting the most out of your volunteer engagement and that volunteers are properly supported at your organization and feel like their donated time is being properly valued.

In fact, before your program recruits any volunteers – before you post anything to your web site or social media or a third-party site like VolunteerMatch, there are three things that I believe you absolutely should have in place first, and if you don’t have them already, this is a good time to get that taken care of. Having these three things in place will help:

• ensure volunteers are engaged and supported appropriately – and that helps prevent volunteer turnover, misunderstandings, conflict, etc.

• ensure volunteers are onboarded quickly – and that helps prevent volunteer turnover AND sets a tone with new volunteers that these are serious, real commitments.

• inappropriate volunteers self-screen themselves OUT of your program – dropping out before they’ve gotten far along in your process and started an assignment. That means fewer people who drop out and leave you with unfinished activities and a scramble to get things done.

I get a lot of pushback when I try to implement these three things at any organization where I’m working – lots of complaints about bureaucracy and increased work, etc. But I regularly encounter a range of problems at programs where these three things are NOT in place, and I see just how much more work comes with NOT having these things in place. And, so, I’m going to keep saying it.

Here are the three things:

• Have a mission statement for your volunteer engagement
  (Saying WHY your organization or department involves volunteers)
  This is at the heart of everything I say and recommend regarding volunteer engagement. This idea is what I would like to be identified with even more than virtual volunteering: that, in addition to carefully crafting the way you talk about the value of volunteers, your organization creates a mission statement for your organization’s volunteer engagement, to guide employees in how they think about volunteers, to guide current volunteers in thinking about their role and value at the organization, and to show potential volunteers the kind of culture they can expect at your organization regarding volunteers.

• Map how you onboard & assignment volunteers
  You need to have a flow chart that shows what your volunteer in-take and volunteer placement process should look like.

• Required Volunteer Information on Your Web Site
  To not have this basic information about volunteer engagement on your web site says that your organization or department takes volunteers for granted, does not value volunteers beyond money saved in salaries, or is not really ready to involve volunteers.

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