A week ago was Valentine’s Day in the USA, and it’s not too late to talk about LOVE for the people at your program that support volunteers, and a great way to show them some love is to pay for what’s needed to fund effective volunteer engagement!

I talk a lot about funding volunteer engagement, how if communities – including corporations, foundations and governments – want for more people to volunteer, and want more nonprofits and community programs to involve volunteers, they are going to have to pay for it, in cash. What would funders be paying for to increase community engagement, to increase volunteerism?

• Salaries for part-time or full-time managers of volunteers.
• Training for ALL staff in effective volunteer engagement (not just the person in charge of volunteer engagement), like how to create meaningful, appropriate assignments, how to appropriately support vounteers, how to report safety and quality concerns, etc.
• Training for the person in charge of volunteer engagement in skills that could help in better support and recruit volunteers, like basic video or audio editing skills, so they can produce simple YouTube videos, podcasts, etc., or classes in another language, such as Spanish, or classes in facilitation, conflict management, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), etc.
• Subscriptions to services that have the information and news they need, like Engage.
• Books – yes, BOOKS. Like mine, The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook.
• Volunteer management software, computers, smart phones, video conferencing software (free versions often don’t provide a manager of volunteers all they need to effectively work with volunteers), etc.
• Registration fees and travel expenses for staff to attend conferences that provide speakers and learning experiences that can help improve volunteer engagement.
• Renting meeting or event spaces for volunteer-related activities.
• Funds for volunteer recognition: gift cards, swag, etc.

All of the above is the “overhead’ that too many corporations and foundations refuse to fund. When I say volunteers are NOT free, these are the expenses I mean. Let me say it once again: if communities, corporations, foundations and governments want more people to volunteer, and want more nonprofits and community programs to involve volunteers, they are going to have to pay for it, in cash.

Also see:

• Volunteering to build community cohesion.
• What too many are getting wrong about virtual volunteering these days.
• Make volunteering transformative, not about # of hours. 
• Volunteer Bill of Rights – a commitment by a host organization to volunteers.
• Corporate volunteers can be a burden for nonprofits.
• Initiatives opposed to some or all volunteering (unpaid work), and. online and print articles about or addressing controversies regarding volunteers replacing paid staff.
• can volunteer engagement cultivate innovation?
• Volunteer manager Fight Club
• Deriding the monetary value of volunteer hours: my mission in life?
• Involving volunteers: a cop out for paying staff?
• The value of volunteers.
• Time for USA nonprofits to be demanding.
• Requirements to volunteer are getting out of hand.
• Kentucky politicians think volunteers are free.

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