Five Good IdeasVolunteer Management

November 18, 2009

Also, Affectionately Known as Herding Cats

Daily Bread Food Bank 2008/2009 Key Volunteer Statistics

• Group Volunteers 8,741• Individual Volunteers 4,585• Public Sorting Volunteers 2,195• Total number of Volunteers 15,521• Total Volunteers Hours 107,259• Percentage of New Volunteers 72%• Percentage Returning 28%

Our Vision: Fighting to End Hunger In Our Communities

Mission

• Providing Food and Resources for Hungry People

• Mobilizing Greater Support, Involvement and Action

• Creating Social Change to Reduce Poverty Through Research,

Education and Advocacy

Good Communications across the volunteer organization

Benefits and Impact

• Shared Learning• Increased Morale• Better Retention Rates• Easier deployment across

departments

Considerations

• Logistical challenges with off site volunteers

• More time required by managers to ensure open communications

Understanding and Forecasting your needs for volunteers in your organization

Benefits and Impacts

• Increases volunteer satisfaction

• Maximizes the use of volunteer time

• Identify some work that can be done remotely (such as data analysis)

Considerations

• Predicting the changes in the business environment on an on-going basis

• Develop processes such as weekly meeting amongst departments

Clear and concise position descriptions and volunteer attributes required

Benefits and Impacts

• Helps with the selection of appropriate volunteers for the position

• Volunteer experience more rewarding and effective

• Staff will have a better understanding of roles and expectations

Considerations

• Ensures those actually supervising the volunteers participate in developing the description

• Ensure the position descriptions are reviewed regularly

Effective training of staff in volunteer management

Benefits and Impacts

• A better work environment for both staff and volunteers

• Allows more junior staff to gain experience in managing people

• A forum for staff to discuss issues and seek resolutions

Consideration

• Staff will have varying levels of experience in managing people so there needs to be a diversity of courses offered

Formalized volunteer recognition process

Benefits and Impacts

• Recognition is directly linked to retention

• Highly motivated volunteers return as well as spread the word within their networks

Considerations

• Recognition should be directly linked to the values of the organization

• Formal recognition programs require a consistency and this requires a substantial effort from staff in organizations with a lot of volunteers

Additional Resources

• http://volunteer.ca/resources• http://serviceleader.org/new/managers/index.php• http://www.pavrol.on.ca/pavro_resources.shtml• http://www.energizeinc.com

Advising the Community Together (ACT)What is ACT?

ACT is a group within Deloitte Consulting which was started by junior resources to provide pro-bono advisory services to non-profit organizations serving youth

All consultants work above and beyond their day-to-day client commitments to serve the community by volunteering their hours

ACT’s objective is to build capacity within non-profit organizations to ensure sustainability for the future

Areas of Focus

Daily Bread Food Bank (DBFB) Project

Technology

Human Resources

Strategy & Operations

Help non-profit organizations maximize their IT investments

Help align human resources and business strategies by focusing on the organization’s governance model and people-related factors

Help non-profit organizations address strategic, management and operational issues

Client Issues Approach Results

Challenges were identified with DBFB’s volunteer management

DBFB needed to assess its volunteer organization and develop a roadmap to improve the program

Developed a maturity model for volunteer management, including leading practices

Assed DBFB’s current state, and identified opportunities to improve

A prioritized 3-year roadmap of improvement opportunities

A Volunteer Handbook to support volunteer onboarding

For additional information, email: ACTToronto@deloitte.ca