Volunteer Screening Blog

Is your non-profit organization ready for Make a Difference Day? It’s coming up soon—next Saturday, October 22. Here are five ways you can recruit volunteers and develop projects so that your community is ready to Make a Difference!

1. Go to HandsOnNetwork.org and download the Volunteer Leader toolkit. It’s full of great advice about assessing needs, and creating and managing community projects, from inception to completion.
2. If you haven’t done so already, register your organization at 1-800Volunteer.org. It’s a powerful online service that can help you recruit volunteers online, manage their time and schedules, and contact volunteers quickly and easily through emails and reminders. Signing up takes just minutes—and it’s free! Then, when prospective volunteers are looking for opportunities (as many will do in the next week as word of Make a Difference Day spreads), your organization and projects will be featured, and volunteers can sign up to help.
3. You might need to hurry on this one, but make an inquiry about possibility of writing a guest editorial for your local newspaper. If there is not enough time for an editorial, be sure to write a letter to the editor immediately.
4. Turn to social media to spread the word. Update your organization’s Facebook page with volunteer opportunities. Or, create a volunteer event and invite all of your page supporters to participate. It only takes a few minutes and could really help you spread the word about Make a Difference Day! Be sure to post something new every day to stay in front of your support base. And boost your efforts through Twitter posts as well. Refer people to your Facebook page so they can sign up and get all the information they need to volunteer for your organization.
5. Reach out to churches, schools, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, youth organizations, hospice care organizations, social service organizations and elder care homes to see what the needs are and to partner with potential groups of volunteers. Some worthy causes may have been overlooked, and would welcome your help. You may have more volunteers than you know what to do with next Saturday, so be sure to find something for them to do!

Millions of volunteers around the U.S. will be taking action on Saturday, October 22 for Make a Difference Day. Every project and every new volunteer can make a huge difference in a community, so get busy and make this a successful event for your organization!

Don’t skip the volunteer screening check when recruiting for Make a Difference Day. You can quickly and easily protect your clients and your organization by verifying the identity, checking the criminal history and reviewing the background of each volunteer applicant.

Just because a potential volunteer doesn’t have time to commute to your location doesn’t mean you should pass them by. Remote and web commuting can help your organization boost volunteer contributions without adding to greenhouse gases.

How does remote volunteering work? Just like remote working. According to Forrester research, about 62% of the information technology workforce works from multiple locations in the workweek, from home, the office, on the road, or other locations. Like these workers, when volunteers have all the tools needed to access documents, email, and calendars, they can help your organization, regardless of where they happen to be.

Of course, if your organization is a food bank and you need help unloading a truck, you’ll need on-the-ground volunteers. But there are dozens of other volunteer duties that don’t require physical presence:
• Entering supporter information into a database
• Soliciting donations for a fundraiser
• Accounting duties
• Paying bills
• Maintaining or updating the website
• Writing blog posts
• Creating a newsletter
• Updating Facebook and Twitter accounts
• Researching possible events
• Outreach to new supporters

Especially for sensitive functions, such as accounting and banking, your volunteer will need to be fully vetted, with a thorough background check and credit check. Most organizations would only trust a long-time volunteer or board officer with these types of duties. Just make sure they have secure access to online banking. It’s a good idea to supply a paper shredder and training in proper security. And, thorough screening is still necessary!

Giving volunteers the option to work remotely will enhance your ability to attract top talent and retain devoted volunteers who are experts in their fields.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its “Volunteering in America” report this week, which revealed that overall volunteerism declined in 2010 by .5 percent.

But in some regions, the economic climate has fostered a booming number of volunteers for charitable organizations. The BLS report indicates that about 13 million of the 62.8 million adults who donated time to organizations from September 2009 to September 2010 were unemployed or working part time.

It makes sense that unemployed people and part-time workers would be more inclined to volunteer because they have more time. The spike has been beneficial to many organizations. In Kansas City, the Humane Society has seen a big increased in volunteers who came knocking on the door. They didn’t have to recruit any of this new group, because they are all unemployed and looking for productive ways to fill their time.

Former workaholics who can’t sit home being unemployed are turning to charities as an outlet for their energy. Others are reaching out to nonprofits to increase their networking opportunities, update their skills and find job leads. One nonprofit executive director said there is only one problem with volunteers who find jobs through their volunteer activities—they tend to go away.

In the meantime, nonprofits are receiving hundreds of hours of valuable time, along with outreach and marketing advice, financial planning, foreign language interpretation services and a host of professional services they could not otherwise afford.

It’s a win-win for the volunteers, as well. When they do line up a job interview, they might find employers are often impressed to see the gaps in their resumes filled with volunteer activities.

So if you have an influx of unemployed folks wanting to volunteer with your organization, consider it a stroke of luck that may or may not last, depending on the economy. Proper orientation, training, evaluations and engagement will go a long way to ensuring your new volunteers stick around—even if they do find a job!

(Since it’s holiday time, you might want to read this to a well-known tune):
You know Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and YouTube,
Flickr and MySpace and Gowalla and HootSuite,
But do you know about a growing leader in social media that non-profits are starting to use more and more? It’s FourSquare.

If you’ve seen your tech-friendly friends “checking in” on Twitter and Facebook with their current location—even several times a day—they’re likely using FourSquare to do so. Why? They might be receiving perks for every time they do. Starbucks and other national chains allow users to compete for prizes for checking in the most and becoming the “mayor” of each location.

FourSquare is designed to make a smart phone a marketing tool by allowing users to promote businesses over social networks—just by checking in.

How can non-profits use FourSquare? You can have your supporters keep your name and mission in the social media stream and promote events and other causes, too. Just add the non-profit venue to FourSquare and it’s ready to go. Tips: make sure the name is spelled correctly and don’t use acronyms. You can even tag the listing with “nonprofit.”

Get supporters to chat about your nonprofit. They can add it to their To Do lists and accrue points and badges for every visit, plus their social friends and contacts can see each other’s lists, and your nonprofit gets great exposure.

Finally, get your supporters to check in at all of your public events: fundraisers, board meetings, exhibits, annual meetings. There is even a group check-in feature that can really make a cause go viral.

If you’re in charge of managing a non-profit’s marketing, events or volunteers, check out FourSquare and get multi-layered coverage and exposure!

According to the report Volunteering in America, 4.4 million teenagers, ages 16 – 19, volunteered across the country in 2009. They gave nearly 390 million hours of service, mostly to education and youth service organizations.

That number totals 26 percent of all people in their age group—which is just slightly lower than the percentage of Americans overall (26.8%) who volunteer. 26% is great—but it’s down from a few years back, when over 30% of all teenagers volunteered some time in their communities. They raised funds, provided general labor, collected and distributed food, and mentored youth.

If you manage volunteers for a non-profit organization and need help, perhaps you should focus your efforts on the teens in your community, who may not know about your organization, its mission and its needs.

1. Boost your social networking presence: Kids receive information through new ways—the internet and social networking, not phone books and newspapers. If your NPO does not have a well-designed and updated website, and isn’t on Facebook, you could be turning off a wide audience—including teens.
2. Ask. Teens are much more likely to volunteer if they are just asked to do it.
3. Ask some more. Ask for referrals. If you already have young volunteers, ask them to recruit their friends. A text from a friend is all many teens will need to jump on board. Ask older volunteers to mention the need to their young family members or neighbors. Ask everyone you see if they know a teen who would like to volunteer.
4. Contact schools, youth groups and scouting organizations. Many are looking for places their kids can volunteer. They just need to know where kids are needed!
5. Contact the National Home Education Network to reach homeschooling families.

When young people volunteer, everyone benefits. It’s a big confidence booster for them, and with the fresh ideas kids bring, it could even change the direction of your organization.

Since 1877, The Fresh Air Fund has been providing a respite in the country and suburbs to inner-city children from New York City. At no cost to their families, boys and girls from six to 18 get to experience green trees, rambling rivers, bar-b-ques by the lake, and of course—the fresh air they don’t get much of in the big city.

In 2009, close to 5,000 kids were hosted for up to two weeks by volunteer host families in 13 northeastern states and Canada. The generous hosts often form bonds with their guests, and more than 65% of Fresh Air children are invited to stay with their host families year after year. Fresh Air Fund is all about building relationships.

Host families can be of any size, ethnicity or background. There are no financial requirements, and hosts can request a specific age group and gender for their Fresh Air child guest.

Fresh Air children are six to 12 years old their first year; children can stay in the program through age 18 when re-invited by the same family. Most visits are one or two weeks, but repeat guests can stay for longer visits. Most Fresh Air children are from low-income communities, and families who lack the ability to send them to camp or go on summer vacations together. They often grow up without access to parks or open play areas.

Riding bikes, feeling the grass beneath bare feet or running through the woods are experiences that remain with Fresh Air children for their lifetimes. Host children and Fresh Air children often form friendships that last long beyond childhood.

The Fresh Air Fund also provides summer camp for 3,000 New York City children at five upstate New York camps, other educational opportunities, and a Career Awareness Program for New York City adolescents.

Since 1877, more than 1.7 million inner-city kids have enjoyed summer vacations with host families—all funded through the generosity of thousands of contributors. It’s not too late to sign up to be a host family for 2010. By offering some fresh air and simple fun to an inner-city child, your family could have a life-changing experience, too.

Now is a great time for recruiting top-quality volunteers. With the employment picture (unfortunately) remaining less than rosy, management-level talent is finding its way to more nonprofit organizations (NPOs) than ever before.

Whether you find yourself as a volunteer manager trying to tap into these new volunteers’ developed skills, or helping other volunteers develop their leadership skills, you’ll probably find a core leadership group can be quite an asset to your organization, with growth and sustainability not far behind.

How to Identify Potential Leaders
Analyzing volunteers as they work, as well as their skill set coming in, is the best way to determine if they’ll make a good leader. Make sure your volunteer application is set up to gather information like work experience, education level, areas of expertise, specific skills and areas of interest. Also, the application should give potential volunteers the opportunity to express themselves by asking open-ended questions. This way, you can judge communication skills.

What Qualities Do Leaders Possess?
Reliability: Volunteers who show up when they say they will, on time and ready to work their tasks, are potentially the dependable type of leader you want. Other volunteers will not follow a leader who they cannot depend on.

Natural Leadership: Watch your volunteers to see who exhibits natural leadership qualities. Teaching others, listening well, performing duties without much supervision, and a positive outlook are all traits that leaders possess.

Team Players: Leaders are seldom the loner type. They enjoy being around people, and others are naturally drawn to them. Often, leaders have groups that tend to gather around them at every event. If you have a volunteer like this, you’d better take advantage of their charisma and ability to attract more people to their cause!

After you Identify a Leader
Conduct an informal interview with all volunteers who posses the leadership skills you want. Ask how they see themselves contributing and growing with your organization. Identify the leadership qualities you see, and ask if they are willing to take on a leadership position. Have the new job description ready to clearly communicate expectations. You might be surprised to see how enthusiastic your new team leaders are!

Follow Up
Give your new leaders plenty of time to become accustomed to their advanced duties. Don’t pile on too much at once. And follow up often to see how they’re doing, what questions they have, and what assistance they need. If it’s not going as well as expected, cut back on their responsibilities and see how they handle a reduced workload.

When it comes to advancing volunteers to leadership positions, easy does it. You don’t want to scare anyone away, but rather bring them closer to help achieve your organizational goals.

The unemployment rate is still around 10% in the U.S. As more people lose motivation to look for work, they are turning to volunteerism to keep busy, update skills, or find new interests.

In fact, the demand for volunteer opportunities has inspired the HandsOn Network, the largest nonprofit volunteer network in the country, to participate in large job fairs. The job fairs are a partnership with Monster.com, the online job board.

As local job seekers tour the displays and learn about job openings, they are also introduced to non profit organizations that need volunteers. Job seekers can gain from volunteering in many ways, including:

• Networking opportunities: meeting new people can lead to job opportunities
• Showcasing their abilities: volunteer managers and nonprofit directors tend to notice the talent and skills of every volunteer—which is good thing, when you’re out of work
• Keeping skills current: it’s important to keep your mind sharp, your computer skills current, and your communication skills intact—and that’s hard to do when you’re home watching daytime television
• Learning new, marketable job skills: volunteering is a great way to try new tasks, software, or job skills—which can even lead to a job using them
• Having the satisfaction of putting their skills to good use in their community—feeling useful again is priceless

Out-of-work individuals don’t usually remain so forever; when they do find work, they often maintain their volunteer duties, as well as spread the word to their new co-workers about their experience. This is a great thing for nonprofit organizations; the more skilled volunteers that know about your mission and needs, the better.

And out-of-work volunteers often have more time, passion, and desire to have a purpose than employed volunteers. A mix of all kinds of volunteers—employed, retired, unemployed—is a great thing for any non profit organization!

If you’re strapped for volunteers, let your network know that you are looking. Now is a great time to gain the skills of the highly-educated, skilled workforce that is now out of work—but they won’t be forever. Whether you need help with fund-raising, marketing, grant writing or strategic planning—there is a wealth of talent in your community that you can tap into.

The top ten rated U.S. cites for volunteering are: Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN; Portland, OR; Salt Lake City, UT; Seattle, WA; Kansas City, MO; Columbus, OH; Oklahoma City, OK; Hartford, CT; Denver, CO; and Washington, DC.

Numbers range from 38.4% of all residents volunteering in Minneapolis-St. Paul (908,900 volunteers) to 30.9% of residents (1.3 million volunteers) in Washington.

The top ten rated US states for volunteering are: Utah, Nebraska, Minnesota, Alaska, Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, Kansas, Vermont, and North Dakota.

Here’s how the state numbers break down: from Utah, with an average annual volunteer rate of 43.5% and 817,200 volunteers to North Dakota, with an average volunteer rate of 35% and 174,800 volunteers.

The top activities performed by volunteers were fundraising, collecting and distributing food, general labor, tutoring and teaching, mentoring youth, and management.

The bottom five states? Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Nevada, and New York. Their numbers range from 20.9% to 18.7% of their residents volunteering.

National trends show 60.8 million volunteers, for a rate of 26.2%. The total number of hours volunteered is estimated at 8.1 billion. The places with the highest number of volunteers are religious organizations (35.7%) and educational or youth service organizations (26.7%).

As the economy continues its climb out of recession, volunteers will continue to serve a vital role in the work and success of U.S. non profit organizations.

Source: Volunteering In America

Volunteering appears to prove the saying, “’tis better to give than to receive.” While most volunteers’ intentions are solely to help others, researchers say that the benefits to the volunteers are also numerous.

Studies indicate a high correlation between health and volunteering. Volunteers have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability and lower rates of late-life depression than individuals who do not volunteer.

Older volunteers seem to receive the most benefit, likely because they are more likely to suffer health problems in the first place. Volunteering provides physical and social activity, as well as a sense of purpose. This is imperative to seniors, because those aspects of their lives tend to wane as we age. And the more one volunteers, the higher the level of benefit!

This is important to non profit managers and volunteer recruiters because the Baby Boomer generation is now reaching retirement age. This group is all about staying healthy and living a full life. So, advertising the fact that volunteering has numerous benefits could help in recruiting volunteers—especially in the Baby Boomer group.

The study even showed that chronic pain sufferers experienced lower levels of pain and depression when they began to serve as peer volunteers for other chronic pain sufferers.

Better health leads to higher rates of volunteerism; volunteering leads to better health. The cycle continues and sustains itself—good news for non profit organizations that need volunteers!

The study also indicates that the benefits of volunteering do not start to kick in until a threshold of one to two hours per week is reached. So, tout the health benefits of volunteering in your outreach efforts—and be ready for your phone to start ringing!