Volunteer Screening Blog

You don’t have to be a media or marketing maven to create a buzz around your non-profit. It does take some time, a little creativity and a willingness to try new things. No matter if your charity is saving animals, kids or trees, you can engage your audience and attract new supporters through a few well-thought-out activities.

Here are four ideas for creating buzz:

• Adopt a school. Partnering with an elementary, middle or high school is a great way to introduce young people to volunteering. At the same time, you’re educating a new generation about your charity’s work. And the kids are likely to tell their families and friends about it. It could take time to find a school willing to create a partnership, but it could be well worth the effort!
• Create a contest. Contests are a great way to create a buzz. Just solicit a donation from a business or supporter. Fun experiences, like a river rafting trip or hot-air balloon ride, or a product or service that ties into your mission, are all great ideas for contest prizes. If you’re an art museum, give away a painting. If you’re a youth services organization, have the kids create a sculpture. If you’re saving the environment, a great contest prize is a ready-to-plant raised vegetable garden. You can either sell raffle tickets or solicit entries on Facebook and other social media outlets.
• Enroll in classes and seminars. Your local community college, technical school or university probably offers free or low-cost classes in technology, web design, social media or marketing – or dozens of other business-related topics. You’re likely to meet other business people and business owners that will soon learn about your non-profit. If you don’t have time to attend classes, look for half-day or one-day seminars that will both teach you valuable skills and expose your charity to a new audience. And if you cannot find the time to attend, send a co-worker, or even a volunteer.
• Produce a simple event. Not a fundraiser—fundraisers are to raise funds. Other events can simply create buzz. For example, if you have a new building, hold an open house. If you’ve recently acquired a donation, find local groups who might be interested, and invite them to check it out. Or, contact an expert in any given field and ask them to give a presentation. Invite the public or make it a private event. Just reach out and inform people about your organization.

Creating buzz simply takes a little time, some creativity, and willingness to ask people for help. It can be a great way to spread the word about your non-profit!

Charitable giving will probably remain flat in 2011, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy survey of 180 businesses. After 2010’s 13% increase in cash donations, businesses are not expected to maintain the increases. Some see a possible increase in product donations, which when added to 2010’s total, increased giving by nearly 20%.

Out of the 107 Fortune 500 companies surveyed, 74 said they expected 2011’s giving to remain about the same as 2010’s, while 27 expected an increase and six expect a decrease.

The head of the Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals, a group that represents company grant makers, said that companies are just holding steady and it will take until at least 2013 before companies give like they did prior to the recession’s start at the end of 2007.

Other findings in the survey include:

• Cash donations totaled $4.9 billion in 2010.
• Wal-Mart gave the most cash of any company in the survey, at $319.5 million. Wal-Mart also pledges food and other gifts, with a $1.75 billion commitment to food banks and other organizations that provide the poor with groceries.
• Goldman Sachs and Citigroup posted increases as their corporate profits soared. Goldman Sachs giving increased 353% to $315.4 million, and Citigroup gave more than $100 million in cash.
• When combining cash and products, Pfizer topped the list with $3 billion, followed by Oracle at $2.3 billion and Merck at $1.2 billion.
• Businesses are receiving more requests for basic help, as with utility bills, from non-profits. The president of the Wells Fargo Foundation called this “a very big shift.” Prior to the recession, he said, charities sought strategic, long-term grants. Keeping up with requests will be a stretch in 2011, he suggested, after Wells Fargo’s giving increased by 8.5% in 2010.

Many corporate grant makers say the economy is changing how and what they give, and causing them to focus their charitable dollars more, by focusing on non profits that better match their business objectives, and offering more skills and products as cash becomes tighter.

While the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) has been in place for more than 20 years, many non-profit agencies think it does not apply to them, or are confused about which aspects of the law do.

Here are some facts about the ADA:

• The ADA gives rights of equal access to places of public accommodation, including non-profit organizations.
• Places of public accommodation must give persons with disabilities equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from their services.
• Small employers are not subject to ADA. This includes those with fewer than 15 employees.
• Employers with 15 or more employees may not ask whether a person is disabled when interviewing for a position, and must make reasonable accommodations for a worker’s disability.
• Making accommodations can be as simple as providing a foot stool to a volunteer with a disability, allowing a volunteer with lupus to take rest breaks or changing the orientation of a desk to accommodate a wheelchair.
• Temporary conditions, such as broken limbs or illnesses, are not covered under the ADA.
• You may choose a non-disabled volunteer over a disabled volunteer, according to qualifications.

About 20% of the U.S. population is disabled, and if you have not yet welcomed volunteers with disabilities into your agency, you may be missing out on a wealth of talent and skill.

For many non profit organizations, volunteer retention is a major challenge. Professional volunteer managers know that every volunteer needs something different from their volunteer experience.

Here are six ways to enhance the experience for your volunteers, and help them stick around as long as you need them:

1. Give the big picture: While the day-to-day tasks are important (someone needs to update the donor database), keep the focus on the long-term. The seemingly unimportant contributions made by volunteers allow the bigger work of the organization to be go on—so make sure they know what that is.
2. Be open: Share the challenges, both operational and financial, with trusted volunteers. If things are tough, let them know—they may be more inclined to stick around and help the organization through.
3. Move them around: Help volunteers develop new skills, if they’re interested in the opportunity to do so. Don’t think that just because Marcy seems happy greeting visitors at the front desk that she wouldn’t enjoy learning more about how to lay out the newsletter. Ask your volunteers about the skills they would like to develop.
4. Treat them fairly: Volunteers usually know when they’re being treated unfairly. And even if they’re not, they may feel it anyway. Avoid problems by being creative about finding ways to treat all of your volunteers fairly. Spread out the workload. Show your appreciation evenly. Don’t play favorites.
5. Challenge them: Don’t expect the least from your volunteers. Expect their best effort. Keep them challenged, and they will feel valued and engaged. If you can, offer training to volunteers to help them excel in their positions.
6. Respect their time: Volunteers need balance, too. If you have volunteers who are putting in too much time with your organization, gently let them know they need to take some time off. Burned-out volunteers might soon be ex-volunteers.

Most volunteer coordinators say that volunteers are their most valuable assets. Nurturing and looking after assets is important to keep them from slipping away. So how do you take care of volunteers? Are they slipping away, despite your best efforts?

Taking care of your volunteers can pay off in higher rates of productivity and retention. One trick is to channeling their creativity, talent and experience—and that takes real leadership. So does realizing that your volunteers might be smarter than you. Most non-profit organizations have volunteers from all sorts of backgrounds, like retired business executives, teachers, accountants, lawyers—people with top-level talent and plenty of brainpower.

1. When you see real talent and valuable experience in your volunteers, give them the freedom to do what they do best, and don’t micromanage. Get out of their way and you might be amazed at the ideas they come up with.
2. If the organization is facing a problem, ask for help or advice from your experienced volunteers. There is no rule saying that you must follow it, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Whether or not a volunteer’s advice meet your needs, giving people the freedom to contribute to the organization does wonders for their self-worth, gives them a reason to keep volunteering and can result in solid new ideas for problem-solving.
3. Consider asking for ideas from a number of volunteers, or putting together a brainstorming session to address a problem. You may soon have a number of “what if” scenarios around the table. One of them could be the solution you decide to go for. Collective problem solving can be a great way to harness and leverage the talent of your volunteers, while making them feel valued and productive.

Leadership means educating volunteers about why their roles are important. But it also means matching them with jobs that matter to them personally. Taking care of volunteers by involving them in tasks that use their talents, creativity and intelligence is a great way to keep them engaged and make your organization more successful.

For non profit organizations, every fundraising event needs to pay off. The amount of time, money and volunteer effort invested in a fundraiser can’t be wasted on a mediocre turnout and less-than-stellar take.

If you’re in charge of gathering ideas, volunteers and resources to put on a fundraising event, here are a few tips that can make it memorable and moneymaking!

Make it special: People attend events in search of something a little different. They can walk into any number of restaurants and find something good to eat. At an event, they’re after a different feel. The objective isn’t just to feed attendees; it’s to promote the culture and work of your organization. Personalize it, make it special, and make an emotional connection to your audience, and they’ll remember your event—and your organization—for months or years to come.

Make sure you have enough food: There are few worse things than a food event that runs out of food. You can avoid this disaster with proper planning. Make sure that your caterer or food vendors are absolutely clear on the number of attendees you’re expecting. Keep checking on the RSVPs and ask for caterers to be flexible enough to accommodate extras on the day of the event.

Make sure you have enough servers or serving stations: Nobody likes to see or stand in endless food and beverage lines, even if it’s for a good cause! If your lines are too long, or if folks are not served promptly, that’s what your event will be remembered for.

Make sure you have enough volunteers: For planning, ticket selling and help on the day of the event, you’ll need plenty of volunteer help. If you’re new to recruiting volunteers, keep in mind that putting the right folks in place can take time. If your volunteers will have any access to your clients, will drive your organization’s vehicles, or otherwise put your non profit at any risk, they’ll need to undergo be properly background screening—so be sure to plan ahead for that important step.

Give everyone a job, and train them to do it: Connect with your volunteers well before the event to assign duties. Encourage them to ask questions and if you don’t have the answers, get back to them ASAP. Show them how they can be of the greatest help to you, and what a successful event will look like. Paint a picture of smoothly flowing lines, fast ticket sales, answers to every guest’s question and every problem solved.

You have a great group of volunteers whom you depend on to help you efficiently run your non profit organization. They’re productive and happy, and all seems to be going well with all of your volunteers—right?

Maybe not. Volunteer dissatisfaction is not uncommon. But it can be a temporary condition and it is definitely a fixable one. The trouble is, before you have a chance to fix it, the affected person or persons have often moved on to better opportunities.

Here are three causes of volunteer dissatisfaction that can be easily remedied, with a little effort.

Problem 1:
Feeling anonymous: Everyone wants to feel valued, whether they are paid employees, volunteers, friends or partners. New relationships tend to be bright, shiny and happy—until the shine wears off and they become routine. When volunteers start to feel anonymous or you show little interest in them as people, they begin to feel dissatisfied.

Solution:
With long-term volunteers, showing interest in them, asking about their families and careers, their hobbies and goals, should continue long after they join you. Get in the habit of asking a personal (but not too personal!) question of one volunteer each day.

Problem 2:
Feeling useless: Volunteers don’t have to show up for work. When they do, they need to feel useful. It’s a great feeling to know that you’re making a difference—and that’s why most people volunteer. When volunteers feel their efforts are wasted, or that they’re having no impact at all, dissatisfaction sets in.

Solution: Find ways to illustrate to volunteers how they are making a difference. This could include sharing data and statistics, or simply telling success stories of how their efforts are helping others in the community.

Problem 3:
Feeling confused: Volunteers need feedback, just as paid employees do. They don’t always know for sure if they are contributing or performing their duties successfully.

Solution:
That’s why volunteer evaluations are just as important as employee evaluations. And should be performed regularly.

Keeping your eyes and ears open to volunteer dissatisfaction can prevent unhappy volunteers and help you retain them longer!

If you’re a nonprofit volunteer coordinator, you may be responsible for coming up with volunteer news or other nuggets for your organization’s newsletter. Interesting news that also encourages people to volunteer is even better.

If you could use a few good volunteers, here are a few good reasons to entice them, all related to a healthy, happy life (and who wouldn’t want that?):

• Volunteering is good for your health. Research done by the Mayo Clinic indicates that 40 to 100 hours of volunteering per year can help you feel younger, live longer, and lower your risk of heart disease.
• Volunteering is good for self-confidence and quality of life. Research shows that volunteering creates a “helping high,” which you can feel when your body releases neurotransmitters into your system. It’s also been shown to keep depression at bay.
• New research has just begun, which will study links between volunteering and brain health through the aging process. The project will measure physical and social functioning and how volunteering may enhance older adults’ cognitive functions, such as memory and attention span.
• Baby boomers are going to be reaching age 65 by the millions in the next 30 years. So any research that proves volunteering can keep them healthy and alert longer is good news—especially to this group, which exercises, eats well and will try almost anything to keep from aging too quickly.
• Volunteering two hours per week can give people a new sense of purpose and enhance their social network. Older people, who are at risk of depression as a result of isolation and loneliness, especially need to feel needed and valued.
• Volunteering is a much better way to spend time than being parked in front of a television or on a park bench. It makes people feel like part of something bigger. It encourages camaraderie, team-building and community-building.
• Volunteering can be like a free education. Many volunteers pick up new skills and explore areas they were previously not familiar with. It improves communication and leadership skills, and can even lead to formal education and certification opportunities.

Every nonprofit organization needs a board of directors. While specific responsibilities may vary due to the organization’s mission and its stage of existence, the roles and purposes of every board are similar.

Nonprofit volunteer boards must create their own structure, policies and procedures for governing the organization. Far beyond just meeting once a month, the board is responsible for developing its policies and terms of service.

Here are some tips for effective boards and committees:

1. Make sure that all board members receive a written job description.
2. Develop the year’s schedule of meetings a year in advance.
3. Provide board members with meeting materials and agendas well in advance. Two to three weeks is optimal.
4. Keep meetings focused, stick to the agenda and don’t linger on any one item longer than necessary. Briefer meetings are better meetings.
5. Encourage all board members to participate in discussions.
6. Take accurate minutes of all meetings and distribute to board members promptly afterwards.
7. Require board members to serve on committees.
8. Show appreciation of all volunteer board members by acknowledging contributions publicly, in newsletters, at meetings and in minutes.

Additional considerations for boards include the size of the board, the length of a board member’s term, and what committees are needed. Typical committees are Executive, Audit and Finance.

Business relationships can make a big difference to a non-profit organization. Whether developing partnerships for financial support, human resource (volunteer) support or product donations, nonprofits should tap into the offerings of local, regional and national businesses aiming to increase their corporate social responsibility profile and do good things.

Reaching out to corporate partners can be uncomfortable at first, but if you have a good development director, it should be a part of his or her job duties. A natural first step might be contacting local businesses, entrepreneurs and community service organizations like Kiwanis and Rotary International.

Finding avenues for business to help your nonprofit in a win-win situation is the key. While an event sponsorship might be a perfect fit for a financial institution, it might be too much for a construction company. You might ask for their help in other ways – like volunteering their employees to perform repairs on your building or to donate a crew for a day to fix up an elderly client’s home.

Another way for a business to become a valuable partner is through cause-related marketing. For example, a company donates a portion of every sale of a featured item, for a limited time, advertising their efforts and creating goodwill among the public.

Still additional avenues for businesses to get on board with a nonprofit are social enterprises and donating products or services. A social enterprise is a business venture that combines profit making with social advancement. An ice cream shop started expressly to donate all profits to a charity is one example. Another is a work training program that restores and sells used appliances, in order to fund its programs to train displaced workers in appliance repair.

For some companies, donating products or services is the easiest way to support charity work in their community. A web design firm may be able to provide your nonprofit with the new website you need—and they may do it for free or a reduced cost. Advertising, event banners, office supplies and food for events are additional ways your local business community may be willing to support your nonprofit.

Be sure to offer publicity in exchange for a business’s good deeds. Adding a logo to a banner, blasting positive posts on your e-newsletter, Facebook and Twitter and mentioning your business partners in every interview and story about your nonprofit will demonstrate your appreciation and give the company an enhanced image, which is always a good thing.

Sometimes, all it takes is an ask to start forming valuable relationships with business partners that can really make a difference to your organization’s bottom line!