When was the last time you updated your nonprofit’s blog? You may have started blogging a few years ago, diligently writing posts on a regular basis. But at some point, you just stopped. Is it too late to revive the blog? And is it necessary?

Blogs are still a valuable marketing tool. In fact, with all of the social media options available today: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler, Flickr, and more—your blog can become the hub of your social marketing efforts.

In addition, a blog helps you reach new supporters and donors, who may only find you through an Internet search. Fresh content is the best way to keep your website ranking high in search engine results. And blogging is the easiest way of keeping your content fresh.

Blogs, along with additional social media marketing, can raise awareness and position your organization as an expert in your field. Inspire trust by publishing articles, educating your audience and answering their questions.

So, maybe it’s time to reinvigorate your blog. Sharpen your pencil, dust off your keyboard; do whatever it takes to motivate yourself to start writing again. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time. The Internet is jammed with ideas for blog posts (of course, keep your content original) and a little time spent looking around could result in several weeks’ worth of blog post ideas.

And remember, if you simply don’t have the time to keep your blog updated, you can always ask a volunteer or staffer to handle it for you. There are also agencies and marketing freelancers who can help with writing, editing and marketing your blog.

Don’t forget to publicize your blog’s content through social media. Tweets, likes, repins and shares are very important in the marketing mix of today’s nonprofit organization.

Not all volunteers are easy to work with and manage. Some require more time, more attention or training. Others have negative attitudes or just seem disgruntled for some reason.

The problem with difficult volunteers? You can’t fire them. And, you may feel guilty about reprimanding them, especially when they give significantly to your organization. But they could be doing more harm than good. When the result is providing bad service to clients or contributing to a negative or stressful working environment, difficult volunteers should not be allowed to continue on the same path.

Fortunately, there are effective methods for managing disgruntled volunteers. If you’re dealing with this situation, here are a few ideas you can try:

• Take away their power. By allowing negative behavior, you are giving those volunteers power over you—and everyone else. It’s not fair to anyone. Address the problem head on, and keep everyone else on task, so the person in question will realize that their negativity is ineffective.
• Document your efforts. Keep track of incidents or situations that needed addressing, and how you handled it. You never know when you’ll need to refer to your notes.
• Criticize kindly. If you do need to confront a volunteer, do so with kindness and in private. Public confrontations have a way of getting out of control; plus, they make everyone feel uncomfortable.
• Keep things professional. Remember that your relationship with volunteer s is a professional one. Even if they are big donors of time or money, if you’re a volunteer manager, you’re in charge. Avoid losing your composure and your temper. Don’t stoop to the negative person’s level, even if he or she becomes defensive or starts yelling.
• Nip it in the bud. When it comes to managing difficult volunteers, the sooner you deal with it, the better! Your entire organization will be better for your efforts.

When it comes to volunteering, young people have definite motivations and favorite causes. A recent study by DoSomething.org offers some great insight into the way teens and young adults think.

For example, we talked about how having friends who volunteer is a big influence over teen volunteer rates. But they’re self-motivated, as well. For young people, making a difference on an issue they care about is their #1 stated reason for volunteering. For girls, they say that volunteering is its own reward, as well, while boys were more likely to state that getting into college or landing a good job are also important reasons.

The top five issues that young people are most interested in volunteering for are:

1. Animal welfare
2. Hunger
3. Homelessness
4. The environment
5. The economy

In reality, young people tend not to volunteer with groups dedicated to animal issues. They are, however involved in fundraising. Nearly 39% of young people who volunteer have fundraised for charity. If you’re running a nonprofit organization, you may not have considered recruiting teens to help with all-important fundraising. Maybe you should!

Guys tend to volunteer in physical ways, such as environmental cleanup or working with kids in sports or recreational programs. Girls tend to do more fundraising and working with marginalized populations. Girls also volunteer more frequently, with 51% volunteering once per month or more, compared to 45% of guys volunteering once per month or more.

Anyone who volunteers know how rewarding it can be. With youth, it’s just as true as with adults. Young people who volunteer score about 24% higher on a life satisfaction. The following activities offer the most satisfaction, according to the survey:

• Working with young kids in a sports program    71% Happiness Scale
• Helping at a library or cultural or historical group 69% Happiness Scale
• Fundraising 68% Happiness Scale
• Working with sick or old people 63% Happiness Scale
• Working on a political campaign 60% Happiness Scale
• Do not volunteer at all 51% Happiness Scale

Think teens volunteer in their communities because it makes them feel good, or because it looks good on college applications? Or do you think teens sign up for volunteer tree-planting projects because they want to save the environment?

A new study by DoSomething.org reveals some interesting insights into teens’ reasons for volunteering. Over 4,300 young people aged 13 – 22 were surveyed across the country, and here are some of the results:

• 93% of teens say they want to volunteer, but a far smaller percentage actually do.
• Teens’ volunteer habits are primarily influenced by having friends who volunteer regularly. Over 70% of teens with friends who volunteer also volunteer themselves.
• Many teens (40%) don’t volunteer through traditional organizations, but rather through clubs, friends and family, or on their own.
• Teens want volunteering to be fun, like a party. Make it social, and they will come.
• What’s on teens’ minds? Number one is paying for college. Next is getting into a college.
• The biggest reason teens don’t volunteer is lack of time.
• Many teens want to be anonymous, or help from a distance. They also want to volunteer with people their age (but not necessarily the same gender).
• Religious teens’ volunteer habits are not determined by the importance of religion in their lives, but by how often they attend religious events, including youth groups.
• Young volunteers want opportunities that are close to home, but not at home.
• Short activities that allow for different levels of engagement are preferred by teens.

It looks like the influence of their friends is most motivating when it comes to teens and volunteering. We’ll be sharing more insights from this interesting survey in coming weeks.

Since Halloween is just around the corner, why not use the holiday as a way of introducing kids to volunteering?

Involve families with kids by creating a weekend family volunteer activity. When the place, time and task list are set and ready, it’s easier for parents to just show up and get their kids involved. And when parents are supervising their kids, it’s much easier on volunteer managers.

Halloween Volunteer Activities For Kids

• How about cleaning up the neighborhood after trick-or-treating? It’s unfortunate that some Halloween traditions include smashing pumpkins, dropping candy wrappers on the ground or even acts of vandalism. Cleaning up the neighborhood can teach kids that we’re all responsible for a healthy, clean community. It’s also a big help for elderly folks who can’t pick up around their own properties. Equip kids with thick gloves and garbage bags. Emphasize safety and keep them out of the street.
• Host a Halloween party for disadvantaged kids. This is a great way to involve young people in setting up, decorating, gathering goody bags and developing activities. And what better way to teach children to understand the difficulties that other people face? They’ll feel great about helping, and have fun, too.
• Visit senior centers. Organize a trip for costumed kids to bring some cheer to elder care facilities. Of course, the rules have to be strict, and anyone with the sniffles shouldn’t be around the elderly. But there is nothing like a bunch of trick-or-treaters to brighten the faces of senior citizens.

When you combine families with kids, holidays and volunteering, the ideas just keep coming. Jot them down and you’ll soon have plenty of ideas to make recruiting volunteers—old and young alike—easier and more successful.

According to Volunteering in America, youth in this country volunteered 377 million hours of volunteer services in 2010. The number of teens aged 16 – 19 who gave all of these hours was an astounding 4.4 million, which represents 26% of all youth in that age group.

An older study showed that among the larger youth age group, 12 – 18 years old, 15.5 million kids contributed more than 1.3 billion hours of service. Young people volunteer more than adults, and they do it out of a sense of altruism. Making the world a better place and helping others are very important to young volunteers.

Teens can be a valuable source of new volunteers for any organization. Not only do they provide labor, but they can also give older folks a focus. Matching young volunteers with older mentors can create mutually beneficial and even long-lasting relationships.

Adolescents who volunteer typically perform better in school than their peers. Studies show they are also less likely to engage in risky behaviors. Plus, volunteering helps kids feel good about themselves. All of this adds up to healthier, happier and safer teens.

Volunteering can also lead to the release of endorphins in the brain. Ever heard of a runner’s high? A similar effect can come from doing good things for others. Endorphins reduce stress, which helps build a stronger immune system. They can also reduce head and back aches, depression and blood pressure.

If you’re recruiting volunteers, arm yourself with these facts and present them to youth groups at local schools or churches. Spread the word through social media about the positions your organization has that are appropriate for teen volunteers.

Get youth involved in your organization. You’ll be doing them, as well as yourself, a favor!

Once you recruit and screen volunteers for your organization, it’s important to hold on to them. A steady volunteer staff helps the organization run more smoothly, saves time and resources, and helps promote your cause in the community.

Here are five ways to keep good volunteers:

1. Put out the welcome mat. Welcome your volunteers and demonstrate that you’re glad they’re there, whether it’s their first day or their 101st day. Taking volunteers for granted is too easy to do. Trouble is, it’s no secret. They can feel it—and it’s a sure way to demoralize them.
2. Include volunteers in the mission. Help them feel like they are part of the greater good. Explain their role and how it helps to serve your clients or cause.
3. Show appreciation. Say “thank you” at every opportunity. And do a little more when possible. Throw a party, bring in cupcakes or send notes and cards. Everyone wants to be appreciated—especially when they’re giving of themselves and their time.
4. Speaking of time, respect it. Volunteers often worry that the spare hour of time they can give is not enough. Or, that if they offer an hour, you’ll take two. Find ways to make things work for time-strapped volunteers. Do you have tasks that can be completed in one-, two- or three-hour segments? Let people know, and then don’t let them exceed the given time. Send them home with a smile.
5. Be open to suggestions. You don’t have to let a volunteer tell you how to run your organization. However, many have rich work experience that could improve your processes and procedures. At least give volunteers the respect of listening to their suggestions.

It’s not easy to see a good volunteer leave, but don’t encourage it by failing to do the simple things that can really work to keep them happy!

Instituting a flexible work and volunteer policy can help you attract and retain top staff and volunteers. Shorter work weeks, flexible hours, job sharing and telecommuting are all appealing to both volunteers and employees.

In the new economy, employees expect to work using new technology, which allows for more at-home situations. 10-hour, 4-day weeks or 12-hour, 3-day weeks are becoming more common. And Gen Y workers prefer to integrate friends and family into their lives—including work, unlike their older counterparts who traditionally keep work and home life separate.

In fact, to attract Gen Y workers and volunteers, nonprofit executives should consider making flexibility a part of the organizational culture, because they expect it. Working remotely and at unusual hours is par for the course to this group.

Flexible workplaces see higher retention and lower turnover. Workers and volunteers who have more control over their work environment are more productive and happier, too. Those who work from home are more focused and dedicated to getting their work done.

For many of your employees and volunteers, this set up may be their only option, whether because of distance, child care duties, elder care duties or the need to care for loved ones with disabilities or illnesses.

Keep your employees’ and volunteers’ needs in mind when working up job descriptions and attendance policies. Ask what they need, and try to work with staff and volunteers to make new ideas succeed, and keep everyone productive and happy.

The news is filled with stories of volunteers who are accused of stealing money from charities, abusing kids under their care or sexually assaulting vulnerable people. Unfortunately, the perpetrators often gain access to their victims through agencies, charities, schools or religious organizations they volunteer for.

No nonprofit director or volunteer manager wants to be responsible for any harm suffered by an organization or its clients, staff members or other volunteers. That’s why it’s a good idea to take proper precautions and thoroughly screen every volunteer who may have contact not only with vulnerable populations, but with anyone in the organization.

People who prey on others may think that a nonprofit organization won’t follow the same stringent procedures as an employer would. They may be under the impression that because they are giving their time, they won’t be subjected to any background screening or credit check.

Why take the chance of proving them right? Volunteer screening is a quick and easy process that can bring great peace of mind. Requiring every volunteer to fill out an application that states they will be asked to undergo a background check could be your first deterrent. Chances are that someone who means to do financial or other harm will move on to the next organization. Following through will ensure that you are doing everything you can to protect the organization, its staff and volunteers, and the people who depend on its services.

In addition to formal background checks, credit checks and criminal history checks, it’s a good idea to ask for references—and to contact each of them before bringing a new volunteer in.

When it comes to volunteers, there is no such thing as being too careful!

If you’re new to the world of nonprofit and volunteer management, congratulations! You’ve joined one of the most interesting and rewarding careers out there. But just like any new venture, moving into management comes with a unique set of challenges. Here are some of the best bits of advice we’ve heard for new managers:

• Don’t Fear Your Title: Sure, you may have never been a “director” or “manager” before. And it might be scary to wonder if you’re up to the challenge. But think about the many managers and bosses you’ve had in your career. Surely, you’re at least as competent as most of them—and probably will outshine more than a few. Remember, you can’t be any worse than most of the managers out there! You automatically have the authority that comes with your title, so embrace it—don’t fear it.
• Step Up: Now that you’re a boss, you need to rise above the fray. Don’t participate in gossip or negative talk about management, co-workers, board members or volunteers. Set parameters for your friendships with those you now supervise. Being friendly is fine, but don’t overcompensate for your new role by pushing friendship or trying to be extra-chummy.
• Educate Yourself: Seek out opportunities to improve your abilities and skills. Leadership classes, management training, marketing classes and books on these topics will help you learn proven strategies and techniques that can make your job easier.
• Don’t Change Things Too Quickly: Your staff and volunteers may be resistant to change. Your becoming a manager might be enough change for a while. Take your time when introducing changes, and give staff and volunteers the chance to weigh in on new processes and procedures.
• Keep Communication Flowing: Above all, establish an open-communication management style. Don’t leave people in the dark, or they will worry that something is wrong. Talk through concerns and issues that people have, whether they’re related to your areas of responsibility or not, before they become bigger problems.

One aspect of volunteer management is proper volunteer screening. By conducting volunteer background checks and credit checks, you’ll keep your organization’s clients safer.