Volunteer in Pajamas!

It's January and we all know what that means: it's the coldest month of the year.  We're all bundling up in jackets, coats, and gloves to get out of the house in the morning (or maybe just a light sweater for all of our Los Angeles friends who are enjoying breezy 70-degree weather this week?).

Unfortunately, the cold doesn't exactly invite would-be volunteers out of their homes and into the community to spend their time.  Cozy houses and running heaters just seem all that much more inviting in the winter months!

So what is a volunteer manager to do?  With projects abounding and volunteer motivation at a stand still - the answer is volunteering from home!

For most nonprofits, this isn't the most popular thought.  Projects are easier to manage and quality is easier to control when it happens on-site or at the organization's headquarters.  Many projects do not include pieces that even have the option of completion off-site.  However - offering opportunities to volunteer at home can be a gateway into real commitment and passion about your cause.  It's also a great way to get extra projects done and increase the ability for more diverse community members to participate in your cause.

Opportunities to volunteer off-site allow volunteers to feel comfortable and do the work on their own schedule.  You can engage volunteers who are not available during business hours.  Those who cannot travel or do not wish to leave their homes can still lend a hand.  You can create connections without finding extra space or time to use.

Here are some ideas on creating and managing opportunities to volunteer at home:

• List applicable projects.  Your at-home volunteers won't be constructing any fences or handing out food - but chances are, there is something that can be done at your organization by a commited set of off-site hands.  How about:



  Volunteers can make crafts for clients from home

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• Event promotion: making flyers, calling radio stations and newspapers
• Publicity: writing blog articles, running social media outlets, stuffing envelopes
• Project preparation: making meeting agendas, planning details, requesting donations
• Crafts: knitting hats or scarves, creating thank-you notes for volunteers or staff, assembling care packages for clients, creating something for clients to use or something to be sold at a fundraiser
• Fundraising: contacting family and friends, creating fundraiser promotional materials
• Data entry: creating databases of information or transferring information from paper to computer systems
•  Market your virtual opportunities.  If you have an opportunity that can be done from a computer - why limit it to your community?  Might as well open it up to the world!  There are a number of sites out there that specifically promote virtual volunteering opporunities (like Sparked, which promotes microvolunteering opportunities - short volunteer projects that can be done from a computer).  VolunteerMatch also has a category in their listings for virtual volunteering. 
• Market your from-home opportunities. Some from-home opportunities will require delivery of materials (like returning a physical finished project to your office) - you'll probably want to market these close to your headquarters.  Market these like you would market any other opportunity, but some especially great places to market off-site opportunities are:
• Retirement communities.  Off-site volunteering can be a fun way to get involved for those members of retirement communities who are limited in access to transportation.
• Schools.  Maybe you have a 'service learning' project a whole class can complete together without the hassle of transporting students away from school?  Teachers often welcome this idea!
• Neighborhoods and apartment complexes.   Make sure your marketing emphasizes the ability to do the volunteer from right where the people are - at their home!
• Manage your project.   Off-site volunteering requires your trust of the volunteer to complete their work in a timely, quality manner, without close supervision - so managing these volunteers will look different than for other volunteers.  Here are some ideas on supervising those off-site volunteers:
• Email or talk on the phone regularly.  Schedule a time to check in with the volunteer once a week to check in, answer questions, and ensure projects are being completed.
• Set deadlines and stick to them.  Just because a volunteer can work from a casual place, doesn't mean you should expect them to be undependable.  Make your expectations clear, just as you would with any other volunteer.  If they consistently are unable to turn in projects that you need completed, they probably are not a good fit for volunteering at your organization.
• Check project quality.  Take a good look at the projects you get back, especially for the volunteer's first few projects.  Communicate with them about whether or not they're meeting your organization's needs.
• Send appreciations.  Make a special call just to thank the volunteer, send an e-card, or get their address and send a letter.  You could even publicly appreciate the volunteer on your organization's blog or newsletter.  Let them know that their efforts make a difference!

Do you have any experience leading from-home volunteering projects?  Any good tips to share?  Let everyone know in the comments!