Volunteer Management

 by Alex Drey-Mulari, AmeriCorps VIP Fellow at THINK Together in Ontario, CA

HandsOn Inland Empire (HOIE) is the volunteer department at Inland Empire United Way. In conjunction with hosting volunteers at the United Way, HOIE manages a website that allows volunteers and non-profits in the area to come to one place to connect. The department also organizes two large-scale school makeovers a year, manages corporate volunteer groups, and trains community members to become Volunteer Leaders. Through the department’s combined knowledge of volunteer programs and management, they are able to successfully support 7 AmeriCorps VIP Fellows. Alex Drey-Mulari is one of the Fellows currently hosted by HOIE. Alex works at THINK Together as a volunteer coordinator and he wrote the following from his experience throughout the year.

Volunteer Management is a huge umbrella term, and there are certainly many ways to approach it. Here at THINK Together, an academic support program in Southern California, we get to oversee all aspects of volunteer management. Over my term of service I had the wonderful opportunity to develop and strengthen many skills related to volunteerism. Here are some of my personal experiences with coordinating volunteers, and I hope that you can gain some insight into what it takes to work with volunteers.

First, always be present in your job, by being energetic and engaged. This does not mean that you need to a social butterfly if you are not that type of person. You should always look happy while doing your job, especially when interacting with current or potential volunteers. Always remember that volunteers are giving their precious time, and they want to feel excited about what they are doing. Your position is key to taking the volunteer’s desire to serve, and making it as enjoyable as possible. Also being energetic is more fun anyway.

Next, I would suggest getting to know your volunteers. This could be in the form of a volunteer interview, included in their volunteer application, or even just asking them questions. Volunteers serve for a myriad of reasons, and it is important to understand why each individual is volunteering. If they want to spend time tutoring children, then do not assign them to spreadsheets. Also, find out what kind of recognition the volunteers like. If they want a standing ovation in front of everyone that’s great, but maybe a hand-made thank you card is more their style. Taking that extra time to be on a first name basis with all of your volunteers really helps keep volunteers around, and again the experience is more fun this way.

The last skill I think that is essential to effective volunteer management, is scheduling of time. Many a time during my service, even today as I am writing this piece, scheduling has been an issue. I had volunteers scheduled to attend orientation to work for our summer programs, and turns out the summer ended before they could even start. Due to this interference I fell behind in other work, and had to scramble around last minute. This is a terrible position to be in, so being on top of everything is much more preferable. Learn what needs your immediate attention, and what other tasks can wait until later. Managing volunteers starts with managing your own time properly, and that is a skill I am continuing to develop.

Alex (on the far right) with VIP Fellows from HOIE.

Sustainability 101

By Maggie Hollingsworth, VIP Fellow at Fresno State Career Services

As a college campus resource, Career Services finished strong; a happy ending to a productive school year. More students have made contact with us to improve their earning potential this year then they have in the past several years, and they know about us thanks to the help of our volunteers, the Career Ambassador Team. The 21st century economic depression, which was due (mainly) to increased energy costs and irresponsible mortgage lending practices, affected the entire nation, and with unemployment rampant, college students felt the brunt of it. Career Ambassadors helped students learn resilience through our mission, “to improve [students’] self-knowledge, career-literacy, job-search preparation, and expanded opportunities to connect to employers”.

Talking to students about how and why they should utilize our services was easy; developing the program was the challenge. And now, the challenge is to sustain the program that I’ve built with the help of Career Services staff, and the feedback of the Career Ambassadors. The process of program sustainability is this:

• Making sure the position description is right;
• Coming up with a recruitment strategy, screening process, and orientation timeline that can be used annually;
• Communicating frequently with the staff member who will soon be managing the program, and adapting it as necessary;
• Finalizing all of the volunteer materials, and organizing it in a hard and digital copy;
• Reviewing volunteer records; confirm they are complete;

The last thing I would recommend to guarantee that the organization's Volunteer Coordinator, and the (returning or new) volunteers can get along without you, is to integrate them as soon as possible, and research an online interface for them to communicate all aspects of the program (calendar, discussion board, to retrieve program forms, etc.) in a simple and organized way. For Fresno State, it’s Orgsync, and it’s amazing. 

Creating Opportunities for High School Volunteers

By Briana Keating, VIP Fellow at Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa

Catholic Charities serves people in need through three program areas: caring for seniors, counseling immigrants, and challenging poverty. As the VIP Fellow and sole member of the Volunteer Department at Catholic Charities, I spend much of my time fielding calls from people, many of whom are youth, interested in volunteering in one of these program areas. One of the challenges I have faced is trying to find a place for high school volunteers to fit. Youth can be great volunteers because of their enthusiasm, desire to help others, and ability to learn new things quickly.  Unfortunately, we do not have enough volunteer opportunities to accommodate every interested youth and we frequently encounter volunteers who just want to fulfill their required volunteer hours then never show up again.

In an attempt to come up with a solution to this challenge, my supervisor and I have developed a new volunteer program at Catholic Charities called the Caritas Corps, set to launch this August. Named for the Latin word for charity, the Caritas Corps will be a youth service corps for high school students. Youth will have the opportunity to volunteer in one of our many programs: from tutoring children at our homeless shelter to building food boxes for the Rural Food Project to making phone calls to seniors living alone.

High school students and community partners joined VIP Fellow, Briana Keating (right) for a presentation and feedback session on the Caritas Corps.

Interested youth will have to go through an application process which includes a written statement of intent and an interview. The hope is that the interview process will help us to pair volunteers with programs that best fit their skills and interests. Volunteers will be asked to make a commitment to one program over the course of the school year, allowing them to make greater impacts and greater connections with staff and the clients we serve. I will also be coordinating monthly service days where teens can volunteer and gain service hours without making a long-term commitment.

The Caritas Corps was developed to provide more than just a volunteer opportunity, but also as a way to encourage and develop social awareness in youth through education and social events. We want to help develop socially minded individuals who will grow up with a passion for service and who will continue to give back to their communities. Additionally, this is a really exciting new program for Catholic Charities as it will allow us to utilize youth volunteers to their full potential and help us to fill a huge need for volunteers in our agency.

Making a difference at the Sonoma County Family YMCA

By Heather Seney, VIP Fellow at the Sonoma County YMCA

As a community-based nonprofit, the Sonoma County Family YMCA is an integral part of the Santa Rosa community. The Y focuses on strengthening the community through programs in youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. When you think of the Y, the first thing that comes to mind may be the Y’s fitness programs. Or perhaps taking swim lessons when you were a kid. And let’s not dance around the fact that you may want to sing that song—you know which one.

But many people, including myself before joining AmeriCorps, may not realize that the Y also has many after school programs. The Y runs nearly 20 after school and childcare programs throughout Sonoma County, each providing enriching experiences for youth during before and after school hours.

With so many different programs, the Y has a diverse selection of volunteer opportunities. I love that the Y’s volunteer program has an opportunity for everyone. If you’re looking to do office or administrative work, the Y has you covered. If you’re looking to work with youth, perfect! You enjoy sports? We have opportunities to coach, assist with an aquatics program, or lead a fitness program. Are you just looking to help out for a couple hours? Volunteer at the Y’s Harvest Run or Healthy Kids Day! I always tell volunteers that if they discover a position isn’t what they expected, it’s okay, the Y has another opportunity that may be a better fit.

When I first arrived at the Y, I expected to find a volunteer program that needed to be developed—that’s why I’m here. But I was surprised to learn there wasn’t a single volunteer in any of the after school programs. I’ve always been an advocate for education, so naturally, I saw a great opportunity for volunteers to offer academic assistance, develop positive relationships with youth, and in general, elevate kids’ experiences at the Y’s after school programs. 

Since August, the Y’s after school programs have benefited from volunteers who have spent hours upon hours helping kids to master math problems, inspiring kids to love reading, and engaging youth in various educational and recreational activities. There were definitely challenges to developing a volunteer corps in the Y’s after school programs, but it’s incredibly gratifying to hear about and see first-hand the impact that volunteers have had this year.

 As the year begins to wind down, I am happy to report that the Y has established a partnership with Sonoma State University (SSU)’s Join Us Making Progress (JUMP) program for next school year. Through the partnership, JUMP will refer SSU volunteers to one of the Y’s highest-need after school programs throughout the year. In addition, the Y is in the process of developing an intern program which will place university and college students in the Y’s after school programs next year, as well.

To all the Y’s volunteers (and the Y staff who help support volunteers)—YOU ROCK!