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.

AmeriCorps VIP Hits Chicago for National Conference on Volunteering

Bryan, right, with HOIE staff members Denise and Megan at the conference

 By Bryan Nakawaki, AmeriCorps VIP Leader at HandsOn Inland Empire

Between June 17^th and 20^th, I attended the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Chicago, Illinois—an event that proved hugely educational! Over the four-day period I attended sessions discussing service-learning, disaster preparedness, best practices in volunteer management, and a variety of other informative and useful topics. I also had the chance to learn about a number of non-profit organizations doing great work across the country, including the Israel Idonije Foundation, founded by a member of the Chicago Bears.

Especially interesting was a series of discussions on how to engage youth in volunteerism, sponsored by Generation On. Through this series, I was able to learn how to deeply engage youth in service and how to develop projects that tap into the social, emotional, and psychological needs of students so they walk away as powerful agents of change. After attending this series, I was anxious to get back to the Inland Empire to put these valuable strategies to use!  

After each day of the conference, the team from HandsOn Inland Empire and I also tried to immerse ourselves in the city, visiting iconic landmarks (Willis Tower, Soldier Field, the Cloud Gate sculpture), watching some of the local sports teams, and tasting the city’s signature pizza and hot dogs.

Both culturally and practically, the conference offered me a tremendous chance to grow as a person and a volunteer organizer. To say that I simply feel more prepared to lead volunteers and engage citizens in acts of volunteerism would be an understatement. I also feel more knowledgeable about the challenges our nation faces and how we, as a team, can combat them.

This conference was nothing short of an incredible experience, and I look forward to attending future conferences in cities throughout the country! 

VIP Impact: Steven's Hope for Children

This story comes from VIP Amber Lara, serving with our partner Steven's Hope for Children

We at Steven’s Hope have had the great pleasure of recruiting a number of long-term volunteers in the fields of marketing, accounting, and event planning. We have recently been in the process of reorganizing the organization to spread responsibility, and in that effort we have been developing teams to handle many of the non-profit’s day-to-day operations. These operation teams, which consist primarily of diligent volunteers who dedicate two or three hours per week to the organization, work to cover such areas as event development and planning, finances, marketing, operations of our Children’s Boutique, and fundraising.

Since these volunteers have begun taking on many of the day-to-day tasks at Steven’s Hope, the non-profit’s co-founders have been able to focus their efforts into facilitating many of the organization’s long-term programs and goals. This allows us to focus on problem areas such as fundraising, which in this difficult economic time is essential to the survival of the non-profit.

In addition to the day-to-day day team building, we also held a highly successful event on Sept. 10^th, 2011. Steven’s Hope’s annual One Tough Run is a moderately difficult 5k run which benefits our non-profit directly, helping us to continue our programs designed to assist the families of seriously ill or injured children. This year, the event brought together 109 volunteers for the day, many of whom arrived enthusiastically at 5:00 AM on that Saturday morning. Many of the volunteers thanked me for the opportunity to give back to those families and asked me to please let them know of any other ways that they could help. 

One Tough Run - a Steven's Hope event that brought out 109 volunteers!

Teacher Resource Center Providing Much-Needed Supplies

A post by Bryan Nakawaki, VIP Leader at HandsOn Inland Empire

     For John Naghshineh, the chance to “shop” for school supplies (free of charge) marks a welcome departure from the otherwise harsh reality of education funding shortages. A 14-year veteran of the Ontario-Montclair School District, Naghshineh, a first grade teacher at Lehigh Elementary School in Montclair, cannot recall a time when budgets were stretched so thin and supplies so hard to come by. “It’s really tough these days,” says Naghshineh. “Basic supplies are under lock and key. We can make requests, but they’re getting rejected more and more.” Nonetheless, students must have school supplies. For Naghshineh, that reality has on multiple occasions forced a major financial sacrifice. “It’s gotten to the point where I have to spend money out of pocket on supplies for my students,” he says. 

     

    Naghshineh is not alone. A 2010 report released by the National School Supply and Equipment Association revealed that in the 2009-2010 school year, teachers across the United States spent over $1.33 billion out of their own paychecks on supplies and instructional materials for their students. With additional funding cuts to education proposed almost every year, the end to teachers spending their own money on student supplies appears nowhere in sight.

      

    That’s why the School Tools Teacher Resource Center (TRC) is so valuable. Managed by Inland Empire United Way, an AmeriCorps VIP partner site in Rancho Cucamonga, California, the TRC offers teachers from select low-income schools in the Inland Empire the chance to come in and select supplies for their students and classrooms at zero charge. Founded in 2005-2006, the TRC now serves teachers and students from thirty-eight different schools.

     Lehigh Elementary is one of those schools, and Naghshineh could not be more appreciative of the assistance he receives from the TRC. When asked about the impact of volunteerism and community service on his life as a teacher, Naghshineh is quick to point out that unless teachers are lucky enough to be assigned a Teacher’s Aide, the only source of assistance they typically find is through community volunteerism. “For the lower grades, that’s okay,” Naghshineh muses. “People like to help out little kids. But for upper-grade teachers, there’s not typically much parent or community volunteerism.” As for ongoing service projects aiming to help teachers at his school — Naghshineh believes those are even rarer. “This School Tools program is the only one I’ve heard of in a long time. In fourteen years I’ve not seen anything else like it.”

      Naghshineh hopes that more services and projects will emerge in the future to help teachers of all educational levels. “It’d be great if it happened more often, for companies and schools to partner up and help our kids and teachers,” he says. For now, though, he’s excited that Inland Empire United Way has offered him and his fellow teachers at Lehigh Elementary temporary relief from the sting of budget cuts. “Each year they give us less to spend. This year, they slashed our budget significantly. It’s tough to get money for supplies, and that’s part of why our teachers appreciate this Teacher Center so much.”

     Asked for his final thoughts on the program, Naghshineh decided to keep his message simple and heartfelt.

     “Keep up the great work,” the teacher remarked. “And hopefully I’ll see you next year!”   

VIP Impact: Gleaning Hope

VIP Fellow Ronald Ortizo has spent this year serving at Inland Valley Hope Partners.  He has played an instrumental role in developing Gleaning Hope, a project that utilizes volunteers to harvest produce donated by community members to supply Inland Valley Hope Partners food banks.

Check out pictures and stories from some of Gleaning Hope's big volunteer projects from the year on the Gleaning Hope blog.

Congrats on a successful year, Ronald!