Section 1: Needs and Position

Consider all of the factors first - plan to succeed

What should an organization do to ensure that a Volunteer program is effective? What types of duties should we consider Volunteers for? What types of issues should be examined prior to advertising for a Volunteer? Where should we advertise for Volunteers?

These are just a few of the questions surrounding the field of Volunteer Management. As in most questions the most appropriate answer to these questions is "It depends." The answers are going to be different for each and every individual organization. The decisions that you, as an organization, make will need to be made specific to your organization, situation at this time, and with your future plans in mind.

The best decisions will be made by knowing your organization and its needs. Those needs will be based on short term and long term goals and plans. It may be helpful to those persons doing the planning to go through this material and assess the organization's strengths and challenges with regards to each of these areas.

Only after assessing the strengths and challenges involved in offering the desired service should we progress to the start up phase of beginning a Volunteer program.

Planning

To quote the old adage "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". The best way to ensure a successful Volunteer program is to plan ahead.

Strategic planning for each program should consider:

Why use Volunteers and not paid staff?

• If your answer is merely to save money, you are setting yourself up for failure.
• A more fitting answer would be the multitudes of different skills available through a volunteer program and the commitment from an unpaid workforce motivated by common visions and goals.
• Remember that paid or not, volunteers will require orientation and supervision. These positions should not be taken lightly as they will require the use of time and resources.

Scope of the program

• Does the program match with your mission and goals (short term and long term)?
• Is the program to be a base component of your organization's services or is it a trial program?
• What is your commitment to the service offered?
  • Remember that the more relevant the service is to the community the easier it is to sell the service to participants and volunteers.

Perceived demand for the service

• Approximately how many clients/ participants?
• Will the program be offered to the general public or to a specific target group?
• Is the program going to start as a full time service?
  • How many hours per week?
  • What times during the day?

Availability of skills needed

• Are the skills needed in great demand within the community or are they easy to staff for?
• Are the skills of a technical nature?
• Are there partnership opportunities?
  • Within Clusters?
  • Within groups?
  • Neighbouring C@P Sites?
  • HR C@P Association?
  • Local schools/ Organizations?

Size and structure of organization

• Is your organization large?
• Will it be difficult to gather support from the whole organization for this program?

Suggested web sites:

http://charitychannel.com/article_3333.shtml 
http://www.volunteer.ca/volunteer/pdf/CodeEng.pdf 
http://charitychannel.com/article_191.shtml 
http://charitychannel.com/article_2618.shtml 
http://charitychannel.com/article_190.shtml

So, after careful consideration, you have decided to go ahead and provide this program. You are aware of the strengths and challenges you now face in getting this program up and running. It is now time to plan some more. Now you have to plan for the success of the program from the viewpoint of the Volunteer.

Determining Need

One of the best ways to create position descriptions is to identify the functions that need to be performed in order to provide this service. It is best, where possible, to separate each functional area because it is very difficult to find Volunteers or employees who are competent in all functional areas required for the success of this program.

For example:

If you were going to start up a training session for the Microsoft Excel program, you may require the following Human resources (by function):

• a trainer to conduct classes(instruction),
• someone to manage class enrolment lists, write receipts, and answer inquiries(clerical/ reception),
• someone to create course materials(course design),
• someone to provide access to the facility, clean the room, and to lock the facility(custodial).

Once the functional areas have been established, you will then examine each functional area and determine the skill sets necessary for each of the functional groups.

In the previous example, each functional area is quite different. You may find some overlap of skills, however for the most part, the receptionist, the custodial, and the instruction functions require different skill sets.

For example:

• All of these positions require organizational skills at some level
• The Trainer, Clerical Staff, and Course Designer would all require communication skills. However, the Material Creator would not need as well developed verbal communication skills as the other two positions would.
• The Trainer would not need as well developed writing skills as the other two positions and the clerical staff would not need to be as skilled in the Excel program as the other two positions.

Therefore, you will want to determine the skills necessary for the delivery and support of the program.

Desired Qualities/ Skills

What skills does this program require?

• For delivery?
• For support?

How many Volunteer positions should we staff for?

The suggested number of Volunteer positions depends upon the size of the program and the specialization of the position. It is suggested that there be a group of Volunteers in reserve. This reserve group should number 15 to 25% and remain in excess of the Volunteers required to staff the project.

Duration of Program (one time or ongoing)

If the program is a one time event or an annual event it is alright to allow the Volunteer to serve for greater than 4 hours at a stretch as there is a definite end point to the commitment.

• A good example of this type of Volunteer assignment would be a fundraiser for a charity golf tournament.

Duration of Volunteer Assignment (short term or long term commitment)

If the program is to be ongoing it is suggested that the organization require a commitment that would take into consideration natural breaks in service.

• In the above example of the training sessions, a natural break would be the end of a semester

Where this is not possible, it is suggested that the program be structured to limit the amount of time the Volunteer be required to serve. This is meant to reduce the number of Volunteers lost to burnout.

• One way to do this is to have the Volunteer pick a time each week/ month consisting of from 2 to 4 hours. For the ease of the person doing the scheduling, it is suggested, where possible, that the Volunteer keep the same shifts each week/ month.

Schedules

What is the best basis of a schedule for this program?

• The basis would depend upon the duration of the project and the number of skilled people volunteering as well as the number necessary to provide the service.
  • The best possible situation would be one in which there are more people interested in Volunteering than needed and a spill over of non critical tasks from another program.
  • It is important to have enough work for the Volunteer to do so that they do not get discouraged and feel unneeded.
  • Suggestion: If you can schedule more than enough volunteers, you may wish to work on a rotation basis as to who works on another project for the session.

Position Evolvement

Is there room for growth within this structure?

• While structuring the program it is important that there be room for advancement within the program or movement to another program where they may continue to develop new skills themselves.

Relevant skills may include:

• Centre Management
• Computer Literate
• Training Abilities/ Experience
• Patience
• Appearance
• Customer Service/ Commitment
• Responsibility/
• Money Handling
• Report Preparation
• Proofreading
• Fundraising
• Corporate/ Government Contact Experience
• Relationship Building
• Course Development
• Scheduling
• Custodial
• Safety/ First Aid
• Polite
• Courteous
• Confident
• Web Development
• E-Business
• Accounting
• Policy and Procedure Development
• Board Experience
• Enthusiasm
• Computer Application Knowledge
• Data Management
• Marketing
• Sales
• Ability to work with Mentally and Physically Challenged
  • Children
  • Youth
  • Young Adults
  • Seniors
• Ability to work with Children
• Ability to work with Youth
• Ability to work with Young Adults
• Ability to work with Seniors
• Correspondence
• Commitment to Mission and Goals

Download the Functional Area/ Skill Set Worksheet from the Tools Page.

Position Design

Position Description Design

This is the second step to Create Valuable Volunteer Assignments (the first being defining the need):

Q. What will cause a person to stop volunteering even when they are committed to the goal of the organization they are helping?

A. Interpersonal conflict, boring tasks, tasks with no direct relationship to goals of the organization, unreasonable commitment expectations (burnout), unreasonable deadlines, no feedback, no appreciation, and frustration with management caused by lack of direction, ineffective work processes and poor leadership.

In order to entice and retain volunteers we have to structure their assignments in such a way as to prevent these frustrations from occurring as much as possible. The best way to structure their assignments and allow for accurate feedback and goal attainability is to make certain the tasks are:

Position Description

Position descriptions should include the following information:

• Position Title - The title should convey importance and function of position.
• Hours Service to be Provided - In the materials that I have found thus far it is noted that it is best to let the Volunteer choose the time slot on the schedule to be repeated monthly. It has also been suggested that in order to prevent volunteer burnout shifts should be limited to 4 hours and one shift per week at the maximum.
• Location - Give site address. Consider the possibility of virtual volunteering where possible.
• Start Date - Please leave enough time to complete the screening process.
• Duration of Need - This depends on the nature of the project whether on a short term or continuous basis.
• Number of Positions to be filled - Depends on how many 4 hour shifts it will take to cover the evaluation phase for the offered service. Many programs try to run at a quarter or half complement, of the anticipated total number of positions, to assess demand for the services offered.
• Minimum Qualifications of Applicant - Be certain that the qualifications are essential to the position when you anticipate a shortage of applicants or will screen out applicants when you anticipate too many applications.
• Specific Duties - Outline tasks and responsibilities of this position. Be certain that these tasks are measurable as this will assist in performance appraisals, disciplinary and dismissal situations.
• Training and Benefits Available - This is the opportunity to sell the applicants on the opportunities to enhance resumes, contribute to a worthwhile goal, network, meet people socialize, and develop new skills and abilities. Remember to let potential volunteers know that they are not on their own and they will receive orientation to the organization and the position and will have someone available to answer their questions. They are a valuable asset. Show them.
• Work Environment - This depends on the nature of the position but should involve teamwork environments and functional settings.
• Support/ Supervision - This should include reporting and mentoring relationships.

Suggested web sites:

http://charitychannel.com/article_1699.shtml 
http://charitychannel.com/article_5257.shtml 
http://www.monashee.com/manual/job_description.html 
http://charitychannel.com/article_165.shtml 
http://charitychannel.com/article_166.shtml

Groundwork

Ensuring the Volunteer has the tools and support necessary to complete the tasks assigned is challenging. The process should closely mirror your processes for the paid members of your staff.

Here are some questions you may wish to explore:

• First and foremost, do you have the support of all of the people who will affect the working environment of the Volunteer? Governing body? Supervisors? Paid co-workers? Fellow Volunteers?
• Have you communicated to the staff how the Volunteer is to be treated?
• Have you communicated that the volunteer is a valued member of the team providing a service essential to the success of the program?
• How about a method of enforcing this commitment to the Volunteer?
• Have you designated a person to act as a contact/ support for the Volunteer?
• Have you arranged for the Volunteer to have an orientation to your organization as well as the position?

If the answer is "No" or "I'm not sure", it is time to rethink this program.

If you have made decisions around these issues it is suggested that you now create policies to clarify and communicate these decisions to staff and Volunteers. This will set the tone of the Volunteer assignments, and communicate to staff the commitment of the Board of Directors and Management to this program.

Does this sound like a lot of work? It is, however it is worth it for a few reasons. Not the least of these is a stable foundation for the program and its staff, paid and Volunteer alike. Policies and procedures will be discussed in more detail in section 5.

Source: http://charitychannel.com/article_189.shtml

Tools and Samples

Please refer to these sample Position Descriptions amended from the CNL-C@P Volunteer Manual:

Board Member/ Steering Committee Member (Volunteer)

Site Manager (Paid position)

Bookkeeper (Volunteer)

Site Attendant (Volunteer)

Instructor (Volunteer)

Fundraiser (Volunteer)

Source: http://www.nfcap.nf.ca/sitemap/index.html

Scheduling

For the purpose of this section we will take the example of starting a beginner level computer training course. In this section we will assume that the course has already been designed and that we are now scheduling the courses.

Things to consider when creating a program schedule based on Volunteers:

1. Individual Scheduling - It has been suggested that Volunteers be scheduled no more than 4 hours per week to reduce burnout.
2. Volunteer Input - Where possible, the schedule should be made with the Volunteer's input. They should choose the time and day of their duties. Reasonably time allotted for the new project would depend on current projects already running and available resources (computers, space, etc.).
3. Volunteer Commitment - A good way of creating a schedule is to start with a weekly calendar and have the Volunteer commit to the same shift each week. Please see Weekly Schedule for example. If this is not possible it may be necessary to use a monthly schedule and have the volunteer commit to shifts on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Please see Monthly Schedule for an example of this strategy.
4. Program Duration - One suggestion is to have the Volunteer commit to finishing the delivery of the complete class with clients booked on repeating weekly schedules. If the class was designed to be presented in ten sessions then the Volunteer would commit to presenting those ten sessions.
5. Schedule Posting - Schedules should be posted at least two weeks ahead of time.
6. Changes to Schedules - Any changes in scheduling will require an agreement between the Volunteer and program Coordinator.
7. Start Up - Start slowly and build. In the case of the example, start by providing classes on Tuesday and Thursday from 1pm to 5pm with evening classes offered on Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm . This way you can determine need for daytime or evening classes by client inquiries.
8. Volunteer Training and Orientation - There must be allowances for the Volunteer to become familiar with the service before being expected to conduct classes. If we throw the Volunteer into the role unprepared it could create undue stress and a negative Volunteer experience.
9. It is alright to say that the courses are currently full but we are making arrangements to have new courses in the near future. Take contact information and return calls when scheduling the new courses.
10. Standby Volunteers - It is always beneficial to have someone on standby for cases of illness or last minute cancellations. For that purpose, it is suggested that we recruit10% more Volunteers than needed to run the program and schedule them to take on classes wherever there is a need.
11. Schedule by Workload - Schedule should be based on the necessary work and should be certain that the Volunteer has enough to keep them busy. Volunteer participation may well drop off if they do not feel they are making a valuable contribution.
    • In the case of Standby Volunteers you may assign them to assist any persons having a great amount of difficulty as a teacher assistant and be available to fill in for absent instructors. Note that these Volunteers should be aware of their troubleshooting role and not expect to be conducting classes on a regular basis.

We would appreciate it if you would use the Appraisal Sheet to send us your comments on the materials in this section. Please Download it from the Tools Page.