Tag Archives: Volunteers

Engaging Professionals in Volunteer Work

Posted on January 30, 2012 by in Idea Sharing, Leadership

Don Detrick shared an excellent article about engaging professionals in volunteer work and enhancing the organization. It was by Valerie Bauman in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Washington state charities are finding a higher-skilled population of volunteers from which to draw, which can save money and add value to the work nonprofits do.

This new crop of volunteers is leaving the grunt work behind in favor of lending a hand with technical skills such as web design, computer security, marketing and accounting.

“Particularly this past year, we’ve gotten a lot of skilled help, and it’s made a tremendous impact for us,” said Sam Osborne, executive director of Rainier Valley Food Bank, which in 2011 received an estimated $30,000 to $40,000 worth of help with marketing, computers and public relations work from volunteer professionals.

Charities across the nation are getting more value out of their volunteers, because more people want to use their specific skill set to contribute to a cause, said Greg Baldwin, president of VolunteerMatch, a San Francisco-based organization that helps volunteers connect with nonprofits and causes that are important to them.

For example, in Seattle, several charities have posted active searches on VolunteerMatch for graphic and web designers.

“Our view of the changing trend is that organizations that have higher expectations of their volunteers are attracting better people,” Baldwin said. “The worst thing you can do is have low expectations for your volunteers. No one wants to lick envelopes.”

Rainier Food Bank has been trying to capitalize on this trend, inviting 30 to 40 potential volunteers to small events where they can pitch new ideas and sign up for the projects that interest them most or align with their skills. Overall volunteer involvement, Osborne said, has more than doubled in the past two years, in part because of this targeted outreach.

The food bank has received help from current and former Microsoft employees, professional writers and PR and marketing people, Osborne said. Volunteers helped plan fundraising events, wrote press releases and created a new database that keeps the volunteers more organized.

It’s a significant shift, Osborne said, from the usual volunteer grunt work of repacking bulk rice and handing out potatoes to people waiting in line for food.

The trend doesn’t mean that most nonprofits are replacing paid employees with volunteers, but it enables them to expand their capacity and deliver a higher quality of work.

Washington state ranked 11th nationwide for volunteering, with nearly 34 percent of residents getting involved between 2008 and 2010, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service(CNCS).

A federal agency engaging more than 5 million American volunteers through various organizations, CNCS found that Washington state has an average of 1.7 million volunteers each year, who do a collective 219 million hours of service. That breaks out to 42.2 hours per resident.

Some volunteers are retired baby boomers who have decades of valuable work experience and time on their hands. Others made money in tech and other sectors and are ready to give back. Even the generation of 20-somethings is increasingly eager to get involved in causes that are important to them.

United Way of King County has seen an increase in skilled volunteers, sometimes after they’ve lost their jobs. For example, a former Washington Mutual Bank executive who had volunteered part time while at the bank went full-time for United Way after WaMu collapsed, said Jared Erlandson, a spokesman for United Way. The exec is now helping out as a free tax preparation volunteer.

For the charities to which volunteers lend a hand, technical skills such as web design, computer security and accounting can significantly improve results. “The benefit of that is tremendous,” said Andrew Minear, vice president of financial development for the YMCA King County. “Specifically, you don’t have to drain your resources, you can allocate them other ways.”

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I wonder if churches are fully maximizing their use of these high capacity volunteers.

 

Developing Volunteer Ministries

Posted on January 4, 2011 by in Idea Sharing, Leadership, Teams

Here is a simple suggestion that could be used by any church. Each week in the program, list a group of people who have served the church that month in some area. For example:

  • Week one: all of the people who have been part of the worship band
  • Week two: all of the people who have served in the children’s ministry area
  • Week three: all of the people in the set-up, sound, media and hospitality
  • Week four: all the leaders of home groups

The idea is to recognize all volunteers. In a large church, you might want to subdivide these over several months, so that the lists are not too long. But the idea is to list each person’s name who volunteers periodically. Don’t forget people who volunteer in the office: bulletin folders, people who make copies, people who help with the offerings and accounting, etc.

This would accomplish a number of things:

  • Recognize those who serve
  • Highlight to those who do not serve the opportunities for service
  • Help the congregation get to know people who are serving and build community
  • Help the congregation know how many people it takes to provide the church’s ministries
  • Recognize people publically who are not usually seen by the general congregation

There is an old saying, “You get what you recognize”. When we express appreciation, we demonstrate that we believe those who volunteer are important to the ministry.

Mel

Volunteers

Posted on December 29, 2010 by in Book Reflection, Idea Sharing

I recently read a great book, “The Volunteer Book” by Denise Locker. It is a very clear, practical and helpful book on how churches and nonprofits can more effectively use volunteers. The focus is on volunteers Monday through Friday, not Sunday. I highly recommend it.

Most churches could get far more done if they would use volunteers to help in the office and on their campus. The author gives very concrete and practical tools on how to do this effectively. Whether the church is large or small, if they would develop and use volunteers more, they would better accomplish their mission. They would also allow their congregation to use their gifts and skills for kingdom work.

I have always used and believed in using volunteers, but this book had so many ideas I had never thought of. I would encourage pastors to read this short book. It will help you develop as a church. If you have a secretary, I would also encourage you to have them read it. They would quickly identify areas that volunteers could help.

The use of volunteers is one of the most untapped resources available to churches.

Book Rating “A”

Locker, Denise. The Volunteer Book : A Guide for Churches and Nonprofits. Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2010.