Volunteer Matters
Conflict resolution when volunteers are involved
There are people out there who have researched and analyzed conflict resolution for years. They are amazingly skilled and confident in it. I’m not one of...
Effective 'onboarding' of volunteers
Do you have an effective "onboarding" process for volunteers, or do you have a bit of a revolving door? Do volunteers come in, stick around for a...
Succession planning for volunteer boards
Does your board have a succession plan in place? I had the pleasure of running a workshop this past weekend for the not-for-profit organizations in the Regional...
The benefits of public acknowledging volunteers
Public acknowledgement of volunteers is important – and in more ways than one. As we all know, volunteers play a crucial role in our communities. They...
Avoiding the 'Dead Horse Theory'
The "Dead Horse Theory" is a well-known business concept that explains the tendency of individuals and organizations to persist in ineffective...
Volunteer passports could save time, effort and attract more volunteers
In September 2020, in his Leveling Up Our Communities report, British MP Danny Kruger proposed the establishment of a volunteer passport to help all social...
Making volunteering more flexible will help attract more volunteers
I recommend spreading out a volunteer’s "buffet." No, I’m not completely out to lunch (pun intended). Over the last couple of years,...
Volunteering in a support role can really make a difference
Have you ever wanted to be a hero, someone who goes out and saves people’s lives? Unfortunately, many of us (and I include myself) simply don’t have...
Dealing with risk management in volunteering
Risk management is essential in all volunteer programs. I recently finished a book called Transforming Nokia’s by Risto Siilasmaa. In it, Siilasmaa, the...
Using instructional design for training volunteers
Lately, I’ve been researching the world of instructional design. I’ve been specifically trying to find a way that it can be used for improving the...
Should you hire volunteers?
I had someone ask me a question recently: "Is it okay to hire volunteers?" In our current environment of staff shortages and burnout, organizations...
Is a fractional volunteer coordinator right for your organization?
The term “fractional volunteer coordinator” is one that most people are unfamiliar with. Briefly, fractional volunteer coordinators are highly...
How to stop this growing trend from hurting your not-for-profit
According to Stats Canada, a large and quickly growing majority of volunteers are listed as “informal”. In other words, they are people helping...
Two common delegation traps and how to avoid them
Leaders, especially of volunteers, often fall into one of two traps when delegating: they either tell their volunteers in excruciating detail how to do the task...
How to stop this growing trend from hurting your not-for-profit
According to Stats Canada, a large and quickly growing majority of volunteers are listed as “informal”. In other words, they are people helping...
Take a closer look at the 'micro-volunteering' trend
One of the biggest trends affecting volunteer-supported organizations right now is the trend toward “micro-volunteering.” More and more people...
Recruit volunteers who don't 'fit the culture'
I read an interesting report recently that got me thinking about how we tend to recruit volunteers who fit the culture of an organization. The Volunteer...
Appropriate name for board members
I've been thinking a lot recently about the different titles used for board members around the world. Here in Canada, for example, we call them directors....
Going beyond a ball cap when it comes to recognizing volunteers' efforts
I often see posts on social media about what to give as gifts for volunteers. Whether the gifts are for reaching a milestone, to celebrate Volunteer Week, or...
It's smart to invest in volunteers and volunteer programs
We haven’t invested in volunteers—and it shows. Volunteer programs are like the foundations of a house. They are put in place and then hidden away,...