Preparing for the unexpected in your volunteer program

When you run a volunteer program, you will encounter unforeseen challenges.

Preparing for the unexpected before it happens is the key to sustainability. I was one of the leaders of a conference a number of years ago and right in the middle of a presentation, the fire alarm went off. Chaos ensued.

We hadn’t even thought about the chance something might happen, never mind planning what to do if it did. Despite the fact the fire was small and contained in one tiny area of the large hotel we were in, it took hours for us to get the conference back on track.

I dread to think of what might have happened if it had been a major disaster like an earthquake.

Anticipating emergencies might not be high on your priority list but when the unforeseen strikes it may be the best decision you’ve made. Planning ahead not only protects your program but also shows volunteers you’re looking out for them.

Here are some typical “unexpected” events you can expect and plan for:

• Absence of a key volunteer or staff member

• Natural disasters

• On-site emergencies

Preparing for the unexpected events that happen is essential for program resilience and long-term organizational health. Let’s take a look at how you can be ready for each of these circumstances.

Preparing for the unexpected absence of key people

You never know when a key volunteer or employee might suddenly become unavailable – because of illness, family emergency, abrupt resignation/termination or some other unexpected event. Without someone ready to immediately fill their role, operations can quickly fall behind or vital tasks can get missed.

To be as prepared as possible, you can take the following steps:

1. Make sure all processes and tasks are well-documented and regularly updated. Your goal is to have procedures clear enough that anyone, even someone completely unfamiliar with the task, can jump in and successfully complete the work.

2. Cross-train volunteers and refresh that training regularly. It’s not enough to train someone once and expect them to be ready to step into a new role when needed. Regular cross-training helps make sure that multiple people can step into different roles if you need them to.

3. Rotate tasks. One way to reinforce cross-training is by rotating key tasks among staff and/or volunteers on a regular basis. For example, rotate tasks between roles once a month or once a quarter. This not only lets the entire team practice covering for each other but also allows for errors to be caught and corrected before they become bigger issues.

4. Reward flexibility. Recognize and reward your team for their willingness to take on new responsibilities. When you acknowledge their efforts to learn new tasks and step in when needed, it not only increases the program’s resilience, it creates a culture of teamwork and adaptability.

Preparing for natural disasters

Major disasters, like wildfires, floods and hurricanes, have been in the news a lot lately and are only going to happen more often. These events can disrupt your organization in ways that often are hard to imagine, much less predict.

Here are some tips.

1. Create a formalized emergency response plan – and share it with your team. Everyone needs to know where to find the plan and should clearly understand its content. It’s no good having a plan if no one knows where it is or doesn’t understand their part in it.

2. Back up data off-site. Make sure all essential data is backed up off-site so even if your office computers are destroyed, you’ll still have access to critical information.

3. Develop a clear communication plan. To avoid confusion during chaotic events, decide – and document – who will be responsible for reaching out to whom and providing direction. Having that would have saved me during the fire alarm fiasco.

Preparing on-site for emergencies

While we often think about people being unable to come in during an unexpected event, there are times when they might actually be on-site during an emergency, such as a flood or tornado. Sometimes, depending on the situation, those people won’t be able to leave your physical location. As leader of volunteers, preparing for this probably won’t be entirely up to you, but you need to ensure that the higher leadership take volunteers into consideration in the overall plan.

Here are two steps that can help prepare for such a scenario:

1. Have some basic supplies on hand. Keep a supply of water, snacks, blankets, and other essentials. A backup generator is also a good idea to keep cell phones charged and lines of communication open. The preparations don’t need to be elaborate, but make sure there are enough supplies to handle an average number of team members being unable to leave for a day or two.

2. Create an on-site emergency plan. Just like your emergency response plan, this plan should be clearly documented and include details on how volunteers can communicate with family members if an emergency occurs when they are on-site. Make sure to review the plan on a regular basis.

Disasters can happen at any time and disrupt your mission in unexpected ways.

Disasters are bad enough on their own; don’t add to the problem by a lack of foresight. By preparing for the unexpected, you can ensure that your program is ready to weather the storm – literally!

These steps can help you respond and minimize the disruption.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.