Have Volunteers? Day One Sets the Tone

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Matt Hugg
August 26, 2024

When your volunteer comes home from their first time at your organization and is asked: “How did volunteering go, today?”, what do you want their answer to be?

I know the answer. I think you do, too.

It’s not, “I was bored,” “nobody talked to me” or “I guess I’ll pick it up eventually.”

Don’t expect those volunteers to come back next time, no matter how much they love your cause.

They have better things to do, and besides, with fewer and fewer people volunteering these days, you can’t afford to lose even one!

So how do you get volunteers to come back time and time again?

Start right with these seven points.

1. Welcome them. Sounds like a no-brainer, huh? Yet too many volunteers are completely lost when they first step through your door. Someone needs to know they’re coming, put out their hand, smile and say, “we’re so glad you’re here!” That could be your regular greeter, or better yet, how about the person to whom they’ll report, a board member or even your organization’s head? Your new volunteer is sacrificing their time for your cause. Make them feel that you recognize the importance of this.
2. Give them a tour. Introduce them around. Make them feel like they’re part of a team. Most people aren’t volunteering because they need a place to hide. They want to engage with others. They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves: your mission! Few actions are more motivating than introducing someone to their teammates. Plus, while you’re at it, show them the important areas that make their time there more livable—like bathrooms, breakrooms and other essential areas.
3. Educate them on your mission. Your mission is probably more than meets the outsider’s eye. Now that they’re part of your team, your new volunteers need the total picture. Can you show it in action? If not, do you have video resources? How about a chart that shows it all? Brochures are nice, but are they made specifically for your volunteers? Don’t just give it to them and say, “ask me questions next time we meet.” Walk them through it. Engage them in the emotion of your mission, not just dry numbers and words on screen or in print.
4. Fill out forms. I hope that you have forms to fill out. I’m not encouraging drudgery at all. This is when you show how important you take their safety (emergency contact form), the safety of people you serve (such as child or elder safety clearance forms) and the confidentiality of your records and client interactions (privacy statement). You have the opportunity (yes, opportunity) to explain how these reflect your organization’s values. So don’t just send them away with a packet and say, “get them back to use when you’ve signed them.” Make the forms work as discussion points.
5. Give them a job description. A job description is a minimum. I would rather have you give them what I call a “covenant.” What’s the difference? A job description tells the volunteer what you want them to do for you. If you were offering a paid job, it would make sense. Butt this is volunteer work. They aren’t in it for the money. So why are they there? That’s what a covenant provides. Besides what they’ll do for you, a covenant outlines what’s in it for them, too. Job skills? Socialization? Even fulfilling an adjudicated community service sentence is fine.
6. Start their training. The number one complaint of a lot of volunteers is that they really don’t know what they’re doing. Is that their fault? Absolutely not. It’s yours. They were just plopped at a desk and told to “do,” whatever you asked them to do. Why don’t they ask? A lot of times people are embarrassed. Or they don’t know what they should ask. Or they ask and the answer isn’t clear to them. And while you’re at it, give them an idea of what a successful outcome looks like. Even something as simple as folding letters and stuffing envelopes has a right way to do it so that the letter opens correctly. Show them. Let them do it. Leave them with a correct sample.
7. Assign a mentor. Being new anywhere can be scary. A new volunteer is bound to have questions. Assigning a mentor is a great way to integrate the new volunteer into your organization. Plus, if they develop a personal relationship on day one, they’re much more likely to come back on day two because they’ll feel a responsibility to their mentor.
8. Set a check-up date. Too many times, even if a volunteer is onboarded well, nobody follows up to see how things are going. There’s this “no news is good news” attitude. Wrong! Don’t worry about hearing bad news. If things were that bad, they won’t stay around to tell you (which is another issue). Meet with them to get ideas. You have fresh eyes in front of you. Take advantage of them. Their fresh perspective could offer some major improvements, or question sacred cows that you need to hear.

These days, volunteers are valuable assets. They’re not disposable. Treating them right and building their enthusiasm from day one assures that there will be a day two, and three and so on. And when they get home, they’ll have a one-word answer to “how did volunteering go, today?”…“Great!”

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Author: Matt Hugg is president of Nonprofit.Courses, and mentor at the John S. Watson School of Public Service at Thomas Edison State University. He can be reached at [email protected].

 

 

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