Tobi's Nonprofit Management Blog

Volunteer Handbooks: A Simple Guide

Volunteer Handbooks are a key foundational risk management strategy.  They can help protect your volunteers, clients, and agency from unintended harm by providing guidelines for acceptable conduct.  They’re also a great resource for volunteers when they have questions about a policy or process they may have forgotten or missed during orientation.

Volunteer Handbooks Help You Manage Talent

Volunteer Handbooks are also an important part of the talent management of your volunteer corps.  A Volunteer Handbook is not the same as a Training Manual, covering key technical aspects of the job they will do.  Instead, Handbooks help volunteers acclimate to your organization by providing social clues about “how things are done around here.”   A high-quality Handbook can also inspire volunteers to see what’s possible as a result of their service.

Volunteer Handbooks can also help deepen levels of engagement.  When volunteers join, many haven’t yet fully committed to your program and are still checking you out.  A well-written, informative, and approachable Handbook answers three critical personal questions your new recruits are asking themselves -- Does this organization have the capacity to make a difference in the world?  Can I make a difference here?  Will I fit in? 

Volunteer Handbooks Don’t Have to be Boring

Nor do they have to be expensive.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money printing a beefy, multi-paged document out.  Instead, post it on your website so volunteers can easily find it when they need it.  You can sprinkle volunteer and client testimonials about the power of your program throughout.  Think about including photos of diverse volunteers in action (provided you have permission).  Or, take photos of clients with hand-held signs that note why they personally appreciate your volunteer team.  To reinforce critical concepts, you can also create an accompanying video of volunteers sharing key points.  

Your Volunteer Handbook doesn’t have to be bureaucratic either.  Write it as if you were sitting across the kitchen table from a friend, and simply explain how things work.  Better yet, have a team of "volunteer guides" create your handbook in their own words -- assign each person a section and include their photo and a short quote about why they volunteer at the beginning of that section.  Or, write it as a comic book or graphic novel, with illustrations and lots of color.

What Should be Included in a Volunteer Handbook?

Below are a some of the categories of info you should think about including.  For a sample Volunteer Handbook Table of Contents, see my resource page here.

• Organizational Overview – Organization Mission, Org Chart, Staff Roles 
• Professionalism and Ethics – Representing the Organization, Conflict of Interest Policy, Accepting Compensation, Gifts, Impartiality, Appropriate Use of Organization Resources
• The Role of Volunteers – Welcoming Volunteers From all Walks of Life, Value & Impact of Volunteers on the Lives of Those They Serve, Paid Staff vs. Volunteer Tasks
• Workplace Safety  –  Working Conditions for Volunteers, Safety Rules & Checklist, How to Handle Emergency Situations, Reporting of Accidents & Injuries, Contagious Diseases, Client Home Visit Protocol (if allowed), Suspected Abuse or Illegal Activity, Sexual Harassment & Domestic Violence, Alcohol & Drugs
• Service Standards – Anti-Discrimination Policy, Serving Low-Literacy & Limited-English Speaking People, Professional Boundaries & Risk Management, Liability Protections, Federal Volunteer Protection Act, State-specific Good Samaritan Law(s), Volunteer-Client Relationships, Client Confidentiality, Client Records, Serving People in Crisis
• Supervision & Support – Self Care, Special Accommodations, Volunteer-Paid Staff Relationships, Confidentiality of Volunteer & Staff Personal Information
• Training Program – Orientation and Training Course List, Peer Mentoring (If applicable), Schedule, Requirements, Certification Testing (if a highly-skilled, high risk job)
• Supervision & Support – Volunteer Coordinator, Other Staff, Time Sheets, Leave of Absence, Travel Reimbursement, Other Perks, Grievance and Complaint Procedure, Technology, Inclement Weather Policy
• Volunteer Separation and Dismissal – Resignation, Exit Interview, The Right to Progressive Discipline, Reasons for Immediate Dismissal
• Required Reporting –  Forms, the Importance of Data Integrity, Data Submission Deadlines, Use of Agency-Approved Materials

If you’re short on time right now, pick a few of the most important areas -- ones that represent a high risk for your organization or areas where volunteers frequently have questions.  Also, don’t forget what a great resource volunteers can be in helping pull our Handbook together and give it life.

Finally, be sure to have your Handbook reviewed by your Human resource or legal staff.  Just because volunteers aren’t paid, doesn’t mean their aren’t laws or regulations you must follow.  Make sure you’re aligned with your agency’s expectations and the law.

If you’re ready to write your own Volunteer Handbook, visit my resource page here for a sample Table of Contents.

 What would you add to my list of Volunteer Handbook “must haves”?  Add to my list in the comments section.

 

How to Recruit Volunteers by Speaking to the “Old Brain”

Lately, I’ve been fascinated with how we humans are motivated to make decisions and are persuaded to act.  I recently read Neuromarketing: Understanding the Buy Buttons in Your Customer's Brain by Patrick Renvoisé & Christophe Morin, an engrossing look at how human beings are hard wired to behave in specific ways, based on certain triggers.  The book ins't only for business execs.  It includes smart info we can use to stengthen our volunteer recruitment efforts.

They explain that our brains have developed over thousands of years of human evolution and have a concrete role in helping us survive as a species.  Our behavior is often pre-programmed, partly because our grey matter simply cannot process all of the information coming at us each day.  So, we react in stereotypical ways based on cues that tell us, in shorthand, what is going on in front of us.  

Some scientists argue that because human brains are being bombarded more and more with information, this will continue to be the case, but in an even more pronounced way.  So, learning how to work with our innate systems will become even more important in order to be heard above the din.

So, rather than guess what will appeal to potential volunteers, why not harness human nature and get it to work for you?

In Neuromarketing, Renvoisé and Morin explain that when persuading our fellow humans to make a decision to change behavior, we must speak to the “primitive” (or “old”) brain.  Contrary to past theories, scientists have learned that it is this part of the brain -- the emotional part -- that actually processes information and then tells our rational side whether or not to act.  And, this is all going on a subconscious level.   

They identify the six triggers that wake up the primitive brain and get it to consider a decision.  And, they argue that in order to persuade someone to act, you must tap at least one.  You’ll find them below, with my thoughts on how to use them in your volunteer recruitment appeals.

How to Craft Volunteer Appeals that Tap What Really Motivates Us -- The Old Brain

• Centered on Self – The old brain is completely self-centered.  Appeals that use the word “you” will be more effective.  Also, answering the question “What can you do for me?” clearly and succinctly will help get attention.
• Clear Contrast – The old brain is sensitive to clear contrasts; in fact, it is always scanning our surroundings for disruptions to the norm.  Create contrast to get attention by focusing on the reality of their involvement before or after, or by clearly communicating what makes your program unique by comparing your opportunity versus others that are available.
• Tangible Input – The old brain processes information very quickly, and if waylaid, will forward the info to the new brain which slows decisionmaking to a screeching halt.  Communicate simple, concrete ideas and do away with any acronyms or jargon that will slow the brain processing.
• Beginning & Ending – The old brain conserves energy by focusing on beginnings and endings.  Create a sense of anticipation (which also increases dopamine production and helps people remember) by previewing the intrinsic rewards the volunteer will gain from the experience and then by repeating them at the end of the appeal. 
• Visual Stimuli – The optic nerve is forty times faster than the auditory nerve, and so it feeds info to the old brain much faster.  Because of this, humans are hardwired to make decisions largely based on visual input.  So, use photos and video liberally to tell your story.
• Emotion – The old brain is triggered by emotions.  We remember events better when they are accompanied by strong feelings.  So, make use of powerful stories of human transformation and change a central part of your communications. 

[Note:  If you want to see more info on how to use brain science to attract volunteers, click here my Power Point Slide Deck and Handout for my training “Using Brain Science to Make Your Volunteer Recruitment Appeals More Effective,” a recent webinar I presented for The Aging Network’s Volunteer Collaborative (scroll down to the bottom of the web page for the document links).]   

 

FREE Webinar: Making the Case for Volunteers, Monday, April 9, 2pm EST/11am PST

Your’e invited!  I am presenting a series of webinars for The National Volunteer Resource Center for Engaging Volunteers in the Aging Network.  The first -- Making the Case for Volunteers: Convincing Leadership They’re More Than Worth the Effort -- is is this Monday, April 9 from 2-3pm EST.   All my blog readers (and their friends) are invited to participate ... and it’s free!  Hurray!!  

Join us and learn new ways to make your fantastic volunteer program even better!  
Register by clicking here.  

Making the Case for Volunteers: 
Convincing Leadership They’re More Than Worth the Effort
Monday, April 9 from 2-3pm EST

Register for FREE here.

As most leaders of volunteers know, community volunteers help extend the work of paid staff, but they are more than just another pair of helping hands.  A vibrant volunteer team can boost your mission capacity, connect with community, increase your credibility, and enhance your network of resources in ways paid staff can only dream of.  Volunteering is powerful stuff!  So why don’t your colleagues and leadership get it?  What can you do to garner the support you need inside your organization? 

In this webinar, we’ll help pinpoint what’s getting in your way and how to craft key messages that will inspire your colleagues to take another look at what volunteers have to offer.  We’ll help you calculate the return on investment your program generates for your organization in concrete dollars and cents.  Finally, we’ll identify the internal partners critical to your success and give you suggestions on how to better align with them.  

Who it’s for:

• Existing volunteer program staff who want to improve lackluster support for their program from the inside out
• New volunteer coordinators who want to get started off on the right foot
• Volunteer managers who want to further enhance their strategic alliances with other departments in their organization
• Organizations who want to calculate the true return on investment of their volunteer programs

What you’ll get:

• Volunteer Program Return on Investment Calculator (excel spreadsheet) 
• Messaging Platform and Sample Internal Messages
  
• Handout of the Slides

What you’ll learn:

• What's at stake for volunteer organizations
• Volunteering risks and rewards: What you need to plan for 
  
• How to leverage resources from partnerships within your organization
• How to calculate the return on investment for volunteer program

This is Part I of a three-part series “The New Human Capital: Mobilizing the Power and Potential of Today’s Skilled Volunteers" sponsored by The National Volunteer Resource Center for Engaging Volunteers in the Aging Network, a project of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A).

Register for the webinar for FREE here.  And, feel free to share.

For more about The National Volunteer Resource Center for Engaging Volunteers in the Aging Network, check out the Aging Network Volunteers web page here.

Use the Science of Persuasion to Spark Volunteer Support

To help nonprofit leaders better persuade others to support their missions, I've been studying what motivates human behavior, more specifically what motivates us to switch direction, away from our well-worn path toward something new (see my last post on the getting buy-in here). 

Is it because someone's made a fantastically good argument, giving us relevant information that we consciously and rationally consider before deciding to shift course?  Or is it something else, something deep within our instinctual brains that drives us? 

I'm finding it's more the latter than the former -- much of what we do as humans is motivated by the social and behavioral cues of others.  And, much of it is seemingly pre-programmed.  We are simply hard-wired to act in certain ways, given certain triggers.  So much for free will!!

But, if that's the case, what do we need to change about how we communicate with supporters?  What do we need to do to get to that energized "Yes!" we need from prospective volunteers, executive management, community partners, and our peers?

In his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, recognized as one of the most important marketing books of the last decade, Robert Cialdini reviews the science of persuading others and breaks it down into six key principles.  It's a great read and really digs deep into the research around why we do what we do.  Fascinating stuff!

Below are the six principles, with my ideas on what you can do to enlist volunteer support for your good cause or program.

Six Keys to Igniting Volunteer Support

Principle 1: Reciprocation -- All favors must be returned.  You can't do it alone.  To effectively recruit volunteers, you need the help of others in your organization.  Garner internal support by being the first to lend a helping hand.  Offer to help other people and programs.  Whenever leadership asks you to help with something, do it.  Start banking good will for you and your program now, and it will be reciprocated later.

Principle 2: Scarcity -- We want more of what we can have less of.  When talking about program needs and available volunteer positions, frame them as time limited.  Give potential recruits deadlines and help paint a picture about what happens if your cause misses the boat.  Be careful not to paint the situation as completely desperate, but do talk about what's at stake.  Also, in your appeals, mention how many slots are currently left for your next volunteer orientation or training and explain that space is limited.

Principle 3: Authority -- We will follow, even if it is wrong.  This is sad, but true.  So, use it to your advantage.  Ask local authority figures to vouch for your program.  Present their stories and testimonials about your good work and the transformation you bring about in your community.  According to the most recent Edelman Trust Barometer, technical experts and academics rate as the most trusted people.  Government officials are at the bottom of the list.  So, choose wisely.  Find trusted experts in your field and ask for their very public stamp of approval.

Principle 4: Liking -- We prefer to say “yes” to those we know and like.   Seems simple enough; be friendly and likeable.  But, when interested volunteers reach your web page or walk though your front doors, are they welcomed with open arms?  Can they easily connect with real people, right away, instead of sending an inquiry to an anonymous inbox or calling only to be put off until later?  Consider posting photos and interesting short bios about your staff and vounteers on-line.  Help prospective volunteers get to know the team, and they may be more ready to join.

Principle 5: Social Proof -- Popular items have been chosen by others first. Humans are reassured of their choices when they see that others before them have taken the same steps.  Wherever and whenever you can, showcase your volunteers and their accomplishments.  Ask your current volunteers to help you enlist the support of others.  Their stories and calls to action are infinately more powerful than those of paid staff.

Principle 6: Commitment & Consistency -- We try to remain consistent with what we have already said and done.  Organizations often make the mistake of asking for the moon right from the start.  People need to test drive experiences.  And, if they agree to move in a certain direction, their future behavior is likley to follow their initial actions, values, or attitudes.  Try getting perspective volunteers to commit to a small act of support at first -- like signing up for your newsletter or blog, making an on-line pledge, helping out with a small project, or visiting an informational gathering.  Then, build commitment from there by consistently communicating and cultivating their engagement.  It takes time, but the potential payoff can be great.  

If you want more information about the science behind these principles, I highly recommend Cialdini's book.  It's inexpensive, easy to read, and really gets you thinking about the art and science of influence.

What would you suggest as the seventh principle of persuading prospecitve volunteers?  Write it in the comments.

Photo credit: Trusty Pics/Flickr

We’re Still Growing! Hot Tips on Writing to Engage from Our Newest Team Member

 I feel so fortunate lately.  We’ve added to our team again.  Now I have THREE fantastic and talented women to work with.  Life just couldn’t get any better.  For more on our current lineup, check out our team page by clicking here.  

Please join me in welcoming our newest addition, Sara Clary!  Today, she's sharing tips on how to keep your written communications simple.

Sara Clary, Curriculum Development Specialist

Sara just joined Tobi Johnson & Associates and will be helping us develop volunteer training materials for our clients.  Sara comes with a wealth of experience, a law degree, and a passion for helping people understand complex systems in an easy way.  She’s particularly interested in helping low-income people get access to benefits that can save them money and improve their health and day-to-day lives.

Tobi:  So, Sara, you've worked with a number of organizations where you helped people with low-incomes and limited literacy levels.  In order to attract a diverse group volunteers, with a variety of skills and backgrounds, I believe it's really on us to create materials that are simple and easy to read, regardless of their presumed education level.  Would you agree?

Sara: Absolutely. I think any documents produced by non-profits should be engaging for people regardless of their literacy level.  We want people to feel welcome and part of the community, whether we're talking about the volunteers we rely on or the clients we work with.  Materials should be direct, use clear language and be visually interesting for the reader.  Making an inclusive environment for people really begins with the printed materials we produce. They are important and a great opportunity to engage. 

Tobi:  What are a few things you would suggest folks do to help them create materials in plain language?

Sara: When trying to create documents that are really effective, I think it's important to keep a few things in mind --  

1. I try to avoid using "extra" words that are really not necessary to make my point. They have the potential to confuse readers and really just take up space. 
2. Avoid using legalese or complicated health care, or other, language.  More often than not the idea you are trying to relay can be stated more simply. 
3. Try to make the page look interesting for the reader. Use bullet points where there are lists, underscore or bold really important words or concepts, and try to stick to short paragraphs. 

It may take a little longer, but I think it's worth the effort to make sure the documents we produce are written in clear, plain language. 

Great advice!  Thanks, Sara!

Buy-In: 5 Steps to Persuading Others to Follow Your Dream

It’s occurred to me that we spent a tremendous amount of time persuading others.  Whether it’s a cautious applicant, a doubtful volunteer, a reluctant executive director, a fatigued team member, or a tentative community parter, we are all in the business of making the case to others to join our cause or buy in to our ideas to make our work better.  And yet, we spend little time understanding how to do this well.

Instead, we work on crafting the best possible job description, volunteer recruitment ad, training materials, or fact sheet.  These are important, to be sure, but maybe it’s also time to figure out how to get better at “buy-in.”

How Do We Decide?

So, just how do human beings decide to support an idea or cause, which inevitably means they make a change in their behavior?  What happens in the human make up, the grey matter, the spirit?  Marketers have studied this for eons.  In fact, the quest to convince is the core of marketing -- and they have quite a bit to offer the discussion, as do psychologists and behavior economists. 

Lately, I’ve begin to study this, too.  Maybe as an armchair aficionado, partly because I find human behavior truly fascinating, but ultimately, because I think we in the volunteer sector can’t do without it.  The human brain is now bombarded with tens of thousands of messages each day, and it is adapting to better cope with information overload.  That adaptation may well indeed make our brothers and sisters even harder to reach.  And, we need to connect; our communities need it, and our world needs it.

So, as I study what the wise ones know about human persuasion, I’ll share what I learn with you.  And, I’ll mention how I think it can be used to garner greater support for our volunteer programs and make them more effective.  Sound like a plan?

Here’s my first foray into the topic at hand.

Five Setps To Get Buy-In

This week, I finished the book “Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down” by John Kotter and Lorne Whitehead.  They posit that there are four ways people try to derail good ideas -- fear mongering, delay, confusion, or ridicule.  Luckily, irrespective of the attacker’s underlying motivations, these tactics can be defused so that enough buy in can be generated to propel an idea forward.  

They suggest the following, relatively simple method, to convert attacks into support.  In their case, they suggest this would happen in a group setting.  I can imagine it working in a team meeting or retreat (I don’t think it would work well on a conference call). 

Step One: Gain peoples attention by allowing the attacker’s in and letting them attack.  (While this seems counterintuitive -- What?  Give them air time to better make their case?  Yep.  It will position you well, if you can stomach it.)

Step Two: Then win the minds of the relevant, attentive audience with simple, clear, and commonsense responses.  (Although our naysayers appear to represent the majority, this is rarely the case, at first anyway.  But, if you don’t respond effectively -- ideas on possible responses are below -- they will have an opportunity to win a larger share of your audience and thus stymie your movement forward.)

Step Three: Win their hearts by, most of all, showing respect.  (While it’s sometimes hard to keep your cool in conflict situations -- believe me, I’ve been there -- your audience will be won over more by your demeanor than a long, drawn out debate about why your idea is best.  People decide on emotion, and they are more likely to support someone who’s likable.  This means you must show -- through your tone of voice, calm demeanor, and actively listening -- that you respect even the people who disagree with you.  So, take the high road...always.)

Step Four: Constantly Monitor the people whose hearts and minds you need: the broad audience, not the few attackers. (This means scanning the audience, tracking on their level of support by their body language and facial expression.  While you respect your naysayers, you don’t need to focus all of your attention on them the entire time.  Keep taking the pulse of the room to see where you’re at.)

Step Five: Prepare for these steps in advance.  (If you’ve already floated the idea to a few people, or have suggested something similar in the past, you likely already know what the counter arguments or issues will be.  Be ready, prepare your responses carefully, but don’t script them.  Remember, there’s no reason you can’t bring notes to your meeting to remind you.  Also, put yourself in the right mindset before your meeting.  “Open, respectful, calm, efficient” is a great mantra.)

In the beginning of the book, Kotter and Whitehead recount a story of a community meeting where an idea is in the midst of getting shot down, but the leader saves the day.  It demonstrates their strategy in action, but even more helpful are their suggested responses to twenty-four common attacks -- based on the four tactics people use to derail mentioned above.  

Six Common Attacks and Simple Responses

Here are a six attacks I hear frequently (with my two cents in parenthesis) and the responses Kotter and Whitehead recommend.  They’re short and to the point, which is a brilliant part of the strategy in action.

1) Attack: We’ve never done this in the past, and things have always worked out okay.  (This comes up often when we ask staff to make a significant shift in a comfortable way of doing business.  Think about what happens when someone suggests you use social media to connect with volunteers ...)

Response: True, But surely we have all seen that those who fail to adapt eventually become distinct.

2) Attack: Money is the issue, not ... (you fill in the blank).  (i.e., better tactics, more strategic direction, more flexibility for volunteers, a better volunteer recruitment process, increased attention to why volunteers leave, etc.  Many argue that if they just had more money, the problem would solve itself.)

Response: Extra money is rarely what builds truly great ventures or organization.

3) Attack: We’re simply not equipped to do this. (I’ve heard this one a lot from folks.  Teams are struggling to see, and take advantage of, the abundance of resources available out there.  It’s a mindset we need to work on.  Isn't capacity building what volunteerism is all about?)

Response: We have much of what we need, and we can and will get the rest.

4) Attack: The plan may be fine, but we cannot do it without extra money.  (This one is very similar to the attack listed above.  In this case, you do need to do your homework.  You’ll need to think through what resources would be needed to bring your idea to fruition.  If it’s over the top, and your organization cant even come close to affording it, then think again about your proposal.  Can you scale it back?  Are there ways to implement that are low cost -- for example with the help of pro-bono volunteers?  I'm not saying money doesn't help, but it's not the only thing that inspires greatness.)

Response: Actually, most important changes are achieved without new sources of money.

5) Attack: It’s just too much work to do this.  (Also, similar to the two above, this focuses on a poverty mindset -- we simply don’t have the resources to make any changes right now.  Is that really true?  Imagine all the social change that’s happened in the world.  Did it happen due to a big budget?  Not so much.  And, many truly great ideas will, actually save time in the end.)

Response: Hard can be good.  A genuinely good idea, facing time-consuming obstacles, can both raise our energy level and motivate us to eliminate wasted time.

6) Attack: It won’t work here because we are so different.  (I’ve heard differences identified as rural versus urban, large versus small organization, our population served versus your population served, my neighborhood versus your neighborhood, etc.  In the end, some of the tactics you use may be slightly different, but human motivation remains the same -- I’ll talk more about what the research says about that in upcoming blog posts, so stay tuned.)

Response: Yes, it’s true; we’re different, but we are also very much the same.

The Key is Focus

You’ll notice that all these responses are short and sweet.  To build buy in, you don’t need to come up with a huge justification to each issue raised.  You should have already presented your proposal at the beginning of your meeting, so there’s no need to rehash it.  People just need to see that you are listening, feel that they are being respected, and know that you’ve done your homework behind the scenes and are confident with your idea.  

After it’s all said and done, if everyone’s had a chance to speak, and you think you have enough buy in the from the group at large (you may hear them admitting they have a problem to fix, and they feel the proposal is good), you can close.   Take a vote or announce your decision to move forward based on your decision-making process.  If a few folks still want to debate details, do it one-on-one later, but make it clear that the decision has been made. 

This doesn’t mean it might not get altered in the future, but for now, what’s done is done.

 

 

Volunteer Satisfaction Surveys: Ten Ways to Get It Right

Gathering candid opinions from your volunteers will help you gain insights around what you need to improve.  Despite our best efforts, however, sometimes our surveys raise more questions than insights and don’t help us understand the specific actions we need to take next.  If that’s the case for you, here are some suggestions that I hope will help generate the rich, actionable feedback you need.

10 Ways to Build a Bang Up Survey Questionnaire

1) Keep it simple.  Show respect for your volunteers’ time and the suggestions they are about to share.  Keep your survey short.  Even though it’s tempting to add a potpourri of inquiries, keep it to less than ten questions (or less than a few minutes) to complete.  You'll also help yourself out -- the longer the survey, the more respondent burden, and the less likely they are to finish it anyway.   

2) Keep it easy.  In order to make it manageable for both you and your volunteers, use free or low-cost online survey software, such as Survey Monkey.  Send out invitations via email to easily capture and automatically report your responses.  Make paper surveys available to those few who don't have internet access.  And, just like other communications, stay away from jargon or acronyms that will confuse readers, regardless of how long volunteers have been onboard.

3) Always “bookend” your survey with a short introduction at the beginning and an authentic thank you at the end.  Satisfaction surveys are another way to build relationships with your volunteers.  Let them know why they’ve been invited, what you hope to gain, and when they will hear back from you with your next steps.  Thank them and give them a specifc contact person, the event they have questions or experience problems.

4) Focus on using structured questions.  Rather than using primarily open-ended questions, ask a few volunteers to help you brainstorm all the possible answers to a question.  Then, categorize your answers into neat, multiple choice options.  Add the category of “other” and allow respondents to add their own responses, but try to make your list as exhaustive as possible.  This also reduces respondent burden and makes it much, much easier to analyze results on your end.

5) Always ask volunteers to rate how likely it would be for them to recommend their volunteer experience to friends and family.  This question gets at perceived value, which is the core of what drives our satisfaction with people, things, and experiences.  If a person believes something is valuable to them, they'll rave about it.  If you track this metric over time, you’ll see whether your value goes up or down in the volunteers' eyes.  Also, if you ask why they chose this rating, in a subsequent open-ended question, you can find the root cause of their delight or disdain.

6) Always, invite volunteers to share additional comments in an open-ended question at the end.  That sends a clear message to volunteers that your ears are open and you are willing to hear candid comments, even if they don’t fit into the neat boxes in your survey.

7) Test, test, test.  Have a few volunteers test your online and paper survey instruments.  Make sure they understand what your questions are really asking.  Also, you can confirm with your testers that your list of multiple choice options include a broad enough selection.

8) Make sure your stats stack up.  You want to be able to defend your survey results and have confidence in your analysis.  So, you need to make sure you have enough data.  First make sure you have collected enough responses to generalize your results (collect a “statistically relevant” sample size) -- the smaller the population, the larger percentage of responses you must collect.  Free online calculators can be found, like this one, to do the math for you (note, when using this tool, industry standard is a 95% confidence level with a +/- 5% margin of error).  Also, make sure that if you are asking volunteers to rate something, they will need at least five data points to chose from (called a “likert scale).”  Click here for a few sample scales to choose from.

9) Be prepared for the “halo effect.”  In the nonprofit world, volunteers and service beneficiaries alike are reluctant to give negative feedback to nonprofit staff.  If they are bothered by something, volunteers will often leave the organization before they will tell staff about their frustrations.  To gather as much information as possible, collect responses anonymously and let volunteers know their privacy will be protected.  When reporting the results, choose representative statements from the open-ended comments and do not associate them with an individual’s name. Finally, pay attention to complaints; they are likely the tip of the iceberg.

10) When you have a survey that works, stick with it through several survey seasons.  Your survey is succesful when it gets you the info you need to take action, not neccessarily just because it generates a glowing report.  Once you have a design that is feeding you valuable insights, resist the temptation to tweak your core questions each time.  That way you can build a baseline of trustworthly trending data to work from.  If you change up your annual survey every year, you’ll never know whether the changes you make have an impact. 

 One More Thing...

Surveys aren’t the only way to evaluate volunteer satisfaction.  You can use social media to facilitate conversations within your volunteer team about their needs.  You can take a look at your volunteer retention numbers, analyze where and when people are leaving, and ask why.  You can also do exit interviews with volunteers to get their final suggestions on their way out the door.

Also, recognize that no satisfaction survey will get you all the information you need.  If your survey results raise additional questions, think about facilitating a volunteer focus group to get at some of the deeper dirvers of satisfaction.  If you're worried they won't be totally honest with your or your staff, hire an outside facilitator to manage it for you.

 

Corporate Volunteer Programs: What Do They Want From Nonprofits?

There’s quite a bit of buzz about corporate responsibility lately.  In the midst of scandals, declining trust, and lost profits, businesses are increasingly concerned with maintaining a positive reputation in the public eye.  This represents a potential windfall for nonprofits who are looking to leverage needed resources from the business community, including volunteer support.  
So, what does business want?

This focus on brand reputation is a relatively new phenomenon, as chronicled in a recent Harvard Business Review post.  According to the author, “People have become increasingly concerned with business's impact on the world, and search engines...make it trivially easy to find out who makes a product and how, where they operate, who they have offended, and what causes they have supported. Social media makes it easy to learn more, and spread the word.  Suddenly, a brand's paternity is not only easy for customers to discover, it's important to them to consider.  And they have no trouble boycotting products from companies that they believe fail to live up to their standards.”

It’s a cold world for business when the public shuns you, so some companies are taking proactive steps to prevent it, including stepping up their volunteering.  Despite (or maybe because of) the economic downturn, new corporate volunteer programs are popping up across the country.  In the past, corporate support was offered mostly in the form of donations and grants to charities.  Now, private industry is looking to donate time either in addition to, or instead of, cash.  

It's a surprising role reversal.  For-profits are now turning to nonprofits for support and connecton to community.  And, lest you think this is an insignificant development, just take a look at the long list of conferences this year devoted to corporate citizenship and volunteering from the Realized Worth website. 

Three Corporate Volunteer Program Expectations

So what are corporate, or skilled, volunteering programs hoping for when they partner with you?   Here are a few themes I’ve noticed as I listen in on webinars and read posts about corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.  And, they are things to think about, if you plan to approach a business for help.

1) Impact Focus
CSR programs are deeply interested in generating concrete outcomes.  They hope that the experience of volunteering will encouraging greater teamwork amongst employees, will lead to enhanced skills development, and will result in deeper job satisfaction and retention.  They also hope the program will have an impact on the community and advance the cause they are investing in.

2) Strategic Alignment
Corporations are also keenly aware of how they use their valuable resources.  They seek to form strategic partnerships with nonprofits that align with their own corporate culture, values, and organizational objectives.  And, more and more, they are looking to build a portfolio of volunteer opportunities that are in direct alignment with their brand.  If their brand is about kids, they’ll most likely look to help programs that benefit children.  But, this isn’t always the case.  Sometimes, the focus is in helping the community refresh it’s economic vitality which, in turn, will make it a better place to do business.

3) Efficiency
Coordinators of corporate volunteer programs are also under pressure to make the most of their employee’s time.  Many are experimenting with different models of episodic, or short-term, volunteering that give the best “bang for the buck.”  Their staff are working under time constraints that make volunteering a potentially expensive proposition, so they want to be sure their investment in time is well spent.

If nonprofit volunteer programs are aware of these needs, find ways to meet them, and are able to find private partners who are closely aligned with their cause, a fruitful mutually-beneficial collaboration can be forged.  It’s an interesting proposition -- the private-public partnership.  And, although it’s not new, it appears to be making a comeback.  Is this an opportunity your organization can take advantage of?

Have you had experiences with corporate partnership?  How have they worked out?  Do you have any wisdom to share?

 

Reclaim Valentines Day!

If you haven't heard, there's a movement afoot to take back Valentaines Day and transform it into something with a higher purpose -- Generosity Day!  

It started last year on Sasha Dichter's Blog and has spread like wildfire.  The seed was a personal generosity experiment Dichter conducted (click here to see his TED Talk on this).  He found that by giving unabashedly, without reservation, to each and every person who asked for money over a 30-day period something amazing happened.  He found these small actions changed his world view in a fundemental way.  He became more open, more action-oriented, an more generous....and became a better fundraiser along the way.  

So, if you're interested in practicing generosity and seeing what it does for you and for others, check it out. Share the love, and go BIG!  Reboot your Valentines Day!  Watch the video below and take the pledge here. 

 

 

 

6 Ways to Get Busy College Students Involved in Service

I have a new friend who is an engineering professor at a local university.  He’s been struggling with implementing a new student service program in one of their dorms.  He asked for suggestions, so I thought I’d share them with my readers, too.

The Challenge: Building Student Community Service 

The university is a small school that recently inaugurated a new dormitory.  The idea behind the dorm is to create a strong sense of community and to introduce volunteer service as a community building experience.  They have invited local nonprofits to talk about their volunteer opportunities, but students don’t appear interested.  They suspect students aren’t responsive because they are so busy (many work jobs and take six courses at a time).  They are considering making the service component mandatory.

Six Suggestions to Inspire Student Volunteering

There’s no doubt that starting a volunteer program can be daunting, especially if you don’t know where to start or have had limited success.  But believe me, it can be done!  In fact, according to the latest Volunteering in America report, one in four (26.7%) college students volunteered between 2008 and 2010.  And in 2010, 8.3 million charity-minded young people (age 16-24) dedicated 844 million hours of service to communities across the country.  That's a signifcant contribution and not too different from the volunteering rates of other age groups (and, in fact, higher than some).

So how do you tap into the passion and energy of youth?  Here’s how...

1) Build a Volunteer Program -- Although volunteers work for “free,” volunteer programs aren’t.  Marshaling the human potential of volunteers takes infrastructure and planning.  Similar to teams of paid staff, volunteers need a human resources system that engages and supports them.  A “build it and they will come” approach of merely offering opportunities and calling it a day probably won’t work.  For more info on how to set up a volunteer program, check out my eBook The New Volunteer Manager: The First 90 Days.  It’s free and will give you step by step instructions on how to get your program going.

2) Involve Students in Planning -- Work with the existing student government or committee.  Let them know what you're trying to do, why you think it matters, and how they can help.  Everyone, regardless of their age, appreciates being included in the decision-making around activities that might affect them.  If the students have a hand in designing how service learning works, they will be more likely to support it, and there won’t be a need to make it mandatory.  Also, if they take ownership, they will spread the word and get their friends involved.

3) Tap Directly Into What Motivates Students -- Students are indeed busy people, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have time for volunteering.  Consider all of the service hours sororities, fraternities, and service clubs put in across the country each year.  It can happen.  But, why do students volunteer?  I can think of two good reasons -- 1) to gain work experience (check out our college intern Kierra Warren's comments on volunteering, for an example) and 2) to have fun with their friends.  So, find opportunities that help students develop skills specific to their field of study.  Bill them as “service learning opportunities” and communicate clearly what will be gained (i.e., what will they be able to put on their resume, who will they meet and be able to network with, etc.).  If there’s any way to give credit hours for service, make it happen.  

4) Get Social -- Use social media and your web page to share photos and videos about service opportunities and the achievements of students.   Post before and after pictures, interviews with student volunteers, and kudos from organizations who have benefitted from their help.  Work with students to set up a You Tube channel, a Facebook page, and a Flickr account to share what’s going on.  To drive traffic, hold polls, contests, and drawings for everyone who contributes comments.  Work with your college radio station or newspaper to pump up your vibrant social media service community.  

5) Give Schwag -- People like free stuff, especially young people.  Give t-shirts, for example, to students after they complete a certain number of hours of service.  If you don’t have the budget, see if local businesses, like local radio stations that serve the younger demographic, might sponsor your shirts.  To make sure it appeals to young people, hold a student t-shirt design contest and use the winning design for your signature shirt.  T-shirts aren’t just a giveaway either; if they’re cool, they can help brand your volunteer program and “service tribe.”

6) Most Important, Make the Heart-to-Heart Connection -- Most people who are lifelong volunteers don’t volunteer because they’re told they have to, they volunteer because they feel strongly about a cause and they want to do something about it.  Students are still growing and may not have yet found a cause that resonates with them.  Find ways to help their learn about community needs.  Share authentic, heartfelt stories (see #4 above) about how people’s lives have been touched by the work of local charities and their volunteers.  Rather than have nonprofit staff pitch opportunities, why not have the people who have benefited from nonprofit services share how their lives have changed because of the help of caring people?

I believe that virtually anyone, regarless of age, can get motivated to volunteer given the right circumstances and opportunities.  Busy students want a fun environment, where they can hang out with friends and gain career skills and connections.  If your volunteer opportunities have those elements, you should be able to make a go of it.  

Does anyone else have some good ideas for my friend?