Volunteer Management Training: The Missing Pieces

When it comes to workshops for managers of volunteers, the regular training topics that we too often wheel out represent a continuous cycle: a repetition of recruitment, policies, procedures, regulatory environment, support and recognition for volunteers, and maybe something on impact measurement. 

What’s typically missing is attention to the philosophy of volunteering and to our understanding of organizations, how they work, and how to help them more fully engage with their stakeholders. In short, volunteer managers need to know and understand volunteering infrastructure.

In this feature article, long-time volunteerism advocate Sue Hine elaborates on this claim by illustrating why these missing infrastructure pieces are so important. Readers will soon realize how a greater understanding of these missing pieces can contribute to the scope of volunteer program management, and to the status and respect for volunteering.