All-Volunteer Group Leadership

On behalf of Osteoporosis Canada, volunteerism consultant Suzanne Lawson recently convened a telephone conference call that included Linda Graff, Marilyn MacKenzie, Susan J. Ellis and representatives of Osteoporosis Canada. These accomplished volunteer management experts proceeded to discuss how multi-level organizations are adapting to current trends in volunteer engagement and how the local level of "action" can best be structured. The call was recorded. This Keyboard Roundtable offers a lively exchange of that conversation, which covered such questions as:

• How are local chapters (or whatever people call them these days) succeeding or failing to bring new volunteers to a national cause?
• Do chapters tend to support established volunteers in their work - but not newcomers?
• Are there any new models for connecting volunteers at the local level to the activities of the organization - doing the work with engaged volunteers "around" a chapter structure or "instead" of it?
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During the 1980s, Ivan Scheier started a small publishing operation in Boulder, Colorado called Yellowfire Press. At Yellowfire, he produced a range of monographs and small booklets on subjects that interested him. In 1984, he wrote Meanwhile…Back at the Neighborhood, in which he considered one of his favorite topics: developing real “community” at the most local level and in the best, informal ways.  In this excerpt from the opening sections, Ivan defines “neighborhood,” the role of a “neighborhood enabler,” and ways to cultivate common ground.

Ivan Scheier delighted in creating group exercises that allowed people to actively interact, have fun and still accomplish serious goals.  One of his early and most popular training designs started out as “Mini-Max” and evolved over 20 years into other formats, notably the “Glad Give Game.” The ultimate purpose of the design is to show a group of people that they all have something to give that is of value to someone else – and to create interpersonal commitments to exchange service.  The process was obviously a real community builder.

In this Training Design, we present the original Mini-Max process. We explain how it was originally developed to help delinquents and volunteers interact, and how to adapt it to new situations.

Despite the prevalence of small nonprofits and all-volunteer organizations, training for leaders of volunteers is often geared towards the full-time volunteer manager working in a large organization.  While most training is valuable to volunteer managers in all sizes of organizations, this common focus does not give the leaders of volunteers in small organizations a chance to explore the challenges when volunteers are responsible for most of the work and staff resources are slim to nonexistent.  How to insure follow-up? How to avoid burn out? How to bring in new members? 

This Training Design is offered with small nonprofits and organizations in mind.  It is designed specifically to be delivered by volunteer centers, nonprofit management centers, academic programs and trainers/consultants who wish to meet the needs of volunteer leaders in small nonprofits, community-based groups and other informal all-volunteer organizations. It will provide participants with an opportunity to address common challenges, share ideas and learn practical tips to maximize their success through volunteers.

How do you manage volunteers who don’t choose to be in your organization, those volunteers who often show up after being “bullied” into service? In other words, how do you manage the non-volunteer volunteer?

In this e-Volunteerism feature story, volunteerism expert and author Thomas W. McKee discusses this overlooked issue and offers a step-by-step guide to help organizations and managers face the problem. McKee outlines special considerations for working with this large category of volunteers, and offers additional advice for volunteers who lead other volunteers (especially those who would rather not be volunteering).  McKee uses authentic examples of non-volunteer volunteer situations throughout the article – ranging from the soccer field to an elementary classroom to the board room.  His personable and purposeful technique will engage volunteer managers from all sectors. And they will have no trouble relating to McKee’s descriptions and learning valuable coping techniques from his experiences. 

What does a canned meat product called SPAM™ have to do with volunteer recruitment?  In this article, the authors explore the answer to this question by reviewing the key steps in volunteer recruitment, a process that helps remind an organization that it needs not only a clear purpose but people to rally around that purpose.  All it takes is a little S.P.A.M. − Skill development, Product knowledge, Audience understanding and Motivation.

All faiths rely heavily on the goodwill of their followers to undertake work on behalf of the church/synagogue/mosque/congregation of both a spiritual and practical nature. Is this recognized as “volunteering” by those in leadership positions within their respective faiths?  How does service to the congregation relate to service done in the outside community under the sponsorship of the house of worship?  Where does service as an expression of faith end and volunteering begin? Is there a clear jumping off point either scripturally or pragmatically?

 

Should there be a significant difference in leadership ability between the head of the organization and the head of the volunteer program?  While there may be differences in authority, leadership is not restricted to the executive director or chair of the board, nor should it be for the sustainability of the organization.   Leadership happens at all levels within an organization.  Everyone, including volunteer managers, has the capacity of becoming a leader. We all have skills which can be enhanced and abilities which can be cultivated. 

 

Some volunteer program managers may not yet perceive themselves as leaders in their organization, but they can be.   In this article, Bailey and Petro provide some self-assessment considerations and tools.

With the world’s largest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup, recently winding up in Germany, we at e-Volunteerism decided it was time to turn our attention to the nuances involved in volunteering and volunteer management practices within the context of hosting major events.

Major events utilize the support of thousands of volunteers which, by sheer weight of numbers, creates management complexities not experienced by volunteer managers working in more conventional kinds of volunteering.   Some of these issues, which we discuss in this Roundtable, include:

• Infrastructure and planning required for handling such a vast workforce
• Transference of volunteers, skills and knowledge across nations
• Pressures of working to complex and finite time lines
• Importance of reward and recognition of major event volunteers
• Utilization of volunteers themselves in the management and training of other volunteer team members

This Keyboard Roundtable offers a variety of opinions from volunteerism leaders around the world, involved in coordinating volunteer effort across a wide range of major events. We invite you to learn about this unique style of volunteer involvement from their experiences.