Volunteer Management Manual

Volunteer Management Manual

Introduction: Volunteer Management

3

1. Recruitment

5

1.1 Why recruitment?

5

1.2 What youngsters are concerned about in your society?

5

1.3 What does it mean to volunteer in your society?

6

1.4 What does your organisation represent in your country?

7

1.5 Steps in the recruitment proces

8

1.6 Recruitment strategies and methods

13

1.7 Possible obstacles

17

2. Motivation

19

2.1 Orientation

19

2.2 Motivation

20

2.3 What does the organisation have to offer?

28

2.4 Recognition

29

2.5 Different ways of recognition

31

2.6 The ten commandments of recognition

32

2.7 Training

34

2.8 Demotivation

35

3. Retaining volunteers

37

3.1 Why do people leave?

37

3.2 Spot the problems

37

3.3 What you can do in case of a problem?

38

4. Conclusion

41

Participants training “Volunteer Management 2002�

42

Colophon

46

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Volunteer Management

Preface In the year 2000, JINT vzw set up a platform for youth organisations for creating innovative projects in cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Several Flemish youth organisations invited their sister-organisation in the CEE countries to work together in further developing youth work and youth policy in Flanders and in Central and Eastern Europe. The project was named emPOWERment!

The platform offers the possibility of exchanging knowhow and experience in methodologies, in creating networks and in promoting the region. Several projects were set up by the participating organisations, and trainings and seminars are being held all over Europe on diverse themes with the support of the Flemish community, the European Youth Programme, the European Youth Foundation and national governments of the partner organisations.

To create an added value to the Youth Field both in Flanders as in the CEE countries, the participating organisations decided to write the results of the cooperation and international meetings down in the form of a manual.

At this point, the three thematic manuals available are: •

Starting Up Local Youth Work

•

Volunteer Management

•

Organisational Management - Trainstorm ‘03

These emPOWERment manuals try to pass trough in a modest way, the information and the experience gathered during the several trainings and seminars. These manuals were achieved with the help of many people and want to address to youth workers, both new in the field as experienced.

If you want to know more, if you have questions about emPOWERment, if you want to comment this manual, you can always visit the website www.cnip.jint.be or contact JINT vzw, the supporting office for emPOWERment in Brussels, or contact the emPOWERment partner in your country. Contact information can be found in appendix.

We wish you a nice reading and an ethusiast engagement in the youth work!

emPOWERment

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Volunteer Management

Introduction : Volunteer Management If you are a person who wants to develop a successful volunteer management in your organisation or you want to set up a training in this field, and you have already tried many things, we invite you to open this manual and use it as your workbook since it might offer you useful information, and many tips and suggestions to support your work.

In this manual, you will find the most important issues concerning volunteer management. The information is divided in three chapters: recruitment, motivation and retaining volunteers. In the first chapter, we will discuss the possible volunteer, how to find him or her, and how to recruit him or her. A second important issue is the volunteer’s motivation since the ways to do this differ from volunteer to volunteer. We will provide you with tips and suggestions. In the final chapter, we will give advice on how to keep the recruited volunteers in your organisation.

The more theoretical approach will be illustrated with a case-study of the imaginary organisations Evergreen and Yzzu-Yzzu. This case-study can also be used as method for your next volunteer management training. This manual also wants to share with you the outcomes of the Volunteer Management training in Lodz, Poland of September 2002. This training is the result of a co-operation between young people from Semper Avanti in Poland, CDNPS in Serbia, NSRC in Bulgaria and VVKSM, VFGJ, MJA, BALKANACTIE and JINT in Flanders, Belgium.

We hope this manual will guide you through the not so easy task of realising a good volunteer management. We hope it might be an inspiration for you and your friends or colleagues to succeed. Never hesitate to give this manual to your friends and colleagues or to any person you think is interested in developing volunteer management. Good luck!

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Volunteer Management

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Volunteer Management

1 Recruitment RECRUITMENT Recruitment is the ongoing process of securing individuals to do the assignments that you have identified for volunteers within your organisation. It is the act of identifying groups and individuals for service, and then actually asking them to volunteer.

1.1 Why recruitment?

People are needed to reach the goals of your organisation; volunteers and/or paid people. This manual covers the recruitment of volunteers, but most of the ideas are also applicable for other people in the organisation. The different steps taken in consideration for a recruitment plan are shortly mentioned in this chapter.

1.2 What are youngsters concerned about in your society?

Describe what youngsters are concerned about in the society you live in. This description gives you a clear look on what volunteers need. It is important in your process of recruitment not only to think from the position you are in, but also from the point of view of the possible volunteer.

We provide you a possible methodology to come to this description.

To present your society, design a ‘website’ on a sheet of paper or on a computer with the answers to the following questions: - What do youngsters like?

- What do they do in their free time?

- What kind of problems do they have to face?

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1.3 What does it mean to volunteer in your society?

How does society look to people who spend their free time as a volunteer in an organisation?

Does it make any difference in their status? Are their any laws that restrict or protect the job of the volunteer?

How does the average possible volunteer look like? This appears to be different in different countries. Here are the answers provided by the participants of the training course in L贸dz.

Austria:

young, well educated

Serbia:

20-27, enthusiastic women

Bosnia:

17-24, unemployed, want to be useful

Belgium:

18-30, socially engaged

Germany:

young, well educated, idealistic

Bulgaria:

student 18-30, foreigner

UK:

18-25, Higher education, unrealistic

Macedonia:

17-25. Unemployed, well educated

Italy:

16-35, idealistic

Poland:

16-23, mainly female, looking for opportunities, unemployed, good education

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Volunteer Management

1.4 What does your organisation represent in your country?

What are your aims? What is your image (own opinion and public opinion)? How is your organisation working? What is its structure, communication, stability, etc. like?

Start from the example of two organisations, namely Yzzu-Yzzu and Evergreen. Make two columns next to each other, one for every organisation, and write the explanation linked to this chapter in each of them.

Yzzu-Yzzu is a youth development organisation. Via playing games, they try to pass values to their ‘users’ (members), to empower them to be active… in particular in their society and to be critical towards that society.

Evergreen is a well-organised youth-environmental organisation. They try to raise awareness for nature and environment projects in parks and woods; they provide outreach programmes, and they lecture in schools and for groups. They have a quite formal way of working.

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Volunteer Management

1.5 Steps in the recruitment process Finding volunteers to meet your organisation’s needs and offering the volunteers what they need is the link between what they are concerned about and the function of your organisation (see 1.2 and 1.4 in this manual). It requires careful planning and thinking before action is taken.

Evaluate and practise ongoing recruitment

Implement your plan

Identify the organisation’s needs

Identify volunteer needs and job descriptions

1

8

7

2

6

3

Develop a timeline

Identify the benefits and the investment of volunteering

4

5 Define the profile of the volunteer

Plan a recruitment approach

1. Identify the organisation’s needs The organisation must determine exactly its needs before recruiting volunteers, rather than recruiting first and then scrambling to find jobs.

You can set up a list of skills, attitudes and knowledge that is required for your organisation. You probably will not find the volunteer realising all your wishes. Choose the essential topics you like to see to be there by the start of the volunteer’s work and set up a programme of training to let the volunteer acquire other skills. Can the organisation offer training for the needed skills or should it look elsewhere?

2. Identify volunteer needs and job descriptions Almost any work to be done to meet the objectives of your organisation can be done by volunteers. There is no rule that says that they can do only certain assignments. The organisation is good to offer more challenging and interesting work and tasks for volunteers.

Before recruitment, you need to develop clear volunteer job descriptions. This does not

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Volunteer Management

need to be a lengthy task. After all, simple is usually better than complicated. A volunteer job description outlines the work that needs to be done by the volunteer. It is a very useful tool, a basis for your recruitment effort, because it defines the assignment, skills, abilities and interests necessary to perform the task successfully.

When creating job descriptions, the organisation should define: General tasks/responsibilities involved with the job; Time commitment; Any special skills/attitudes/knowledge that are needed/preferred; Number of volunteers needed; Anything else that would be useful for a potential volunteer to know.

3. Identify the benefits and the investment of volunteering To attract volunteers, you need to determine what you have of value to exchange with the volunteer for their contributed free time.

Why do people volunteer? What do they gain through volunteer service? Here are some suggestions why people may decide to volunteer: • Because it is fun; • To make new friends and affiliations; • To join peers and belong to a group or a community; • To acquire new skills (e.g. new career options by receiving “professional” experience or training); • To be creative and solve problems; • To develop personality and explore new interests; • To fulfil the service requirements of a club, school, church, etc.

• To do something useful or enjoyable to improve the quality of life of the members of the community.

What potential does the volunteer position require?

• Time away from family and friends; • Less time for hobbies and career-related pursuits; • Expenses for travelling, parking, childcare, meals and other expenses related to the position as a volunteer.

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4. Plan a recruitment approach Once you have clearly identified your organisation’s volunteer needs and have created job descriptions that take into account the investments and benefits for volunteers, you are ready to develop a recruitment plan. The process of developing a recruitment plan begins with close examination of the volunteer assignments. For each assignment, ask yourself: - Who will be qualified for and interested in the position?

- Who will be able to meet the time requirements of the position?

- Where will you find these people?

- What is the best way to approach them?

5. Define the profile of the volunteer What are the skills and attitudes needed to do this job? For instance, if we draw a picture of the type of person who could do this job and would enjoy doing it, what would s/he look like? What motivations of this person can we appeal to in our recruitment effort?

Where can we find these types of people?

6. Timeline When you start making your plans come true, you should have a working script with the answers to these questions:

• Who in the organisation is responsible for being a contact person? Who collects the coordinates of new applicants, and keeps track of vacant and non-vacant jobs?

• When do you start? When do you like to finish? How many times do you want to repeat the action? Are there any other events in the near future?

• How much money is needed for your action? Is there any funding? Are there other means and materials needed?

Use a calendar to mark deadlines and follow-ups from different parts on the timeline. In this way, you have a clear overview of dependencies between results of different tasks. Plan some evaluation moments so you can change the track if needed.

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7. Implement your plan The next step of the rectruiment process is to actually implement your plan in your organisation. Possible strategies and methods and possible obstacles will be discussed in the next sections (see 1.6 and 1.7).

8. Evaluate and practise ongoing recruitment Even if you put a timeline and some reachable goals in front of you in recruiting a certain number of volunteers as a project, you should be aware that the best recruiting program is an ongoing process. If you only think of it when you do not have enough volunteers anymore, you are already too late. Then you have to ask your volunteers to do their job in the organisation and to look for new volunteers. Time pressure comes up and even more volunteers can be leaving the organisation. So, in every activity you do, you should keep your ears open for and eyes directed to new possible volunteers.

Evergreen has its general tasks written out in a scheme, in which you can find jobs titled, for instance, ‘training manager’ and ‘ecological water specialist’. The main task is, apart from giving training in schools and youth centres, having a good knowledge of the subject.

Every job has its time schedule of hours a week that you are expected to be ready to help in the organisation. Normally, it will be two afternoons a week, sometimes a whole day.

Volunteers of Evergreen get quite some freedom and responsibility in organisational matters, in how to run a project. They should have enough knowledge about this topic to be aware of this responsibility and to be able to reach a success in developing their projects.

Some experience in this field is kindly appreciated.

Evergreen knows that they need seven volunteers for the next year. Other candidates can apply again next year or when someone quits the organisation during the year, but this is not expected.

Evergreen is an organisation for individual qualitative well-developed work in a specific field. As a volunteer, you have to follow certain basic courses if the necessary knowledge is not reached yet.

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Yzzu-Yzzu is very much based on the enthusiasm and the creativity of its staff and volunteers. Working for and with Yzzu-Yzzu comes straight from people’s hearts. The main task is to give children and youngsters a good time using the values of the organisation.

Working together is important.

Yzzu-Yzzu asks its volunteers to spend as much time as possible for the organisation. Every minute is valuable.

Yzzu-Yzzu asks quite fast, concrete action of its volunteers. Learning by doing is the vision of Yzzu-Yzzu. They try to do as much as possible in one group. Teambuilding is quite important in the daily life of Yzzu-Yzzu volunteers.

Yzzu-Yzzu needs about twelve volunteers, but it could be less or a few more. They divide the tasks in a way depending on the number of volunteers. In fact, everybody is welcome to volunteer if s/he agrees with the basic principles of the organisation.

The organisation and the volunteers work on a concrete assignment, a project. The volunteers get quite some responsibility in the creation, the preparation, and the running of the project. The only guidelines the staff gives them is that it should be creative as nothing ever before. Creating a safe place for young volunteers to be able to experiment and experience is one of the major methodologies of Yzzu-Yzzu. One of the volunteers takes the final responsibility, but s/he gets no special title or more attention than the others. Just because s/he wants to take that responsibility, s/he gets it.

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1.6 Recruitment strategies and methods

WARM BODY RECRUITMENT Warm body recruitment is the method where the focus is more on the marketing of the organisation and the appeal that you need volunteers (e.g. distributing leaflets, speaking to an audience).

TARGETED RECRUITMENT Targeted recruitment starts from a well-described profile and focuses on the search of someone who answers the expectations. It is directly linked to the process of thinking about possible motivations that a volunteer seeks. This type of recruitment can bring a new type of people in the organisation. Word of mouth is here probably the best method.

CONCENTRIC CIRCLES RECRUITMENT Concentric circles recruitment is the simple method of using the people who are already a volunteer in your organisation. It is a method of approaching people who are already helping a little bit and convincing them to take some more responsibilities in the organisation and find new volunteers to do their old job. These people are already convinced of the aims of your organisation.

Specific messages are needed for specific audiences. There is not one blanket recruitment message that will successfully entice all potential volunteers. In general, your recruitment strategy whom you will ask to volunteer and how you will ask them - depends on the needs of the organisation as specified in your volunteer job descriptions.

There are different types of campaigns. Picking the suitable campaign system starts with identifying what you are trying to accomplish. It depends on several factors: How many volunteers do you need? What is the budget? Which specific skill do they need? Are you expecting long-time commitment?

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Volunteer Management

If you need large numbers of volunteers, you should try warm body recruitment. If you need a specific skill or if you are trying to outreach to new populations, you have to try targeted recruitment. If you want a guaranteed input of new volunteers, try concentric circles recruitment. If you want to encourage volunteering with a defined group, try the recruitment technique word to mouth. During the lifetime of your organisation, you will probably need each of these approaches.

Volunteer recruitment message Every recruitment campaign must also have a compelling message. This message is your explanation of why your organisation is worthy of the donation of volunteer time that is being requested. The message should be short, simple, and a direct manner to communicate to the volunteer the need that exists for their services and the good that they can do by volunteering. Be sure in this message that you put a stress on the fact that it is the community that needs the volunteer, not just the organisation.

The opening of the message should be interesting enough to entice the potential volunteer to continue reading or listening. The body of the message has to be appealing enough to interest the potential volunteer in considering the volunteer opportunity or, at least, in contacting the organisation to get more information. Boring messages are only likely to appeal to boring people. The body of the message presents information in an order that psychologically matches how people will think about the offer.

People will first decide whether you are worth volunteering for, and only then decide whether they can fit your organisation into their schedule. So, spend more space on the needs than on logistics. The needs you stress may be yours, your clientele’s, or the volunteer’s own perceived needs or benefits.

Your message needs to be easily understood. It should be intelligible and it has to avoid jargon, unless this is included for a specific reason. Your message gives a complete picture of the problem, the type of work, the requirements, the timeframe, and the person to talk with. The message surely does not make the potential volunteer having to do any extra work in order to understand what is going on.

In your communication with the volunteer, do not put too much stress on a problem as it would be unsolvable by the organisation and especially by the new volunteer. The new person should feel comfortable in the new position you propose.

Make very clear where people can go for more information; have an easy reachable contact point or person. The contact information in the message gives the name of a person, preferably including his or her first name, not just the name of the agency.

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Communication techniques and channels The classics

- article in local newspaper of magazine

(= techniques for recruiting volunteers

- leaflets

and making promotion for the organisa-

- media message on a local radio or television station

tion)

- advert on a light board or other carrier

Simple techniques

- personal conversations face-to-face or in a bigger group

(= techniques that do not need a lot of

- note on a message board in public places

material)

- web forum

Eye catchers

- big advert in the railway station - video - constructions (e.g. self-made tower)

Peak moment techniques

- hike trip

(= via an event or an activity)

- boat trip - local neighbourhoud action - letter campaign - breakfast for people who got free time

Project techniques

- trainings

(= via other activities within a clearly

- info sessions in schools

defined project)

- art projects

On the road techniques

- promotion caravan - on the road show - spot on a market

Coupling techniques

- with local government

(= co-operation with other organisa-

- with companies

tions)

- with other youth organisations

Playful techniques

- singing songs

(= creative and one-time initiatives to

- karaoke events

put voluntary work in the spotlights)

- friendship football games between teas of volunteers of different organisations

Outing techniques

- bags with your logo

(= put your work in the spotlights

- T-shirts with your logo

through easily recognisable contact per-

- caps with your logo

sons)

- badges with your logo

Future techniques

- network of contacts who know your organisation

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Volunteer Management

Yzzu-Yzzu stands on a market place in the middle of the city and starts playing a game.

The organisation approaches possible volunteers on a very personal way. They talk to potential candidates, and they have found out that people who believe that they are creative, active, enthusiast, etc., promote themselves.

Evergreen has a stand on a market, for instance during some ecological weekend. The organisation offers a leaflet to all potential volunteers with information about the organisation, about the role of the volunteer in general, and about the need of volunteers at this moment. There is also a function description, a list of expectations and a contact address on this leaflet.

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1.7 Possible obstacles There are many obstacles you can perceive. Why should people join your organisation? If they do not feel connected to your aims or they do not know them or they have no knowledge of people in the organisation they already know as friends, why should they join? It is important to give a new volunteer a perspective on what s/he will gain by joining the club.

In a second phase, there might arise material obstacles. Distance from home to the working place, money for transport, time needed for other duties, other concurrent organisations… As an organisation, you can provide the answer to a few questions, but mostly not to all and probably not completely satisfying. For example, you can arrange some transport of volunteers coming from the same region who could travel together with no costs for the volunteer, but then they will be on the same time on the same place. Is this the need? And even the problem of time is not solved. It is a matter of negotiation and taking the new volunteer serious.

At last, there are problems that could be solved at the level of organisational management, such as not being clear to the volunteer, a bad planning, not being enthusiastic for your own project, etc. These will put a break on the willingness of the possible volunteer. In the next chapter, about motivation, you will find possible answers to these questions. On (strategic) planning, you can read more in the manual “Organisational Management”.

Yzzu-Yzzu expects more from their volunteers than them just having fun. How can they ever make a fixed plan with volunteers who only show up at unexpected moments when they have time for the organisation?

Evergreen’s image is a little boring. How can they persuade possible volunteers to take care of environmental issues if the organisation looks so boring?

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2 Motivation 2.1 Orientation

ORIENTATION Orientation involves giving volunteers an adequate background on the organisation, its operation, and its procedures. Orientation is required because the volunteer needs to understand what the organisation is like and how it operates, so that s/he can become a part of it.

A good orientation program should provide the volunteer with the following types of information: a description and history of the organisation, a description of the overall programs and clientele of the organisation, a sketch of the organisational chart, an orientation to the facilities and layout of the organisation, knowledge of general policies and procedures, and a description of the volunteer management system that is applied in the organisation. The purpose is to offer the volunteer a context which s/he will work in. The better the volunteer understands what the organisation is like and how it operates, the better the volunteer will be able to fit his or her own actions into proper methods of behaviour and the better s/he will display initiative in developing further ways to be helpful to the organisation. Finally, if you ask yourself when to orient - the answer is: all the time! If you wonder whom to orient - the answer is: everyone (volunteers, but also people working with volunteers, the doorman, etc.)

Take your time to listen to the volunteer and to observe him or her. Try to discover his or her feelings. Give them a sheet of paper with adjectives written on and let the volunteer choose some of the adjectives to describe his or her personality.

Yzzu-Yzzu welcomes new volunteers with games. With this method of recruitment, they make clear what kind of organisation they are; when you become a volunteer in Yzzu-Yzzu, you need to like playing games, to be active, and to work in a group. Enthusiasm and creativity are key elements. Yzzu-Yzzu mentions the arrangements for travel expenses, and then sends you off for some learning by doing.

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2.2 Motivation

MOTIVATION A motivated volunteer is one who wants to do the job that needs to be done in the spirit and within the guidelines of the organisation. People behave in motivated ways when the work satisfies one of their needs.

People are motivated to do something when they are convinced that doing the job will satisfy one of their needs. Children, for example, are motivated to open birthday presents because doing so will make them feel happy and more comfortable, which is a psychological need. Also volunteer motivation comes from a certain psychological need or a set of needs of the volunteer; these needs are satisfied by doing things that are found to be productive.

When we talk about motivating volunteers, we are talking about creating a volunteer experience that allows a person to meet his or her motivational needs in ways that are productive for the organisation and satisfying for the individual. You remove barriers to motivation by designing satisfying work experiences and create systems that allow the volunteer to meet his or her needs.

In other words, you make sure that volunteers receive their motivational paycheck for the valuable contributions they make to the work of the organisation. This is the essence of volunteer retention.

Because each volunteer has a different combination of needs, each will do best in different working conditions. Some volunteers may be highly motivated by gaining job experience, whereas others may be highly motivated by the desire to meet new people. Still others may have a burning passion to do something to contribute to the cause.

Your approach could be further complicated by the fact that a volunteer’s needs may change over time. For example, a volunteer may work well on an independent project. It satisfies him or her to achieve something meaningful. Then his wife or her husband dies. Their need to be with others may suddenly become much more important than the need to achieve something meaningful. To satisfy this need and retain the volunteer, you might transfer him or her to a group project.

Volunteers have combinations of needs. The art of motivating volunteers not only lies in knowing how to tap a given motivator, but also in being able to figure out what combination of needs a particular volunteer has.

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Description

Goals

People who want to

People who want to

People who want to

achieve

belong

have power

These volunteers want

These volunteers want

These volunteers are

clear instructions, are

to be part of a family,

excellent and capable,

reliable, do a good job

are faithful and are

do a good job, are

and want to know

long-term volunteers.

self-confident and

their job and their

want responsibility and

benefits.

(public) recognition.

Success in a situation

Being with someone

Having an impact or

that requires excellent

else and enjoying

influence on others.

or improved perfor-

mutual friendship.

mance.

Characteristics

- concerned with excellence - want to do their personal best

- concerned with being liked and accepted - need warm and friendly relationships

- set moderate goals

- need interaction

- take calculated risks

- do not want to be

- take personal responsibility of finding

- concerned with reputation and position - give advice - want their ideas to be dominant - have strong feelings

seperated from other

about status and

people

prestige

solutions to problems

- like to work alone

- want to achieve

- forceful and outspo-

unique accomplish-

ken

ments - want concrete feedback Approach

Make sure that they

Must be placed in a

Need a job that makes

have the opportunity

work setting where

a meaningful contribu-

to learn the skills they

they can work with

tion to the organisati-

want to learn, that

others

on’s mission and that

they receive a clear

they can do by them-

job description and

selves.

clear tasks.

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Questionnaire You can scan the attitude of your organisation towards motivating volunteers by answering the following questionnaire.

What do you consider important for your volunteers? Do you totally agree with the next phrases, or not at all? Give a rate from 1 (unimportant; you do not agree at all) to 5 (very important; you agree very much), according to your opinion on how important things are for you. Write down your answer for the next 20 phrases.

1. A volunteer allowance must be given to volunteers who are doing a very good job.

2. Better task descriptions are a big help; they allow volunteers to know exactly what is being expected from them.

3. Volunteers should be pointed out that the stability of their function depends on the position towards other associations in their local community.

4. A chairperson must pay a lot of attention to the material circumstances his or her volunteers are working in.

5. A chairperson must try very hard to create a friendly atmosphere for the volunteers.

6. Individual recognition for a job that has been well done means a lot to volunteers.

7. An indifferent leadership is often the cause of negative feelings for the subordinates.

8. Volunteers like to have the feeling that their real abilities and capacities can be used within the organisation.

9. Extra benefits are an important means to bind volunteers to their association.

10. Almost any voluntary function can be made more stimulating and more challenging.

11. A lot of volunteers like to do the best they can for everything they take upon themselves.

12. The leadership can show more interest in the volunteers by organising recreation activities especially for them.

13. Pride about their own performances is a very important factor for volunteers.

14. As for the performance of their own task, volunteers like to see themselves as the best one for the job.

15. The quality of the relations amongst the leaders is very important.

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16. Individual benefits will improve the working quality of the volunteers.

17. Being appreciated by the chairperson is important to volunteers.

18. Volunteers like to plan their tasks for themselves and like to make decisions with as little supervision as possible.

19. It is important for a volunteer to be certain about a leadership function.

20. It is important for volunteers to have the necessary means at their disposal.

Now fill out the score you gave every phrase in this schedule:

Self-Realisation

Appreciation

Item number

Score

10

…

11

…

13

…

18

…

Total

…

Average

…

Item number

Score

6

…

8

…

14

…

17

…

Total

…

Average

…

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Volunteer Management

Social needs

Certainty/Security

Physiological needs

Item number

Score

5

…

7

…

12

…

15

…

Total

…

Average

…

Item number

Score

2

…

3

…

9

…

19

…

Total

…

Average

…

Item number

Score

1

…

4

…

16

…

20

…

Total

…

Average

…

Now you can evaluate how well you are doing concerning basic needs and higher needs that are important for motivation.

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Wheel of Fortune

A second method for discussing the topic in a group is the following word game.

You draw two big crosswords, write all words in it, except for the ones in grey. You cover all the letters. Divide the group into two smaller groups, and let every group ask for a letter. When a letter is asked, you uncover that letter everywhere it appears over the whole crossword. The group then gets the opportunities to guess one of the vertical words, which all have to do with motivation and engagement. There is time to discuss the meaning of every word. A group can guess as many words as they can find, and get one point for every word. When no words can be found anymore, the other group can start by asking a letter and so on.

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Volunteer Management

The Maslow scale of needs Place all the words you could find in the "wheel of Fortune", on the Maslow scale of needs. It has the form of a pyramid and is divided into five steps.

Self-realisation and personal growth Appreciation (respect and self-respect)

Social needs (love, affection, friendship, etc.)

Security needs (to feel safe, to have a shelter, etc.)

Physical needs (food, sleep, clothes, etc.)

The needs at the bottom of the pyramid are more basic then those on top. This means that they should always be fulfilled before even thinking of fulfilling higher needs. The lower half of the pyramid should be taken care of at all times (or otherwise there is a risk of de-motivation), and in order to motivate volunteers, you should try to make a lot of the upper half of the pyramid possible for your volunteers to experience in the organisation.

The pyramid shows how a volunteer will not enjoy the friendship that comes from being a volunteer in an organisation, if s/he is hungry when no-one has taken care of a meal for the volunteers‌

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Periodical questionnaire for your volunteers Discuss their rating of the relative importance of the following factors: Social factors: • to spend ‘quality time’ with members of the family by volunteering together; • to get out of the house; • to make new friends; • to be with old friends who volunteer here; • to feel useful; • to have fun; • to be part of a group or a team.

Factors of knowledge and know-how: • to gain knowledge of community problems; • to maintain skills no longer used otherwise; • to gain new skills; • to make business contacts; • to be part of a prestigious group; • to make a transition to a new life; • to try out a new career; • to meet a challenge; • to be in charge of something; • to gain work experience to help getting a job; • to meet important people in the community; • to gain status with your employer; • to get community recognition.

Service factors: • to pay back; • to assuage guilt; • to improve the community; • to work with a certain client group.

Idealistic factors: • to fulfil a moral or religious duty; • to help those less fortunate.

The mix of responses will give you a better feeling for why they want to volunteer and what you need to give them in return as their ‘motivational pay check’.

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How can you motivate a volunteer without spending money for this purpose? You can behave like their best friend; give him or her a massage ;-) or bring a breakfast on their bed…

2.3 What does the organisation have to offer?

We have seen what motivates different types of volunteers. Now the question is: What does the organisation have to offer? And: Does this match the expectations of the volunteers?

First of all, the organisation has to provide support for the volunteer. This can vary from the means to do the job (a computer, a room, necessary tools…) to finances and food and drinks if necessary.

Next to that, the organisation should have spirit. The atmosphere and the cause of the organisation should be motivating. The organisation should also show appreciation for its volunteers and for the jobs they are doing. You will read more about this in next section, “Recognition”.

The organisation also has to provide the necessary training (see 2.7), so that volunteers can do their jobs in the best of circumstances. We have a look at this aspect further on.

Finally, there also has to be involvement. The volunteer must feel involved in the organisation, so that s/he can feel responsible for their task towards the organisation. Here again, it is important to consider what type of volunteer one is to know how to involve a volunteer in the organisation.

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2.4 Recognition RECOGNITION Volunteer recognition is the process of rewarding and motivating those volunteers (longterm and short-term) who have contributed effectively to the organisation.

AWARDS Awards, these are things (small gifts, group photo’s…) or events (dinner, parties…) you give on a periodical base as recognition to volunteers, both in group and on a one-to-one base.

Awards are particularly useful in generating a sense of group involvement among volunteers who do not often have an opportunity to gather together.

REWARDS Rewards are the more intangible day-to-day activities of recognition and motivation that are given to volunteers, like simply saying “Thank you”, involving the volunteers in decisions that affect them... Rewards tend to be more effective long-run motivators of volunteers.

Recognition can begin quite early. A card of welcome sent to a new volunteer, or a small welcome party conveys an immediate sense of appreciation.

There are some recognition principles. First, deliver recognition and reward in an open and publicised way. If not made public, recognition loses much of its impact and defeats much of the purpose for which it provided. However, do not think that public recognition will substitute for private everyday personal thank you and respect. What happens 365 days a year has much more impact than what an annual recognition event.

Secondly, timing is crucial. Recognise contribution throughout a project. Reward contribution close to the time an achievement is realised. Time delays weaken the impact of most awards. An immediate thank you or great job is much more important than a proclamation six months later.

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Thirdly, adjust your recognition to the unique needs of the people involved. Have several recognition and reward options to enable managers to acknowledge accomplishment in ways appropriate to the given situation.

Fourthly, deliver recognition in a personal and honest manner. Avoid producing recognition that is too slick or overproduced. Small, personal indications of appreciation tend to be perceived as more sincere than formal pronouncements.

Fifthly, strive for a clear, unambiguous and well-communicated connection between accomplishments and rewards. Be sure people understand why they receive awards and the criteria used to determine awards. People must think that awards are fair and deserved.

Finally, recognise recognition. That is, recognise people who recognise others for doing what is best for the organisation. It is the job of everyone on the team to recognise and support excellence.

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2.5 Different ways of recognition When you think about recognition, take into account the different basic motivational needs. Here are some guidelines:

People who want to achieve: • Ideal result of recognition is additional training or more challenging tasks; • Subject for recognition is best linked to a very specific accomplishment; • Phrasing of recognition through Best and Most awards; • Recognition decision should include ‘Checkpoints’ or ‘Records’; • The co-workers should select the awards.

People who want to belong: • Recognition should be given at a group event; • Recognition should be given in presence of peers, family, other bonded groupings; • Recognition item or award should have a personal touch; • Recognition should be organisational in nature (given by the organisation); • Recognition should be voted by peers.

People who want to have power: • Key aspect of recognition is promotion, conveying greater access to authority or information; • Recognition should be commendation from ‘names’; • Recognition should be announced to community at large, put in newspaper; • The organisation’s leadership should make the recognition decisions.

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2.6 The Ten Commandments of recognition 1. Show recognition to your volunteers The need for recognition is very important to most people. If volunteers do not get recognition for productive participation, only bad things can happen. The least of these is that they will feel unappreciated and drop out.

2. Show recognition to the person, not to the work This is a subtle, but important distinction. If volunteers organise a fund-raising event, for example, and you praise the event without mentioning who organised it, the volunteers may feel some resentment. Make sure you connect the volunteer’s name to it.

3. Show recognition appropriately to the achievement Small accomplishments should be praised with low-effort methods; large accomplishments should get something more.

4. Show recognition honestly Do not give praise unless you mean it. If you praise substandard performance, the praise you give to others for good work will not be valued. If a volunteer is performing poorly, you might be able to give them honest recognition for their effort or for some personality trait.

5. Show recognition frequently Praise for work should come as soon as possible after the achievement. Do not save up your recognition for the annual banquet. If a volunteer has to wait months before hearing any word of praise, s/he may develop resentment for lack of praise in the meantime.

6. Show recognition in an individualised way Different people like different things. One might love to get football tickets; another might find them useless. Some volunteers like public recognition; others find it embarrassing. In order to provide effective recognition, you need to get to know your people and what they will respond to positively.

7. Show recognition consistently If two volunteers are responsible for similar achievements, they ought to get similar recognition. If one gets her picture in the lobby and another gets an approving nod, the latter may feel resentment. This does not mean that the recognition has to be exactly the same, but that it should be the result of similar effort on your part. Otherwise certain volunteers will come to be regarded as favourites, a stigma they may grow to dread.

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8. Show recognition through a variety of methods Fortunately, there are hundreds of methods. Recognition can be categorised into four major types: (1) from a person for the work the volunteer did; (2) from a person for being part of the organisation; (3) from the organisation for the work the volunteer did; and (4) from the organisation for being part of the team.

9. Show recognition for what you want more of Too often, your staff pays most attention to volunteers who are having difficulties.

Unfortunately, this may result in ignoring good performers.

10. If everything else fails, do things correctly The final answer to volunteer recognition is quite simple: operate a well-managed program. Volunteers, like the rest of us, tend to make rational decisions about the allocation of their time; they will strive to spend it in settings where they obtain value. This value may be the social aspects, the work objectives, the situational settings, or a combination of all of these. Programmes that enable volunteers to do good work, in a good setting, with good people are uniquely positioned to provide this sense of value and accomplishment.

Yzzu-Yzzu does not give recognition in public. The organisation treats everyone as equal when it comes to recognition. During and after an activity, Yzzu-Yzzu will never put one of the volunteers in the spotlight. What they do is trying to support and motivate the volunteers the whole day by recognising their abilities and telling them “you did this really good… It is nice of you to be here again… We really enjoy your enthusiasm and participation…”

Evergreen gives public recognition for positive contributions. Volunteers of the organisation get quite some freedom and responsibility in organisational matters, in how to run a project. For every project another volunteer is named project-developer, project-leader or project-executive. These titles point to the one in charge of the preparation and the external contacts, the one responsible on the field and the ones who run the project. After every activity, Evergreen gives its volunteers a public recognition for the work they did and they give a letter of recommendation after ending a project.

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2.7 Training

TRAINING Training is the process of instructing volunteers in the specific job-related skills and behaviour that they will need to perform their particular volunteer job. It is designed to tell the volunteer how s/he is supposed to perform their particular job, what s/he is not supposed to do in their job, and what to do if an emergency or unforeseen situation arises.

An effective training programme operates by identifying those skills, knowledge and behaviour which would be essential in good job performance, and then designing a training format which instructs the volunteer. It should be practical, experiential, and tailored to the individual needs of the volunteer. It is helpful for the trainer to involve both (other) staff and volunteers in designing and delivering the training. Training has to be provided to the volunteers when necessary.

The philosophy of Yzzu-Yzzu is that volunteers learn by doing, that they do not need training beforehand. This is because Yzzu-Yzzu is very much based on the enthusiasm and creativity of its staff and volunteers.

Yzzu-Yzzu asks quite fast concrete action of their volunteers. Since learning by doing is the vision of Yzzu-Yzzu, they try to do as much as possible as one group. Team building is quite important in the daily life of Yzzu-Yzzu volunteers.

After an evaluation, the staff suggests a training to the volunteer who needs to become better is a specific topic, or to get new knowledge on a certain topic.

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2.8 Demotivation It is very important to think and to feel the situations and moments when the volunteers can lose motivation and to ask these questions from time to time: How do you find out about demotivation? (What kinds of signals are there?) How can you react once you know about the problem? How can you solve the problem?

Make a role play game together with your volunteers. The setting is this: one of the players is a de-motivated volunteer, the other persons are other volunteers or staff of the organisation. Before playing, you ask yourselves the questions mentioned above, and you try to show the answers in the game. The group has to ‘discover’ and solve the problem. For inspiration, you can ask yourselves the next questions: Why are you (still) in your organisation? What are you complaining about? Why are volunteers in your organisation or why would they be?

Let the volunteer make a picture, in which the colours s/he uses represent their feelings towards the work, the spirit, and the atmosphere in the organisation. Then you can discuss the painting and the use of colours with the volunteer. You can extend this exercise by letting the volunteer make a second picture, this time not describing the situation as it is, but what the volunteer would want it to be like.

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3 Retaining volunteers Retaining volunteers is - needless to say - essential! It does not make any sense to recruit more and more volunteers if nobody is willing to stay‌ So this is very important: You should work on retaining a volunteer from the very first moment a volunteer starts working for you. It is too late to think about retaining once a volunteer leaves! It is an ongoing effort and involves a lot more than ‘peptalk’.

3.1 Why do people leave?

In order to retain, it might be useful to check out what makes people want to stop volunteering for an organisation. Ask yourself: Why did volunteers want to leave your organisation in the past?

When volunteers leave because they have problems within the organisation, this is usually because there is no motivation left. Look back to the chapter of motivation and change something.

When volunteers leave because they have problems outside the organisation, that is usually because of a lack of time caused by work, family or children, because of they having moved to another place, because they being involved in other activities, etc.

3.2 Spot the problems Be aware of existing problems. It is useful to know why volunteers have left your organisation, but when you face the loss of a volunteer, it is already too late to do anything about it. You should have spotted the problem earlier and anticipated. You should keep track of your volunteer, especially in the first six months. It is the only way to ensure your volunteer will stay for a long time.

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Here are some methods to spot problems. In the previous chapter, we have already mentioned motivation tests, which can also be applied for this purpose. Instead of these tests, you could of course just have an evaluation conversation with the volunteer (open communication). The volunteer could also, for instance, keep an (organisation) diary in which s/he writes down how s/he feels about the work, the organisation, … Or you could create a barometer; the volunteer can draw on a big piece of paper on the wall how s/he feels every day by drawing a smiling face, or an angry face, etc. Instead of faces, the volunteer could use certain colours to express their feeling. Finally, you could participate yourself as a volunteer in an activity you do not know very well, and let the volunteers teach you something, so you have an idea what it is like to be a volunteer for your organisation.

3.3 What you can do in case of a problem?

It is of course very hard to do anything about the problems volunteers have outside of the organisation, so we will focus mostly on what you can do about the problems within the organisation.

In any case, you should never forget the obvious. Make sure that:

•

the volunteer has enough to do (keep a good balance);

•

the volunteer has enough interesting work;

•

the work suits the volunteer’s profile (see section 2.2 “Motivation” of this manual);

•

the volunteer has responsibilities that suit the volunteer;

•

the volunteer gets the respect s/he deserves;

•

you communicate with the volunteer(s) on an equal level;

•

you involve the volunteer in the planning of the activities;

•

you give the volunteer enough possibilities to get extra training;

•

you facilitate the work of the volunteer (give him or her enough materials, infrastructure, etc.).

But there is more:

•

Adjust the work of the volunteer as much as possible on the basis of regular evaluation moments in order to keep the work meaningful and diverse;

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•

Work actively on recognition of the volunteer: give him or her suitable rewards and signs of appreciation (see section 2.3.1 “Recognition” of this manual). Do not overdo it either! It is better to give recognition at the right time than always giving the volunteer a pat on the back. Team efforts should be rewarded with equal credit to all team members.

•

Invest in group dynamics. People want to feel that they belong:

•

Try to turn the group of volunteers into a close group of friends. You can achieve this by doing things such as (dinner) parties with all the volunteers together, group activities, etc.

•

If the volunteer works alone, then you can still try to make the volunteer feel that he or she belongs to a bigger structure (the organisation): involve him or her in parties of the staff, involve him or her in the planning, in the decision making, …

•

Work on training. Help the volunteers to learn new skills that will be useful to them later on in life (professionally, emotionally…). This helps also to prevent them from getting bored.

•

If the volunteer is no longer committed to the cause, try to re-orientate the volunteer.

Make him or her at least understand why other paths are taken within the organisation, other goals are formulated, etc.

•

Respect the volunteer. Give him or her a place within the organisation; consult the volunteer when making decisions, give him or her a voice, do not exclude him or her from (staff) meetings, etc.

Not every organisation has one particular person to take care of the volunteers (professionally or not). When this is the case - so, when there are only volunteers- retaining is also a matter of volunteers consulting one another, and keeping the team spirit alive among themselves.

If you succeed in solving the problems within your organisation, then there is also a small chance that volunteers with problems outside the organisation, will not stop volunteering either.

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4 Conclusion It is very hard to define the identity of a volunteer. Volunteers come from different age groups, sexes, educational backgrounds, social classes, etc. It is fair to say that almost everyone can be considered as a potential volunteer. Volunteers get involved for very different reasons. It depends on the individual, the organisation, the preferred cause, etc. There is no such thing as ‘the’ volunteer.

As you may have noticed when reading this manual, a volunteer management programme requires the same type of (managerial) effort as any other programme. It requires the same basic steps in programme development and design. When people are not familiar and/or comfortable with the concept of voluntary work, for instance, in Bulgaria, other additional steps should be taken.

Implementing a good volunteer management requires careful planning and a systematic approach. Only then will your volunteer management truly pay off. If you go about it showing little sense of reality, you are only headed for trouble.

Those people responsible for volunteers must be aware of the fact that they will have to devote some of their own time to managing the volunteers, getting to know them, learning to get along with them. They must be available to the volunteer as much as possible.

Do not forget: satisfied and enthusiastic volunteers contribute to a positive image of your organisation. So, taking care of them is not only essential, it is also extremely valuable!

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Participants training “Volunteer Management 2002” In september 2002, … young people met in Lódz, Poland for a training course “Volunteer Management”. The preparation and the outcome of this training, has been used as the fundament for this manual. Herewith you will find the contact information of the several organisations and the names of the participants. Under the Polish partner you will find a group of international EVS-Volunteers., they were in Poland and participated in the training.

Poland Participants

Organisation Semper Avanti Agnieszka PAWLIK

EVS volunteers from across Europe

Pl. Sw. Macieja 5/II,

Floriana Zucca, Wroclaw, ITALY

50-244 Wroclaw

Christina Unterberger, Graz, AUSTRIA

POLAND

Kerstin Hinrichsen, Darmstadt, GERMANY

0048 71 7928679 semper.avanti@wp.pl

Participants from Poland

www. avanti.org.pl

Dorota Filipczak, Wroclaw Magdalena Jakubowska, Wroclaw Dominik Jakubowski, Dlugoleka Krzysztof Stachnik, Bystrzyca Klodzka Hania Sikovska, Trzebnica Waldemar Pawlik, Dlugoleka

Richard Southwood, UK (external expert)

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Serbia and Montenegro Organisation Center for development of Non Profit Sector - Volunteer Center Belgrade Jelena PAVLOVIC 2 Maj Jovina 34, 1100 Belgrade

Participants

SERBIA and MONTENEGRO 00381 3283 306

Cecilija Dujin, Novi Becej

00381 3283 308

Grupa Paad, Novi Becej

00381 3283 309

Suzana Jovanovic, Knjazevac

info@crnps.org.yu

Ruzica Dabic, Uzice

Macedonia Contact via Semper avanti

Participants

Agnieszka PAWLIK

Boran Ivanoski, Tetovo

Pl. Sw. Macieja 5/II,

Sreten Koceski, Tetovo

50-244 Wroclaw

Dimce Josifovski, Tetovo

POLAND 0048 71 7928679 semper.avanti@wp.pl www. avanti.org.pl

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Belgium Organisations

Participants

VVKSM - Scouts and Guides

Celine Debisschop, Gent

Pieter WILLEMS

Lien Deblaere, Wervik

Lange Kievitstraat 74

Helena Coelmont, Brussel

2018 Antwerpen

Pieter Willems, Hasselt

BELGIUM

Westhovens Laurent, Maasmechelen

0032 3 231 16 20

Alina Vernaeve, Oostakker

internationaal@vvksm.be www.vvksm.be

MJA and VFGJ Maarten LEYTES Sint Jansstraat 32 - 38 1000 Brussel BELGIUM 0032 2 515 02 50 helena.coelmont@socmut.be www.mja.be

Bulgaria Contact organisation

Participants

National Social Rehabilitation Center

Lina Stamenkova, Sofia

Lina STAMENKOVA

Tzvetan Anguelov, Vrubnitza

Str. Hristo Belchev 21,

Denita Bogoeva, Dorvenitsa

Sofia 1000

Yordanka Ivanova, Pomorie

BULGARIA 0035 929200269 lina_stamenkova@yahoo.com sbsc@omega.com

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Bosnia and Herzegovina Contact organisation

Participants

Odred Izvidaca „Neretva� Konjic

Turic Nerma, Konjic

Mirza ROZAJAC

Mirza Rozajac, Konjic

Omlandinska 4,

Alen Comor, Sarajevo

88400 Konjic

Irfan Polimac, Sarajevo

BiH 0038736 730 040 m_rozajac@hotmail.com

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Colophon Author Lima STAMENKOVA, Bulgaria, sbcs@omega.bg

Co-authors VVKSM, Pieter WILLEMS, Belgium, pieter_willems@pandora.be CDNPS, Jelena PAVLOVIC, Serbia and Montenegro, VFGJ, Stephanie BEAVIS, Belgium, stephanie.beavis@pandora.be Balkanactie, Celine DEBISSCHOP, Belgium, debisschopceline@hotmail.com MJA, Helena COULMONT, Belgium, helena.coulmont@mja.be

Editor Kris Bylemans, Belgium, krisbylemans@mail.com

Interior and Cover Design Vierkant Grafisch, Greta and Roger VANDE WIELE, Belgium, rogervdw@pi.be

Logo Design JINT vzw, Jocelyn GAUTAMA, Belgium, jgautama@jint.be

Production JINT vzw, Koen BASTIAENS, Belgium, kbastiaens@jint.be

CopyrightŠ 2003, emPOWERment commissie Any part of this manual may be used and reproduced with proper bibliographical reference to this publication.

ISBN: 90-806756-4-4 Wettelijk depot: D/2003/9410/3

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