Volunteer Recruitment and Management for AmeriCorps Members

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Volunteer Recruitment and Management for
AmeriCorps Members
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Volunteer and Work-Study Management Process

• Talk to Your Site Director
• Planning and Position Descriptions
• Recruiting
• Work-Study Students
• Orientation and Training
• Supervision and Evaluation
• Tracking Outcomes
• Recognition

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Talk to Your Site Director
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What Volunteers Do You Need?

• Talk to your site director about how your site
  handles volunteer recruitment and management and
  what role you are expected to take.
• What will your role be? Depends on how your site
  currently handles volunteers.

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Get Trained by Site Director

• Ask site director what documents there are
  pertaining to volunteer management such as
  written policies, application, background check
  release form, interview, evaluation, etc.
• Become familiar with all policies / procedures
  already in place.

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Planning and Position Descriptions
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Creating Positions

• Ask the site director what roles volunteers
  currently fill.
• Ask if there are holes where volunteers could
  step in something that isnt getting done or
  that someone wants to hand off.
• Consider creating highly skilled volunteer
  positions (fundraising, accounting, web design).
  Some of these may be virtual positions.

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Setting Goals

• What do you hope to gain for the program and
  program participants? What are your goals for the
  volunteers?
• Sample goals
• Enable professionals and students from various
  fields to use their skills to serve and find more
  balance and meaning in what they do.
• Develop individuals who volunteer in the program
  by assisting their growth in computer skills,
  teaching skills, leadership skills and spiritual
  growth.
• Create a community of people to assist each other
  in finding balance, healing, their callings and
  God.
• Assist racial reconciliation by partnering with
  suburban and urban churches of different cultures
  races.

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Costs of Volunteers

• They will require time and supervision.
• If they are local volunteers, do you have
  somewhere for them to work?
• Will they need other things from you
  (orientation, supplies, materials)?

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Designing Positions

• Writing position descriptions
• Serves as an objective tool to measure
  performance.
• Ensures that all tasks are being done.
• Provides volunteers with a clear idea of whats
  expected and what needs to be done.
• Includes
• duties, qualifications, and expectations
• your organizations mission
• Time commitment / schedule
• Special equipment needed
• Benefits (probably intangible)

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Designing Positions

• See list of position descriptions in the toolkit,
  including
• Administrative Assistant, After-school Assistant,
  Tutor/Teacher, Music Teacher, Special Needs, Tech
  Assistant, Homework Center Techie, Computer
  Repair Expert, Web Design / Maintenance,
  Grant-Writer, Accountant
• Get approval from site director

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Recruiting
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Recruiting

• Asking people to volunteer is offering a gift.
• Its easy to feel like were begging people to
  sacrifice.
• Were inviting people to the privilege of loving
  others.
• Offer volunteers meaningful involvement.
• Potential to bring about community change, share
  special skills and talents, cultivate personal
  leadership. A reciprocal meeting of personal and
  community needs.

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Where to Recruit

• What networks does the site already take
  advantage of to recruit? How could you better
  utilize those or find new ones?
• Ideas for networks to take advantage of.
• See Toolkit for more ideas.

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Other Places to Recruit
Other Recruitment
Online
Flyer around town
Organizational Newsletter
Flyers to college group
Email to College group
College group meeting
Posting on Bulletin board
Word of Mouth
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How to Post Online

• Go to ivolunteering.org
• Create a volunteer account.
• Create an organizational account.
• Post your volunteer opportunities.

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Work-Study Students
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What is Work-Study?

• As part of their financial aid packet, college
  students can earn a certain amount of money by
  working.
• Most of this money is earned through on-campus
  jobs, but the US Department of Education requires
  that 7 of all work-study funds go to jobs
  serving in community and faith-based
  organizations.
• Schools pay up to 75 of the cost of these
  positions with sites paying as little as 25.
• More info in work-study toolkit.

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Advantages of Work-Study

• While the service site pays very little money,
  the student perceives the position as a job.
• For very little you get the commitment of a paid
  staff person!
• Work-study can be earned at a faith-based
  organization as long as the student is not being
  paid to engage in faith activities (leading
  prayer, teaching Bible, etc.)
• You cant hire work-study students based on
  faith. However, you may target your recruiting to
  faith-based groups.

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Placing Work-Study Student

• Have the student find out (from the financial aid
  office) if they definitely qualify for work
  study.
• Interview candidate.
• Get pay rate from college and confirm with
  program / site director.
• The school will pay a percentage of the students
  pay (usually between 50-75) and the program /
  site will be required to pay the rest. The school
  will also want to approve the pay rate, although
  the site has some flexibility with what they want
  to pay.

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Placing Work-Study Student

• Inform Director of Operations about work study
  hires.
• Fill out required paperwork to register with
  school its different for each school.
• Fill out paperwork for position. Both the site
  and the student will need to fill this out.
• The service site director will need to make sure
  that the student fills out timesheets. She will
  sign them and fax them to the college. Confirm
  that this happens.
• The school will pay the student and bill the site
  for the portion of the students wages.

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Orientation and Training
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Placement

• A volunteer has expressed interest now what?
• Follow up immediately get them involved before
  they forget about it.
• Set up interview.
• Run background checks if necessary.
• First day Orientation
• Welcome volunteer!
• Tour the building and introduce volunteer to
  people.
• Review volunteer position description.
• Have volunteer go through volunteer orientation
  webcast.
• Provide orientation and training at your program
  / site.

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Orientation Template

• Volunteer Orientation Webcast
• Located at www.ivolunteering.org/training.jsp
  under volunteers.
• You can also find a faith version at
  www.christianvolunteering.org.
• Orientation at your program / site
• Find a template at www.ivolunteering.org/training.
  jsp. Click customizable PowerPoint.
• Outline for orientation at your program / site
• Checklist for first day
• Cross-cultural training
• Benefits of volunteers
• Thoughts on approaching volunteering
• Recommended resources

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Other Elements of Orientation

• Organization history and mission
• Philosophy of ministry
• Programs and services
• Organizational structure
• Rules (how to interact with clients and staff,
  confidentiality, emergency policies, etc.)
• Typical day at the organization
• Basic information (where to park, hours open)
• Time to sign application, confidentiality
  agreement, background check agreement, other
  forms
• Training in specific skills needed
• For teachers or tutors training on how to teach

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Follow up

• Over time, send them to relevant trainings.
• Keep examples and past lessons learned on hand.

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Supervision and Evaluation
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Supervision is Support

• Identify and communicate the volunteers direct
  supervisor and chain of command.
• Set up regular times to talk.
• Address any reservations they have.
• Be a support if they are unsure of themselves or
  have questions.
• Let them know that they are furthering the
  mission.

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Remember Relationships

• Relationships between staff and volunteers.
• Treat volunteers as part of the family whenever
  possible occasionally invite them to a casual
  social event.
• Notice if there is a clash between staff and
  volunteers and make sure it gets resolved.

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Avoid Burnout

• Give feedback.
• If problems arise, address them immediately!
• Volunteers can be fired.

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Volunteer Feedback Evaluation

• Provide form to get feedback from volunteers and
  work-study students each semester on
• What went well?
• What could be improved?
• Additional support they might need from staff?
• Do they want to continue next semester/year?
• Total number of hours worked?
• See sample in toolkit

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Tracking Outcomes
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Tracking Outcomes

• You need to track how many volunteers serve and
  how many hours they serve at your site
• Keep a volunteer sign-in sheet/timesheet
• This includes all volunteers that you recruited,
  placed, trained, or managed.
• Make sure that you have this information broken
  down by month. The TMC Program Director will give
  you a template for recording this information.

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Recognition
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Recognition

• Praise volunteer motivators
• Thank yous
• Small gifts
• Public recognition
• Affiliation volunteer motivators
• Name badges
• T-shirts
• Say we us
• Accomplishment volunteer motivators
• Certificates
• Concrete projects
• Power/Influence volunteer motivators
• Leadership roles
• Titles
• Photos with Executive
• Year-end awards

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Presidents Volunteer Service Award

• The Presidents Council on Service and Civic
  Participation
• www.presidentialserviceawards.gov
• Volunteers earn awards based on the number of
  hours they serve in a 12 month period.

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Summary

• Hopefully you have some new ideas on volunteer
  management!
• Dont forget to look at the toolkit and appendix.
• www.christianvolunteering.org/tmctraining.jsp

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Appendix Other resources

• www.nationalserviceresources.org
• http//www.charityvillage.com/cv/research/rvol.htm
  l
• http//www.energizeinc.com/
• Leadership and Management of Volunteer Programs
  James C. Fisher
• Volunteers for Today's Church How to Recruit and
  Retain Workers Dennis E. Willams
• www.christianvolunteering.org/training.jsp

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Appendix Urbanministry.org

• UrbanMinistry.org contains a wealth of
  information.
• Click here for talks on Youth ministry.
• Click here for Poverty 101.
• Click here for Tech in Urban Ministry 101.
• Go to www.urbanministry.org for more.
• For a faith-free equivalent to this site, go to
  www.urbanresource.net.