Find the answers to your questions about volunteer mobilization. Select the topic you need information about from this list of curated volunteer development resources.
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- Readiness Roadmap (The Nonprofit Collaborative): Access surveys, worksheets and guides on this extensive website to help you assess organizational and project readiness for skills-based volunteers, along with other topics that are meant to build capacity in nonprofits around volunteer programming and support.
- The Value of Volunteers (Coyote Communications)
Read about the REAL value volunteers bring to your organization. This resource includes some helpful points to consider when crafting volunteer position descriptions. - Position Description Template and Sample (PDF)
Use this volunteer position description template and sample position description as a starting point for crafting positions that appeal to potential volunteers.
- VolunteerMatch
Post your available volunteer opportunities on VolunteerMatch, which also has free resources such as advice from those who have successfully recruited volunteers, as well as free live and recorded webinars on it’s Learning Center. - Websites Where You Can List Volunteer Opportunities (Energize, Inc.)
Consult this expansive list of websites that offer a place to post your volunteer opportunities.
- Nonprofit Risk management Center’s List of what to include in a Volunteer handbook
- Sample Volunteer Program Policies and Procedures from the National Wildlife Federation
Use these examples to enhance or develop your own set of policies and procedures for your program volunteers. - Volunteers: The Heart and Soul of Your Nonprofit (First Nonprofit Foundation) Access a list of ways nonprofit board members can make an organization conductive and supportive to volunteers including integrating volunteers into planning, risk management, staff relations, and organizational philosophy and mission.
- Managing Volunteers: Balancing Risk and Reward (Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance)
Explore the role of risk and liability in volunteer recruitment, screening and selection, as well as training, supervision and discipline of volunteers.This document also gives a brief explanation of volunteer liability and types of coverage available. - Nonprofit Risk Management Center
Risk management information to inform your policies and practices for coping with uncertainty and risk associated with volunteers at your organization.
- Virtual Volunteering Resources (Serviceleader.org)
Search this extensive collection of information on virtual volunteerism, including resources on developing virtual volunteer programs and supervising volunteers at a distance. - Myths About Online Volunteering
Better understand the realities of virtual volunteering so that you can expand your potential volunteer pool to include those who prefer to volunteer from a distance
- Using Social Media to Engage, Inform and Recruit (NTEN)
Read this brief article for an overview of how to engage supporters of your organization through social media. Learn more about using social media at your nonprofit from the Nonprofit Technology Network. - Recruiting on Pinterest
Take a look at this Pinterest board dedicated to volunteer recruitment ideas.
- Overview of Volunteer Supervision (Community Tool Box)
Review what volunteer supervision is, why it is important, and a helpful list of best practices for volunteer supervision. - Identifying and Learning from Exemplary Volunteer Resource Managers: A Look at Best Practices in Managing Volunteer Resources (Digital Commons at University of Nebraska)
Identify best practices for improving volunteer organizational commitment and increasing volunteer satisfaction. - Strategic Volunteer Engagement: A Guide for Nonprofit and Public Sector Leaders (RGK Center for Philanthropy & Community Service)
Become familiar with a strategic framework for engaging volunteers in the mission-critical work of organizations.
- LinkedIn Discussion Groups for Volunteer Managers
Join a LinkedIn discussion groups for volunteer-management professionals. Search for the groups Volunteer AL!VE, Volunteer Coordinators, Volunteer Management Group, and Volunteer Management Best Practices Network to see what people are talking about and to join the conversation. - Energize, Inc.’s list of blogs/microblogs on volunteer leadership
Keep up with the latest blog posts from some of the leaders in the volunteer world.
- Energize, Inc.
Visit this trusted site for volunteer management resources covering many aspects of volunteer programming on an international scale. You can search a vast collection of articles by skill area, volunteer types and volunteer setting in the Volunteer Management Resource Library. - Idealist.org’s Volunteer Management Resource Center
- Find information on volunteer management research, best practices, tools, and ideas in the field.
- National Service Knowledge Network
Search this repository, developed specifically for people involved with national service programs, for training tools, publications, and effective practices to support volunteer programs and nonprofit organizations.