12 Steps to Building an Engaged Volunteer Base (Part 1)
If you missed the introduction, be sure to catch up here.
So let’s get down to it. How do you actually build out a set of volunteers that care and dedicate their time?
1. Spend some time planning out your next 3, 6 and 12 months
This requires time and thought, but absolutely pays off in the end. Think about your organization’s purpose, mission and core values. Not sure where to begin? Check out Start Building Your Nonprofit’s Culture and Branding for Nonprofits Sneak Peak.
Consider what your priorities are in both the short term and long term and what you could do to reach those goals sooner.
What would advance your organization at a fast, but healthy pace? What would slow you down or interfere with your mission?
Start outlining key ideas in a value effort chart to figure out what you should move forward. A value effort chart lets you see both the amount of effort it will take to complete something as well as the amount of value it will provide to your organization. By laying this out in a value effort chart, it is clear to see with what ideas you should move forward.
2. Determine what projects need outside help
As part of this planning, most ideas will turn into projects, many of which will need outside assistance. Instead of trying to find a few volunteers for each project, really dig into what you need. Maybe out of the three new projects, it really only makes sense to find volunteers for one of them, and that’s ok. Don’t force volunteers into a project where you do not need their support.
For the Make a Mark Advisory Board, I outlined what part of the organization I needed assistance with and that ended up being just the marathon. This created focus for the Advisory Board and allowed me to continue to test the viability of the organization’s other projects.
Really thinking about what projects need outside help advanced the organization faster. We often get bogged down by thinking that everyone needs to give input in each facet of our organization. This doesn’t always need to be the case. Figure out where people fit the best and utilize their skills there.
3. Define a project’s scope
An idea for a project is just an idea until you start executing. Creating a scope for a project provides you and others in the organization with a sense of clarity. This doesn’t need to be too detailed yet. As part of scoping, you need to redefine at least these three key components.
- Purpose of the project (with the mission of the organization in mind)
- Resources for the projects (people, money, tools, etc.)
- Objectives of the project
Start with one Winning Move and define its purpose. Say you are expanding the reach of your backpack program to feed needy students over the weekend. What is the purpose of this Winning Move? Maybe you want to reach 5 new schools and feed more children in need.
What resources do you need to meet your purpose? You might need more volunteers, more donations and maybe even a new staff member. Make sure you identify everything that you might initially need. This will help you in step 4.
Also, what are some of your objectives or the steps that you need to take to meet your purpose? Maybe you need to hold an interest session for volunteers. Maybe you need to hold a fundraiser. Identify ways you can hit your Winning Move with purpose.
4. Get buy-in from others
In many organizations, you will have other staff members to run ideas by for potential projects. Getting buy-in from those people are crucial to the success of a nonprofit. In any business, it is essential that everyone running the company is aligned on key initiatives and where time is spent. This is no different with a nonprofit. One way to show this is by defining the scope of the project and showing how it fits with the organization’s overall mission. Make sure you present this in a way that is welcoming feedback so stakeholders feel like they have input.
5. Connect with the right volunteers
Chances are you probably already have volunteers, but you just have trouble finding the best place for them and/or keeping them engaged. Many times, the right volunteers bubble to the surface, you just need to watch closely.
In the case of both the Make a Mark Advisory Board and the Nonprofit Roundtable, everyone that became involved was a clear choice for two reasons.
- These people were compelled by the organization and excited by it.
- These people had skills to share that fit the organization.
In some cases, volunteers came forward to share interest. However, in many cases, I had to ask people to get involved. In all cases, if the answer was an enthusiastic ‘yes’ then we moved forward, if it was a lukewarm ‘maybe’ then we continued to have conversations but did not formalize anything. Not to say that a lukewarm ‘maybe’ can’t transform into an enthusiastic ‘yes’ but it is certainly a more difficult journey.
Lots of times volunteers aren’t as easy to come by and that is when looking to local high schools, colleges and partner organizations.
The biggest mistake that I have seen in a nonprofit is simply inviting someone from an organization without vetting an organization for the right person.
Make sure you meet for coffee or at least chat over the phone to make sure that person’s goals and passions match up with the organization’s mission.
The key to connect with volunteers is through something I’ve been working on called Skill Mapping. This is identifying a person, identifying a need and connecting them via their skills. This sounds obvious, but can be difficult in execution unless you set aside some time to make it work.
As you can see in the image below, it doesn’t go one way from person to skill to need or from need to skill to person. It also doesn’t jump just from person to need. The skill is the connector in this framework and crucial for success.
6. Communicate expectations
When you meet with volunteers for a project, make sure to communicate the expectations of those involved in the project. This doesn’t mean setting rules and timelines at this point in the game, that will come later. This just means explaining the scope of the project to them so they can see where they fit. It is also a smart move to supply training and resources where volunteers need them so they feel confident and empowered.
A great resource to consider is creating an onboarding kit. This could be something as simple as a folder with some raw data about your organization, success stories or anything that you want your volunteers to know.
Check in next week for the final installment of this series.
For more info, subscribe to the newsletter or send an email to me at hello@letsmakeamark.org.
