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Service Events
Relevant effective practices for: National Volunteer Week
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Click  next to each title below to view the abstract.
Click on a title link to read the effective practice in full.
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Planning for National Volunteer Week: 20 tips
National Volunteer Week is held annually to acknowledge the contributions of
individuals and organizations. Make the most of this experience by not only formally
thanking volunteers with President’s Volunteer Service and Daily Points of Light
Awards, but involving local and governmental dignitaries in formal recognition
events. This effective practice highlights steps to take for a fulfilling week for
volunteers and programs. To help with planning, a link to the Points of Light
National Volunteer Week toolkit is provided.
Read more.
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Promoting National Volunteer Week
Increase public awareness of the benefits of volunteering, and attract attention to
celebrations during National Volunteer Week. The purpose of the Week is twofold: to
thank volunteers, and to encourage volunteering by making it more visible to the
general public. The designation of National Volunteer Week as a special time of
recognition provides a ready-made publicity vehicle to accomplish both. A link to
the guide, Publicity! How You Can Publicize Volunteerism and National Volunteer Week
in Your Community is included.
Read more.
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Matching the right volunteer with the right assignment
Volunteers may feel underutilized or unsatisfied with their assignment if the scope
of their volunteer work doesn't match their skills and/or interests. Matching the
right volunteer with the right position will result in satisfied, more productive
volunteers. This practice shares ideas for matching volunteers with the right
assignment. Excerpted from Seniors for Habitat Effective Practices Manual, May 2001.
Read more.
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Conducting value-based volunteer training
Conducting volunteer training that both shares information and skills, and develops
a quality relationship with the volunteer manager and between volunteers, is an
important aspect of value-based management. This effective practice, excerpted from
materials written by the Shanti National Training Institute, presents simple,
practical ways to conduct value-based volunteer training, and was shared by the
National Service Leadership Institute at the 2002 National Senior Service Corps
Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2002. Read more.
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Exploring ways volunteer managers can use value-based leadership
A volunteer's experience is influenced in critical ways by his or her relationship
with the volunteer manager. Volunteer retention and quality of service to clients
are enhanced when the volunteer manager treats volunteers as valued assets.
Volunteer management based on value-based principles increases the likelihood of
longevity of service, even when things become difficult or challenging. This
effective practice, outlining simple ways to recognize the value of volunteers, is
excerpted from materials written by the Shanti National Training Institute and
distributed by the National Service Leadership Institute at the 2002 National Senior
Service Corps Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2002. Read more.
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Preventing volunteer burnout
Volunteers leave for many reasons, including burnout. Sometimes the causes of
burnout are within the volunteer and sometimes they are found within the service
organization. There are several steps organizations can take to help volunteers
avoid burning out, leaving and feeling terrible about it. This effective practice
is from Nan Hawthorne, editor-in-chief of Volunteer Management Review and founder
of CyberVPM online forum. Read more.
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Keeping volunteers motivated by maintaining positive communication
Good communication with volunteers is essential to helping them stay enthusiastic
and inspired and should begin from the first moment of contact with a volunteer.
The deeper the connection you can develop, the more engaged your volunteers will
be during the assignment, and the greater the potential for future volunteer
support. This effective practice was shared by Lori Jean Mantooth of Hands On
Network in fall of 2006. Read more.
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Engaging staff in reducing the volunteer attrition rate
Staff can aid the volunteer program manager in reducing the turnover of volunteers.
Positive communication, recognition, important tasks, and a "thank you" now and
again can contribute to keeping volunteers. But first, staff members have to believe
that a high attrition rate is costly to the organization. This effective practice
from Nancy Macduff provides a way to calculate the cost of getting each volunteer
as a way to motivate staff. Adapted with permission from VolunteerToday.com,
August 2002. Read more.
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Developing a survey to assess volunteer satisfaction
Assessing volunteer satisfaction is an important, yet difficult task. The RSVP of Montgomery County (PA), Inc. has developed a survey to measure issues of concern and areas of improvement important to volunteers. The survey, which is provided, was developed using ideas from NSSCTalk e-mail discussion list members. Linda Millison, Executive Director of RSVP of Montgomery County (PA), Inc. submitted this effective practice in February 2002. Read more.
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Developing a volunteer program
"Best Practices for Developing a Volunteer Program" was designed to provide Maryland's community-based organizations with an orientation to the fundamental components of implementing a volunteer program. The manual provides an outline of how others have successfully implemented their programs. Prepared by the Best Practices Subcommittee of the Maryland Advisory Committee on Volunteerism, which is a standing committee of the Governor's Commission on Service and Volunteerism, these experienced practitioners from the volunteer management field produced the publication as a way to share what they have learned. Read more.
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