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Useful links

Volunteer management

Volunteer Management Plan Workbook
Volunteer Management Survey: The Volunteer Recruitment & Retention Project
Managing Volunteers
 Supervising Volunteers
 Sample Volunteer Program Procedural Manual
 Volunteer Courses through NTIS
 Top Complaints of Volunteers

Sport and Receation Victoria (www.sport.vic.gov.au) is offering a Volunteer Management Plan Workbook to assist sport and recreation clubs and associations initiate a strategic approach to recruiting ad retaining volunteers. The workbook has been developed and tested in a number of organisations at State and local level.

Acrobat PDF format - Volunteer Management Plan Workbook including print-and-use templates

MS Word 97 format - Volunteer Management Plan Workbook including ready-to-use templates

Volunteer Management Survey: The Volunteer Recruitment & Retention Project

Sykes-Humphreys & Associates, in partnership with Sport and Recreation Victoria, conducted a survey in 2000 that identified a number of ways to improve participation of volunteers in sport and recreation organisations:

  1. Clear understanding of roles and responsibilities within the organisation - including volunteers
  2. Equipping volunteers with the necessary skills and resources to comfortably undertake what was expected of them
  3. Recognition and reward fro volunteer effort
  4. Clear understanding of legal responsibilities of volunteers and steps taken to minimise personal liability
  5. Understanding how the culture of an organisation affects the commitment and retention of volunteers
  6. Clear understanding of the goals and activities sought to achieve the organisation's "vision"
  7. Clear communication of these strategies to the volunteers
  8. Up-to-date databases of memberships and volunteer helpers
  9. A commitment by the organisation to continually develop and improve its volunteer management processes

Managing Volunteers

When managing a team of volunteers it is useful to consider the following:

  1. Each volunteer ought to have a written detailed job description before commencing with your club or organisation
  2. Each volunteer ought to have a written contract/agreement regarding the work he/she will do
  3. Each volunteer ought attend a Volunteer skills training session before commencing specific duties for your club or organisation
  4. Don't assume the volunteer is aware of his/her Rights and responsibilities. Discuss with each volunteer their Rights and Responsibilities, along with the responsibilities that you as their coordinator have to them. It may be useful to include this information in writing as part of their job description and agreement package
  5. Each volunteer ought to receive an orientation on your club or organisation in general, and on their project area in particular
  6. As part of an induction into your club or organisation each volunteer ought to be aware of training options and ongoing support available to them
  7. Ask each volunteer for written and/or verbal feedback, in order for you to support and, if necessary, modify your management infrastructure/procedure policies
  8. It would be advisable to have an ongoing structured, formal planning/training for your volunteers, so that they can feel comfortable in their work areas. This can include an action plan with timelines eg: a forward planning diary/calendar
  9. Work on building your volunteer team into a strong, cohesive unit, capable of flexibility and adaptability as the situation changes - encourage input from your volunteers regarding their needs and concerns
  10. Utilise the areas of strengths your volunteers present and focus on re-training the areas of weakness.

Ideas for Supervising Volunteers

The following links go through to the Energize volunteer management website:

Volunteers in all settings

Volunteers working with Children

Volunteers working with People with Disabilities

Volunteers with Mental Illness

Sample Volunteer Program Procedural Manual

For this and lots of other volunteer management ideas, have a look at CyberVPM.com. You can find the Sample Volunteer Program Procedural Manual by following the links from the CyberVPM.com homepage to "Learn about Volunteer Resource Management"/The Sections/Volunteer Program Development.

Volunteer Courses through NTIS

For information about volunteer related courses available through the National Training Information Service website, go to: http://www.ntis.gov.au/

Top Complaints of Volunteers

  • I called. They never called me back.
  • I sent in my information. I never heard anything back.
  • I can't volunteer when they're open --- I work days.
  • I showed up when I was supposed to. They didn't have anything for me to do.
  • I told them I don't want to do fund-raising, but that's all theyt call me to do.
  • They have me doing nothing but busywork.
  • They act like I'm in the way.
  • No one ever says "thank you".
  • I don't get any guidance.Source: CyberVPM.com Resources
    http://www.cybervpm.com/