Volunteer Administration

If you are involved with running a nonprofit organization, volunteer administration is an important part of your job. When you rely on the service of volunteers, it's necessary to recruit, retain, and manage the individuals who so generously contribute both their time and talent.

Making sure that your volunteers have the skills necessary to complete the tasks that you will rely on them to perform is an essential component of effective volunteer administration.

One of the most important volunteer administration duties is scheduling. If it's necessary to have volunteers on hand at certain times to fulfill various roles, it's important to work out a staffing plan. This involves identifying manpower needs, recruiting volunteers to fill the open slots, and verifying that personnel levels are sufficient at all times.

When people share their time with your charitable organization, it's important for you to track the hours they spend in service. This can help support grant applications and funding requests for your entity, as well as provide a basis for recognizing volunteers for outstanding service.

Volunteer workers can't be expected to manage themselves without supervision and guidance. Someone must be responsible for overseeing your organization's team of volunteers.

Every nonprofit organization should have a system in place that is designed to retain volunteers. Effective retention programs involve allowing volunteers to have input into the types of tasks they perform, providing opportunities for growth, expressing appreciation, and more.

Those responsible for managing charitable organizations and handling volunteer administration tasks must never lose sight of the importance of making certain that those who donate their time know how much their efforts are valued and appreciated.