Building a Culture That Encourages Volunteers

Since Covid, volunteer activity has dropped. That’s why building an encouraging culture is more important than ever. An encouraging culture shows appreciation and reminds volunteers how valuable they are.

Authored by: iClick2Learn Team

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What is a Volunteer Manager?

Your organisation relies on the hard work of volunteers. And having volunteers means onboarding, training, and supervising them. That’s why Volunteer Managers are so important.

Volunteer managers manage and develop volunteers. Their leadership helps keep everyone organised and motivated. They also set the tone. That means volunteers look up to them and follow their lead.

A volunteer management system might include:

Making policies and procedures
Creating and maintaining records systems
Recruiting and selecting volunteers
Developing volunteer roles
Writing volunteer job descriptions
Overseeing your messaging and advertising
Interviewing, checking, welcoming, and training volunteers
Volunteer selection and matching with roles
Screening volunteers
Supervising and supporting volunteers

As you can see, volunteer managers have many responsibilities. In fact, their role is so important, they can make or break a team.

It’s easy for volunteers to get discouraged without good management. On the other hand, strong volunteer management leads to happy, helpful volunteers.

Volunteer managers keep everyone on the same page. That way, your team never loses sight of your vision and mission. Instead, they stay organised, focused, and full of purpose.

What Skills Does a Volunteer Manager Have?

Finding a good volunteer manager is essential. Their leadership style affects all of your volunteers. If a Volunteer Manager is supportive, volunteers will thrive. If not, volunteers will become unhappy and leave.

Since Covid, bringing in volunteers seems harder than ever. It can also be tough to keep the volunteers you have. A good volunteer manager knows how to find volunteers that fit your organisation. They also know how to train people and keep them engaged.

In addition to great leadership and communication skills, look for the following:

Excellent People Skills – so they connect with volunteer staff and create an environment that’s open, honest, and welcoming.
Passion for Your Mission & Vision – Managing volunteers can be hard. People passionate about your goals will find the work both satisfying and rewarding.
Strong Judgement – to choose volunteers who are a good match and put them in positions suited to their skills.
Marketing Skills – to spread the word about your organisation.

Volunteer managers do so much. They manage, supervise, and do human resources work. They help hold your volunteer staff together by building a strong team.

When you think of a good Volunteer Manager, picture someone volunteers can trust. They should be organised and skilled. But they should also be good with people and patient.

If a volunteer manager cares about your mission and your people, they are off to a good start. They should provide quality training and instruction. But they should also be welcoming and supportive.

Why Are Volunteer Managers Essential?

Good volunteer management builds strong connections with supporters and staff. This helps you achieve your goals and mission.

Volunteer Management also saves your organisation time and money. It allows you to run as efficiently as possible.

Volunteer Managers perform all kinds of important work:

Build post-Covid strategies for recruiting and engaging volunteers
Communicate your volunteer program to your community
Share your goals with supporters and volunteers
Welcome, train, and support volunteer staff
Choose the right volunteers for the right jobs
Create open lines of communication
Help create a diverse, inclusive volunteer culture
Help make it easy for migrants, First Nation Peoples, and people with disability to volunteer

Strong Volunteer Management keeps your staff focused and helps your organisation thrive. A good Volunteer Manager inspires and organises a healthy volunteer team.

They also show appreciation. They build up volunteers by giving them praise and thanks. They remind volunteers how important they are and why their jobs make a difference.

Why do Volunteers Quit?

A strong volunteer manager doesn’t just know how to manage. They also know why volunteers walk away.

Some reasons volunteers quit include:

Time pressures and the organisation is not flexible
Lack of leadership and organisation
Not being matched with the right job
Feeling like their work doesn’t matter
Not feeling welcomed into the group

Volunteer managers address these issues. They provide strong leadership and organisation. They excel at matching volunteers with the right jobs. To keep spirits high, good managers remind everyone why their work matters.

To make volunteering easy, creative managers find new ways to be flexible. And they make sure volunteers are welcome and supported every step of the way.

Bringing in volunteers is essential. But some organisations forget to offer strong support the whole way through. An excellent volunteer manager is always thinking long-term.

Conclusion

Volunteer Managers are necessary. They lead, manage, and organise your volunteer team. They also set an example for others.

Since Covid-19, volunteering has changed. But change gives Volunteer Managers a chance to shine.

To summarise, Volunteer Managers:

Walk the talk – they set a good example for everyone
Excel at communication – so everyone feels safe, heard, and informed
Support the team – so volunteers stick around long term
Recruit and assign – they attract great volunteers and give them fitting roles
Train – they offer high-quality training
Organise – making your organisation more efficient
Spread the word – they communicate your vision and mission, along with your volunteer opportunities

Happy volunteers tend to have one thing in common: a great Volunteer Manager. Good Managers find volunteers and match them with jobs that are a smart fit.

Check out our Volunteer Acknowledgement and Recognition Checklist for ways your Volunteer Manager and your organisation can recognise the hard work of your volunteer staff.

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Tags | not-for-profit volunteers, recruiting volunteers, volunteers, youth volunteers

Building a Culture That Encourages Volunteers

Keeping an open mind can help you make necessary changes. For example, you might think of new ways of making your culture more encouraging.

A culture of encouragement will help you attract volunteers. It will also help you keep the volunteers you have.

It can be hard to change, but changes can help your organisation grow. With a more encouraging culture, your organisation can keep volunteers happy. Happy volunteers work hard, stick around, and invite others to help.

The Importance of Volunteers

Volunteers are essential. Without volunteers, most not-for-profits can’t do their work. But since Covid, it’s been hard to find and keep volunteers.

When you recognise volunteers, it helps create a culture of encouragement. You can do this by reminding volunteers how much you appreciate them.

When volunteers feel appreciated, they’re more likely to stay with your organisation. They’re also more likely to bring other people on board.

What is Your Organisation’s Culture?

Your “culture” is your way of doing things. This can include the attitudes and behaviours inside your organisation.

One person does not create your culture. Every member of your not-for-profit builds it. Although every organisation has a culture, not every culture is encouraging.

A healthy culture includes:

A clear mission and values (these should be clearly displayed)
Volunteer and staff retention
Healthy and successful conflict resolution
Staff and volunteers bring in referrals
A high level of trust
Open lines of communication
High-quality training for your team
Positive feedback from volunteers and staff

Healthy culture includes encouragement and appreciation. When leaders set an example, the attitude spreads. Before long, you have a culture of safety and support.

What happens When Volunteers are Discouraged?

Your culture can be encouraging, or it can be discouraging. Just because a few people feel good about an organisation doesn’t mean the whole culture is healthy.

The best way to find out whether you have a discouraging culture is to ask. You might be surprised what people say when you show an interest. Take notes to see if more than one person has the same feedback.

If you keep hearing the same comment over and over, it’s worth looking into.

Signs of a discouraging culture include:

Poor communication
Behavior that is not welcoming
Lots of negative or gossipy talk
Poor leadership
Unmotivated staff
Lack of growth
High turnover (people don’t stick around)
Everyone seems burned out
Your organisation is not moving forward

If you have a discouraging culture, there is hope. No one wants to stay in an unhealthy culture, so people are open to change.

You just need to open up communication. That way, people can express themselves and make suggestions. This is the first step to building a better culture.

How Your Culture can Encourage Volunteers

Encouraging volunteers is important. Instead of focusing on who is in charge, try to focus on why each person matters.

Remember that each person has a role to play. Without everyone doing their best, the whole mission falls apart.

When volunteers see themselves as part of a team, they feel encouraged. They know that they matter to the rest of the group.

There are many ways you can create a culture of encouragement:

Have clear values
Check that the actions of leadership and staff line up with your values
Use your core values to make decisions
Have a clear mission statement that includes your higher purpose
Make sure leaders set a good example
Have a balance between life and work
Make a safe, welcoming environment–in-person and online
Encourage communication
Show that your volunteers’ happiness and growth are important
Encourage volunteers to ask questions, express views, and take risks
Treat mistakes gently and celebrate success

Don’t forget to “record and award” progress. For example, take notes on volunteers who go above and beyond. Then thank them for everything they do.

Be specific when showing appreciation. You might say, “Janet, I really appreciate how you are always early.” Or, “Tom, you set a great example with your kindness.”

When you encourage volunteers, they feel good about being involved. They might invite friends to help because they want others to enjoy that feeling, too.

How to Encourage New Volunteers

Post-Covid volunteers have different needs. For example, volunteers might want flexibility, shorter hours, or online work. Helping out from home is a common request among newer volunteers.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that people need encouragement. They want to feel like their work matters, or they won’t stick around.

You can encourage new volunteers by:

Keeping up with your social media pages
Making it easy to sign up on your website
Responding to volunteer sign-up quickly
Offering flexible jobs
Having a clear mission and values

People are starting to get out more. As they do, they’re looking for new ways to serve their community.

Your organisation can stand out by creating an encouraging culture. This will attract new volunteers and keep existing volunteers happy.

Best of all, your whole organisation will benefit from an encouraging culture.

Conclusion

Covid-19 had a big impact on volunteering. Now is a great time to think about your relationship with your volunteers.

Ask your current volunteers about ways you might improve. Brainstorm new ways of encouraging and appreciating volunteers. Use our Culture of Encouragement Checklist as a guide.

Your whole organisation will benefit from a culture of encouragement. Together, your team can build back stronger than ever!