How can you build your organization's brand and reputation through a volunteer program?

1 Define your goals and strategy

Before you recruit and train volunteers, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your volunteer program and how it aligns with your organization's mission and objectives. Do you want to increase awareness, advocacy, or fundraising? Do you want to enhance your service delivery, quality, or innovation? Do you want to diversify your network, talent, or leadership? Based on your goals, you can define your target audience, your value proposition, and your communication plan for your volunteer program.

2 Design your volunteer roles and activities

Once you have your strategy in place, you can design your volunteer roles and activities that match your goals and your audience's needs and interests. You can offer different types of volunteer opportunities, such as one-time, ongoing, online, or in-person, depending on your resources and capacity. You can also create different levels of engagement, such as ambassadors, mentors, or advisors, depending on your expectations and recognition. Make sure to provide clear and detailed descriptions of your volunteer roles and activities, including the skills, time, and commitment required, the benefits and rewards offered, and the impact and outcomes expected.

3 Recruit and train your volunteers

Now that you have your volunteer roles and activities ready, you can start recruiting and training your volunteers. You can use various channels and methods to reach out to potential volunteers, such as your website, social media, newsletters, events, referrals, or partnerships. You can also use different tools and platforms to manage your volunteer recruitment process, such as online forms, surveys, databases, or software. Once you have selected your volunteers, you need to provide them with adequate training and orientation, covering topics such as your organization's history, vision, values, policies, procedures, and best practices.

4 Support and supervise your volunteers

After you have trained your volunteers, you need to support and supervise them throughout their volunteer experience. You need to assign them to a staff member or a volunteer leader who can guide, mentor, and monitor them. You also need to provide them with regular feedback, coaching, and evaluation to help them improve their performance and satisfaction. You also need to ensure that they have access to the necessary resources, tools, and information to complete their tasks and activities effectively and efficiently.

6 Communicate and showcase your volunteer program

Finally, you need to communicate and showcase your volunteer program to your internal and external stakeholders, such as your staff, board, donors, partners, clients, or media. You need to tell the stories of your volunteers, their motivations, their challenges, their successes, and their testimonials. You need to highlight the benefits and results of your volunteer program, both for your organization and for your community. You need to use different formats and channels to share your volunteer stories, such as blogs, newsletters, videos, podcasts, or social media.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?