What do you do if your volunteer management practices lack innovation?

1 Assess your current situation

Before you can implement any changes, you need to have a clear understanding of your current volunteer management practices. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your volunteer program? How satisfied are your volunteers and staff? What are the goals and expectations of your organization and your volunteers? How do you measure and evaluate your volunteer impact? Conducting a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) can help you identify the areas that need improvement and the potential solutions.

2 Seek feedback and input

One of the best sources of innovation is your own volunteers and staff. They are the ones who know the ins and outs of your volunteer program and have valuable insights and suggestions. Ask them for feedback and input on your volunteer management practices, such as recruitment, orientation, training, recognition, communication, and retention. You can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, or brainstorming sessions to collect their opinions and ideas. Listen to their feedback and input with an open mind and appreciate their contributions.

3 Learn from others

Another way to inspire innovation is to learn from other volunteer managers and organizations. You can network with your peers and colleagues in the volunteer sector, join online communities and forums, attend webinars and workshops, or read blogs and articles. You can also benchmark your volunteer management practices against best practices and standards in the field, such as the Volunteer Management Cycle or the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement. You can learn from the successes and challenges of others and adapt their strategies to your own context.

4 Experiment and test

Once you have some ideas for innovation, you need to experiment and test them before you implement them on a large scale. You can use pilot projects, prototypes, or simulations to try out your new volunteer management practices and see how they work in practice. You can also use feedback loops, data collection, and evaluation tools to measure and monitor the results and outcomes of your experiments. You can then refine and improve your ideas based on the evidence and feedback.

5 Celebrate and share

Finally, you need to celebrate and share your innovation with your volunteers, staff, and stakeholders. You can use recognition events, newsletters, social media, or stories to showcase your new volunteer management practices and acknowledge the people who contributed to them. You can also use these platforms to solicit further feedback and input and encourage continuous improvement and learning. Celebrating and sharing your innovation can also motivate and inspire others to join your volunteer program or adopt your practices.

6 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?