How do you develop volunteer leaders?

Volunteers are quite often undervalued in their organization. It is so important to continuously recognize their efforts and identify what personally matters to them. They volunteer time because they already appreciate the mission of your organization. So dig deeper to ensure you are providing meaningful work that satisfies their needs. Not just the needs of the organization.

There is no substitute for paying attention. Often times you'll have volunteers who are already acting as leaders without being asked and without having a title. So watch closely. Who are the ones others follow? Who always shows up? Who is hungry to learn? If you pay close attention you will begin to spot the ones who are already positively impacting the operation and the people around them, the ones whose absence would be felt. Those are your future leaders.

Your impact will always be limited by the time you have available. Adding an employee or a new volunteer only adds a finite amoutn of impact. However - raising up volunteers to be come leaders themselves is the one way to multiply impact. A volunteer manager who is leading ten volunteers who each lead ten other volunteers because they have been properly trained, empowered, and supported is a game changer in any organization. Invest in identifying volunteers who have leadership potential and then give them the boost they need to upgrade their involvement on your team!

Use their skills, not just their time! One of the best ways I've found to get the most out of volunteers is to identify their skills, talents and superpowers and use that to target their efforts. This can be anything ranging from traditional "office" skills (marketing, technology, finance) to artistic or trade talents, to someone's "j nes sais quoi". By the simple practice of asking after and aligning a volunteer skill set to the task at hand, you're able to get so much more out of the volunteer and organization's precious time.

Listen and learn and then support ideas and suggestions provided by volunteers. Empower open discussions and contributing to the development of the services or project. Having volunteers become stakeholders in the work and celebrate the outcomes. In many cases volunteers are representatives of the target group welcome their contributions!

I love working with dedicated, enthusiastic, and passionate individuals who wish to give of their time & talents. First, ensure that volunteers know that they're valued & appreciated. It may seem as if this is understood, but unfortunately it's not universally true. Second, communicate your specific needs, consistently. If a volunteer is not available for one effort, it does not mean that they won't be for future activities. Next, provide volunteer "position descriptions," and then hold training sessions. Doing so ensures alignment on volunteer project objectives, goals, and success measures. Doing these things leads to the ultimate goal: Volunteer Engagement!

Training volunteers is not always an easy task. After all, they are not full time employees who you can simply put a training on for during the work day. You need to fit into their schedule so be creative. Use all of the training platforms - in person, Zoom, eLearning, self-study, multi-day workshops. Be inclusive with your scheduling - weekdays and weekends, evenings and days, short crash courses and long in depth courses. The same goes for mentoring. Ensure your mentors are able to meet mentees where they are. Flexibility is key. The more different ways a volunteer can engage in learning the more likely they are to find a way that works for them.

I have been working as a volunteer since 1995 when I was an 11th grade. I love to work for the most disadvantaged people including for the persons with disabilities. I like to receive recognition of my work.

While it may seem obvious sometimes the best thing we can do is ask what people are interested in. People often do their best work when they get to work on the things they are interested in so take the time to engage them in a dialogue about how and where they want to contribute. Once you've identified a project, team, or function a volunteer is going to lead set clear and measurable objectives for them and then get out of the way. If you have a good volunteer leader on your hands give them the space and autonomy to lead. You'll likely be blown away by the results.

It is most helpful to be specific in the rewards and recognition. Point out the leadership qualities in the actions taken. Give outside feedback if available, so it isn’t just you that noticed. Bit be specific to the task completed and timeline or values added because of it. Recognition is a training tool.

Never forget to INSPECT what you EXPECT. Both of you need this. And so the open door to discussion to learn and grow and achieve is stronger.

One of my favorite ways to celebrate and share volunteers is by boasting about all their hard work in monthly newsletters. From individual volunteer highlights to specific measurable stats, sharing positive stories generates community and encourages volunteer leadership.

People choose to volunteer their time for many reasons, and unlike a paid job, money is not usually the primary factor. Take time to learn the personal values that motivate your leaders. Maybe they volunteer because they value community and want to give back; perhaps they value health and want to support others in leading a healthier lifestyle. Understanding these motivations can help you plan recognitions and celebrations that resonate with your leaders and help them to feel connected.

As you consider all of the above, you may also want to learn a bit about generational characteristics, and/or ask your volunteer managers for their preferences. For example, Baby Boomers may want a very different volunteer experience than, say, Millennials and, in turn, may manage in ways that don't work for other generations they're leading, and vice versa. Different generations often have very different views related to what motivates them, how they view power/authority, what organization access/support they feel they need, how they respond to feedback, how they like to be rewarded/recognized (if at all), and much more. Taking a "one size fits all" approach may lead to conflict, so be sure you go into this work with that added lens.