Change how we talk about volunteers!

The poet T.S. Eliot said that April is the “cruelest month,” but did you know it is also National Volunteer Month, National Poetry Month, National Fair Housing Month, and National Celery Month?

To be practical about celebrating and valuing volunteers, we (both staff and volunteers) need to change the way we talk about them. By talking about volunteers differently, we can turn around the way we think about this important part of the nonprofit workforce:

• Instead of “We rely on volunteers because we have only a few staff," say: “Because we have so many volunteers, we can accomplish a lot with a small staff.”
• Instead of “We have 25 staff. Oh, and 150 volunteers.” Say: “We have 175 staff, of whom 25 are paid, and 150 are volunteers."
• Instead of saying “Thank you for volunteering for the ABC Clinic,” say “Thank you for helping our patients and their families today.”
• “Instead of saying “Fifty people a year volunteered for us,” say “Fifty volunteers a year help keep this hiking trail clean.”
• Instead of a position called “Volunteer Coordinator” or “Volunteer Manager,” try “Volunteer Concierge.” (Who would you rather have call you?)
• Instead of just saying “Our development team raised $200,000 so far this year,” also say “Our volunteer team brought $200,000 in volunteer time to our workforce.”

Got it? Got it! Now go have some celery.