Rejecting/Accepting Volunteers Based on What We Need

Jenny Hibbard blogged about “Volunteer Hoards: More Work Than Help” and Brad Feld blogged about “Saying No in Less than 60 Seconds” this week, so in this spirit of of maximizing the time/effort that one spends on what’s important, I think more volunteer managers need to educate the public as to what their charities need AND say “No” quickly and often, so they can spend time on potential and current volunteers who could/do make a difference to their charities, rather than distracting offers to do unrequested, less needed things, unless, of course, all current volunteer needs are addressed.
First, more charities need to think and plan their volunteer programs critically:

  1. Assess and articulate their volunteer needs using comprehensive position descriptions
  2. Determine and allocate charity resources to support a volunteer program that engages volunteers who will address these needs
  3. Target groups/places with the most likely candidates (rather than a random, shotgun-like approach), using real marketing techniques
  4. Encourage people to self-select, to apply for specific roles, based on sharing the criteria of each, specific volunteer need
  5. Maximize staff time spent on people most likely to become (or who already are) great volunteers and be (or keep them) satisfied in these roles

Beyond the aforementioned volunteer program “must haves,” this means learning how to quickly intake and assess nonstandard offers*, and to thank but reject: “Thanks for your kind offer, but your does not match our agency’s volunteer needs at this time.” While harsh, together we’ve got to train the public to learn about our causes as well as what our charities say we really need.
*This probably means eliminating a general volunteer application form as a first contact a potential volunteer has with a charity, since these forms tend to create more work, like requesting more information, unless a charity has sufficient staffing to review and respond to the volume of general applicants quickly. Lately, I’ve been recommending tailoring forms for specific positions AND only offering them to applicants who have attended an open house or have already completed an unskilled volunteer task for the charity, and thus already learned the basics about a charity and its needs.

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