Volunteer Management Certificate Program 

This day and a half Volunteer Management Certificate Program is designed to equip you with the skills necessary to increase the impact of your volunteers.

Whether you are managing volunteers in a nonprofit, church, civic group, or a community event/project this training will help. 

Download a flyer

Who should attend:

Seasoned volunteer managers, individuals new to the field, individuals considering volunteer management and nonprofit careers

Workshop details:

August 24: 7:30 to 8 AM: Check-in, breakfast, and Networking, Class 8AM to 5PM (lunch is on us!)

August 25: 7:30 to 8 AM: Check-in, breakfast, and Networking, Class 8AM to 12:30PM

Participants completing the day and half training will receive a Certificate of Completion

Registration Fees

• Silver and Sponsor Fee: $144
• Regular Fee: $180
• Refresher Fee (For those that have taken the class already but would like a review): $10

The Certificate Program Covers

Designing Positions

• Organizations that successfully utilize today’s volunteers are those that understand the changing trends and dynamics impacting prospective volunteers. Designing work for volunteers and writing position descriptions are the most important activities performed in volunteer management. Participants will understand the significance of a good volunteer description; analyze the trends in volunteering and their impact on volunteer positions; design new volunteer opportunities within their organization; and name the necessary components of written position descriptions.

Interviewing

• Because organizations need to be concerned about risk management, effective interviewing and screening are no longer optional activities in a well-run volunteer program. Interviewing candidates is imperative to selecting the most qualified person. Participants will be able to discuss the importance and purpose of having interviews with perspective volunteers; and initiate four key steps in the interview process.

Orientating, and Training Volunteers

• Many early retention problems originate in poor orientation and training of volunteers to perform the work assigned. It is critical that organizations that engage volunteers think carefully about the general information volunteers need to establish a clear relationship with the organization. Participants will distinguish between volunteer orientation and volunteer training; know what should be included in orientation, how it can be delivered, and by whom; understand what is included in training, how to deliver it effectively and by whom; identify and respond to challenges in orientation and training today’s volunteers; and evaluate and improve their orientation and training to keep it relevant and useful.

Delegating to Volunteers

• Until we examine our attitudinal roadblocks toward delegation and learn some effective procedures and techniques, we will continue to experience dramatic turnover and burnout in our service endeavors. Delegating is basically the accomplishment of the organization’s mission and goals through the efforts of others. Participants will acknowledge any personal resistance to delegation; identify the values of responsible delegation; explain the difference between doing, directing, dumping, and delegating; understand key procedures and technical skills involved with delegating; and propose appropriate levels of authority when delegating. 

Supervising Volunteers

• Today’s effective supervisor encourages paid staff and volunteers to be increasingly involved in decisions that involve them and to take more responsibility for their actions.

The goal of supervising volunteers is to establish conditions that encourage and support others to get the work done. Participants will understand and describe the role of supervisor; discover the similarities and uniqueness of supervising salaried versus non-paid staff; assess their competence in supervision skills; and explore various methods of supervising volunteers.

Motivating Volunteers

• We are frequently caught up in the faulty thinking: “How can I motivate my volunteers?” We can’t motivate people; we can only provide situations which help others motivate themselves. Participants will underscore that success in volunteer programs involves matching an organization’s needs with a volunteer’s ability and motivation; explain the variety of reasons of why people volunteer today; determine their own personal motivation style and its impact on volunteer placement, supervision, and recognition preferences; and examine motivation theory In light of the organization’s ability to attract and retain volunteers.

Performance Reviews for Volunteers

• Organizations that attempt to maximize volunteer participation see a mutual assessment time, as a time to look at what additional support the organization needs to offer volunteers to ensure success. It is a mutual way to express appreciation, identify problems and needs, determine volunteer’s future involvement in the organization, and hold the volunteer and organization accountable for their commitment to one another. Participants will define a mutual performance review process for volunteers that fit into the total supervision and support system of the organization; identify the purposes, benefits and barriers of instituting or enhancing a mutual performance review process; and target potential outcomes of mutual performance reviews of volunteers.

Performance Problems with Volunteers

• Supervisors of volunteers need to be comfortable confronting volunteers with concerns and working together to solve problems.  Organizations need to have fairly applied policies and procedures for a volunteer’s dismissal, probation, suspension, and grievances. Participants will appreciate why it is critical to deal with performance gaps in a timely and effective manner; describe the range of frequent volunteer performance problems; confront and explore appropriate solutions for volunteer performance problems; apply techniques of dismissing a volunteer.

Risk Management

• Risk management policies, procedures, and practices should be integrated into every aspect of a community service organization. Risk management is not only about purchasing insurance or avoiding lawsuits. Participants will explain risk management and appreciate its importance regarding volunteers; discuss the agency’s policies and procedures related to risk management; identify and evaluate potential risks in volunteer involvement; address and diminish risk with preventive strategies and techniques such as volunteer work, design, screening, training and supervision; and explain how to handle a volunteer-related liability incident or emergency situation within the organization. 

**cancelation policy: We rely on an accurate attendance count to make important arrangements for our workshops. If you need to cancel a workshop for any reason, the following refund schedule applies:

• Less than six weeks before start date: 10% cancellation fee applies.
• Less than one week before start date: 25% cancellation fee applies.
• 48 hours or less before class start: No refund is available.

Register Now!