The virus has upended life as we knew it.  And, from my perspective, the trend seems to be that there isn’t any one trend.  We’re living in what William Bridges calls the neutral zone.  We’re caught between an “ending” when the virus began and a “beginning,” the timing of which is uncertain.  It’s a time of confusion, anxiety and frustration for many.  And, ironically a time of great creativity as well. 

For the past six months, I’ve been looking at our changing landscape.  Searching online, attending webinars, reading blogs, following thought-leaders.  I’m sure there’s more going on behind the scenes, but here’s my short list.  Volunteer leaders are 

• Engaging in online learning and weekly discussions
• Mentoring, supporting and encouraging their peers and colleagues
• Sharing resources, developing guides, creating new policies
• Identifying new opportunities and supporting virtual and remote volunteers 
• Learning how to utilize new communication tools and technologies, and  
• Creating strategies to stay in touch with their volunteers and community partners.

Volunteer leaders are adapting.  They’re flexible and creative.  They’re partnering with their organizations and volunteers to find solutions to the myriad of problems created by this health crisis.  

I believe that when we are finally able to move about safely again, we’ll see many new volunteers and business partners who want to help solve the problems created during the pandemic.  And, based on what I’ve observed to date, I know that these leaders will be ready to meet that challenge.

Resource:  Pandemic Sparking New Wave of Volunteerism  https://www.thenonprofittimes.com/hr/pandemic-sparking-new-wave-of-volunteerism/

When it comes to creating successful volunteer and staff partnerships, one of the most important things you can do is to design a volunteer engagement philosophy statement—one that defines how volunteers will partner with staff to support your organization’s mission and strategic goals.  Then let your staff, board, volunteers, funders, clients and community know about it.

Here are three tips that will help your organization foster strong staff and volunteer partnerships:

1.  Prepare and train your staff to supervise and support volunteers. 

Preparing and training staff to supervise and support volunteers is a key step and one that is often overlooked.  Staff preparation should begin during the new employee orientation process.  But don’t stop there.  Require that staff who supervise volunteers attend a volunteer supervision course, provide them with a volunteer supervision handbook, and send them easy-to-read volunteer management articles.  This ongoing education process will help reinforce the role and importance that volunteers play in your organization.

 2. Identify ways that volunteers can support the organization’s strategic goals. 

Volunteers are increasingly asking for positions that will allow them to utilize their skills and talents to support an organization’s mission and strategic goals.  Volunteers who help meet an organization’s goals help staff better serve their clients and community.

A good example of a strategically focused staff and volunteer partnership is happening right now at Hartford Hospital (CT).   Despite having fall prevention strategies in place, many falls still occurred at Hartford Hospital.  To solve this problem, staff designed and implemented the Fall Prevention—Safety Monitor Program—an innovative and nationally recognized volunteer program. Trained volunteers inspect patient rooms for potential hazards, monitor staff compliance with fall prevention protocol and remind patients of their role in fall prevention. In three years, falls were reduced by 47% and falls with injuries by 71%. Hospital leadership attributes much of this success to Safety Monitor Volunteers.

3. Recognize and reward staff. 

Staff will more readily team up with volunteers if the organization officially acknowledges the partnership. If a staff member supervises volunteers, then that role or function should be reflected in the employee’s job description.  And, they should receive feedback during their annual review.  Conducting routine volunteer surveys and exit interviews will also provide staff with excellent feedback, and, will ultimately help improve volunteer retention.  Finally, it’s important to highlight staff and volunteer partnerships in your internal communiques.  When you have formal volunteer recognition events, be sure to invite the staff who support the volunteer team.

Resources

Creating a Statement of Philosophy on Volunteer Engagement, Betty  Stallings

I’ve been working for, speaking to and consulting with healthcare volunteer programs throughout the US for several decades. I’ve watched most auxiliaries, in particular, peak about twenty years ago. At that time, the majority of hospital’s required member-only-status before an individual could be a volunteer. Today, as the average age of many auxiliary members creeps up to 75 years, those barriers to member-only service are finally breaking down and hospital administrators are realizing that volunteers can play an important role in solving strategic issues such as enhancing patient-centered care and raising HCAPHS scores. But, unfortunately, for some auxiliaries, they’ve waited too long to engage in critical conversations, strategically plan and prepare for their future members. Many are now disbanding or being pushed aside. And, as they go, so goes the careers of some hospital volunteer directors.

Surveys and research have long shown that next generation volunteers often want short term, flexible, and project-based opportunities. They want lots of choice when selecting their volunteer position, and are increasingly saying that they will volunteer if they can utilize their skills and talents. While this trend was identified at least twenty years ago, most organizations have been slow to offer multiple-choice volunteer opportunities.

The latest disruptive innovation in the volunteer engagement world has been gaining steam thanks to the Taproot Foundation. Taproot’s mission is to make “pro bono business talent available to organizations that seek to improve our society.”

Pro bono — short for pro bono publico, “for the public good” — has come to mean professional services delivered at low or no cost to social change organizations. Taproot defines it as professional services (marketing, legal guidance, human resources, fundraising, technology, financial consulting, and so on) donated to a nonprofit to further its mission.

Taproot estimates that professionals donate over $15 billion a year in pro bono services—that’s four times the amount donated by corporate foundations every year. And, many businesses with a supply of skilled professionals are being overlooked by cash-strapped nonprofits.

A 2006 Deloitte / Points of Light Volunteer IMPACT study found that “77 percent of nonprofit leaders believe that skilled volunteers could significantly improve their organization’s business practices, yet only 12 percent of nonprofits actually put volunteers to work on such assignments. Furthermore, this study found that 40 percent of volunteers actively look for opportunities to apply their professional skills.”

One of Taproot’s solutions to the problem of underutilized pro bono talent has been to publish Powered by Pro Bono–a step-by-step guide to securing and managing pro bono resources through sound project management. Taproot is also working with LinkedIn to connect skilled professionals with nonprofit organizations.

Why are so few nonprofits rolling out the welcome mat to our community’s professional and trades people, entrepreneurs and retirees? We have laws that say nonprofits must have a board of directors. Should there be a law to compel nonprofits to utilize skill based and pro bono talent? Of course not, but I wonder if, at some point, foundations will be looking for pro bono utilization as a measure of who gets their financial support.

So, how do we create the groundwork for a future that’s already arrived? How do we plan for this latest innovative disruption?

If, as Taproot says, the pro bono movement holds the keys to innovative solutions, do we have the courage to engage in greater conversations and get advice from more community members and volunteers–both inside and outside the nonprofit sector. Are we willing to open our doors wider by asking these individuals to lead a team, manage a project or serve on a task force or advisory council?

Boomers are retiring. LinkedIn professionals say they will volunteer if they can utilize their skills. More than 500 companies across the country have committed over $2 billion worth of skills-based volunteer services to nonprofits. A movement is a foot. More and more of us are out there—just waiting to be asked!

Related articles:

Is Your Association Courageous Enough to Ask for Advice? by Deirdre Reid on June 12, 2013. Posted in Association Best Practices, Social Media

#SHRMAdvice- Learning to Serve a New Audience, Paul Herbert

A Billion Plus Change Inspires Largest Commitment of Pro Bono Service in History, Post by Yvonne Siu, June 21, 2013

Beyond Cash:  Taproot Foundation to Collaborate with Hewlett Packard and LinkedIn to Build Online Pro Bono Marketplace,  Press Release

You don’t have to search too far to find volunteer management models and program audits.  Engaging in these processes is essential for creating a robust volunteer program that can build capacity and set you on the road to success.   Most experts will tell you to align your program with the organization’s mission and vision statement.  Others will encourage you to create a volunteer or member engagement philosophy statement.

And, I would add one more step—set your intention.   In other words, create a vision, direct your mind and aim for success! 

When you pay attention to problems, you amplify them.  You get more problems! Instead of saying, we don’t have enough volunteers or members; focus on what’s going well.  Take an inventory of what’s already working.

When you concentrate on what’s working, you become more confident.  This shift in focus leads to more hopeful images about what can be possible in the future.  When you get excited and inspired, you will create bigger and better results and more of who you need.

So, let’s imagine that you woke up today to discover that a miracle has happened overnight and you now have the volunteer program or membership association of your dreams.  There are now enough individuals to meet the needs of your organization and its constituents and members.  Volunteers and members are productive and engaged and accomplishing great things.  Their skills and talents are appreciated by your staff and board and funders.  How does that feel?  What had to change to get you there?

It’s never too late to set your intention about finding more people to join your organization.  By setting an intention, you make it clear to yourself and others just what you plan to accomplish.

So let’s get to work:

1. Think about how many volunteers or members you want, what skills you need, where they will be assigned and write it down.  Writing down your goals forces clarity and is proven to be more effective.
2. Share your intention with your colleagues or team members.    Set timelines and ask them to hold you accountable.
3. Do something today to demonstrate your commitment to finding more volunteers or members—optimize your website, write and distribute press releases, network.  You get the idea!
4. Acknowledge that you took action—that you did what you said you would.  Update your personal network.  Reward yourself.
5. And then, take the next step.  And the next step. And watch for positive results.

Related posts:  Some of the principles in this article are based on the Appreciative Inquiry model.  See:  What is Appreciative Inquiry?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are now partly linking hospital Medicare reimbursement to patient satisfaction scores.  Unfortunately, New York’s hospitals tend to rank among the lowest in the nation for patient satisfaction.  In this session, learn about the many ways that auxilians and volunteers can impact patient satisfaction through their interactions with patients and in the many services they provide to patients; not only is this the right thing to do, but with the new rules in place, it can also to help impact your hospital’s bottom line.

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