Procedure Development and Non Profit Volunteers

As most readers have begun to notice, the articles on Non Profits tend to focus on their relation to volunteers. This is no mistake, since the Non Profit model has a tendency to heavily utilize volunteers in addition to its existing staff. Therefore, for Non Profits interested in dealing with staff related issues, going to the articles that address the stage of your business are exceptionally helpful.

Volunteers are wonderful to have. However, retaining them and finding ways for them to be productive are challenging. As has been discussed in previous articles, the level of ability and knowledge possessed by volunteers can be all over the board. Additionally, time commitments might vary, with some of your less skilled volunteers having almost all day to execute their tasks, while your most skilled having only an hour or so (it could be vice versa as well.)

Regardless of this, writing procedures have some special considerations, but it doesn’t need to be feared. The following process is helpful on this point.

Clarity: Unlike paid staff that have hard skills that equip them for their role, volunteers might be completely new to what you are doing, or they have been volunteering hundreds of hours over the last decade. With this wide range of experience, it is important that you write procedures that are as clear as possible, refraining from any industry jargon. I would almost go so far as to state that you should write it as if you were writing your directions for a five year old. 

Concise: Volunteers do not have all day (some might, but those are unusual situations). Focus on concision, with the goal of helping your volunteers to get everything done as efficiently as possible.

Staff POC: At some point, a volunteer might have questions about something that was done. Who on your staff should be their point of contact? How should they get in touch with them? These are questions that need to be answered, and depending on the organization, there is a good chance that some organizations will answer things differently than others. What is important is that you get this figured out.

Relaxed Expectations: Volunteers are not professionals; therefore, they will work at a pace that works for them. Therefore, don’t expect professional level results on a professional timetable. You will likely get very good results that will likely take a lot longer.

One final point to make on this point: never assign work that is considered to be critical to volunteers. Obviously this is not necessarily possible in every situation (such as with a Volunteer Fire Department), but unless you find yourself in an organization like that, always delegate such work to the staff. From liability concerns to unfair expectations on volunteers, the list of reasons why this is not a good approach is quite long.

Once you have developed these procedures, consider having a staff side for the procedures. From focusing on quality control to addressing items that might not have been completed by volunteers, having a contingency plan that helps mitigate these areas in your procedures is a must. It helps ensure that you can not only continue to use volunteers, but also are able to get the work done, regardless of whether or not the volunteers finish the tasks in front of them.

In conclusion, volunteers add a level of complexity to Non Profits that other organizations do not have to contend with in any capacity. However, these individuals are there because they love your mission so much that they are willing to donate their time and efforts to help you achieve it. If you write your procedures carefully along the lines outlined above with the goal of maximizing their involvement as much as possible, you can help everyone to benefit at the end of the day in ways that you had previously never thought possible.