Building Capacity
Developing Volunteers: Webinars
In this series:
- Combining Inspiring Leadership with Effective Management
- Laying the Foundation through Mission and Vision
- Building Understanding and Collaboration with Paid Staff and Volunteers
NOTE: Webinars are conducted via Blackboard Collaborate. If you have internet access and can hear sound through your computer, you should be able to participate regardless of the type of computer or operating system you use. A broadband connection is helpful but not required.
To participate, click on the participant link (once it is available) to link to it. If this is the first time you're participating in a webinar using the Blackboard Collaborate platform, please visit the link to your webinar a day or two in advance so that you can pre-configure your computer. For more information or if you require accommodations to participate in a webinar, please contact Ellen Rowe at 802-751-8307 ext. 360. Requests for accommodations should be made at least seven days prior to any respective webinar.
Combining Inspiring Leadership with Effective Management
Tuesday, March 15th 2011, 11am-noon (ET)
session handout (PDF) | recorded session | submit feedback
Once you have recruited the right volunteers for the job, attention turns to retaining their active participation with your organization. Retention of quality volunteers is cost effective, saving both time and dollars associated with recruitment and training. We’ll discuss how leaders at all levels – policy making, executive and middle-management – of the organization can work in together to encourage and facilitate high impact volunteer involvement. Do you have a clear focal point of leadership for volunteering? Is the volunteer management function, well-integrated at all levels and in all parts of the organization? Let’s talk about some barriers to volunteer involvement – liability, confidentiality, location of the organization, hours of operation, etc. – and how they can be dealt with forthrightly. Together we will explore how nonprofit organizational leadership can develop strong volunteers through leadership that is inspiring and effective at management as well.
Our Presenter:
Andrea Houlihan is Volunteer Connection Program Coordinator with United Way of Chittenden County Volunteer Center. She has over 15 years of experience working with volunteers and developing volunteer programs in the nonprofit sector. Andrea was the volunteer coordinator for First Night Burlington and the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon before joining United Way. She now teaches workshops on creating volunteer management systems for nonprofit organizations, and consults with individual agencies on their specific volunteer management issues.
Laying the Foundation through Mission and Vision
Tuesday, June 7th 2011, 11am-noon (ET)
session handout (PDF) | recorded session | submit feedback
Step one in developing volunteers for your organization is to recruit the right volunteers for the job. Does your organization refer to Mission and Vision documents to lay the foundation for your recruitment practices? Framed in terms of the problem or issue that the organization is addressing, these documents provide a clear articulate picture of the priorities and direction the organization is moving. Volunteers need to see their work as valuable, contributing to the achievement of the mission, with the support of existing staff. We’ll discuss how to build an environment of openness to new ideas, new challenges and change, while creating opportunities to learn from and about the volunteers’ experiences with the organization.
Our Presenter:
Sarah Kleinman is State 4-H Program Director with University of Vermont Extension. In both her current role as well as in past positions with various non-profits, she has experience with coordination, training and growing the use of volunteers in a variety of capacities that include fundraising, event planning, animal care and adoption, youth development work, and administrative work. Supporting volunteers for the past 12 years, Sarah has been credited with strengthening training resources, materials and growing the number of volunteers engaged in the programs.
Building Understanding and Collaboration with Paid Staff and Volunteers.
Date/Time TBA
Retaining active participation of volunteers with your organization is a big job. Are you showing respect for paid staff by empowering them to engage fully – planning, decision-making and management – with the volunteers? We’ll discuss how you reduce the boundaries and increase the teamwork between paid and volunteer staff. Sharing success stories can help us all learn new ways to spread the word of contributions that volunteers make in our organizations. Recognizing their contribution to achievement of the Mission and Vision is crucial to retaining quality volunteers. Let’s discuss some effective ways to do just that.
Our Presenters:
Sarah Kleinman is State 4-H Program Director with University of Vermont Extension. In both her current role as well as in past positions with various non-profits, she has experience with coordination, training and growing the use of volunteers in a variety of capacities that include fundraising, event planning, animal care and adoption, youth development work, and administrative work. Supporting volunteers for the past 12 years, Sarah has been credited with strengthening training resources, materials and growing the number of volunteers engaged in the programs.
Ellen Rowe is a Community and Leadership Development Specialist with University of Vermont Extension. For 12 years, Ellen served as a Regional Director for Extension supervising 22 faculty, program and administrative staff while supporting the development of volunteers across program areas.
Last modified October 23 2012 01:52 PM