When reviewing a volunteer’s application, it is essential to look for specific qualities so you can ensure they will be a good fit for the role and match the enthusiasm of others within the organisation. The qualities and skills the volunteer has are sometimes more important than the number of volunteers you have on board. If your charity has certain goals and values, volunteers should be chosen to meet these so that these goals can be fulfilled. Here are some essential qualities to look for when recruiting volunteers.
Passion
Your volunteers should be passionate about what your organisation does and excited about getting involved. Passionate volunteers will be more motivated about doing the work and be better at what they do. If your volunteers are all passionate about making a difference then they will most likely get on well with other volunteers in your charity or organisation as they are like-minded. A shared love for volunteering is a good way to establish and build relationships with others.
Being A Team Player
Most volunteering is done in a team therefore your volunteers need to be a good fit, get on well with others and be team players as working together is what helps to make a difference. If all volunteers are enthusiastic and positive about the work the organisation does then it’s likely that everyone will get along with each other due to having similar interests. This can also help increase your organisation’s volunteer retention rate as long-lasting friendships can be created meaning people are more likely to stay and volunteer for your organisation.
Commitment
Finding long-term committed volunteers can ensure your organisation or charity has ongoing supporters over time that will be devoted to helping make a difference. By recruiting committed volunteers you can increase your organisation’s volunteer retention rate.It is important to check before recruiting a volunteer that they can do the times needed for the shifts and have access to transport. If you recruit committed and reliable volunteers that you trust then you won’t have to worry about volunteers not turning up for their shifts or cancelling last minute.
Interpersonal skills
Having excellent social skills is a key quality to look for in a volunteer. As there are many different roles available in a range of environments with new people, so it is crucial to be able to adapt to these situations. If a volunteer has strong soft skills they can maintain better relationships with others and build trust. Interpersonal skills can also mean that the volunteer is a good leader. Leaders can communicate effectively with others in the team which is crucial for a volunteering role.
Key Takeaways…
When recruiting volunteers for your organisation it’s important to look for these qualities so you are sure they will complete the volunteering tasks to the best standards. Ensure you recruit people who have knowledge about the organisation’s impact and are motivated to help make a difference.
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Virtual VS in-person volunteering, which is best suited to you?
Virtual volunteering enables people to be able to complete volunteer tasks remotely via the internet. There are many benefits of both, but it can depend on your lifestyle and what you want to gain from the experience. Some may think that in-person volunteering is the only way you can see the impact you’re making, but virtual volunteering allows for this too. While some people are better suited to face-to-face volunteering, others may find virtual volunteering is the best way for them to get involved.
Pros of Virtual Volunteering
Virtual volunteering, also known as online volunteering or cyber-service, has grown due to the pandemic as many volunteering couldn’t be completed face-to-face because of restrictions. There are now more opportunities for online volunteering than there were previously. A recent benefit of virtual volunteering is saving commute costs, due to the cost of living crisis many organisations are struggling to reimburse volunteers for transport costs, resulting in volunteers potentially having to cover the costs themselves. Volunteering remotely, however, means that you don’t have to worry about any commute costs.
Virtual volunteering is also time efficient, so it is a great option for people who don’t have the spare time to travel and commit to a timetable. This way people can be more flexible and help out when it’s most suited to them from the comfort of their own homes. People can also have access to a wider range of opportunities that are anywhere in the world and volunteer for organisations they might not have access to work for in person due to where they live or lack of access to transport.
Most importantly virtual volunteering is accessible to anyone, so people with disabilities who may be discluded from volunteering in person can also make a difference. All you need is a device and an internet connection and you are able to volunteer anywhere, as the UN website states, online volunteering is ‘by nature, inclusive. Anyone, anywhere, can help.’
Examples of virtual volunteering roles include translating and editing documents, over-the-phone and online volunteer counselling, completing admin tasks such as organising donations, sending out emails and many more. There’s now a large range of virtual volunteering opportunities as organisations had to adapt during the pandemic.
Pros of in-person volunteering
Some people may feel more comfortable volunteering online however you may gain more from volunteering face-to-face. In-person volunteering allows you to meet new people and build better relationships.
With in-person volunteering, you are able to develop social skills which you might not gain from virtual volunteering. However, due to the roles available with online volunteering, you may be able to gain more useful skills which can help with a career change in a different field of work.
A big benefit of volunteering face-to-face is the immediate effect it has on the people you are helping, people who volunteer online may feel as though their work isn’t having an impact as they are not seeing the immediate reaction of the people they are helping straight away in-person.
Key takeaways…
Completing virtual or in-person volunteering is a personal preference and it all depends on what you want to gain from the experience. You may be volunteering to gain new skills and meet new people or achieve a rewarding feeling of seeing your own impact help others.
Virtual volunteering can be a great solution if you are interested in volunteering but can’t attend regular in-person volunteering shifts because you don’t have time or don’t have access to transport. However, it may be easier to meet new people and build better relationships if you are volunteering in person.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Diversity refers to the qualities that differentiate people as individuals. Within your organisation or charity, it is crucial to recruit a varied range of volunteers so they can bring different skills and values to the team. Inclusivity embraces all people regardless of their race, age, gender, disabilities, or experience. Inclusivity is all about giving equal access and opportunities.
Diversity and inclusion for volunteer organizations are not just about the volunteers, but also the types of volunteering opportunities available. When creating opportunities, ensure that they offer a range of long-term or short-term commitments to the role.
How your non-profit and volunteer organisation can become diverse and inclusive
It is important to be aware of barriers which could be preventing people from participating in volunteering opportunities. Barriers could include physical barriers such as opportunities not being accessible to wheelchair users or shifts that involve people needing to drive. Technology barriers could also put off people who aren’t as comfortable using technology, such as taking card machine payments in a charity shop or a shift that involves using a computer.
Also, offering a range of volunteering opportunities that are short-term and long-term means your opportunities can be inclusive for people who only have time to volunteer for a short period of time.
To create a diverse and inclusive environment, the entire organisation needs to work towards this goal so a welcoming community can be formed. Make sure your volunteer managers and paid employees come from different backgrounds with different experiences and training is completed with examples of diversity so that the staff can become more culturally aware.
Why is it important for your volunteer organisation to be diverse and inclusive?
Introducing diversity into your organisation can increase your volunteer pool. By promoting diversity and inclusion within your volunteer organisation, people with different backgrounds and experiences can bring new skills and outlooks to your team.
Having a diverse volunteer team can produce a better image for the public to see. Diversity promotes inclusion and understanding and this is one of the goals for non-profits and volunteer-involving organisations
What are the benefits of being diverse and inclusive?
Enhanced awareness within the organisation as a whole.
Being a diverse organisation can create increased social participation.
Produces a positive public image.
A broader range of skills and knowledge can be brought to the team.
If volunteers in an inclusive organisation feel comfortable in the organisation then they will want to stay, therefore by becoming more inclusive and diverse you can create better retention.
Key takeaways…
Many benefits come with practising diversity and inclusivity in your organisation. A better public image can be created for your organisation and new ideas can be brought to your team. To ensure your organisation is welcoming to a variety of people, get rid of any physical barriers which could discourage people from wanting to volunteer.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Pretty much on time, we are now entering the beta release phase for our next major release, bumping the version number up to 2.2.
So what’s coming in this release, read on to find out.
New Opportunity Creation System
We’ve been aware for a while of just how long and intimidating the opportunity creation forms were, especially for new users. There was also the issue of the ‘Quick’ opportunity type mixing together an opportunity that was quick to enter, with an opportunity that was only being used to advertise an opportunity for providers that have their own volunteer management systems.
So we have created a new system for creating opportunities that splits everything into smaller chunks, offers people an easier way to add new images, less complex location entry, and is a lot simpler to use.
For those providers that are managing their own volunteers, there is a very clear option selection card that explains what will happen. These types of opportunities will also have a much simplified management page that lets the provider know how many people have viewed the opp, clicked the more info buttons, and who those volunteers are if we know.
Better Sharing Options
If you share your opportunities via LinkWide or into the national Scottish system MILO, then you’ll notice some improvements.
Firstly you can now belong to multiple LinkWide groups, and have individual sharing settings for each group; so you can share into one group but only accept shares from another group for instance.
If you are sharing to MILO you can now add existing opportunities to MILO, previously you could only share at the point of opp creation. When an opp is shared you’ll also see all the details you need to find it in MILO
New Date Custom Question Type
We’ve added date as a custom question type for volunteers and providers, and updated the custom question search filters to match.
This opens the door for some very useful reporting and recording methods for volunteer or provider details that are not covered by our regular registration or profile details. By recording dates against volunteers and providers, you can use the filters to find out which people have dates that have expired or that are due soon by using the equals, before, after, and between date filters.
You can imagine the potential for recording and managing things like yearly training, qualifications, driving licenses and insurance etc.
Schedule Bulk Emails
Create an email and schedule it to be sent at specific times. This is a super useful addition and is great for running campaigns or for sending emails over the weekend when you don’t want to be working!
Reporting Improvements
We’ve added applicants for opportunities to the reporting page so you can see at a glance how many applicants are in each status.
We’ve audited all the reports and aligned provider, admin and summary reports so you see the same numbers everywhere!
We’ve added a new download report which has all volunteer opportunity data that can be aggregated by opportunity or session, including custom fields.
The day schedule report is now available for providers as well, of course, limited to just their opportunities.
The mapping features have been added for providers so they can locate all their opportunities and volunteers.
You can now filter and search providers based on their custom fields and also filter volunteers on their qualification names and lapse dates.
Any downloads from the volunteer or provider search page now include their custom field responses.
Opportunity Custom Badges in Search Page
If you’ve added custom badges to opportunities (and if not, why not!), your volunteers will now be able to see those badges in the search page and also filter on those badges.
Useful Hints and Tips
You’ll see when you log in that a small hints and tips area appears at the top of the page giving you some quick info about a feature. We’ll be adding to these tips continually as new features come online and you can choose to switch them off completely or hide them for 30 days if they are starting to bore you!
We hope this will introduce our customers to new features or techniques they might not be aware of.
Manage Your Account
We’ve added a new icon to the top right which allows you to manage your account, it also tells you who you are logged in as if you have multiple accounts.
From here you can also switch the hints and tips back on if you have changed your mind! There are a few other settings to help personalise your experience and we’ll be adding more, so suggestions are welcome.
New Automated Emails
We’ll now remind providers when their opportunities are close to finishing, along with a link to update the opportunity.
Volunteers will get a message wishing them all the best on their birthdays and thanking them for volunteering.
We have also added a reminder email for volunteers to log their hours for past opportunities and complete post-opp surveys and uploads if they are required.
Volunteer Inbox
A brand new message inbox for volunteers that shows all the emails and messages they have received and lets them reply directly to the sender. This should help volunteer questions about specific opportunities get through to the provider rather than using the general purpose contact us page.
Talking of the general purpose Get in Touch page; if the volunteer is logged in it will redirect them to the new inbox area above and they can select from the TO field either the organisation or any of the providers they are currently engaged with. This will reduce those misdirected messages even more.
Dashboard Improvements
We’ve added a panel for ‘Things happening today’ that shows sessions and meetings and things like that that are happening today.
Panels that are empty or not needed. For instance, if you auto-approve providers, are now hidden.
More and more tables throughout the app are now sortable in place using the icons at the top of the columns, with no page refresh required.
Improvements to Max Slot Numbers for Sessions
You can now alter the global maximum slot number per session from the sessions tab, rather than having to go to the restrictions tab.
For flexible opportunities it looks like this;
And for sessional opps, there is a little button to reveal the options, it could be quite a destructive process so we want to make sure, and it looks like this;
There are also over 120 smaller bug fixes and improvements in this release many as a direct result of support tickets and feature requests so keep them coming.
Steve also went through the new release in a few online sessions. If you missed them, you can catch up by clicking here.
Thanks everyone.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Sustainable volunteering is making a difference with long-lasting change without leaving a destructive footprint behind. Doing good by volunteering doesn’t always mean that you are having a positive impact on the environment around you. For example, many charities with shops could be working with suppliers who have not followed sustainable practices.
People who want to be ethical and sustainable when volunteering believe it is important to contribute to long-lasting change. You may think you are doing the right thing by volunteering but if your efforts and contributions are not making a long-term difference then it might not be worth volunteering for that specific organisation. It is crucial to do research into the charity or organisation as there are many that leave a community in worse conditions than they were when the organisation initially approached them.
The benefits of sustainable and ethical volunteering include becoming more aware of environmental issues and learning how to tackle them. By completing sustainable volunteer work, you are not only doing good for the environment but also doing good by helping others.
What makes a volunteer manager ethical?
It is essential when wanting your volunteer work to be ethical and sustainable that your volunteer manager is also ethical when creating opportunities. Some ways a volunteer manager can achieve this is by:
Ensuring criminal record checks have been completed for each volunteer.
Making sure volunteers don’t replace paid employees.
Actively seek feedback from volunteers to be able to improve and maintain healthy relationships with them.
Giving up the time to train volunteers if necessary for the opportunity they are involved in, this also shows that the volunteers are valued.
Offer flexibility, so that if a volunteer wants to take time off they are able to.
Sustainable and ethical volunteering opportunities
There are so many charities and organisations with volunteering opportunities available in the UK that it can be hard to tell which organisations are influencing change and not leaving behind destructive footprints. Charities and organisations that work towards having a lasting impact on communities and the environment are just as important as having a primary goal of helping others.
Other sustainable volunteering ideas are collecting and recycling rubbish or any other items that may pollute the environment. There are many litter-picking charities such as Cleanup UK and Keep Britain Tidy that have groups all over the UK with many available litter-picking volunteering opportunities.
Key takeaways…
If you are adapting to a sustainable lifestyle then it’s a good idea to also take part in volunteering that is sustainable and ethical too. You may think all volunteering must be ethical but that’s not always the case, many organisations leave behind a destructive footprint in communities they’re supposed to be helping. To confirm they are also ethical, ensure the volunteer manager is ethical in their actions and completes all the necessary measures before approving a volunteer.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Discipling a volunteer is never an easy task. As volunteers aren’t paid employees, some volunteer managers may feel as though they don’t have a right to discipline or even dismiss them. However, volunteer managers can’t put up with problematic behaviour just because they may feel guilty for having to discipline them. Keeping a volunteer on board with poor behaviour also might do more harm than good for your organisation and other volunteers around them.
Before deciding if you should dismiss a volunteer it is essential to step back and find the main cause of the problem. The volunteer may not understand their job role or are going through something in their personal life which could be affecting their behaviour. Getting another person’s perspective on the situation may also help you make a decision.
How to deal with problematic behaviour
The problem could be that the volunteer simply lacks a strong work ethic or lacks skills for the role so it can’t be completed correctly or they aren’t the right fit for volunteering for a particular organisation.
Once the reason for the behaviour is pinpointed then it’s important that the conversation had with the volunteer is face to face and not done over email. The conversation can be warning them about their behaviour and simply giving them a chance to improve or to dismiss the volunteer if they have extremely poor behaviour and it is affecting other volunteers within the organisation.
It needs to be upfront and direct and you should ensure you are not tip-toeing around the subject just because you may feel bad. Including some affirmations in the conversation may help you feel better when dismissing the volunteer.
For example, thanking them for their positivity for volunteering but letting them know their behaviour isn’t acceptable. A follow-up conversation is also a good idea to have after you have either dismissed the volunteer or given them a warning.
As a volunteer manager, you should always document your volunteer’s behaviour, this way you can note down any behaviour traits before and after the conversation to see if the volunteer’s behaviour has changed and improved.
How to avoid this in future
Be careful not to treat volunteers the same as you’d treat employees. Employees are getting paid to give up their time and have access to a lot of employment rights which volunteers don’t have access to.
Due to organisations not being obliged to have a formal agreement with their volunteers, it is still important to create one for your organisation so volunteers are aware of how to act and it can help establish expectations.
Ensure you have a policy that states how you treat disciplinary action with volunteers and your expectations for volunteers’ behaviour. Having a policy also shows your volunteers that they are important to you.
Key takeaways…
Communicating with your volunteers is crucial to ensure you have a comfortable relationship with them. This way if they start to show signs of bad behaviour, it can be discussed easily and put to a stop.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Research completed by vHelp on volunteer expenses shows that 88% of respondents from volunteer leadership roles and organisations were aware of volunteers choosing not to claim expenses. However, this figure of volunteers claiming expenses is expected to increase. The rising cost of fuel prices could also affect charities and organisations that now have to reimburse a larger amount than before which could leave them struggling.
Expenses
8% of charities still don’t reimburse volunteer expenses. This could put off people from wanting to volunteer for these organisations due to higher travel expenses and the volunteers refusing to pay for these costs themselves. This is why it is extremely important to reimburse volunteers’ expenses otherwise it can lead to a loss of volunteers for your organisation.
Organisations with a complicated expense claiming process, where reimbursement takes a long time can also put volunteers off. 44% of respondents from vHelps research show that ensuring volunteers get paid was a concern of theirs.
Here at TeamKinetic, we provide a quick way for volunteers to claim expenses on our system so they get paid back straight away. We also have a masterclass session for TeamKinetic customers on the ‘Expenses Module’ which will be taking place on the 4th of October so make sure you sign up now to secure a place.
The effect the cost of living will have on charities
The increase in expenses may also be worrying to charities. But volunteers bring much more value to your organisation than the cost of expenses. According to vHelp, the increase in fuel price mostly impacts volunteers who support charities in rural areas due to the only mode of transport to get there for their shifts is by car, which can cost more for the charity to reimburse compared to a bus ticket or no cost for travel at all.
Not only will charities and organisations be affected by the cost of living crisis due to struggling to afford to reimburse volunteers, but charities will also be affected by the decrease in donations by the public. The cost of living crisis means that people’s disposable income will be greatly affected so they might not have the funds to donate as much to charities as they did previously.
Charities need to start planning now to tackle the cost of living crisis which could massively affect their organisation and their volunteers. Support from funders and the government may be needed in order to help the charity sector during this crisis.
More support on how charities should adapt to the cost of living crisis can be found here.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Burnout is typically associated with the workplace, however, it frequently happens to volunteers. The World Health Organization (WHO)defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”. WHO characterises it by three dimensions:
Feelings of exhaustion.
Increased mental distance from one’s job and/or feelings of negativism about one’s job.
Reduced professional efficacy.
A negative impact may include your volunteers speaking negatively about the work your organisation does. This can discourage other volunteers from wanting to get involved with the organisation in the future. If burnt-out volunteers continue to show up for their shifts, their overall productivity will most likely decrease.
Surprisingly, too much volunteering can be a bad thing. Burnout in volunteers can lead to people feeling unmotivated, which leaves volunteers resenting their work. Burnout can be recognised and managed. However, if left untreated, burnout can cause volunteers to become depressed, anxious, and overwhelmed, which can harm the organisation.
Causes of Burnout
There are many causes of volunteer burnout. By identifying these causes, you can prevent burnout from happening to your volunteers. However, it is important to note that sometimes burnout can’t be avoided due to the volunteer’s mindset and lack of passion. Not every volunteer will be as passionate as the volunteer manager. Some people’s motivation levels for the organisation may differ.
If volunteers are given too much to do, they may get overwhelmed by taking on too many tasks. A poor working environment can make the volunteers feel unwelcome. It’s important to provide your volunteers with a comfortable space. This can enable them to feel settled in. Supervisors of the volunteers can give support and guidance because a lack of this can lead to the volunteers feeling lost. Volunteers may also have little knowledge of the tasks they are completing, meaning they can’t do the tasks efficiently.
Important signs to look for before burnout happens to your volunteers:
It’s key for a volunteer manager to look out for any warning signs so you can spot an unhappy volunteer before burnout occurs. The risk of burnout increases over time so it’s important to notice it before it becomes harmful.
Firstly, look out for any changes in your volunteer’s personality that could show signs of anxiousness or discomfort. For example, if a volunteer regularly spoke about their love for volunteering and had a lot of enthusiasm for your organisation’s missions, but then begins to complain and have a negative attitude, it may be an obvious sign they are no longer enjoying it.
Many volunteers are initially motivated at the beginning. Despite this, you should check up on volunteers who may feel like their work has no impact. Any motivated volunteer should believe all their hard work has a big impact on people’s lives. If your volunteers are doubting their contribution to the community, it could be a red flag to watch out for.
If volunteers aren’t performing during shifts as well as they previously were, or they’re cancelling shifts without reason, these are very clear signs of volunteer burnout. Overall, if volunteers are showing very obvious signs of lack of motivation and enthusiasm about the organisation and display a negative view of volunteering, it usually means they are about to experience burnout.
Tips to avoid burnout:
For some volunteers, burnout is unavoidable. However, here are some useful tips you can take on board as a volunteer manager to overcome burnout. It is important to remember that volunteer burnout is normal and most long-term volunteers will go through a period of burnout.
Ensure the volunteers know what they are doing before the shift so they are fully prepared. This means there is a lower risk of a volunteer feeling lost and confused about what they are supposed to be doing. If the volunteer has a bad first shift then this could then lead to them not wanting to take part in future shifts.
It is key to create stable working relationships with your volunteers so that you can both feel comfortable and confident around each other. A welcoming environment also enables volunteers to feel more relaxed. Providing refreshments and general support is a good idea to achieve this.
To help build that stable working relationship, as a volunteer manager you should recognise your volunteer’s hard work and reward them. Rewards can be certificates or our rewards feature on the system which allows you to send badges to volunteers. However, it is not necessary to always hand out rewards. If volunteers are completing the work for the right reasons then a simple ‘thank you’ will be appreciated.
Communication is crucial between you and your volunteers. This is so both parties can give feedback to improve. There is also a feedback section available on our system where volunteers can also log their hours.
Taking time to have regular check-ins with your volunteers can help to nurture your relationship. During this time you can ask your volunteers how they are feeling about the work and therefore notice any potential red flags that may lead to burnout.
By completing these steps as a volunteer manager, you’ll have happy and healthy volunteers.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
