PSM: Engaging Highly Skilled Volunteers

7/30/2019 PSM: Engaging Highly Skilled Volunteers

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National Member

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Jill Friedman Fixler


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is a staff development training plan produced by Energize, Inc. especially for

national organizations seeking to increase volunteer involvement at every level of their organizations

and sharpen the volunteer management skills of staff across their networks. It includes written and

live training materials provided throughout the year on basic and advanced volunteer management

subjects.

Self-Instruction Guide May 2005 Energize, Inc., 2005

5450 Wissahickon AvenuePhiladelphia, PA 19144www.energizeinc.com

Featured ReadingHighly-skilled Volunteers = High Impact Results! by Jill Friedman Fixler, to be published in e-Volunteerism:The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community, 2005.

Terms of Use:

This material is protected under Copyright Law and is subject to the same use restrictions as a work

printed on paper. However, under the terms of the Everyone Ready contract, Energize, Inc. permitsmember organizations the unlimited and unexpiring right to use this material with authorized members under

the following guidelines.

You may:

1. Share this Guide with anyone who is an authorized employee or volunteer with your organization or

any of its official affiliates, branches, districts or chapters. The material may be redistributed in

electronic or printed form exactly as provided or with any modifications (additions, deletions,

adaptations) desired by your organization, provided that the original source is always credited:

Adapted from Engaging Highly-skilled Volunteersby Jill Friedman Fixler, 2005, Energize,

Inc. as part of the Everyone Ready program.

2. Print pages for reading on paper and distribute copies to authorized persons.

3. Add to or change the material on pages 15 and pages 1719 to reflect language or content

specific to your organization. However, see below for prohibited changes to the Featured

Reading(s).

4. Quote from this work or reproduce excerpts for internal use, provided the bibliographic citation is

given to the source of the material (see #1).

You may not:

1. Make changes to the Featured Reading(s) section on pages 6 16. This is material under separate

copyright and must be presented as originally published.

2. Give, sell, or loan either a printed or an electronic copy of this Guide or excerpts from it to anyone

outside of your organization.

3. Reprint this Guide in any commercial publication or re-sell the contents at any cost to your

participant


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HOW TO USE THESE SELF-INSTRUCTION GUIDES

selects a several-page chapter, excerpt, or article from arespected source often fresh material just published or newly revised to becomethe Featured Reading on the chosen topic for each Self-Instruction Guide.

Read or complete each section of the Guide in the sequence presented the order ofthe elements matters to the success of the learning experience. First, you will findpreparatory information that sets the topic into context and a pre-reading self-quiz.Then the Featured Reading(s) are presented.

The material following the Featured Reading(s) updates and expands the originalwriting and has been developed specifically for participants. Itincludes further resources, ways to test your understanding, and a post-reading self-quiz.

Recommendation:

Consider forming a study group or learning team so that you benefit from the synergy ofdiscussing the material with others in your program. Sharing your ideas aloud reinforces thelearning and lays the groundwork for actually implementing many of the ideas developed.

IDEAL AUDIENCE

This Guide has been written for:

Paid staff (regardless of title) with responsibility for planning and developing specificprojects that involve volunteers.

Volunteers in leadership roles who want to learn more about the principles and practicesof volunteer management.

Volunteer program managers.

Self-Instruction Guide 2005 En er g i ze , I n c .


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jill Friedman Fixler

Jill Friedman Fixler has been in nonprofit management for twenty-fiveyears. She is Principal of JFFixler & Associates, a full service consultingcompany specializing in training, technical assistance and capacitybuilding for nonprofit organizations. Her consulting services includevolunteer engagement, board development, organizational development,strategic development, and executive coaching. Jill has worked forhealth, hospitals, government, animal welfare, community centers, andreligious and cultural organizations.

She has provided consultation and facilitation services to groups as diverse as HostellingInternational, Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal (STAR), Colorado State Parks, TableMountain Animal Center, Sobriety House, Inc., Metro Volunteers, Audubon Aquarium of the

Americas, Denver Womens Chorus, Littleton Adventist Hospital, Colorado I Have A DreamFoundation, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center, Colorado Habitat For Humanity, University ofDenver Graduate School of Social Work, and Girls Inc. of Denver.

Jill has presented at numerous national and state conferences, including those of theColorado Citizen Corps, Metro Volunteers, Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps,Senior Corps and VISTA Programs), Synagogue 2000 Westchester New York Cohort, LutheranFamily Services, Colorado Healthcare Directors of Volunteer Services, Colorado Association ofFoundations, American Cancer Society, and at several International Conferences on VolunteerAdministration.

Jill was a contributor to the book What We Learned (the Hard Way) about SupervisingVolunteers: An Action Guide for Making Your Job Easierby Jarene Frances Lee

(Energize,1999). She is a contributing panelist for the online Volunteer Management Reviewpublished by CharityChannel, for which she has written Strategies for an Interview Overhaul(January 2003), Valuation not Evaluation (March 2003), and Is it Time to Reengineer YourVolunteer Program? (March 2004; reprinted in the Canadian FundRaiser, Volume 14, Number9, May 2004), and The Results of Volunteer Program Revitalization (September 2004). Shealso wrote Group Interviewing Techniques: Hitting the Bulls Eye Every Time ine-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community, Vol. III, No. 3, April-June2003.

Visit Jills Web site, www.jffixler.com, or contact her at:

Jill Friedman FixlerJFFixler & Associates6471 South Dallas CourtEnglewood, Colorado 80111(303) 773-3336

[email protected]

http://www.jffixler.com/http://www.jffixler.com/


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UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES

One of the most unfortunate negative stereotypes about volunteers is that they are mainlywell-meaning amateurs best placed in low-level helping tasks. In fact, qualified volunteerscan be (and already are in many places) purposely recruited for assignments requiringprofessional experience. Highly-skilled volunteers can help an organization fulfill its visionand mission by contributing their specific skills and talents. These skills and talents can rangefrom statistical analysis to carpentry and are not dependent on degrees in higher education.

As we will explore in this Guide, working with highly-skilled volunteers is predicated on anumber of premises:

People excel at the work that they wantto do.

You dont create motivation for volunteers; you discover it.

Highly-skilled volunteers complement the talent pool of an organization.

Highly-skilled volunteers require a collaborative model of work rather than a

managerial model.

Highly-skilled volunteers are an abundant resource to which you already have access.

The freedom to choose is a critical component in designing volunteer programs forhighly-skilled volunteers.

Just because someone has a skill does not mean that they are willing to share it withyou.



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THINGS TO THINK ABOUT AS YOU READ

How comfortable are you in collaborating with volunteers?

Do you have highly-skilled volunteers already working in your organization? Howwere those placements developed? What is working? What could be improved?

How much freedom do you offer volunteers in their work?

Do you have a good idea of the skills that existing volunteers have? How do youaccess this information?

Do you try to fit incoming volunteers into an existing position or do you meet thevolunteers where they are?

Do you ask potential volunteers what their skills are and if they are willing to sharethem with you?

To whom are your highly-skilled volunteers assigned? Do they work with topmanagement or only frontline staff? Do staff or leadership volunteers have trainingto work with this population? Does the chief executive work with any of thesevolunteers (other than those on the board of directors)?



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PRE-READING SELF-QUIZ

Before you start to read, answer the questions below to see how much you know aboutthis subject now.

1. Our organization engages a wide range of volunteers, including highly-skilled ones.

yes no not sure

2. I work with at least one highly-skilled volunteer now:

yes no

3. I would define highly-skilled as:

4. I know how to create position descriptions for highly-skilled volunteers:

yes no somewhat

5. I know how to hold highly-skilled volunteers accountable for their work:

yes no somewhat

6. I am comfortable collaborating with highly-skilled volunteers even when they have skills

that I do not:

yes no somewhat

7. We offer our volunteers flexibility in their volunteer assignments in terms of schedule,

location, and work to be done.

All of the time Some of the time Not at all

8. Three things that I would like to know about working with highly-skilled volunteers are:a.

b.

c.



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READERS NOTES



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Featured Reading

FEATURED READING

Highly-skilled Volunteers = High Impact Results! by Jill Friedman Fixler, to be published in e-Volunteerism:The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community, 2005.

Highly-skilled Volunteers = High Impact Results!

By Jill Friedman Fixler

I have been privileged to work with volunteers for over 25 years. During this time, I observedmany changes in my volunteer practice. Volunteers changed, and the level at which they wereengaged in organizations where I worked changed as well. Marlene Wilsons 1976 book, TheEffective Management of Volunteer Programs, defined a system of volunteer managementthat mirrored the human resource systems of the day. She saw the functions of volunteermanagement as focused on planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. Fornearly 20 years of my direct service volunteer management practice, I faithfully followed thishuman resource management model to the letter.

This model of volunteer management is in its essence staff-driven. I recruited volunteers andfound a match between what they were looking for and what my organization needed. If theyhad special skills to contribute, all the better. This top-down process was highly effective inrunning a successful volunteer program.

In the late 90s, I began to see a change in the kind of volunteers who wished to share theirtime. These new volunteers were somewhat uncomfortable with the square peg in a squarehole mentality. They were far more assertive about wanting to share their skills and talents ina way that worked for them while contributing their time in a way that had significant impact

on the organization. And the population of willing volunteers ready to take on anyassignment, any time, anywhere began to dwindle.

What skills and talents these new volunteers had! I was thrilled with the variety and range ofskills that appeared in abundance in the volunteer pool. We had managers, human resourceexperts, curriculum designers, public relations specialists, photographers, graphic designers,educators, statistical analysts, software programmers, Web design experts, American SignLanguage interpreters, technical writers, PowerPoint mavens, and the list went on and on. Ifelt like a kid in a candy store with so many choices for high-impact volunteer engagement.

I noticed some striking characteristics about this new population of volunteers. They weremuch more independent than traditional volunteers. I found them to be very assertive aboutwhat they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it, and where they wanted to do the work.

There was little tolerance for busy work, bureaucracy, or top-down management. They wereimpatient with process and wanted access to decision making and authority. These volunteerswanted to make a difference and they wanted to do it now.

Highly-skilled Volunteers = High Impact Results! by Jill Friedman Fixler 2005 Energize, Inc


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Case Study: Ocean Journey

Monica Aden, former Manger of Volunteer Services, and Jill Friedman Fixler, former Directorof Volunteer Services.

Ocean Journey, a state-of-the-art aquarium in Denver, Colorado, opened its doors in June of1999 with nearly 1,000 volunteers. In order to develop this program from scratch we had to

rely on many highly-skilled volunteers who were willing to share their talents and skills withus. A graduate student in communications created and wrote the copy for our volunteer andtraining handbooks. Another volunteer, whose day job was public relations and marketing,chaired a marketing committee of public relations and marketing professionals whodeveloped the volunteer program annual report and annually presented the results to theboard of directors. A skilled photographer and fish aficionado developed a fish identificationbook for volunteers to use in their informal education with guests. And a retired employee ofour local newspaper edited our monthly volunteer newsletter. Since we had to screen all ofthe volunteers prior to placement, we utilized 40 volunteer placement counselors who did allof the interviews. We literally could not have opened our facility without the talent andleadership of these and other individuals who were willing to take responsibility for a project

and run with it.

Implications:Volunteers will rise to your level of expectation. If you treat them like theprofessionals they are, they will surpass your expectations and provide a product that isbetter than if you had done it without them. These exceptional individuals inspired us andtook our program to heights far beyond our dreams.

Who Are Highly-skilled Volunteers?

When we hear the term highly-skilled volunteers we tend to think of white-collar, college-educated volunteers. While highly-skilled volunteers possess specific skills or talents, theymay or may not have a college or advanced degrees. They can be master craftspeople such asthe carpenter who builds shelves or the seamstress who designs costumes. They may work ina for-profit business at a management level or they may be completing graduate school. Orthey may be volunteers who are willing and eager to take on a project that no one else willdo. I fondly remember a volunteer who coordinated all of the employee and volunteeruniforms at a large nonprofit where I worked. It was a huge assignment and she coordinatedit with dignity and grace.

Many highly-skilled volunteers are retired or have downshifted from their professions orcareers. These volunteers want to do meaningful work while replicating the community of the

workplace and status as a worker that they often miss. They are interested in sharing theirwisdom and advice to see progress and to make a difference. Often this group of highly-skilled volunteers desires a great deal of flexibility in their assignments to work around thetime they need for travel, life-long learning, work, and family obligations. Retirees are busypeople with a wide range of interests and commitments. They are a sophisticated group withsophisticated needs. This can require patience, flexibility and creativity on the part of thenonprofit that collaborates with them.



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Highly-skilled volunteers may already be in your volunteer pool. Do you track the skills andtalents of your current volunteers? Have you asked them if they are willing to share theseskills? In our haste to match candidates to our needs, we often forget to engage them inconversations about their unique skills and talents. You might be surprised at what you havelurking in your existing volunteer resources.

Some Special Issues

Many highly-skilled volunteers find you before you find them. They already have an idea ofhow they might be helpful to your organization. Their offer may or may not be on your radarscreen. Thus, they require a great deal of creativity in designing assignments that aremutually beneficial. While their offer may be fabulous, it is up to you to decide if it fits withthe organizations stage in its life cycle, culture, resources, vision, mission and values.Sometimes the volunteer program manager may have to acknowledge that, while the offer issensational, the organization is not in a place to do it justice. That is the time to initiate adelicate negotiation to explore if another mutually beneficial assignment can be developed.

In many ways, the highly-skilled volunteer requires all of the same support and effort on thepart of the organization that traditional direct service volunteers do. Following recruitment,they need a position description, orientation, training, supervision, evaluation andrecognition. However, there are some distinct differences for this population of volunteers.They want to work with staff in a collaborative way. They resist being told what to do but aredelighted to share their ideas and recommendations. In order for the placement to succeed,they need intensive training on the culture and financial realities of the organization so thattheir expectations and the reality of what is possible are aligned.

Some highly-skilled volunteers may refuse to accept traditional roles for volunteers. MarcFreedman, author ofPrimetime: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement andTransform America, tells the story of a retired physician who goes to a hospital to volunteerfollowing the closure of his medical practice. The director of volunteer services assigns him to

greet patients while his vision was to practice medicine and have the hospital pay hismalpractice insurance. As they said in the movie Cool Hand Luke: What we have here is afailure to communicate! In order to work effectively with highly-skilled volunteers we have toremain open to new ideas even if they initially seem impossible.

Highly-skilled volunteers may have more knowledge and expertise than the staff and theleadership volunteers with whom they work and so staff may feel threatened by them. Yetstaff buy-in is a critical component of any successful engagement of highly-skilled volunteers.While buy-in can be mandated and enforced, it is better to create opportunities throughchoice. This requires great sensitivity, team building and training to form relationships thatwork, as well as rewarding and celebrating successful teamwork.

It is important to note that not all highly-skilled volunteers are willing to share their skills. Iremember so well the insurance expert who just wanted to clean the kennels at an animalshelter or the accountant who delighted in tutoring middle school children. While I haveconsiderable expertise in volunteer engagement, my favorite volunteer assignment was to bethe paper chairwoman of the Parent-Teacher Organization at my sons school. My job was tobring paper goods to classrooms for special events and parties. I had a $500 budget, nocommittee, no politics, and a flexible and manageable assignment! After coordinating thework of hundreds of volunteers in my professional life, this assignment was nirvana for me.



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Case Study: Exempla Lutheran Medical Center

Pat Harrell, former Director of Volunteer Services

Donna P., with a background in counseling and working with Job Corps clients, answered arecruitment advertisement seeking volunteers to provide support to sexual assault victimsseen in the Emergency Room. The ER staff gave her excellent evaluations for her skill

in working with these traumatized patients. In addition, her leadership andorganizational skills became apparent when she helped reorganize and refine processes usedin providing services.

When the hospital needed to improve patient satisfaction scores, I suggested using volunteersto visit patients and identify any concerns that could be solved quickly. I asked Donna to takeover the project. She networked with nursing staff to set up and develop the process andrecruited and trained 18 patient visitor volunteers. The volunteers kept a log of each patient'scomments (both compliments and concerns were solicited) and referred problems to theappropriate staff for immediate attention. A volunteer made a follow-up call to each patientwithin 72 hours of discharge to inquire if their concerns were properly addressed and todetermine if the patient needed to speak to a medical professional.

The impact on the satisfaction scores was dramatic. ER complaints fell by 12% in the firstquarter. Volunteers posted compliments every day for staff review. This reinforced positivebehavior and treatment while contributing to staff morale. The Volunteer Patient VisitorProgram success sparked renewed efforts in other areas of customer service.

Implications:When working with highly-skilled people, it is important to agree on the goal ofthe assignment, facilitate networking, provide resources, and then get out of the way.Promoting the credibility of the volunteer and publicizing the success of his/her work to thepaid staff is probably the most rewarding recognition one can provide for highly-skilledvolunteers.

What Do Highly-skilled Volunteers Want from You?

This is the essential whats in it for me? question. Highly-skilled volunteers want to feelvalued. They want to know that their contribution of time and talent is meaningful and willhave lasting impact. They expect clear, manageable and achievable assignments that areresults-oriented and can be measured for efficacy. These volunteers want to be respected andwant an element of control over what they do. They will tell you that they do not want towaste their time, as it is a precious commodity for them. Many professionals may want theopportunity to network, as they see their volunteer time as a way to market what they do.Others may want to move into leadership positions and approach their frontline volunteeringas a career ladder leading to service on the board of directors. And some volunteers may wantto utilize their volunteer assignment as a springboard to paid employment.

When working with this population it is important to ascertain what they want from theirassociation with you. Most will have an idea of what their personal and professional goals arefor volunteering with your organization. Many will appreciate a testimonial thank you lettersent to their employer, since many employers expect community involvement from their staff.



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Others may enjoy observing a board meeting or having lunch with your executive. You mayneed to prompt some of the conversation. Identifying what people want makes it much easierfor you to create a win/win engagement that will be appealing and satisfying to eachvolunteer.

Case Study: Visiting Nurse Association

Alyce Novak, Manager of Volunteer Resources

Gwen R. came to the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) Hospice-at-Home in a traditional way.Her husband was a Hospice patient. When he died, his nurse suggested that the VolunteerResources Department recruit her. She was eager to give back the caring that he and she hadreceived but was not emotionally ready to help clients and families. Having previouslyworked for a German corporation and run a bed-and-breakfast, she had significantorganizational expertise. VNA asked her to become the Hospice Librarian. In this role herhigh level of skills really sparkled. She turned the miscellaneous donated books into a librarycollection that was convenient and easy to use by internal and external customers. Shesingle handedly weeded out the inappropriate items, categorized the remaining books forspecific audiences, wrote abstracts for a bibliography that was made available free to thegeneral public, built a computerized inventory from scratch, developed a donation program,wrote book reviews for the Hospice newsletter, and staffed the Hospice Lending-Libraryphone line! She even thought to bring a selection of the books to the Hospices semi-monthlyteam meetings so the staff would have easy access. The impact was the creation of animmensely valuable service for Hospice clients, families, staff and the community.

In addition to her organizational skills, Gwen also was fluent in German and had a high levelof interpersonal ability. Thus, when the time was right (she had healed enough to feelcomfortable helping clients and families), she left the shelter of the VNA office and went tothe homes of clients to help. She interpreted for German clients, gave solace to long-timemarried couples during the dying process, befriended those who felt lingering deep losses

long after the death, consulted with staff on client issues, and comforted survivors atmemorial events. When she moved to Seattle recently, she stated that not only had VNAunderstood her skills, they also appreciated them and utilized them appropriately helpingher to continue her healing while having a significant impact for the organization.

Implications:Match talent to timing. Gwen is an example of volunteers who want tomaximize their skill set when and how they are ready to do so.

Creating the AssignmentThe key component in creating work for highly-skilled volunteers is to build in flexibility interms of where, when and what the assignment entails. Potential volunteers have to feel thatwhat they are being asked to do is realistic, manageable and achievable. The work has to fitwith their lifestyle and other commitments.

In traditional volunteer management models most, if not all, of the volunteer assignments aredesigned prior to recruitment. As is often the case with highly-skilled volunteers, they may



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come to you offering unexpected skills or, during an interview, you may uncover some skillsthat are useful to you. Thus, the creation of the assignment is much more collaborative, withthe volunteer having significant input into its design.

There are several creative ways to engage highly-skilled volunteers:1

Episodic Assignments: These offer one-time or short-term opportunities to engage

highly-skilled volunteers and include a range of activities such as attending a specificmeeting, evaluating recommendations or reports, doing statistical analysis, orfacilitating a retreat. Episodic assignments allow highly-skilled volunteers theopportunity to engage with you by using their unique talents, with little or nocommitment beyond a one-time event.

Recurring Episodic Assignments: Some highly-skilled volunteers may be willing toshare their expertise but are unwilling to make a commitment to a regular ortemporary assignment. However, they may agree to engage in periodically repeatedshort-term projects or events. For example, the auditor may be willing to interpretand help implement recommendations from the audit report each year. Or a lawyermight be willing to occasionally review contracts.

Coaching: Many highly-skilled volunteers are experts in their field. While they may bereluctant to engage in an ongoing assignment, they are willing to lend theirexpertise and wisdom as needed to paid staff and other volunteers. Coachingassignments can be done virtually or on the telephone, so they are highly flexible.Even snowbirds can stay engaged in volunteer coaching while they are wintering faraway from your organization. I recommend contracting for coaching over a definedperiod of time. After an initial face-to-face meeting, the rest of the coachingrelationship will most likely be on the telephone or by e-mail. The employee orvolunteer who is being coached should agree to set up appointments well inadvance, respect the time commitment of the volunteer, and do all follow-up workrequired.

Task Forces: Task force committees, by their very nature, provide short-termexaminations of a problem or subject that produce recommendations. The task forceformat is an excellent way to involve highly-skilled in the incubation phase of aproject for a limited and defined period of time. This is ideal for those individualswho are achievement oriented and enjoy assignments with a beginning, middle andend that result in a product, change or addition to your organization. Be aware,however, that some highly-skilled volunteers may have had a bad experience as acommittee member in a previous volunteer assignment. They may have found thecommittee consensus process too confining and process-oriented. Nevertheless,they may embrace a temporary task force with a specific goal in mind or might enjoyworking with a small team to get the goal accomplished.

Special Projects: In project assignments, volunteers are willing to see an initiative orproject through from beginning to end. The possibilities for special projects areendless, from redesigning a Web site, to translating materials into another language,to researching legislation. Project volunteers may work side by side with othervolunteers and paid staff or the assignment can be done independently.

1Excerpted from The Art and Science of Engaging Baby BoomerVolunteers, 2005, Jill Friedman Fixler and

Jill Canono (to be published).



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Seasonal Work: Highly-skilled volunteers may only be available seasonally. Forexample, they might winter or summer in another locale or have a profession suchas accounting that makes them unavailable during particular times of the year such

as tax season. Seasonal assignments allow volunteers to engage with you when it isconvenient for them.

Case Study: Colorado Legal Services

Gail Lorenz Administrator of Volunteer Services

Colorado Legal Services (CLS) recently orchestrated collaboration between a staff person inthe CLS Boulder office, a Denver volunteer who was working remotely, and a stakeholder whoworks in the Attorney General's office in Denver. The CLS staff person clipped an article froma national paper concerning the benefits and risks of becoming a co-signor on a loan. Thebenefit of inclusion of this topic on the CLS Web site was discussed among members of theCLS Web site Content Review Team. The Review Team is composed of several attorneys in theDenver office and two staff from outlying CLS offices. This group meets quarterly to discussthe evolution, maintenance and management of content on the site. The Review Team agreedthat having information on the site about co-signing would be beneficial to CLS clients andthe community in general.

The article was given to the volunteer, who was asked to use it as a framework to gather moreinformation about co-signing and to put together a document for the site. This gave thevolunteer the opportunity to create something useful for the community and also somethingsubstantial to include on his resume. The project created a meaningful volunteer experiencefor someone who did not initially have significant opportunity to use and develop his writingskills. After the article was written, a consumer law expert from the Attorney Generals office

was recruited to review the article. He reviewed the article and made suggestions as tocontent and format. The CLS Web site Coordinator then made the revisions and posted thearticle on the CLS site. The volunteer who wrote the article continues to work on the site byadding content while at school in New York.

Implications: Try to create a win/win for both your agency and the volunteer involved. Theresults are always worth the effort.

Highly-skilled volunteers may work independently, collaborate with staff, assist the board ofdirectors or consult with the Executive Director. This is determined by the content of theassignment. The best efforts result when these volunteers are utilized throughout theorganization. But staff may have little training in working with direct service volunteers, letalone sophisticated professionals who may have more expertise than they do. A wise mentoronce told me to build the volunteer program around employees who champion volunteerengagement. As tales of success with highly-skilled volunteers spread throughout the



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organization, more staff will come forward to request highly-skilled volunteers to work withthem, too.

An effective way to determine staff commitment and knowledge of working with highly-skilledvolunteers is to conduct an agency-wide needs assessment. The needs assessment should includequestions about how volunteers with special skills might be utilized and questions about staffs

previous experiences with volunteers. This will tell you what level of training and support each staffmember will need.

Where Do You Find Highly-skilled Volunteers?

The good news is that highly-skilled volunteers are an abundant resource. They are yourexisting volunteers, donors, clients, neighbors, friends, bankers, vendors, physicians,childcare providers, handymen, and family members. They are everywhere you look; they justhavent been asked to contribute in a way that works for them. Also, it may never haveoccurred to the highly-skilled person that his or her skills would be useful and valuable toyour organization.

You may not have to look for highly-skilled volunteers they may seek you out instead. Irecently had a conversation with a colleague who told me that when she retires she plans onhelping a nonprofit organization that builds houses for the homeless. My friend has a visionbeyond carpentry. She knows that her skills in organizational development would be an assetand have significant impact for the organization. And she mentioned that she was preparedto combine a financial contribution, perhaps even a planned gift, as part of the package. Iasked her if she was a donor now and she said: No, that is for when I retire. Consequently,she isnt even on the organizations radar screen. I only hope that when my friend finally doesretire and pursue her dream, she will find the fit that she is looking for. I imagined theconversation with an old-school volunteer coordinator who might not see the potential ofcollaboration with this individual. Hopefully my friend will find a willing participant in a

journey that could pay big dividends for the home-building nonprofit she chooses.

In todays volunteer marketplace there is an abundance of highly-skilled individuals who,when given the right opportunity, will willingly help your organization. As already described, akey factor is what you are asking volunteers to do. The work must:

Be flexible in terms of where, when and what the assignment entails.

Be realistic, manageable and achievable.

Has to fit with their lifestyle and commitments.

Begin your recruitment in your own backyard. Look to your stakeholders first: your clients,consumers, donors, vendors, community members and, of course, your existing volunteers. It

is recommended that you engage in frequent conversations about what people know, whatthey do, whom they know, and what their interests are both professionally and avocationally.You never know when you will come upon a match that is the perfect solution for a problemor a dream you have for the organization.

One of the organizations that I worked for faced closure and the potential existed for all ofthe employees to be laid off. I contacted a leadership volunteer who was a retired humanresource specialist. I asked him if he would be willing to provide career coaching and



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counseling to the employees. He willingly set up office hours and provided resume andinterviewing consultation to anyone who was interested.

Once you have tapped the resources close at hand, there are many other sources of highly-skilled people. Some ideas:

Professional societies almost every profession has local chapters

Graduate schools

Executive Service Corps and other similar organizations that exist specifically tomatch skilled volunteers with nonprofits needing assistance (see AdditionalResources on page 18)

Chambers of commerce

AARP and other associations of retired people

Recruitment: Creating the Offer

How you ask potential volunteers to become involved with you is an important link in buildingthe relationship. Almost everyone will be flattered that you are interested in him or her. Manyfind the idea of pioneering a project, building a pilot or template, or creating somethingwhere nothing existed before to be an appealing offer. Remember that the structure of howyou make your request is just the beginning of the conversation. You dont know where thediscussion will lead if you remain open and flexible. By asking a lot of questions, you may goplaces that you never dreamed of. Here are some conversation starters that can help youdiscover talents and preferences:

Tell me what your dream volunteer assignment would be.

Tell me about a time when you created a project or an initiative. What worked foryou? What didnt work for you? What would you do differently next time?

If we could design your dream project with our organization, what would it be? Whatresources would you need? How would you structure this endeavor?

Clearly you have significant skills. How do you think that we could capitalize onthese and create a volunteer assignment that you would love to do?

Now that you have read our new strategic plan, are there some areas that are ofinterest to you or where do you think you could use your skills in helping usimplement the plan?

For existing volunteers: Now that you have been with us for some time, whatinterests you the most in helping us to fulfill our mission and have lasting impact?

You should expect to see evidence of skills the applicant describes. You can ask for a resume,work samples, letters of recommendation, or even to speak to previous employers or clients.Other tips for starting off on the right foot are:

Provide the same orientation to the organization that you would give to any othervolunteer. No one is too skilled not to need information about who you are andhow you operate.

Make sure you explain the realities of your organization including resources,politics, and culture.



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Write down what you have agreed is the work plan: scope of the assignment,deadlines, access to information, and anything else that clarifies who does what.This includes specifying who owns any product produced: Is everything owned bythe organization or can the volunteer, for example, retain copyright ownership ofgraphic designs?

Determine how you both will know when the project is completed. Do you expect awritten report, an oral presentation, or what? Will the volunteer turn over rawmaterials to you?

Clarify the resources available to the volunteer: access to which staff, what data,what equipment, etc.

Case Study: Volunteers of America

Nancy Blevins, Project Manager

Susan K. contacted Volunteers of America about seven years ago wanting to teach a BibleStudy class. She started with us in that capacity, but her volunteer work has evolved so thattoday she serves as our Project Manager (a volunteer position) of the Sunset Park SeniorCenter. Now Susan is responsible for the overall development and operation of Sunset ParkSenior Center including program development, personnel management, data collection, fiscalmanagement, fundraising and grant writing, and developing and maintaining professionalliaison relationships within the community and with agencies.

Having Susan in this position has allowed precious funding to go towards participant servicesinstead of personnel costs. The agency benefits from having an individual of Susan's caliberin a leadership position. Her willingness to tap into the resources that are available to her inthe community has brought countless resources to us. Our clients benefit from our ability tooffer more activities at the Center than our budget would otherwise allow. Just as importantto our clients is the caring oversight that they receive from Susan.

Implications:When working with highly-skilled volunteers, allow them the freedom to findtheir niche in the organization so they will become engaged and make the maximumcontribution that they are willing to provide.

Working with Highly-skilled Volunteers

Impact can happen from the work of highly-skilled volunteers when you engage in

discussions that are focused on outcome, sustainability and results. Build such discussionsinto the planning phase of your work and identify measurable and achievable results. Somequestions to facilitate this are:

What do we anticipate the initial outcomes and benefits to be for our organization?

What are the sustained outcomes or lasting changes that we expect from thisengagement?



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What are the results or lasting changes for our organization and/or ourbeneficiaries?

What will be different in the world because we have done this collaboration?

Many nonprofit organizations shun working with highly-skilled volunteers because they fearthat they cannot hold them accountable for their work. The reality of working with highly-

skilled volunteers is quite the opposite. However, creating boundaries and accountabilitytakes attention and forethought:

Always design a position description that clearly outlines boundaries andaccountability.

Discuss realistic timelines with the potential volunteer that incorporateorganizational needs and respect the volunteers personal and professionalcommitments.

Schedule regular meetings to follow up on progress. These meetings can be by e-mail reporting or on the telephone, as well as face-to-face.

Celebrate your successes along the way.

Continually ask the volunteer for feedback about how the collaboration is going.

Have the volunteer participate in an evaluation following the completion of theengagement.

The journey to building collaborative relationships with highly-skilled volunteers may notalways be a smooth one. It requires creativity, patience, flexibility and excellent listeningskills. However, it is worth the effort and investment and there will be huge dividends for yourorganization and for the volunteers who participate.

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.

Milton Berle

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STUDY QUESTIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL OR TEAM USE

Here are some questions to think about yourself or discuss with a small group in your office.

1. Think about your dreams for your organization. How could highly-skilled volunteers make

a difference in your organization?

2. What are the skill areas that are not available to you now in your current staffing

resources? What types of skills or talents would you most need?

3. What training will staff and leadership volunteers need in order to work effectively and

collaboratively with highly-skilled volunteers?

4. What will need to be different in your organization to fully engage highly-skilledvolunteers?

TRY THIS EXERCISES

Audit your current volunteer workforce to identify highly-skilled volunteers.

Develop a system for placement of highly-skilled volunteers in your organization. Create askills bank for all existing volunteers by asking them to identify the skills that they wish toshare with you. Distribute this skills list to all staff and leadership volunteers

At a staff/leadership meeting ask the following questions:

What arent we doing that we should be doing as an organization?

What are we doing that we would like to do more of?

What are our dreams for this organization?

What do we wish we could do but just dont have the right people?

Then develop a recruitment plan for highly-skilled volunteers based on resources that areneeded.

Self-Instruction Guide 2005 En er g i ze , I n c


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RESOURCES ON THIS SUBJECTAttention members: remember to visite-Volunteerism and the Energize Online

Bookstore through your portal for full access to articles and discounts in the

bookstore.

Ellis, Susan J. Staff Resistance and the Highly-Skilled Volunteer. Hot Topic, May 1999.http://www.energizeinc.com/hot/may99.html

Kelly, Colleen. The Road Not Taken. e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the VolunteerCommunity, Volume V, Issue 1, October-December 2004.http://e-volunteerism.com/quarterly/04oct/04oct-kelly.php

King, Jan B. Working with a Consultant. [Written for paid consultants, but completelyapplicable to working with volunteers, too.]

http://www.sideroad.com/Consulting/consultant.html

To expand your horizons about the things that highly-skilled volunteers do, see some of thefollowing examples:

Case study of Geekcorps: Ghana which matches highly skilled technology volunteers fromthe developed world with small and medium-sized businesses in Accra, Ghana.http://www.bridges.org/iicd_casestudies/geekcorps/

Community Consulting Project. Seattle, WA. http://www.scn.org/ccp/main/index.htm

CompuMentor Success Stories. http://www.compumentor.org/mentor/examples.html

Executive Service Corps. http://www.escus.org/

Newtraid.org: The Meeting Place for Virtual Consultants and Clients.http://www.newtraid.org/

Urban Business Initiative. Houston, TX. http://www.urbanbusiness.org/about.htm

"VIP Climbers Volunteer to Make Mount McKinley Safer. National Geographic News,October 31, 2003.http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1031_031031_denali.html

Virtual Volunteers: Invisible and Invaluable. Description of how Macdonald YouthServices in Winnipeg, Canada, involves highly-skilled volunteers in online service.http://www.globalenvision.org/library/13/338/

Volunteers for Prosperity (See how the Bush Administration is focusing on recruiting highly-skilled volunteers for overseas technical assistance.)http://www.volunteersforprosperity.gov/

http://www.sideroad.com/Consulting/consultant.htmlhttp://www.bridges.org/iicd_casestudies/geekcorps/http://www.scn.org/ccp/main/index.htmhttp://www.compumentor.org/mentor/examples.htmlhttp://www.escus.org/http://www.newtraid.org/http://www.urbanbusiness.org/about.htmhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1031_031031_denali.htmlhttp://www.globalenvision.org/library/13/338/http://www.volunteersforprosperity.gov/http://www.volunteersforprosperity.gov/http://www.globalenvision.org/library/13/338/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1031_031031_denali.htmlhttp://www.urbanbusiness.org/about.htmhttp://www.newtraid.org/http://www.escus.org/http://www.compumentor.org/mentor/examples.htmlhttp://www.scn.org/ccp/main/index.htmhttp://www.bridges.org/iicd_casestudies/geekcorps/http://www.sideroad.com/Consulting/consultant.html


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POST-READING SELF-QUIZ

Now that you have completed this booklet, answer the questions below again. Compareyour responses to those you gave in the Pre-Reading quiz.

1. Our organization engages a wide range of volunteers, including highly-skilled ones.

yes no not sure

2. I work with at least one highly-skilled volunteer now:

yes no

3. I now would define highly-skilled as:

4. I now know how to create position descriptions for highly-skilled volunteers:

yes no somewhat

5. I now know how to hold highly-skilled volunteers accountable for their work:

yes no somewhat

6. I am now more comfortable collaborating with highly-skilled volunteers even when they

have skills that I do not:

yes no somewhat

7. We offer our volunteers flexibility in their volunteer assignments in terms of schedule,

location, and work to be done.

All of the time Some of the time Not at all

8. Three things that I have just learned about working with highly-skilled volunteers are:a.

b.

c.

PSM: Engaging Highly Skilled Volunteers

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