Suggestions for success

Representatives from community organizations that regularly work with UMass students offer these suggestions for successfully training and supporting student volunteers:

Provide an introduction to the organization.  It is important for the organization to provide a context for its work.  Help volunteers understand: What's the mission?  Who is involved as staff/clients?  How long has this organization functioned?  Historically, how did it come to be?  What social needs are being addressed?  What role does the organization serve in the greater community?  While volunteers should attempt to find the answers to these questions before beginning their work with the organization, it is often helpful for them to learn this information from people within the organization and not just from the website or other literature.

Offer extensive trainings.  Trainings can help volunteers know exactly what tasks are expected of them.  It is helpful to hold some form of training so that volunteers can become acquainted with the organization and the role they are expected to play.  The training may also be an opportunity for volunteers and staff to meet.  The training could be as simple as showing the volunteer the database program they are expected to use, or as extensive as offering a multi-session training addressing specialized skills (such as answering the hotline, providing tutoring or facilitating a teen group).  Ultimately, the training should help volunteers feel capable of successfully performing the tasks you assign them.

Trust your volunteers.  Not everything can be planned.  Trainings are effective but they are sure to leave some topics unanswered or unexplored.  Take a chance on your volunteers!  Give them a difficult task and bestow them with your trust and support to excel.  This makes the volunteers feel more endowed with the organization and helps you achieve a difficult task.  Volunteers feel more involved if they can delineate the direct impact they are having and the purposes they are serving.

Offer support. Volunteers need a clear understanding of the leadership of the organization. Who can the volunteers go to with questions or problems? Who can they ask for advice? Who should they call if they are unable to come in?

Define roles and responsibilities. CBOs should delineate clearly stated responsibilities and roles for volunteers.  This doesn't mean that organizations cannot expect volunteers to take initiative, be creative, or come up with projects/ideas on their own, it just helps them to know what their base responsibilities are.  Expectations should also be clear. When should the volunteer come in? For how many hours? At what time? 

Meet regularly. Have regular "check-in" meetings with all volunteers.  It helps if there is an explicit way for volunteers and supervisors to give feedback, receive feedback, and process the service experience.  This could be a 15-minute check-in periodically where there is some space for evaluation.  If there are multiple volunteers on site, it is nice to give them the chance to connect with each other and with the staff on a regular basis. Depending on the circumstances, it might work to have weekly meetings in which current issues are discussed.  Make sure to take time out for an opening go-around to check in with each other.

Offer a range of experiences. Once a volunteer begins working with an organization it is often easy for the volunteer to become involved with other programs that the organization runs. Giving volunteers the opportunity to try out different positions within the organization (if possible) is great because it breaks up the monotony that can come from doing the same thing for too long, and they will also not feel restricted in their capacities.

Get to know your volunteers. Staff should make an effort to get to know the volunteer as an individual. Remember that each student has a myriad of other interests and activities. It should be an organizational goal to foster good working relationships between staff and volunteers.  Volunteering is a great opportunity to learn to work with people; therefore, building relationships with staff and other volunteers is one area in which volunteers can learn the most.

Help volunteers build their networks. Volunteers may lack the deep roots in the community that other members of the organization have.  Often student volunteers are asked to spread the word about events, find new volunteers, or generate fundraising dollars.  It may be helpful to volunteers to learn from and strategize with other members of the organization how they can develop their own contacts and social networks.

Be direct. Community organizations tend to be small, tight-knit groups that often resemble a family structure.  If an incident occurs, it’s important for all members of an organization to maintain professional standards.  If a staf member within the organization has an issue to discuss with a student volunteer it’s important that the staff member speak to the volunteer directly.