One of my biggest ‘a-ha’ moments of my career was when I was serving on my first volunteer committee.  I had been asked to serve on the development committee for a local independent school with which I had some connection.  I was asked by an outgoing committee member, whom I had known for 20+ years, to replace him. I readily agreed and received a letter confirming my membership and an invitation to the first meeting.

And then I heard nothing.

I walked into the meeting not knowing who else was on the committee.  I did not know the agenda for the meeting.  I didn’t have a job description.

The meeting itself was fine, moved efficiently, good discussion and discourse with the staff who accepted input.  At the end of the meeting the next meeting date was confirmed.

And then I heard nothing.

As a new board member, and a novice in board membership, I didn’t want to cause a problem for the staff because in my role at Saint Joseph’s University at the time I was working with volunteers where I often complained of volunteers who “didn’t know their role”.  However, I was not getting anything out of serving in my volunteer role.  I was being asked to attend meetings but nothing else.  I thought my time, the little that was being asked for, was being wasted. I was ready to step away.

Of course I then realized that I was guilty of much of the same with the volunteers with whom I worked at my organization. 

      - I didn’t want to ask “too much” of them because they were busy people.
      - It was easier to do myself because it would take too much time and effort to 

               staff them for the same tasks.
      - Without good job descriptions, asking them to do something could seem like

               piling on.

With this experience in mind, here are three important guidelines for managing volunteers:

      1. Be judicious in who you are asking to partner with you.  You

          are choosing a partner, hopefully for a long-term commitment.
      2. Clearly define what you are asking them to do – and then

        allow them to do it. It may take more time/effort in the

           beginning to get them set up and ready to go, but it will pay

           tremendous dividends down the road.
      3. Don’t be afraid to ask them to do more.  We often assume

           people are too busy.  As we well know from the fundraising side of

           the business – people will say no when not interested.  Let the

           volunteer tell you when enough is enough.

In fundraising it is (almost) taken for granted that in order to be a good fundraiser you need to be a donor.  Why do we not set the same standard when it comes to volunteering?

To be a good volunteer manager, you have to volunteer.