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Making Episodic and Key Volunteers Work for YouI. Episodic Volunteers vs. Key VolunteersFor most community building projects, volunteers can be divided into two types: episodic volunteers and key volunteers. Like any distinction, there are exceptions, shades of gray, and volunteers that may turn out to be either, both, or somewhere in between. But thinking of volunteers in these terms will help you successfully recruit, coordinate, and keep volunteers on board. What is an Episodic Volunteer? Like the term implies, an episodic volunteer is someone who volunteers for a specific, limited period of time. They may come help plant trees from 10 AM to 2 PM on one particular Saturday. They may volunteer again over time, or may not. Episodic volunteers also tend to value the social component in volunteering: a chance to bond with their neighbors, their co-workers, families and friends in a fun way that gives back to their community and gives them a feeling of accomplishment. Episodic volunteerism is growing rapidly, and on a national scale, while other types of volunteerism are on the decline. The one single thing you can do to strengthen your volunteer program is to structure as much of what you do as possible in short episodes that leave people with a sense of accomplishment. The factors that attract episodic volunteers to a particular project vary widely. Some develop a loyalty to a particular project, such as SOLV’s twice--annual Oregon Beach Cleanups, that’s become a family or neighborhood tradition. Others may be loyal to a particular site, such as a neighborhood or favorite park or stream. Some may be particularly interested in certain causes—tree planting, environmental restoration, or projects that involve youth. Episodic volunteerism has also begun to fill a wider void in our busy world. As everyone’s lives get busier, the traditional ways that we’ve been linked to our community--whether block parties or simply having the time to talk over the back fence—have declined. Volunteer events have become a way to restore these same connections. But, like everything else, episodic volunteering has its shortcomings. If you’re coordinating volunteer projects, episodic volunteerism means that you continually have to find new volunteers for each project. And because the volunteers come and go, you may need to find creative ways to make sure that volunteers can accomplish what is needed with minimal training. But the advantage is in numbers. As more and more of us strive to rekindle our sense of community, we’ll all be seeing more and more episodic volunteers in future years. And some of them will grow into key volunteers over time. What is a Key Volunteer? A key volunteer is a volunteer who helps lead projects or coordinates other volunteers. As the term implies, a key volunteer takes on a larger and more essential responsibility than an episodic volunteer. Key volunteers may volunteer for anything from a month to up to a year or two. Matched with the right organization and proper nurturing, they can become staff members, board members, and one of your organizations’ greatest assets. Key volunteers differ from episodic volunteers in ways beyond time commitment and responsibility. Where episodic volunteers are often drawn by fun and social community-building events, key volunteers are often quite loyal to certain organizations and causes over time, provided they continue to have positive experiences. As people’s lives have become busier over the years, key volunteerism has declined. This means that there is often keen competition for a limited pool of key volunteers. It also means that keeping key volunteers from burning out is critical. Key volunteers usually have more specific personal goals than episodic volunteers do. They may be looking to build job skills or connections, or to use special skills that they no longer use professionally. Retired people and looking for involvement and an outlet for their skills can be a great source of key volunteers. Key volunteers tend to function more like an extension of an organization’s staff than episodic volunteers do. Like staff, they bring their own skill sets, interests, philosophies, and personalities, and function best when given the right combination of clear responsibilities, good training, and ownership of their work. And, like staff, they take time to supervise and work with. Because key volunteers may be looking to build job skills, they may see their work with you as on –the-job training, and may not already be experts at what you’re asking them to do. Some may leave if they find the right job experience. It’s important therefore, to be sure that key volunteers are reliable and to plan for the inevitable turnover. II. Before You Recruit Key Volunteers Make sure you’re organized so that both you and these key volunteers will have a good mutual experience. Here are a few things to have in place before you begin recruiting key volunteers. • Time: Working with key volunteers will save you time, because you will be able to spread the work of planning your project. But they will also take some time in terms of supervision, regular check-ins, and so forth. Be sure to plan for this. • A Clear Task and Job Description: Every volunteer needs a task that is well-defined. What will they accomplish? How long a commitment? What skills to they need, and what will they learn from the experience? Who do they report to? A written job description is a key element of this. • Letting Go: When you decide what tasks you want to delegate to key volunteers, ask yourself this question: “Am I comfortable delegating this to someone else?” If you’re staying awake at night at the thought of a volunteer speaking to community groups about your project, or organizing a tree planting, it’s time to either find a more experienced volunteer, improve your training, or keep doing that particular task yourself. If you’re not ready to let go of a task, you have the ingredients of a frustrating experience for both parties. • Orientation and Training: Every volunteer will need an orientation to your organization and your mission, and training about the specific tasks they’ll be doing. And every key volunteer will also need to be trained on how to represent your organization to the public. • Recognition: Key volunteers are potentially the greatest assets to your organization. Think ahead about how you plan to reward and recognize their efforts. III. Rights and Responsibilities of Volunteers All volunteers should be able to expect certain things from their volunteer experience. In return, your organization will have certain expectations of every volunteer. Volunteers have the right to: • Be treated as an individual whose time and input is valued • Be given a well-defined task with clear expectations • Receive training, and ongoing education for the task • Ongoing feedback about their work • Flexibility to integrate their volunteer work into a busy life • Know as much as possible about the organization they serve • Be given the opportunity for varied experiences • Protection from liability, harassment, and other workplace concerns equal to paid staff. Volunteers have the responsibility to: • Carry out their work reliably and to the best of their ability • Be sincere in their offer of service • Represent the organization well to the public • Accept the guidance and decisions of staff • Be willing to participate in orientation and training • Stay in contact regarding updates on their work • Stay within the bounds of their job description, unless otherwise asked • Ask for help when they need it |
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