How long do volunteers usually stay with your program? Do you struggle with keeping them interested, involved and engaged?

This introductory session will take you through the volunteer cycle, including planning, recruitment, orientation, supervision, and recognition. You will learn how all of these stages interlink, and how they all contribute to excellent performance and volunteer retention.

Learning Objectives
Understand the overall volunteer management cycle, including an introduction to the following:

• Develop quality job descriptions, linked to your organizational mission
• Market your volunteer opportunities
• Orient and train volunteers
• Performance management cycle

Who should take this?
Anyone who wants an overall understanding of volunteer management best practices. This could include someone who is new to the field of volunteer management, as well as program managers and senior managers who want to make best use of their volunteer resources.

Instructor
Maria Lahiffe, VO’s Education Officer, has 13 years of experience in education and 4 years of experience in volunteer management. She herself has been a lifelong volunteer, including having served on three Boards of Directors and volunteered in a developing country for three years.

Volunteer Recognition
Volunteers contribute immeasurable value to our organizations and our community. It is impossible to overstate the importance of recognizing the value of volunteers’ contributions. Research shows that there is a critical gap between the way organizations recognize their volunteers, and how the volunteers themselves would like to be recognized.

Learning Objectives
How volunteer recognition is embedded throughout a quality volunteer management practice
research-backed volunteer recognition strategies which you can implement immediately
how to use Achieve Ontario, a program which recognized volunteers’ contributions by highlighting the impact of their work in a formal document

You will also receive your own login to the Achieve Ontario system, which will allow you unlimited access to create certificates for your volunteers

Who should attend
Anyone who manages volunteers.

Instructor
Maria Lahiffe, VO’s Education Officer, has a varied background in Engineering, Education, and non-profit work, including a three-year stint as an international volunteer in Ghana.