As a volunteer, what characteristics do you admire/look for in a Volunteer Coordinator.?

Question

What things could a VC do to help you better as a volunteer? I'm just looking for some guidelines/ideas as I start a job as a VC for a hospice in about a month. I want to do as much as I can for my volunteers. I appreciate it!

Answer 1

I am a VC of sorts... I treat my volunteers like family and I get really excited about all the events and projects... they really want to know that they are appreciated. Personally I like to make handmade thank yous to show them that their time is valuable to me enough to spend my time making them a little thank you. Make sure you are hands on too. No one wants to be told what to do, when the individual does not do it themselves! Good Luck... and remember to always smile@

Answer 2

I've admired vc's who are enthusiastic and organized about their job and the organization's mission.

At the same time, they are secure enough with those accomplishments to recognize also the benefits of what volunteers bring into this organization, both in terms of different skills and perspectives.

Something not exactly the way they would successfully complete a task is not automatically a threat.

Answer 3

You should join CYBERVPM, an online community for volunteer managers in the USA. The discussions are usually very basic -- how do I reward volunteers, how do I write volunteer policies, etc. When you join, have a look at the shared files area -- there are lots of guidelines and ideas there for you to download. You can also search the archives of discussions to see if some of your questions have already been answered:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybervpm/

Also see Energize, Inc., which is *the* online bookstore regarding volunteer management:

http://www.energizeinc.com

Subscribe to the free email newsletter, which offers great quick tips for volunteer management, and check out the "hot topic" regularly.

When you are ready for much more advanced discussions about volunteer management, have a look at E-Volunteerism

http://www.e-volunteerism.com/index.php

There is a fee to join this service and read the articles, but it's very much worth it.