Training is critical to volunteer retention

Active volunteers are the lifeblood of any nonprofit organization. After the leadership of a nonprofit organization recruits a volunteer, then finds the right match for the volunteer to serve within the organization, retention of that volunteer is essential. And one of the most important ways an organization can retain its volunteers is to ensure that they receive an orientation to the organization and appropriate training for the role they will play to help the organization achieve its mission.

Volunteer training is an effective way to help individuals get to know the organization’s people and programs and the job they will perform within the organization. It also provides a way to establish a level of competency that individuals are expected to perform. Some organizations use volunteer training as a way to observe individuals to determine if they are the right fit for the organization and the volunteer position. When an organization trains its volunteers, it’s making a public declaration that it is a professionally managed organization that values its people and the importance of quality service.

Wendy Peterson, executive director of the Sonoma Valley Visitor’s Bureau, said, “We really feel that training both staff and volunteers is a critical part of what we do. In addition to introductory training, we have ongoing training for all staff and volunteers. It’s important for everyone to know what our culture is and what our core values are.” In addition to providing training specific to Visitor’s Bureau operations, Peterson added that all staff and volunteers who provide frontline service to the public also receive customer service training as part of the countywide Certified Tourism Ambassador Program.

It’s important for a nonprofit to identify someone in the organization to be responsible for coordinating and providing volunteer training. Some organizations assign this task to a designated full or part-time volunteer coordinator, while many small organizations rely on the executive director to plan and conduct volunteer training. Some nonprofits have volunteers manage the volunteer training function. Regardless of who is responsible for training new volunteers, the training should have clearly stated learning objectives and a sound implementation plan that includes a way for the person conducting the training to evaluate the extent to which the new volunteer had achieved the training goals.

According to Cristin Lawrence, executive director of Sonoma Valley Teen Services, “Our volunteer coordinator, Pat Coleman, sets up our new volunteer orientation program and attends all group activities to help connect the volunteers with each other. We provide training on how to work with teens and we bring in staff from the high school to help with this. We want people to know their role, be comfortable in their role, and know how their role contributes to the success of our organization and the success of the kids.”

A strong volunteer training program helps new volunteers learn these four simple skills (1) what to do; (2) how to do it; (3) what not to do; and (4) what to do in an emergency. Depending on the volunteer position and size of the organization, volunteer training can be as simple as job shadowing or it can be a comprehensive training program with a set lesson plan.  A good volunteer program is built on solid adult learning principles than enable the volunteer to immediately implement newly learned skills at the organization. Adults need to understand the connection between the training content and their volunteer responsibilities, be able to link their previous experience to what they are learning in the training, and have the chance to participate in hands-on activities that allow them to practice new skills. Instead of providing training that’s entirely lecture-based, organizations should incorporate interactive learning experiences, including problem solving, role-play, small group discussions, and case studies.

WillMar Family Grief & Healing Center offers a 24-hour training program to help new volunteers acquire skills to help children and their families cope with their grief through the expressive arts. The training program is extremely interactive and provides volunteers the opportunity to practice new skills through role play and in-depth discussions about grief. Barbara Cullen, WillMar’s executive director, stated, “We offer such in-depth training so that our new volunteers can learn about the importance of children’s grief, while exploring their own processes of grieving and healing.”

Nonprofit leaders should consider developing a budget to support volunteer training. Training costs are usually minimal and may include facilities and equipment rental, snacks, and supplies. Staff salaries should also be included in a volunteer training budget, as well as stipends for specially invited trainers to lead discussions on community trends and best practices related to the population the organization serves.

Pets Lifeline provides a 17-page Volunteer Orientation Welcome Packet for its new volunteers. The packet contains the organization’s mission, history, annual outcomes, and its volunteer code of ethics/volunteer pledge. The packet also contains specific volunteer job descriptions that include the position’s supervisor, qualifications, physical requirements, duties and responsibilities, training requirements, volunteer benefits, time commitment, dress code, and available work shifts. Pets Lifeline Volunteer and Events Coordinator Marianne Joske said that one of the most important reasons they conduct training for all positions is because “we want to make sure that the human beings, as well as the animals, are kept safe.”

At the end of new volunteer training, it’s important to celebrate successful completion of the training by providing something meaningful to the volunteer, such as a certificate of completion or a small award of some kind. To increase retention, training shouldn’t end after new volunteer training; it needs to be an ongoing process, incorporated into the culture and practices of the organization.

Dr. B.J. Bischoff is the owner of Bischoff Performance Improvement Consulting, a Sonoma firm specializing in building the capacity of nonprofit organizations and public sector agencies to better serve their stakeholders. She assists her clients with strategic planning, training resulting in performance improvement, fund development, and community relations.  She is Past President of Impact100 Sonoma and serves as a Sonoma County Board of Supervisors’ appointee to the Sonoma County Portfolio of Model Upstream Programs Review Committee. Contact her at [email protected].