cyndi4ETS

How Do You Screen Your Volunteers?

November 23, 2020 By cyndi4ETS

What procedures do you use when screening potential volunteers? This process can be so helpful to find the volunteers you need for the variety of positions you are trying to fill. Finding the right person for the job is essential in utilizing both your time and effort and allowing them to understand the commitment you are asking them to make.

A volunteer screening process should include the following:

Volunteer application
References
Detail job descriptions
Security checks
Interview questions

Volunteer Application

What do you want to know about a potential volunteer before you meet them? How can you ask questions that will gather that information on an application? The application should help a potential volunteer determine if they are “right” for the job.

References

What kind of references are you asking for? Be specific. You want the references to speak to the person’s ability to do what is required of the volunteer position. You might need different reference questions for different volunteer positions.

How do you contact the references? Do you email or snail-mail them a form or speak with them on the phone? I recommend speaking in person as you can gather more information. Know what you want to ask and why.

Here is an article about speaking with volunteer references that is very helpful.

Job Descriptions

I gave a temple for developing job descriptions in a previous email blog. The most important thing to remember is to include as much detail as possible in the job description. Make sure you list, in detail, the training requirements and time commitment that you are looking for (weekly or monthly or yearly). The job description gives you something to talk about and emphasize in the volunteer interview.

Background Checks

Below is a quote from from Good Hire about background checks for non-profit organizations. They can help with your background check needs.

“Nonprofits and volunteer organizations are mission-oriented and often serve vulnerable populations. Employee background checks are necessary—and often required—to protect your clients and ensure continued funding. Screening also helps protect assets, mitigate risk, and avoid potential liability lawsuits.”

There are a variety of other companies that also do background checks. Some state agencies often do not charge for volunteer organizations. Do your homework to be sure your ministry is compliant with state and federal regulations.

The Interview *

When possible, interview in person. It’s the most natural way of communicating, and you’re more likely to make a fair judgement about the applicant when they’re standing before you (of course in-person interviews may not be possible in all situations).

Before you ask your volunteer interview questions:

Take some time to introduce yourself and your organization. Clarify your program’s mission and describe the role and responsibilities of the volunteer. Discuss the benefits of volunteering with your organization. Remember, the interview is also a chance for the candidate to decide whether the volunteer opportunity is right for them. In fact, many candidates will make this decision during or immediately following the interview process.

The volunteer interview should be a conversation, not an interrogation. Invite candidates to elaborate and ask questions in return, so that you can come to a collaborative decision about the best course of action moving forward.

What are your goals for the volunteer interview?

To determine if the candidate’s values align with yours
To determine if the candidate has the skills and abilities necessary to perform tasks required of them
To learn more about the candidate’s background and personality
To learn more about the candidate’s passions and interests to better match them with the right volunteer opportunity
To learn more about what motivates your volunteers

Once you’ve established your goal(s) for the interview, you can make a list of the questions that will help you achieve your objectives.

*Click here to download some sample interview questions that I found on the Galaxy Digital website. Galaxy Digital sells volunteer management software but they have a great many resource articles in their Learning Center, which I highly recommend.

Connecting Training to the Vision of the Ministry

November 16, 2020 By cyndi4ETS

One of the goals that any trainer should work towards is showing how the training that we ask of our volunteers fits in to the larger vision and goals of the ministry. Training volunteers who are going to work with clients usually demands both a financial and a substantial time commitment. It can seem daunting to a potential volunteer. Explaining the why behind the expected commitment to training can often help volunteers see why the study and time commitment is important in achieving the vision and mission of the Pregnancy Center.

I have developed a power point presentation that explains how the skills taught in the Equipped to Serve training is driven by:

the beliefs we have that caused the Pregnancy Center to be developed which in turn drives . . .
the mission of the ministry which then must identify . . .
the who we minister to which demands that we define . . .
the how we minister which then hopefully answers the question . . .
the results of the ministry . . .

Often Centers have an introductory session for potential volunteers that usually shares the vision and mission of the ministry, what the expectations and requirements are for volunteering, and all the ways to volunteer in the ministry. This is a great time to use this presentation. It shows the importance and reason for the training and ties it in to both the mission and the corporate and personal results of volunteering in the ministry.

I have put this power point I turned into a video that you can view on YouTube. I am having trouble embedding the video here on my site so you will have to copy the link below and put it in your Google Chrome search engine.

If you find this helpful and would like to use the visual I am happy to send you a copy of the Power Point presentation. You can alter the file to reflect your mission statement.

If you would like the Power Point please click on the connect link at the top of the page and send me your request.

Using Movies For In-Service Training

November 2, 2020 By cyndi4ETS

I believe that movies can do more than entertain us.

They are windows into the world of others that we have not (or maybe never will) experience.
They make us laugh, which is so important during these trying times.
They make us cry as we see our own grief and losses mirrored in the story.
They instruct us as to what is healthy and unhealthy.
They show us the good in people’s hearts and actions.
They show the fight between good and evil.
They ask questions of us and cause us to rumble with hard issues.
They illuminate so many things that we might not have paid attention to as we go about the day to day in our lives.

I have used movie clips in my classroom training for many, many years. Using movie clips is a great way to introduce another training method into your training.

Movies can demonstrate concepts that are being taught in the training. Who better than Merrill Streep to hit home a point you are trying to make?
Watching movies together makes for great processing and conversation about the topic the movie is portraying.
Movies engage all of our senses in ways that other forms of training (like lecture) cannot.

One of my favorite movies of all time is “Enchanted April.” This movie can be used to demonstrate unconditional love, connecting, consequences of unresolved grief, and humility.

Here is a brief description of the film:

“For Lotty Wilkins, romance is no longer part of her marriage. In an effort to find what’s missing from her life, she and three other women rent an Italian villa for the month of April, leaving behind the everyday cares and monotony of their respective lives.” (from IMDB.com)

The movie is about the interaction of these four women and the other characters that come in and out of their lives during the course of the story. It is really about scarred people who are transformed by love.

The film is available to watch for free on Amazon Prime but can be bought or rented from Prime Video for $2.99.

Here is how I imagine a virtual in-service discussing a movie would be organized:

Communicate the date and time of the online in-service. Ask them to watch the film before the meeting date. I would give them a month’s lead time to watch the film.
Ask volunteers to RSVP to know how many will attend. You need this numbers so you can plan for a few people or many people.
If you have a paid Zoom plan, utilize the breakout room function if you have a large number attending the ins-service.
Email the list of discussion questions to all your volunteers. Ask the volunteers not attending the in-service to watch the film, if possible, and think through the discussion questions on their own.

Here are some questions I would use for Enchanted April but these same questions could be tweaked for almost any film and the training concept(s) you are focusing on:

Who or what influenced you the most in this film? Why?
What created the disconnection between these women?
What kind of pain, loss or trauma was each woman dealing with?
How did their new environment (Italy) begin to change them? Why was this an important part of the story?
What was significant about the time-period (right after World War 1)?
How did each character use a mask to hide their scars and pain?
When and how did things begin to change for each of the four women? When did they realize the change in themselves?
How did love transform each of these characters in the film?
How was the love expressed to each of them? When and how was it received?
What was the transformation for each of the women and other characters in the film?
What role does humility play in this film?
What does this show us about connection verse disconnection?
How did connection transform the relationships?
What will you remember most from this film?
How can this inform and inspire your work with clients at the Pregnancy Center?

I hope you consider using movie clips in your initial volunteer training. In the resource sections of both the Equipped to Serve volunteer training manual and well as the leader’s manual there is a list of books and movies that I recommend. It takes some technical know-how to capture clips from movies, but I am hoping that you are able to find some savvy tech person to be able to help you.

Happy movie watching!

Writing Effective Volunteer Job Descriptions

October 26, 2020 By cyndi4ETS

In the blog last week I talked about envisioning volunteers. One of the first steps in doing so is writing an effective job description. It might be worth your time to take a look at your current job descriptions to see if they answer the following questions for your volunteers?

What am I supposed to do?
Will you let me do it?
Will you help me when I need it?
Will you let me know how I am doing?

Job descriptions are the blueprints for recruiting, managing and retaining employees.

An incredibly useful tool, the volunteer job description helps your volunteer recruitment efforts, the management of those volunteers and retaining them. Setting expectations with a job description should be job number one for any volunteer manager.

Pregnancy Centers have a few complex long-term volunteer positions where specialized training is necessary. It makes sense to manage those positions like you would a paid position. That includes a detailed job description that you can use to recruit those volunteers. The job description can also be helpful when you evaluate volunteers, helping both of you to remember what the job is all about.

Each job description should explain the assignment, plus the skills, abilities, and interests necessary to perform the volunteer task successfully.

Clarity is what every volunteer prefers. Before you even start recruiting volunteers, make a list of the jobs you want them to perform, and then describe those positions as clearly as you can.

Job descriptions are powerful tools for recruiting and supervising volunteers. You can use these documents to carefully screen candidates and schedule their work. Besides clarifying what volunteers are expected to do, job descriptions send the message that your ministry is well-organized.

Doug Toft on the website missionbox.com suggests what to include in your job descriptions. I have made a few additions and adjustments to his list to accommodate the needs of Pregnancy Center volunteers.

Mission. Volunteers want to know your mandate. State the basic idea of your work in one memorable sentence.

Project or Position. Describe the goal of the volunteer project or role and explain how it contributes to your mission.

Tasks. Describe exactly what you want the volunteer to do. List specific, observable behaviors.

Skills. It pays to be very clear and concrete when listing qualifications for any volunteer position. Include education, personal characteristics, skills, abilities, and experience required.

Setting. Describe where the volunteer will work — outdoors, your main office, an off-site location, door-to-door in the community. If the setting calls for a dress code or special equipment, mention these as well.

Schedule and Commitment. How much time do you expect from the volunteer? Include length of service, hours per week, and hours per day. Include any special requirements such as weekend work. Answer common questions: How long will the job last? Can I determine my own hours? Are date-specific events or project deadlines part of the job?

Training and Supervision. Describe the required training including details of the times and locations of the training(s). Include initial classroom training, on-the-job training, in-service training and any training for special or seasonal volunteer jobs such as Walk-For-Life or other fundraising events.
Explain who will be available for assistance and how volunteers get feedback on their performance.

Screening. Describe up front any required background checks or screening tests for volunteers.

I would also include a section on:

Benefits of volunteering. List possible benefits as a result of volunteering such as learning new skills, working with a team towards a common goal, contributing to the goals and mission of your Pregnancy Center, loving on people in crisis in a meaningful and impactful manner.

You can download a job description template here.

This template is in Microsoft Word so you need that software in order to open the template. If you have Word you will be able to edit the document.

What Volunteers Need to Know

October 19, 2020 By cyndi4ETS

Lorne Sanny – Past President of The Navigators

Have you wondered what volunteers need to know in order to do their job with confidence and integrity? What, as leaders, must we provide to our volunteers in order to envision them yet enable them to feel secure in their service to clients? How do we lead gracefully but still have standards for our volunteer program and ministry?

Years ago at a Pregnancy Center conference, Lorne Sanny who at that time was the director of the Navigators, spoke at our conference. His talks focused on leadership and much of his talk has resonated with me ever since. Dr. Sanny stared his service with The Navigators in 1956 and served for 30 years before he retired. Dr. Sanny went to be with Jesus in March of 2005.

He taught that the people we are leading need to know four things:

What am I supposed to do?
Will you let me do it?
Will you help me when I need it?
Will you let me know how I am doing?

Let’s take a look at each of these questions in light of your work with volunteers. These questions apply to volunteers as well as paid employees, especially as most of the Pregnancy Center workforce is made up of volunteers.

What am I supposed to do?

This question speaks to several things:

The quality of your job descriptions
- Do you have written, detailed job descriptions for every volunteer position in your organization?
- Does the job description explain the duties and expectations of the position clearly?
- Are the training (basic and in-service) requirements explained in detail?
- Are volunteers told when and how evaluations will be performed?
- Does the job description identify who is their go-to person on staff should they need help?
How clearly you articulate the expectations of the volunteer positions during a pre-training interview
- Do you hand out job descriptions during your pre-training volunteer interview?
- You can’t always count on people reading or paying attention to what you see as important in a job description. What is important and essential to you? Emphasize those things during your interview.
- What kind of questions do you ask during the interview that will help you and the potential volunteer to determine if they are right for the position? We have all suffered from training potential volunteers only for either of us to find out the position did not align with their giftedness or abilities or passions.
How well you hold volunteers accountable to the job they have agreed to perform?
- Accountability is a tricky situation in volunteer programs. It is important to know what your expectations of volunteers in various positions are and how you will hold them accountable for what they are signing up for.
- How many days, hours per week or month are expected? What happens if they cannot fulfill those hours?
- What kind of training – basic, on-the-job, and in-service training is expected? What happens if they continually do not fulfill these requirements?

Will you let me do it?

How do you ease your volunteers into visiting with clients?
Who in your organization are the best people for newly-trained volunteers to shadow? Who in able to show new volunteers how what they learned in the basic training applies in real-life situations?
When and how do you release them to try it on their own?

Will you help me when I need it?

Does every volunteer know who they can go to if and when they need help?
- An organizational chart shared during training as well as on the job descriptions is great for this, especially if you are a larger Center with a variety of paid staff.
How do you evaluate volunteers without being in “the room” with them right away?
- Follow-up with volunteers after their initial sessions with clients. Ask clear concrete questions that reinforce what they were taught in basic training. Use the list of the Seven Fundamentals.
- Read their client documentation notes
- Ask them to use the self-evaluation sheet found in the Equipped to Serve Training manual.
What kind of notes do you keep on each volunteers strengths and weaknesses that can help you engage with them when they need help? It is helpful to keep these types of notes in their personnel files.

Will you let me know how I am doing?

What are your plans for yearly volunteer evaluations?
- Are they conducted on the yearly anniversary of when a volunteer started?
- Is there an evaluation season or time of year where everyone gets evaluated?
- Do volunteers get a chance to give feedback/evaluations to the staff? When? How?
Who conducts these evaluations?
What should the criteria be for evaluations?
- The evaluation should be based on the volunteer’s job description and expected levels of the skills taught during training
How will you create the time or a system that would enable this to happen?
- How can you create time in a staff members schedule to enable this happen? If you do not make a plan for evaluating volunteers they are likely not to happen.
- I like to look at this process with volunteers more as coaching than strict evaluation.
- This is the best way to keep your organization healthy. Coaching gives everyone a chance to be encouraged & praised in the areas they are doing well and look at areas that might need some improvement in a hopefully non-threatening environment.

I will go into more depth and develop a few helpful worksheets as I delve deeper into these topics in the coming months.

Please let me know where you might need help in these areas. Drop me an email or use the contact form.