181 – The 8 Volunteer Policies That Are Killing Your Mission

September 30, 2025

Episode #181: The 8 Volunteer Policies That Are Killing Your Mission 

In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi Johnson uncovers eight common volunteer policies that could be hurting your mission. From poor first impressions and slow communication to overly complicated screening processes, inflexible commitments, dull training, micromanagement, lack of recognition, and difficult exit procedures, Tobi breaks down the pitfalls that can frustrate and disengage volunteers. 

You’ll get real-world examples of these challenges and actionable strategies for creating a more volunteer-friendly culture. Plus, Tobi shares a practical self-assessment checklist so your organization can identify problem areas and make improvements that boost volunteer engagement, satisfaction, and impact!  

Whether you’re running a small nonprofit or a large organization, this episode is packed with insights to help you retain and inspire the people who make your mission possible. 

Volunteer Policies – Episode Highlights 

• [04:40] – Volunteer Policy #1: The Terrible First Impression 
• [05:44] – Volunteer Policy #2: The Communications Black Hole 
• [06:33] – Volunteer Policy #3: The FBI Level Screening Process 
• [07:45] – Volunteer Policy #4: The Marriage Contract Commitment 
• [13:47] – Volunteer Policy #5: Death by PowerPoint 
• [17:11] – Volunteer Policy #6: The Micromanagement Trap 
• [18:31] – Volunteer Policy #7: The Recognition Vacuum 
• [19:53] – Volunteer Policy #8: The Exit Interrogation 

Volunteer Policies – Quotes from the Episode

“We live in a post pandemic world. People have different expectations and it’s a difficult world right now to have free time. So, when they contribute their time, which is their greatest resource to your organization. It’s more than money.”  

“People need to be valued and seen. That’s the bottom line. People need to feel like they’re not just a widget or a cog in the machine. They want to feel as if you are taking time out to get to know them. That is the price of admission when it comes to bringing the community into working with our missions.” 

Helpful Links

• Volunteer Management Progress Report  
• VolunteerPro Impact Lab  
• Volunteer Nation Episode #164: Moving from Volunteer Compliance to Building Your Nonprofit Community  
• Volunteer Nation Episode #046: Save Time with Better Volunteer Management Systems 

Contact Us

Have questions or suggestions for the show? Email us at wecare@volpro.net.

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Episode #181 Transcript: The 8 Volunteer Policies That Are Killing Your Misson 

Tobi: Well, hey everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast. I’m your host, Tobi Johnson, and I am running a little bit behind schedule. There has been so much going on in the biz that I got a little bit behind on my podcast episodes, so we are giving you a twofer. Episodes 181 and 182 are kind of part one and part two of two different ways to look at a problem. So, the first episode is the eight volunteer policies that are killing your mission. That’s what we’re going to talk about today, but rest assured, part two of this is going to be the, the flip side of that and what you can do instead. But I really want you to think today as I go through this list. 

If there’s anything about these volunteer policies that ring true to you, and you can use this as a way of just doing a quick assessment and check for where you might make improvements. And so, you might want to pull out a piece of paper and a pen if you’re not driving and maybe take some notes. I’m not sure, maybe. 

But I really want to help you think about some things that may or may not be policies yet, may not be documented as a standard operating procedure or a policy or anything in that respect, but have become. Such a habit. The practice of these has become such a habit at your organization that it basically transforms into a tacit policy. 

So, it becomes, this is the way we do things because it’s how you do things, whether it’s in writing or not. It becomes a policy and a way you go about business. And these eight policies, these eight volunteer policies, are really getting in the way of your mission. They are keeping volunteers from showing up, from returning, from telling friends positive things about you. 

They’re just not great. What if I told you that the very policies designed to protect your organization are driving away the people who want to help you most? That’s what we’re going to talk about today. I saw a LinkedIn story from a colleague who was waiting forever and ever to hear back from an organization, and she talked about her emotional response as a prospective volunteer. 

She was both losing patience, but she was also losing self-confidence as she waited and waited and waited to hear back, and she started to question whether she was the right fit for that organization, and it caused a lot of self. Doubt in her. So, we don’t want to make prospective volunteers go through that kind of thing. 

We want them to have a fantastic experience. But again, when a practice by an organization becomes a habit, it becomes a tacit policy. So, I’m going to talk about these policies today and dive into eight specific volunteer policies that are silently sabotaging your mission. Use this as a self-assessment checklist for volunteer program improvement. 

And if you fix these, you can expect more engagement, improve volunteer satisfaction, and greater impact. So why not think about how you might make these changes, but to bring this about. It often takes a mindset shift around how we think about volunteers. So, you might also want to check out Volunteer Nation episode 164, moving from Volunteer compliance to Building Volunteer Community. 

It’s a great episode. Helps us move out of that HR only paperwork mindset into the relational side of volunteer engagement. Check that out. I will link to it in the show notes. But for now, let’s go ahead and look and think about these eight volunteer policies that are absolutely killing your mission. So, volunteer policy number one, the terrible first impression. 

So, the problem is that we treat volunteers poorly, often from the very first interaction. For example, if you have a generic auto reply, emails that feel like rejection letters rather than welcoming. If you’re making volunteers wait in lobbies without anybody acknowledging them, if staff act annoyed when volunteers show up or if there’s no clear signage or direction or welcome for new volunteers, that can give a terrible first impression. 

What happens is people form lasting opinions in basically the first. 30 seconds, whether they’re on your website or at your brick-and-mortar shop. So, we’ve got to think about what is the environment they’re walking into and are they feeling welcome? Right? So that’s, that is hurting your mission, right? 

It’s hurting your mission. The way people are treated gives them an impression as to whether your mission is worthwhile. Volunteer policy number two, the communications black hole. The problem is not. Responding to prospective volunteers within one business day. Yes, you heard me one. Business day volunteer applications that sit in inboxes for weeks or never get responded to at all phone calls that get unreturned that will get back to you soon. 

That turns into a never social media messages and DMs that are left unread. The reality check is that in today’s world, 24 hours feels like an eternity, and so we’ve got to change the policy around our response time. Again, it may not be in writing anywhere, but if it’s the way you do business, it’s your policy. 

Volunteer policy number three, the FBI level screening process. Requiring overly complex screening that doesn’t match the role, that is the problem here. That’s a policy that’s not serving us anymore in today’s world. The examples are demanding background checks for gift shop volunteers doing, asking for 10-page applications for one-time event helpers. 

Asking for multiple references for low-risk positions and requiring medical clearances or records for non-medical roles. So, we want to think about does the screening and background check process match the role and the level of risk in the role? And if not, perhaps there’s another way to do it. A better approach is matching screening intensity to actual risk level. 

What about that? We want volunteers to feel like we trust them. Now, I’m not saying do away with background checks. It depends on the type of population that that volunteer is working with. It depends on the type of private information that they have access to. There’s quite a bit there, but is there flexibility we can offer? 

Volunteer policy number four, the marriage contract commitment. I think you probably know where I’m going with this one, right? The problem is when we require a 12, 12 month, or longer commitment period upfront. Now, I know some of your programs require a lot of training and a lot of preparation. For example, if you’re working with a young person in a mentoring program, the mentoring program, the relationship is 12 months, then it’s 12 months. 

But there are so many ways to rethink this. We live in a post pandemic world. People have different expectations, and I would dare say they value their time more than ever. It is a difficult world right now to have free time. It’s just difficult for people to carve out free time. And so, when they contribute their time, which is their greatest. 

Resource to your organization. It’s more than money. It’s a, it’s a more valuable resource than money. When they decide to contribute that to you, you’ve got to give them an out. It can’t be, you’re committing to a year. Now, people may end up staying for a year, but I’m a huge fan of smaller cycles where at the end of the cycle, people can decide to change roles. 

They can decide to stay in the role, or they can decide to leave. The organization or support the organization a different way. So, the marriage contract gang, it’s over. It doesn’t work anymore. It is a policy that is turning people away and. It’s a policy that’s killing your mission and you can, your organization can say, well, this is absolutely the way it must be. 

Well, that’s fine, but when you keep losing volunteers, losing volunteers, not able to attract volunteers, sooner or later, you won’t have anybody to support you, and that level of inflexibility will be. To your detriment. So, we’ve got, I mean, I know I’m speaking truth here, but I’ve got to do it. Some of our policies, our volunteer policies are killing our missions. 

And if we are hanging on so tightly to not changing and not transforming and not being appealing to volunteers, it’s going to be a problem in the future. And it’s probably a problem right now. So, here’s the deal. It is requiring that 12 month or longer commitment upfront. I know people will tell me we have a three, three-year commitment. 

Now if it’s a board position and it’s not as intensive, maybe, but even then, I recommend going down to two years. But you know, if you must, you know the examples of this in action, you must volunteer every Tuesday for a year. Can you imagine making that commitment? That’s just hard in today’s world. 

No trial periods or flexibility treating volunteer roles like full-time employment. They are not full-time employment. People aren’t being paid and guilt tripping. People who need to step back and take some time off. The reality is that life happens, and flexibility attracts more people. No one wants to sign away their life anymore. 

They just don’t. It’s just the reality of how it is. So those are four policies. We’re going to come back with four more I want to share right after the break. But let’s take a pause for a quick break and when I come back, I’m going to give you four more from my list of volunteer policies that are sabotaging your mission. 

So don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.  

VOLUNTEER PRO IMPACT LAB 

Hey, are you looking to upgrade and modernize your volunteer program? Or maybe you’re building one from scratch and you’re just not sure where to start. If so, we’ve got the perfect resource for you. The Volunteer Pro Impact Lab, having built several direct service programs from the ground up, I know that it doesn’t happen by accident. 

It’s a clear process that takes careful attention with a. Focus on impact. In the end. You need a system in place that’s clear, standardized, efficient, and that gets results. In addition, and maybe this is the most important, you need a volunteer program design that directly contributes to your organization’s most critical goals. 

That’s where the Volunteer Pro Impact Lab comes in. When it comes to effective volunteer engagement, our bespoke volunteer strategy Success path model, which is the heart of our resources and strategic advising, will help you transform your volunteer strategy from fundamental. To a fully mature what’s working now approach and all in less time with our online assessment, you’ll quickly gain clarity on precisely where to focus your efforts, and we’ll provide recommendations for the exact steps needed for sustainable growth regardless of how large or small your organization is or what your cause impact area or focus is. 

Our program development and implementation support model will help you build a strong foundation so volunteerism can thrive at your good cause. If you’re interested in learning more, go to volpro.net/join and we’ll share how to get started and what’s involved.  

Okay, we’re back with my list of volunteer policies that are sabotaging your mission. Before the break, we talked about volunteer policy number one. The terrible first impression. We talked about volunteer policy Number two, the communications black hole. We talked about volunteer policy number three, the FBI level screening process. Then we talked about volunteer policy. Number four, the marriage contract commitment, and now we’re going to talk about volunteer policy number five. 

Death by PowerPoint. Death by PowerPoint. The problem is boring, outdated. Poorly presented training sessions, whether the curriculum is boring, the way that the slides are designed, if you’re using slides or the person presenting it is no longer okay to ask volunteers to sit through something boring. 

They’re just not going to come back. The examples are four-hour orientations that could be an hour long. Some of the presentation styles, like reading policy manuals allowed word for word or reading speaker notes. You should not be presenting a webinar. If you’re reading speaker notes in a webinar doesn’t play not in today’s world. People expect a certain level of adeptness or expertise. People have listened to a lot of webinars in the world lately. By now we all have. So, there’s a level of expertise. Now, that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun. It doesn’t mean they can’t be casual, it doesn’t mean they can’t be interactive. 

Those things can all be true, but boring is not cool anymore. People are used to exciting, watching, exciting things on their phone. So, we’ve got to compete. Edutainment is the answer. No hands-on practice or engagement, particularly in face-to-face orientations. We’ve got to must have some time for volunteers to share with one another, and training materials from 2015 that mentioned fax machines or handbooks that are a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. Back in the day when I first started training volunteers, I trained using transparencies. Yes, I am that old. I’m from that generation. And when we first started having laptops and projectors, the laptops never would. Pair with projectors very easily, and so I always would still bring my overhead projector. 

I make sure I’d have an extra light bulb. And I’m telling you; I’m in old school when I’ve, when I tell you I’ve been training for a long time, I have been training for a long time, but nowadays, people will not put up with boring training. They’ll, they’ll just tune out. They might have their laptop open, but they’ll, they’ll just tune out. 

It takes a lot to get people’s attention. The solution is. Interactive, relevant, bite-sized learning. Are there ways to give people easily digestible training, short videos, things people can work through on their own, on your website or on your learning management system? Lots can be done nowadays. I mean, we know because we do this at Volunteer Pro. 

We have our Impact Lab. We’re right now we’re in the middle of our Volunteer Management Fundamentals live cohort. Super fun, and we have all kinds of things happening. We’ve got a pop-up community, we’ve got some self-paced lessons, and we have coaching calls, so we try to do blended learning even though we’re working all remotely as the students with me. 

We mix it up so people can get some diversity in different ways of learning different modalities. That’s the way to do it nowadays. Let’s talk about volunteer policy six that’s killing your mission: the micromanagement trap. The micromanagement trap. The problem is over supervising volunteers like they’re problem employees. 

Volunteers are not problem employees. In fact, they’re not even employees. So, the examples are requiring approval for every small decision. Constantly checking up on experienced volunteers, even though they don’t need it, they, they know what they, they’re doing. Not trusting volunteers with any independence, making volunteers clock in and out. 

Now, I would say it’s important to know that volunteers are. Shift or off shift. This is for risk management purposes, but being overly obsessive about it can feel like you’re treating them like children. The truth is that people volunteer partly for autonomy and purpose, and so they don’t want to be micromanaged. 

In fact, micromanagement doesn’t really work anywhere. It can so quickly devolve into feelings of resentment and ultimately quiet, quitting. If people feel like they, their creativity is completely tamped down, they’re just not going to give it their all. So, we want to make sure volunteers feel lifted, not beaten down. 

Okay, volunteer policy number seven, the recognition vacuum. So, the problem is never acknowledging or appreciating volunteer contributions. It might or just appreciating it in very bland or generic ways. Like, thanks everybody. We couldn’t do it without you. That’s not really acknowledgement for specific contributions. 

So, some of the examples might be, no thank you notes, emails, or public recognition. Taking volunteers for granted after the initial honeymoon period. Only contacting volunteers when you need something. Hmm, or annual volunteer appreciation dinner. That’s clearly an afterthought or is the only thing going on. 

We need to do combine informal, informal recognition. We should be thanking volunteers every single time. Every single time that they come in, they should get a thank you from somebody. Imagine how good that would feel. People need to be valued and seen. That’s the bottom line. People need to feel like they’re not just a widget or a cog in the machine. 

They want to feel as if you are taking time out to get to know them. That is the price of admission when it comes to bringing the community into working with our missions. All right. Final volunteer policy. Number eight, the exit interrogation. So, making it difficult or awkward for volunteers to step back. 

Volunteering is volunteer, right? So, guilt tripping. Volunteers when they want to reduce hours, not giving them an ex-grace, graceful exit process. Making volunteers feel like they’re abandoning the mission and not staying in touch with them. After they leave are always that it makes it difficult or awkward for volunteers to step back but also stay in touch. 

There is a better way. Create alumni networks and welcome back policies for volunteers. Create a way to stay in touch and help them feel like. A million bucks. No matter how much they’ve contributed to your organization, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t feel good about what they’ve given you, no matter how big or how small. 

So, in conclusion, these eight policies might seem protective, but they’re very destructive. They are ways to turn people off, turn people away, and impact your organization’s ability to meet its mission. We can certainly. Come up with many excuses as to why these policies need to be in place. 

Again, whether they’re in writing or just that habits about the way we do business. But if we’re not willing to evolve, we’re going to be left behind. So, the volunteer landscape has changed dramatically post pandemic. So, we need to be more mindful of the ways that we are designing our programs and the ways we’re offering an exceptional experience. 

Volunteers are customers too. They’re choosing how to spend their valuable time, and they’re not going to choose it in a place where that doesn’t make them feel good. So, organizations. Often don’t realize how these policies appear to outsiders. It’s sort of just we’re head down doing our work. But the good news here is that even small policy changes can create massive culture shifts. 

That can make volunteers feel more welcome and more excited about their experiences, which means that they, they’ll keep coming back and they’ll talk about you too. So, here’s your challenge this week. Pick one policy, whether it’s in writing or it’s just the way everybody goes about business. Examine it. 

Ask yourself, is this a truly friendly. Volunteer policy or is it something that we’ve just done forever and don’t see and are very sort of wedded to it and not willing to let go? Is there something else we could do instead that would improve the way that we welcome and support volunteers? For more ideas about how, where to get started, check out Volunteer Nation episode 46. 

Save Time with Better Volunteer Management Systems. I have, I’ll, I’ll, we’ll post that link in the show notes and you can check that out as well. So next, in our next episode, episode 182, I’m going to continue this conversation, but we’re going to flip it completely. I’m going to give you some policies to replace these with. 

I’m not going to leave you hanging. I’ve got policies for you. So come to the next one. We’ll put a link in the show notes as well once it’s published. But, episode 182 is just around the corner, so I hope you’ll check that out. And just remember your volunteers chose you and want to support you. Just make sure your policies don’t drive them away. 

All right, everybody. Thanks for joining me for this episode of The Volunteer Nation Podcast. If you liked it, I hope you’ll share it with a friend and give us a review. We love five-star reviews. We love ratings and reviews. It helps us get seen by algorithms and reach more people just like you who are hoping to improve their volunteer engagement. 

So I hope you’ll join me next time, same time, same place for the second part of this conversation on the Volunteer Nation. Take care, everybody.