A Riff on Best Practices in Volunteer Management with Nancy Macduff Note: A version of this interview on best practices in volunteer management was originally published on December 10, 2010 on our now defunct Tobi’s Nonprofit Management Blog on December 10, 2010. I was looking through my content archives and came across a fantastic interview with [...]
Working Remotely: Boost the Impact of Your Nonprofit Communications with Stakeholders As a small business owner with clients and students who live hundreds (if not thousands) of miles away, I spend a LOT of time on nonprofit communications via webinars and conference calls. These tools help me feel connected, get me information quickly and easily, [...]
Your Nonprofit Marketing Plan: How Fundraising, Marcoms & Volunteer Services Can Work Together When it comes to strategizing a nonprofit marketing plan, it’s the exception rather than the rule that the development department, the communications department, and volunteer services all work together in harmony. Or, even put a joint plan in place for that matter. It’s [...]
5 Simple Volunteer Email Campaigns to Engage Your Community Volunteer email communications are most often used to answer questions, send reminders, and share basic logistics, but they can be used for so much more. Emails can entertain, inform, and inspire. They can prompt action. They can deepen friendships and spread compassion. They can also [...]
COVID-19 & Volunteer Organizations: Business Continuity & Recovery Planning In our VolunteerPro Membership Community, there’s been plenty of conversation about COVID-19 and volunteer organizations. Should volunteers be included in the response effort in organizations that can’t shut down due to the nature of their essential services? How can volunteers be protected? How can volunteers continue to [...]
Recruitment for Volunteers: Key Trends & What to Do About Them Has your nonprofit’s recruitment for volunteers been less than effective lately? Are you disappointed with lackluster response rates to your calls to action? Are you worried that people simply aren’t volunteering anymore? Have you given up on your dream of full volunteer capacity? Before we [...]
Volunteer Supervision: It's Time to Ditch Nagging in Favor of Inspiring Several years ago, my Aunt Deanna expressed her frustration in an email to me about the lack of effective volunteer supervision at an agency where she volunteered. She is an avid volunteer and was disappointed that many of her fellow volunteers didn’t show up for a [...]
Are Nonprofit Volunteers Enchanted with Their Experience? When you think about the experience of nonprofit volunteers how would you rate it? I mean if you were being truly honest about it. How would you rate how supporters connect with your organization, get prepared to serve, and are treated when they show up? Are they greeted [...]
How to Convert Nonprofit Data to Wisdom: Is it All About the Numbers? Nonprofit data can be a powerful tool for generating a greater impact on communities. But when it comes to converting trends into something that informs our actual, on-the-ground management decisions things can get confusing in a hot minute. For example, back [...]
3 Steps to Building a Sustainable Nonprofit Partnership Building a sustainable nonprofit partnership isn't easy. I know first hand, as I have built several over my career. Sometimes we spend hours and hours in negotiations, only to have the potential collaborator back out at the last minute. Or, we make it through the set-up phase [...]