Welcome to the Volunteer Nation Podcast!
Weekly interviews, big hat thinking, quick wins, and smart strategy to help you
engage your community and make a bigger impact.
Welcome to the Volunteer Nation Podcast!
Weekly interviews, big hat thinking, quick wins, and smart strategy to help you
engage your community and make a bigger impact.
The Volunteer Nation Podcast
Join Tobi and her special guests each week to learn how charities, causes, campaigns, congregations, and companies leverage the power of volunteerism to create a better world.
About the Show
Nonprofit leadership author, coach, and expert Tobi Johnson shares weekly tips to help charities build, grow, and scale exceptional volunteer teams. Discover how your nonprofit can effectively coordinate volunteers who are reliable, equipped, and ready to help you bring about BIG change for the better.
Rather than continuing to “do more with less,” achieve abundance for your organization by engaging community talent that helps you do more with more.
Society is evolving and so, too, is volunteerism. With over 25 years of experience working in nonprofits, public sector agencies, and grassroots campaigns Tobi is known for her modern “big hat” thinking and straight talk about what it takes to achieve success in today’s world.
You will learn how to coordinate volunteers, improve the volunteer experience, recruit volunteers, appreciate volunteers, and do it all more efficiently with the right volunteer management software and digital tools. It’s a mix of interviews and solo shows you’re not going to want to miss.
So, if you’re ready to ditch the stress and harness the power of people to fuel your good work, you’re in exactly the right place. Hit subscribe and let’s DO this!
Your Host
Tobi Johnson, MA, CVA is an internationally sought-after expert, consultant, advisor, and master trainer in volunteer engagement. She is known for her modern thought leadership, highly practical evidence-based strategies, and innovative, “big hat” thinking around engaging, supporting, and acknowledging the work of volunteers. She is the President of Tobi Johnson & Associates, a consulting firm whose mission is to help nonprofit organizations make connections with remarkable volunteers. In 2015, she founded VolunteerPro, an online training and networking community for leaders of volunteers. She is also co-host of the Time + Talent Podcast with Jennifer Bennett of VolunteerMatch.
Tobi has over 30 years direct experience in nonprofit management, program development, program coordination, training delivery and learning design across a wide range of charities and government agencies. She wrote Chapter 1 of Volunteer Engagement 2.0: Ideas and Insights for Transforming Volunteer Programs in a Changing World. Each year, her firm also conducts the Volunteer Management Progress Report, a global state-of-the-industry survey. In 2022, over 1,300 professionals from 28 countries participated.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Tobi is a graduate of the University of Washington and has a master’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She now lives in East Tennessee with her husband and feline office assistant, Bailey.
Latest Episodes
145 – Build Your Program with the NEW VolunteerPro Volunteer Impact Lab!
January 16, 2025 Episode #145: Build Your Program with the NEW VolunteerPro Volunteer Impact Lab! In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi introduces the newly rebranded VolunteerPro Impact Lab, a community dedicated to supporting volunteer-driven organizations in their program [...]
144 – Bringing a Collectivist Spirit to Nonpartisan Volunteer Work with Britt Hogue
January 9, 2025 Episode #144: Bringing a Collectivist Spirit to Nonpartisan Volunteer Work with Britt Hogue In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi is joined by the Founder of the Collective Good, Britt Hogue. The pair discuss the [...]
143 – 3 Big Problems with Your Volunteer Recruitment Flyer
January 2, 2025 Episode #143: 3 Big Problems with Your Volunteer Recruitment Flyer In the first episode of 2025, Tobi shares her insights on developing an impactful volunteer recruitment flyer. She discusses common problems, such as lack of audience targeting, incomplete [...]
142 – Our Top 6 Volunteer Nation Podcast Episodes from 2024
December 26, 2024 Episode #142: Our Top 6 Volunteer Nation Podcast Episodes from 2024 In this holiday-themed episode of The Volunteer Nation Podcast, host Tobi Johnson shares the top 6 Volunteer Nation Podcast episodes from 2024! Themes include transitioning from doer to [...]
141 – 8 Ways to Build Capacity with Volunteer Teams
December 19, 2024 Episode #141: 8 Ways to Build Capacity with Volunteer Teams In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi shares 8 practical ways to build capacity with volunteer teams. These include leadership development, community engagement, program development and [...]
140 – Volunteer Performance Issues – How to (Finally) Have that Chat!
December 12, 2024 Episode #140: Volunteer Performance Issues – How to (Finally) Have that Chat! In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi discusses practical strategies for addressing volunteer performance issues. She introduces a structured approach called the 'Great Communications [...]
139 – Unpacking Volunteer Retention Issues: A Case Study
December 5, 2024 Episode #139: Unpacking Volunteer Retention Issues: A Case Study In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi unpacks volunteer retention issues using a real-life case study from a Reddit post titled 'I'm never volunteering for a food [...]
138 – Building Community in an Uncertain (and Sometimes Scary) World
November 28, 2024 Episode #138: Building Community in an Uncertain (and Sometimes Scary) World In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi Johnson shares an insightful discussion from a recent VolunteerPro membership coaching call. The episode dives deep into ways [...]
137 – Volunteer Stats, Trends, and Benchmarks We’re Researching Right Now
November 21, 2024 Episode #137: Volunteer Stats, Trends, and Benchmarks We're Researching Right Now In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi Johnson celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Volunteer Management Progress Report survey. Tobi reflects on the evolution of [...]
136 – Getting Back to Neighboring with Breauna Dorelus
November 14, 2024 Episode #136: Getting Back to Neighboring with Breauna Dorelus In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi Johnson discusses the concept of neighboring and its importance in building and sustaining volunteer programs with guest, Breauna Dorelus. [...]
135 – How to Use Video Storytelling to Connect with Aaron Walton and Emmanuel LeGrair
November 7, 2024 Episode #135: How to Use Video Storytelling to Connect with Aaron Walton and Emmanuel LeGrair In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi Johnson delves into the potent potential of video storytelling in nonprofit and volunteer sectors. [...]
134 – 8 Annual Planning Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
October 31, 2024 Episode #134: 8 Annual Planning Mistakes & How to Avoid Them In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi explores the importance of annual planning for volunteer services and shares personal experiences of the challenges faced [...]