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
132 – Volunteerism in Australia Part 2 – A National Strategy with Zac Reimers and Sarah Wilson
October 17, 2024 Episode #132: Volunteerism in Australia Part 2 - A National Strategy with Zac Reimers and Sarah Wilson In the second part of this interview, Tobi discusses the implementation and future of Australia’s National Strategy for Volunteering with Zac Reimers [...]
131 – Volunteerism in Australia Part 1 – A National Strategy with Zac Reimers and Sarah Wilson
October 10, 2024 Episode #131: Volunteerism in Australia Part 1 - A National Strategy with Zac Reimers and Sarah Wilson In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi invites Zac Reimers and Sarah Wilson onto the show to talk about volunteerism [...]
130 – How to Build a Volunteer Plan for 2025
October 3, 2024 Episode #130: How to Build a Volunteer Plan for 2025 In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi Johnson provides practical advice on how to build a strategic volunteer plan for 2025. As we approach Q4 of [...]
129 – Paid or Volunteer Role? A Simple Checklist
September 26, 2024 Episode #129: Paid or Volunteer Role? A Simple Checklist In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi provides a thorough guide on distinguishing between paid and volunteer roles within nonprofit organizations. Tobi offers a simple checklist and key [...]
128 – Insurance for Volunteers – Do You Need It? with William Henry
September 19, 2024 Episode #128: Insurance for Volunteers - Do You Need It? with William Henry In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi invites William Henry onto the podcast to discuss the critical yet often overlooked topic of insurance [...]
127 – Volunteer Centric, Community Centric, Organization Centric: What’s the Difference?
September 12, 2024 Episode #127: Volunteer Centric, Community Centric, Organization Centric: What's the Difference? In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi delves into the different approaches to volunteer engagement: volunteer-centric, community-centric, and organization-centric. Tobi provides insights on the significance [...]
126 – 8 Ways to Empower, Not Rescue Nonprofit Employees & Volunteers
September 5, 2024 Episode #126: 8 Ways to Empower, Not Rescue Nonprofit Employees & Volunteers In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi shares the 8 ways to empower, not rescue nonprofit employees and volunteers. She discusses the importance of coaching [...]
125 – Diversity & Women in the Workplace: Claim Your Space with Amira Barger
August 29, 2024 Episode #125: Diversity & Women in the Workplace: Claim Your Space with Amira Barger In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi Johnson invites strategic communications and marketing counselor, Amira Barger for an enlightening discussion on diversity and women [...]
124 – Equity Tools for Nonprofits Volunteerism with Faiza Venzant
August 22, 2024 Episode #124: Equity Tools for Nonprofits Volunteerism with Faiza Venzant In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi Johnson invites Faiza Venzant onto the show to discuss equity tools for nonprofits volunteerism. They highlight the ADEVI project and [...]
123 – New Research on the Benefits of Volunteering with Samantha Barlow
August 15, 2024 Episode #123: New Research on the Benefits of Volunteering with Samantha Barlow In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi invites Samantha Barlow onto the show to talk about new research on the benefits of volunteering. They delve [...]
122 – Rethinking Community Involvement with Ruth Leonard
August 8, 2024 Episode #122: Rethinking Community Involvement with Ruth Leonard In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi invites Ruth Leonard back onto the show and delve into rethinking community involvement, specifically talking about the key themes from Ruth's book, [...]
121 – Intuitive Leadership in Volunteer Coordination with Fran Horwich
August 1, 2024 Episode #121: Intuitive Leadership in Volunteer Coordination with Fran Horwich In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi invites Fran Horwich onto the show to discuss intuitive leadership in volunteer coordination. Fran shares stories from her extensive experience, [...]