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
176 – Beyond Pizza Parties: Innovative Appreciation Ideas for Volunteers
August 21, 2025 Episode #176: Beyond Pizza Parties: Innovative Appreciation Ideas for Volunteers In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi Johnson discusses the importance of strategic volunteer appreciation. Moving beyond traditional gifts and certificates, she explores how to recognize [...]
175 – Outputs vs Outcomes: Why Counting Hours Isn’t Enough
August 14, 2025 Episode #175: Outputs vs Outcomes: Why Counting Hours Isn’t Enough In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi Johnson dives into why it’s time to move beyond traditional volunteer metrics like hours logged and retention rates. She unpacks [...]
174 – Write Volunteer Emails Volunteers Actually Read (and Love)
August 7, 2025 Episode #174: Write Volunteer Emails Volunteers Actually Read (and Love) In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi Johnson shares expert tips on how to craft volunteer emails that truly connect and convert. From attention-grabbing subject lines [...]
173 – Is Your Volunteer Website Turning People Away?
July 31, 2025 Episode #173: Is Your Volunteer Website Turning People Away? In this episode of the Volunteer Nation Podcast, Tobi Johnson shares valuable insights on how nonprofits can improve volunteer websites to attract and engage more volunteers effectively. Addressing common [...]
172 – How to Give Clear Volunteer Feedback with Confidence
July 24, 2025 Episode #172: How to Give Clear Volunteer Feedback with Confidence Do you find it uncomfortable giving feedback to volunteers? You're not alone! In this episode of Volunteer Nation, Tobi Johnson walks you through how to deliver clear, [...]
171 – Practical Community Building Tips for Your Volunteer Team
July 17, 2025 Episode #171: Practical Community Building Tips for Your Volunteer Team In this episode of Volunteer Nation, Tobi Johnson dives into the heart of what makes a volunteer team truly thrive: community. Drawing from both personal experience and well-established [...]
170 – My Top Takeaways from Giving USA 2025
July 10, 2025 Episode #170: My Top Takeaways from Giving USA 2025 In this episode of Volunteer Nation, Tobi Johnson dives into the key findings from the Giving USA 2025 report and uncovers the powerful link between volunteerism and philanthropy. Tobi [...]
169 – How to Meet 3 Core Volunteer Needs Right from the Start
July 3, 2025 Episode #169: How to Meet 3 Core Volunteer Needs Right from the Start In this episode of Volunteer Nation, Tobi Johnson dives into the essential human needs that drive a meaningful and rewarding volunteer experience—safety, connection, and purpose. [...]
168 – Note to Nonprofit Execs – Supporting Volunteers is Everyone’s Job
June 26, 2025 Episode #168: Note to Nonprofit Execs - Supporting Volunteers is Everyone's Job In this episode of Volunteer Nation, Tobi Johnson addresses a persistent and deeply rooted challenge in the nonprofit sector: the lack of buy-in and active support [...]
167 – Keeping Civic Engagement Alive Despite Funding Cuts with Sam Fankuchen
June 19, 2025 Episode #167: Keeping Civic Engagement Alive Despite Funding Cuts with Sam Fankuchen In this episode of Volunteer Nation, Tobi Johnson is joined by Sam Fankuchen, founder and CEO of Golden, about how nonprofit organizations can stay resilient and [...]
166 – Train Volunteers with This Simple 4-Step Framework
June 12, 2025 Episode #166: Train Volunteers with This Simple 4-Step Framework In this episode of Volunteer Nation, Tobi Johnson shares a simple yet powerful four-step framework to help you train volunteers more effectively. Drawing on decades of experience in instructional [...]
165 – Let’s Make Volunteering Accessible for All with Allyson Ferrari
June 5, 2025 Episode #165: Let's Make Volunteering Accessible for All with Allyson Ferrari In this episode of Volunteer Nation, Tobi Johnson is joined by Allyson Ferrari, Director of Connections at Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, to explore how [...]