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
104 – The WOW! Volunteer Experience
April 4, 2024 Episode #104: The WOW! Volunteer Experience In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi Johnson discusses the importance of providing a wow volunteer experience. She emphasizes that beyond traditional methods of appreciation, designing a well-run program plays a [...]
103 – Win-Win Community Service Projects
March 28, 2024 Episode #103: Win-Win Community Service Projects In this episode of the Volunteer Nation, Tobi Johnson discusses how you can create win-win community service projects, and delves into the different types of community service, outlining effective strategies for designing quality [...]
102 – 3 Keys to an Irresistible Volunteer Offer
March 21, 2024 Episode #102: 3 Keys to an Irresistible Volunteer Offer In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi shares the 3 keys to an irresistible volunteer offer. Tobi highlights the need for organizations to align with the anticipatory and [...]
101 – Tap the Power of Psychological Contracts with Pam Kappelides
March 14, 2024 Episode #101: Tap the Power of Psychological Contracts with Pam Kappelides In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi invites Pam Kappelides onto the show to talk about the power of psychological contracts and its critical importance in [...]
100 – Fan Faves from 100 Volunteer Nation Episodes
March 7, 2024 Episode #100: Fan Faves from 100 Volunteer Nation Episodes In the 100th episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi Johnson takes a moment to reflect on the journey of creating 100 Volunteer Nation Episodes since its start on April [...]
099 – Volunteer Retention Strategies: Two Big Mistakes
February 29, 2024 Episode #99: Volunteer Retention Strategies: Two Big Mistakes In this episode of the Volunteer Nation, Tobi discusses how non-profit organizations can utilize psychology for volunteer retention strategies. She explains the importance of using positive social proof and emotive communication [...]
098 – How to Meet Volunteer Needs with 7 Solid Pivots
February 22, 2024 Episode #98: How to Meet Volunteer Needs with 7 Solid Pivots In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, Tobi Johnson discusses the crucial need for organizations to meet the needs of their volunteers in order to sustain their [...]
097 – Transforming How We Lead Volunteers with Martin J Cowling
February 15, 2024 Episode #97: Transforming How We Lead Volunteers with Martin J Cowling In this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast, host Tobi interviews global change management expert Martin J. Cowling on how we can transform how we lead volunteers! They [...]
096 – Volunteer Work or Staff Position? How to Decide!
February 8, 2024 Episode #96: Volunteer Work or Staff Position? How to Decide! In this episode, Tobi discusses how organizations can decide whether a role should be volunteer work, or paid position. She discusses the key differences between volunteer work and paid [...]
095 – 6 Ways to Immediately Boost Volunteer Signups
February 1, 2024 Episode #95: 6 Ways to Immediately Boost Volunteer Signups In this episode of the podcast, Tobi shares six tactical strategies to boost volunteer signups. These strategies involve diagnosing what's currently working and what's not, increasing the number of personal [...]
094 – How to Make the Shift from Doer to Nonprofit Leader with Patricia Gentry
January 25, 2024 Episode #94: How to Make the Shift from Doer to Nonprofit Leader with Patricia Gentry Interested in becoming a more effective nonprofit leader or wondering if leadership is right for you? You're in the right place! In this episode, [...]
093 – The 5 Phases of Successful Volunteer Coordination
January 18, 2024 Episode #93: The 5 Phases of Successful Volunteer Coordination In this episode, host Tobi examines the mode of operating a successful volunteer coordination initiative. Highlighting the struggle to rebuild volunteer strength amid the pandemic, Tobi elaborates on the five [...]
