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Dear Connie:
I am a volunteer program manager and my annual performance evaluation
is coming up soon. Of course I hope to receive a salary increase
based on my performance this past year. I'd like to know what
people in my professional are earning. Do you know where I can
find information on the salaries nationwide for positions like
mine? Thanks for your help!
Hard Working in Michigan
Dear Hard Working:
The "Nonprofit Times" published the results of its annual
salary survey in the February 2001 issue. You can read the complete
results on their Web site http://www.nptimes.com. The overall
average of projected pay for 2001 for Director of Volunteers is
$35,285. Here are breakdowns by organization budget size and region
of the country:
| Director of Volunteers By Organization Budget Size: | |
| Overall average | $35,285 |
| $500,000-$999,999 | $24,274 |
| $1M-$9.9M | $31,055 |
| $10M-$49.9M | $45,006 |
| $50M or more | $62,139 |
Director of Volunteers By Region of the U.S.: West $37,415 Southwest $37,433 North Central $37,720 Central $35,831 South $31,149 Mid-Atlantic $35,383 New England $34,284
Hi Connie!
I am assisting a small grassroots nonprofit that operates a recycling
site on Saturdays. They use a great deal of volunteers and would
like to develop an informed consent statement for volunteers to
sign. Do you have any suggestions for appropriate language for
the statement?
Shelly
Dear Shelly:
Because this is a legal issue and subject to both state and local
laws, I can't advise you on specific language. An informed consent
or release of liability document is something upon which you will
want to seek legal advice, perhaps from the attorney for the organization
you're assisting. Generally, a release of liability spells out
the types of activities or events that might occur during the
course of volunteering and seeks release from the volunteer of
any liability of the organization. Sometimes the document contains
a section with a medical emergency consent that allows the organization
to provide emergency medical treatment in a licensed medical facility
by a licensed physician should the volunteer require it during
the course of the volunteer activities. It may also ask for any
pre-existing medical conditions that the organization should be
aware of, such as allergies and/or drug allergies.
I suggest that you check to see if the organization requires its employees to sign a release of liability. Generally volunteers aren't asked to sign anything that employees don't sign. The organization may already be using a form of release that can be adapted for volunteers. Finally, a release of liability is no substitute for good training and safety assessments. Effective, regular training and ongoing evaluation of all safety measures will go a long way toward avoiding accidents in the first place.
Dear Connie:
I have been given the task of acting public relations officer
for my Volunteer Rescue Squad. I need some ideas on how to attract
new members. We need people to cover calls during the day in my
county and the citizens are winding up having to pay big money
for a paid service to transport. Also, because of the shortage
of volunteer [volunteer] members, it is putting a lot of strain
on the same six or seven people who run the program seven days
a week so that we can make the majority of the calls.
H.S.
Dear H.S.:
Fortunately for the citizens in your county, there are "six
or seven people who run the program seven days a week"! I'm
sure they appreciate your work, but I'll bet it goes mostly unnoticed.
Recruiting volunteers for the rescue squad is a combination of
having an informative and inviting message and then delivering
that message to the people who can help you.
As my grandmother used to say, "Don't hide your light under a bushel basket." Get the word out to the community about what the Squad is, what it does, and how that it relies solely on volunteers to deliver its services. In this same message, tell people about the volunteer opportunities that are available by function, duties, and time commitment. Describe the training all volunteers receive and the benefits of being a member of the Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Here are a few delivery techniques for getting your message out. I'm sure you'll think of many more:
To learn more about recruiting and retention, there are some excellent free and inexpensive resources available at these Web sites:
Volunteer Today -- http://www.volunteertoday.com
CyberVPM -- http://www.cybervpm.com
Energize, Inc. -- http://www.energizeinc.com
Merrill Associates -- http://www.merrillassoc.com
Dear Connie:
I have a new, very eager fundraising volunteer chairman who would
like some guidelines on his new position. Where is the best place
to find that info? Thanks!
D.W., executive director
Dear D.W.:
You didn't mention a fundraising event, so I'm going to assume
that this gentleman chairs the board-level fundraising (or development)
committee. Directing the board's participation in ensuring adequate
financial resources for your organization is the responsibility
of this committee. Its members work with you to implement a development
plan. The committee oversees the board's own fund-raising activities
by establishing guidelines for individual board member giving,
soliciting gifts from board members, identifying prospective donors,
and working with staff to coordinate board member solicitation
of prospects. In small organizations, this committee often organizes
fundraising events with the assistance of community volunteers.
The commitment and effectiveness of a board of directors are measured
in part by its fund raising involvement. The board must set examples
with its own giving; influence others to give; establish the tone
for the organization's fund raising; and ensure the availability
of staff and resources for fund-raising activities.
Here are two good resources on the board's role in fundraising:
Dear Connie:
I am presently in an HR course at a northwest college and we are
being tasked with finding the pros and cons of having hired help
as compared to volunteerism. Where can I find statistical data
that will help me explain happens in organizations that are using
either hired help or volunteers or both?
Michael
Dear Michael:
To understand the magnitude of volunteerism in this country, visit
the Independent Sector Web site at http://www.independentsector.org
and explore the results of their "Giving and Volunteering"
survey. While I can't give you the specific resource you're looking
for, I can provide four very good reasons to utilize volunteers
to accomplish an organization's mission: