5. I stand periodically to get blood circulation and keep my energy up.

1. Begin with a review of your job description. If you don't have one, begin the process to get one. You cannot make a case for additional funding without it.
   • Have your responsibilities increased since you started?
   • Are there duties that should be included that are being done but are not on the job description?
2. Write a report with facts and answers to the questions above and below:
   • What do people in similar positions make?
   • How has the size and/or complexity of the volunteer corps changed since you started?
   • Have you increased the things volunteers do or the number of volunteers?
3. Find out how your organization make raises or pay increases. Get your request in synch with that process.
4. Demonstrate your value to the organization.
   • List things you have done to aid the organization, beyone the management of volunteers. Put a financial value to it.
   • If appropriate, do a comparison with people who manage others in the private sector.
   • Most managers of volunteers run the single-largest department in the organization, in terms of individuals supervised. Translate that into financial terms.
   • List the types of things that you do to enhance your skills to be a better manager of volunteers; attend local workshops on volunteer administration, read Volunteer Today monthly, attend national training conferences like the Association for Volunteer Administration conference.
5. Report to your supervisor why you cannot be replaced.
   • Managers of volunteers generally need at least one year to understand, let alone manage, the operation of a full-scale volunteer program.
   • Replacing the manager of volunteers every two or three years is more costly than raising a salary and keeping someone who has proven he/she can do the job. Demonstrate this in terms of money. For example, the first year of managing volunteers does not usually produce dramatic results, as the person is learning the ropes. So the organization is paying for a near-zero gain.
6. Schedule a meeting to report the results of this effort.
   • Provide the supervisor with the information in advance.
   • Stick to facts and financials in discussing the need for a raise.
   • Be positive and direct. Never apologize. You are worth every penny you are asking for.
7. Stay upbeat.
   • Even if the answer is "no," do not make threats or pout. You are a professional (or trying to be one).
   • Say "thank you" for the time the supervisor took to hear you out.
   • Ask what it will take to get that raise.