Volunteer Program Management

New Hampshire has a strong tradition of people helping people - of volunteers accomplishing valuable work in their communities on a daily basis. Their work is often challenging, significant and very rewarding. Volunteers at all levels deserve the best resources possible to prepare and support them in service roles. Participating within the structure of a formal volunteer program is one way for volunteers to receive this needed support.

A well-organized and well-managed volunteer program is one that prepares and supports volunteers according to the services they provide and allows volunteers to become comfortable, confident and committed. A well-managed volunteer program also helps assure the quality of services, minimizes the risk of legal problems and builds the credibility of the program in the community and throughout the state.

Volunteer program management is all about working through others to accomplish the mission and goals at hand. It is about utilizing resources, human and material, to achieve your mission and goals in an effective and efficient manner. It is about making your organization successful, not by doing the all the direct service work yourself, but by helping those who do the work to be successful in their efforts.

There are five basic functions of Volunteer Program Management:

• Planning - The function of determining the goals, action plans and resources needed to run the volunteer program effectively and efficiently.
  
  
• Organizing - The function of establishing policies and procedures, a system of record keeping, budget, volunteer service descriptions, and any resources needed to operate the volunteer program daily.
  
  
• Staffing - The function of recruiting, interviewing, screening, placing, orienting and training volunteer staff.
  
  
• Directing - The function of providing ongoing support and supervision of volunteers, dealing with problems, public relations and marketing of the volunteer program, and recognizing volunteers.
  
  
• Evaluating - The function of assessing individual volunteers as well as the volunteer programs effectiveness and efficiency in terms of the overall mission and its operation.

Volunteer NH! supports the development of well-managed volunteer programs through education & training, technology, referrals to other volunteer resources, and on-line linkages to reference materials and opportunities.