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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.
- 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.
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