The Nonprofit FAQ

How much information should be provided to volunteers?
Paula Burns wrote to Nonprofit@rain.org (http://www.rain.org/mailman/listinfo/nonprofit) in September 2003:

Sometimes, you can give a volunteers too little information for them to do
their job, but can you give them too much information as well? How do you
know how much information to share? What guidelines or rules can one
follow
when determining the right amount of information to share?

Jayne Cravens, the Online Volunteering Specialist at
United Nations Volunteers (http://www.unvolunteers.org) replied with these observations:

I believe very strongly in trying to accommodate a broad range of work
styles among volunteers -- but only up to a point, the point where the
requirements of volunteers to support the mission of the organization may be
compromised. For example, with online volunteering, a great deal of reading
is required -- to read about the organization that is recruiting the volunteer, to
read about the assignment, to read about the code of conduct required of
volunteers, and to read a lot of emails. If a candidate feels that this is
too much reading and he or she feels overwhelmed, then online volunteering
is probably not an appropriate activity for this person, and vice versa.

What's important to keep in mind is that the volunteer manager's primary
goal is to support the organization's mission. If in supporting the
mission, there is a requirement to deliver a great deal of information to
volunteers, then it may be necessary to screen out those people that find
the information overwhelming. Not every volunteer is going to be appropriate
for your organization, not only because of a lack in appropriate skills, but
also, because they may not fit in terms of an organization's culture/work
style/needs.

If your organization requires that people wade through a great deal of
information about your organization in order to volunteer, I would think
less about how to cut back the information and more on ways to deliver it
ways that make it seem less overwhelming and more easy to retain. Techniques can include:

  • making orientations interactive, rather than "lectures." For instance,
    when you come to a paticular requirement in your code of conduct for
    volunteers. On criminal background checks, for example, if your organization does
    them -- ask the attendees why they think this requirement is necessary, or
    what they think about it in general. Get a discussion going. You will find
    that the discussion solidifies the concept in the minds of the attendees,
    and gets their buy-in for the requirement. Skits and role playing can also
    really help to delivery the information in a more fun and more
    easily-retained way. Videos can be used, but also include some live,
    in-person presentations/discussions.

  • delivering the information in a variety of ways. You could give some
    information via a verbal orientation, and some information via a CD Rom (but
    you would need a way to verify the volunteer has completed it, however).
    Have different speakers deliver different parts of the information.
    Reinforce ALL information, particularly information delivered verbally, with
    printed material on a special intranet or CD Rom for the volunteers (for
    later reference).


As for what information an organization should share with volunteers:

  • the overall mission of the organization
  • the individual sub-mission of the project or program the volunteer will
    be supporting
  • a purpose statement for the volunteer program of the organization
  • staff list and a guide on who to contact for what
  • a list of the variety of ways people have volunteered with the
    organization
  • a written, detailed description of volunteer tasks
  • the volunteer/staff handbook/code of conduct/policies, and guidelines on
    volunteer reporting during assignments
  • any training manuals, as appropriate
  • newsletters and other info that is distributed to donors (as volunteers
    are ALSO donors), so the volunteer knows about upcoming events, the latest
    news of the org, etc.
  • information during and after the assignment on how the volunteer's
    contribution has benefitted the organization and those it serves (VERY
    important!!!!!!!!!)
  • updates about new volunteering opportunities, as they emerge


For a discussion of the information a nonprofit must disclose, and to whom, see http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/19/19.html.



Posted 9/23/03 -- PB