The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that more companies are offering paid time off for volunteering as an employee benefit. Over the past few years, the number has increased to 20% among the companies participating in a SHRM survey.

U.S. Bank is among them. Its employees are compensated for up to 16 hours of volunteer time per year each, depending on their length of service with the company. Some go to food banks to serve breakfast. Others help with children’s services organizations. They say they appreciate their employer’s policy, because without getting paid time off, they wouldn’t have time to volunteer.

Studies show that when employers support employees in their volunteer work, the employees feel better about their jobs. In this time of increasing on-the-job dissatisfaction, it can really give productivity a boost. Volunteering can augment whatever low sense of accomplishment employees may feel on the job.

For companies, offering paid time off for volunteering is a smart move. Not only do they benefit from happier employees, but they typically have lower turnover rates – which saves them money. And in many cases, when companies that are unable or unwilling to give pay raises give paid time off for volunteering, their employees are just as happy.

So, if you want to get more volunteers who are happy to help, try pitching your local employers to pay their employees to work for you. The employer and employees will benefit as much as your organization. It’s truly a win-win-win situation!

Making your valuable volunteers feel valued is important. But with so much on your to-do list, and no money in your budget, it’s far too easy to let it slide. Even the most appreciative managers forget to properly thank their volunteers.

Fortunately, letting volunteers know you care doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive. Besides, you get so much bang for your buck! Volunteers who feel valued report a higher level of satisfaction with their volunteer duties. Happy volunteers mean less turnover.

Here are some low-cost ways to show your appreciation, and make volunteers happy:

• Find out what their favorite candy or other treats are. A bar of dark chocolate or bag of peanuts might not cost much, but could mean a great deal to a volunteer.
  
• Feature them in a newsletter. Shining a spotlight on a volunteer is a great way to build awareness (when they share with their friends), while making them feel great! Plus, volunteer stories help connect your readers to your organization. You’re always looking for newsletter material, right?
• Send a thank-you note with a coffee card. A $5.00 gift card to a local coffee shop is a low-cost way to show appreciation, but a heartfelt expression will be remembered long after the latte is gone!
  
• Bring in ice cream and toppings for a midday sundae break. Or invite everyone to have lunch together, which can be as simple as delivery pizza or homemade soup.
  
• Create a “Wall of Fame,” listing volunteers’ names where everyone can see it.

Bringing dozens, even hundreds, of volunteers through your organization’s doors every year puts it at a risk of loss, damage or harm to your clientele. But volunteer managers can also manage the amount of risk the non-profit is subjected to by following a few steps.

First, identify each volunteer position and its associated level of risk. Your organization chart should have all positions clarified, but if not, you can easily add to it. Think about risk in the amount of contact the position has with confidential information, money or financial information or with vulnerable populations.

• Low risk means no contact.
• Medium risk means supervised contact with vulnerable persons, and no contact with confidential information or money.
• High risk means unsupervised contact with vulnerable populations and/or contact with confidential information and/or money.

Then, prepare job descriptions that establish guidelines and standards of behavior for each position. Make sure the role’s title, responsibilities and duties are clear. Establish goals, as well as boundaries. Mention any qualifications or skills required, as well as the amount of time needed to successfully fill the position.

Each job description should include any training required, supervision required or provided, conditions such as driving, lifting or standing, and tasks it takes to meet the responsibilities.

Finally, establish standards for volunteer screening, according to the level of risk for each position. Low-risk volunteers may simply need an identity check to make sure they are who they say they are. Medium risk would include the identity check as well as require a criminal background check, including sex offender status. High risk would include a top-level identity, criminal background, sex offender and credit check.

It’s important to note when volunteers change positions or move around on the fly. Be cautious about allowing low-risk volunteers to switch into a high-risk role—even for a day—without conducting a deeper background check.

The alternative is to conduct the highest-level volunteer screening on all potential volunteers. Then, you don’t have to worry about a registered sex offender or convicted drug dealer having contact with children, the elderly or the vulnerable.