Planning a Volunteer Project
It pays to plan before you send a group of volunteers out to accomplish a task. Project planning can make a volunteer’s job more efficient and successful. How do some professional volunteer managers seem to plan their projects with such ease? The answer can be as simple as . Keeping good records helps you establish good procedures for how to accomplish a task the next time.
1. Write it all down
First assess the areas you need help in. This will help you recruit volunteers with appropriate skills. For example, if you need to plan a fundraiser, you might need an auctioneer, an event planner, and a designer. For meal delivery to shut-ins, you’d look for empathetic people who are adept at making connections with others.
Next, look at the project itself. Ask why it needs to be done—that’s the goal that will direct every activity. Is it to raise money for operations, or to buy a needed piece of equipment? Is it to raise awareness of a cause? Or is the project something that falls under your organization’s direct work?
Then figure out the steps it will take to finish the project. Start at the beginning, at the end, or in the middle—you’ll fill in the rest of the steps from there.
Decide how many volunteers each step will take. What skills are needed during each phase? For a fundraiser, you’d need a designer at the beginning, the middle and the end; you’d need the auctioneer just on the day of the event.
Time is the next issue—how much do you have overall and how much do you anticipate each step will take? If it’s a short-term project, like planting trees along a stream, then figure out how long it will take to gather enough volunteers, obtain the trees, get permission for planting, and pick a day from there.
Is the project going to involve volunteers working with children, handling funds or interacting with at-risk populations? Then be sure to figure in time for background screening for those volunteers.
Finally, what transportation will be needed for volunteers? Whether they can walk to the site, or you’ll need a bus to get them there, don’t make the mistake of deciding you need transportation after all the volunteers have arrived. You’ll be wasting valuable work time—and valuable volunteer time.
2. Fill out a project sheet.
With the answers to the above questions clearly established, you’ll be able to fill out a simple project worksheet:
PROJECT WORKSHEET
Title: Goal:
Start date: End date:
Number of volunteers: Hours per week per volunteer:
Project description:
Volunteer job title:
Volunteer job description:
Number of volunteers we need for this job description:
Background check: yes no
Volunteer job title:
Volunteer job description:
Number of volunteers we need for this job description:
Background check: yes no
Volunteer job title:
Volunteer job description:
Number of volunteers we need for this job description:
Background check: yes no
Total number of volunteers for this project:
Transportation needs:
Other needs (permits, event space, etc.):