Sample Volunteer Management Report
From How the Virtual Volunteering Project Involves Online Volunteers
by Jayne Cravens, Project Manager

 
This summary was sent to the VV Project advisors. They receive a monthly update on online volunteer accomplishments. This summary primarily discusses numbers and recruitment methods for the year. And you will note that I have a very informal tone with the Project advisors -- I think it creates a more "human" element that partially makes up for not seeing each other but once a year.

This is a summary of the Project's own involvement of online volunteers in 1999. I would be interested to hear your feedback on these numbers, if you have any.

• Most of the applicants who wanted to volunteer with the Project found us while trying to find volunteering opportunities using an online search engine, such as Yahoo. About half were actually looking for virtual assignments; the rest were looking for volunteering assignments anywhere, because they have had trouble finding such.

• A complete list of all of the online volunteers who helped the Project in 1999, as well as their contributions to date, is available at: http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/vols01.html

• 69 people submitted applications to volunteer with the VV Project in all of 1999. Almost half -- 30 -- of these 1999 applicants ended up actually completing at least one online assignment for the Project.

• 49 people completed assignments for the Project in all of 1999
  • 30 were 1999 applicants
  • 15 are people who first applied in 1997 or 1998
  • the rest (4) were people who haven't completed the online application, but I let volunteer anyway, like the advisors (grin), a friend at a web site company who helped with a one-time thing, etc.

• 64 people are subscribed to my e-mail list for volunteers. I use this list to announce assignments, remind volunteers of policies, etc. 45 of these people have completed assignments for the VV Project in the last three years. 31 of the total subscribers completed assignments in 1999.

  So, yes, that leaves 19 people who have completed the online application and orientation, and subscribed to the volunteer newsletter -- and have never asked for an assignment. They receive updates about volunteer opportunities here at the Project about once a week, and there are unsubscribe instructions in EVERY volunteer update. Some have said they suddenly got busy right after they went through the orientation so they are waiting until things die down. Others have just never asked for an assignment, so I'm not sure why they are hanging around -- perhaps they are just interested in VV, or they think that, eventually, they will be ready for an assignment.

  BTW -- if any of you would like to be subscribed to this list, let me know, and I'll send you instructions. I post to it about once a week.

• No shows and inactive folks:

  • 35 of the applicants this year received the online orientation, but ended up not volunteering at all; they either never replied to the orientation and subscribed to the volunteer list, or did but never asked for an assignment.

  • Only 12 applicants went through the orientation and received an online assignments but never completed the assignment. I am VERY pleased with this low number -- it was much higher before I put in the lengthy application and orientation process. It means a lot less time wasted on my part.

• I had about 12 "signups" from VolunteerMatch to help with the Virtual Volunteering Project. Only 2 of these people followed the next step (completing the online application) and only ONE of these ever actually volunteered in all of 1999.

  And this is NOT a slam on VolunteerMatch -- by contrast, Allison Elementary School in East Austin has, like, a 90% show up rate for VolunteerMatch signups. My theory about this -- most people "signup" to volunteer "virtually" before really thinking about the commitment that needs to be made.

I've tried to help online volunteers in anyway I can, as appropriate; for instance, I was a reference for one of the volunteers for a job (he got it!), I've written two letters of recommendation to teen volunteers applying for college, if a volunteer expresses interest in learning some new technology skill I can usually send them to the resource that will help them, etc.

I couldn't manage this project without online volunteers -- not just because of the work they do, but the energy they bring, and the "human touch" they add to my job.

I have a summary of how I manage online volunteers at: http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/vvvols/ (yes, that's three "v"s).

To read the feedback from volunteers I've heard from, as well as many agencies, about virtual volunteering in general, as well as about the VV Project and my performance, see: http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/admin/feedback1/index.html It's not as cleanly organized as it could be -- sorry.

• Screening and Evaluating Volunteers
  
• Keeping Track
  
• Staying In-Touch
  
• Recruiting Volunteers

• Virtual Volunteering Resources
  How to find and involve volunteers working from home or work computers, online resources for volunteer managers, advice for individuals who want to volunteer virtually, etc. These pages are updated and added to each month.

• How Your Agency Can Utilize the Virtual Volunteering Project
  Tips on how to use this Web site, information about our offline services, and how we can help you introduce or expand virtual volunteering in your agency.

• Virtual Volunteering Project home page

 
If you find this or any other Virtual Volunteering Project information helpful, or would like to add information based on your own experience, please contact us.

If you do use Virtual Volunteering Project materials in your own workshop or trainings, or republish materials in your own publications, please let us know, so that we can track how this information is disseminated.

If you are interested in more up-to-date information about virtual volunteering, view the Virtual Volunteering Wiki.