Top 4 Myths About Hiring a Volunteer Manager

Written by: Jessica Pang-Parks

Is this you? Your non-profit depends on volunteer contributions to run programs, fundraise, and deliver community impact. At the same time, volunteer engagement is someone’s “side of the desk” work or a leadership volunteer’s responsibility. 

And as a leader, you’re spending precious time:

• Handling conflicts among volunteers or between volunteers and staff

• Addressing boundary issues with volunteers while hoping they don’t stop donating or advocating

• Reviewing pieced-together volunteer resources developed from outdated materials and random online information

Looking to hire a volunteer coordinator or volunteer manager? 

Check out these top myths to avoid wasting money and risking a bad hire!

Myth #1: Volunteer engagement work does not require much knowledge, skill, or experience.

In 2017, 464 CEOs were asked to compare what they expect from volunteer engagement professionals versus those in HR, fundraising, and programming. These CEOs said that volunteer engagement professionals should have more community partnership personnel management experience than their colleagues, as well as better communication, database, and public speaking skills.

Effective volunteer engagement professionals at any level must know about relevant legislation, standards, and best practices to develop policies and procedures and make sure they are followed. When volunteers contribute to many impact areas, volunteer managers must be exceptional at influencing without authority to collaborate with and coach colleagues.

Myth #2: Recruitment is the focus of any volunteer manager role.

Volunteer engagement is a cycle that:

-       Starts with planning,

-       Continues onto recruitment, orientation, and training,

-       Moves into supervision and support,

-       And concludes with recognition that loops back to planning

At the centre of this cycle is stewardship. Volunteer stewardship, much like donor stewardship, is based on relationships rather than transactions. For success across the volunteer engagement cycle, look for candidates with strong interpersonal, strategic planning, and change management skills.

Myth #3: We should ask a dedicated “super volunteer” to apply for the job.

Often, long-term and very dedicated volunteers have a deep personal connection to the cause. Their identity and self-esteem can be closely tied to the organization’s successes. Their friendships might also revolve around the organization, blending their social time with their volunteer time. If they’re not already feeling burned out as volunteers, imagine how much more likely they are to burn out as employees! They might also struggle with professional boundaries or dealing with bad news at work.

Many high-performing volunteers believe their way of doing things is the "right" way and think others should contribute the same way. These individuals wouldn’t be a good fit as volunteer managers because volunteer engagement success depends on flexibility and reducing barriers to engagement.

Myth #4: Niceness is a top quality to look for when hiring a volunteer manager.

Volunteers are people and people are complicated. During a volunteer's shift, someone could get hurt, confidential information might leak, or money could go missing! Being nice isn't enough in these situations, but being proactive, curious, organized, and tactful is crucial.

In fact, niceness often leads to inadequate expectation management and unfairness, can hurt your organization’s reputation.

This article was written by Learn with JPP Consulting, a premier volunteer engagement professional talent search partner.