Transcript_VGF Best Practices Technical Webinar Page 1 of 5

VGF Best Practices Technical Recording Transcript

Jehyra Asencio ...: Hello, and thank you for joining me here in the virtual world. My name is Jehyra 

Asencio Yace, and I am a research analyst and program evaluator at the 

AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation. Today, I am here to share with 

you about volunteer management and engagement. Best practices that we have 

found are useful for any type of organization that works with volunteers and or 

national service members. AmeriCorps is a federal grant making agency that 

every year places more than $800 million in funding and more than 200,000 

individuals to serve with nonprofit, faith-based, community-based, and state or 

local government agents. We do that through our main programs, which are 

AmeriCorps State and National, AmeriCorps Seniors, AmeriCorps Vista, 

AmeriCorps NCCC, and the Volunteer Generation Fund Program.

Our learning objectives for this session are to gain awareness of the Volunteer 

Generation Fund bundled implementation study conducted by the AmeriCorps 

Office of Research and Evaluation. Learn what AmeriCorps currently knows 

about the research in volunteer management best practices from the literature 

review and the user research conducted with state service commissions and 

demonstrate familiarity with identified volunteer management best practices.

The AmeriCorps Office of Research and Evaluation has been a pioneer in the 

area of civic engagement and volunteering research. Each year we work with 

other federal agencies like the Census Bureau to look at national trends, but 

also provide grants to academic institutions and evaluate the work our grantee 

organizations are doing in the field. One of our most recent research projects is 

an implementation evaluation for the 2020 cohort of Volunteer Generation 

Fund grant recipients. In this study, we have used a mixed methods approach, 

including state surveys, case studies, and cross case study analysis, and have 

conducted a comprehensive literature review that included scholarly work, 

organization grant, application materials, and practitioner-based literature.

Some of the main findings from the literature reviewed showed us that there is 

limited evidence on the effectiveness of volunteer management practices and 

volunteer outcomes. Meanwhile, there is a vast practitioner knowledge base on 

volunteer management best practices. This literature review has been published 

in the AmeriCorps Evidence Exchange, an amazing repository of AmeriCorps 

Evidence-Based Community Intervention Programs and Research, and you can 

find it in the links provided with this video.

Before getting to the best practices, there are some contextual and 

organizational level factors that are important to keep in mind when 

implementing volunteer management strategies. Let's review some of the 

trends in volunteerism that were already happening before the impacts of the 

pandemic took hold. First, we have the fact that volunteers and organizations 

that host volunteers were already noticing the preference for episodic shortterm assignments instead of affiliated regular volunteering. This means that 

those limited with time, but an interest in doing service on a temporary basis 
Transcript_VGF Best Practices Technical Webinar Page 2 of 5

are drawn to events such as Day Long House builds with Habit Habitat for 

Humanity, Martin Luther King Day of Service events, community park 

maintenance activities, or even special vacations featuring volunteer 

opportunities.

Second, we have the increase of use of digital tools and social media that were 

already rearranging how organizations interacted with their support base, 

including virtual volunteers that are willing to perform remote one-time or 

temporary services or to sign on for an extended time commitment, such as 

serving as an online mentor. And third, the fact that innovative engagement is 

needed to reestablish trust and human connection. Socially disruptive cycles 

and lack of trust in official institutions mean that community and nonprofit 

organizations are at the front lines of providing access to services and care in a 

complex world, and they will need to innovate in order to get volunteers in the 

door.

In Post Pandemic America, we have robustly documented the increase in 

demand for services despite declines in formal volunteering. Recruiting 

sufficient volunteers continues to be a big problem even when there is some 

data pointing that this may be temporary. In addition, there is now a 

documented increase in organizations recognizing that volunteers do provide 

significant returns on investment and that this must be better communicated 

both internally and externally.

Now, let's start getting into the weeds of what we mean by volunteer 

management and volunteer engagement. Both are essential but different. 

When we are talking about volunteer management, we mean the plan and 

processes that involve recruiting, tracking, coordinating, supervising, engaging, 

and retaining volunteers that support an organization. Volunteer engagement is 

part of volunteer management and it involves the plans and processes that 

ensures supporters are continually interested and actively engaged in their 

work. Usually there is one or more dedicated staff member in an organization 

responsible for managing volunteers.

Some of our organizations call them volunteer coordinator, outreach 

coordinator, or even volunteer connectors. But before a particular staff member 

can be responsible for managing volunteers, some organizational factors should 

be ideally put into place to ensure effectiveness. There are many factors, but 

the ones we will show here are part of the index of volunteer engagement 

developed by service enterprise program and the University of Austin.

First, an organization should have its leadership convinced and interested in the 

benefits of having a volunteer management system in place to achieving the 

organization's mission. The organization should also seek to provide the 

financial human space and materials necessary to engage volunteers. In 

complement and ideally, broad use of technology should be implemented to 

facilitate all aspects of volunteer engagement, including record keeping, 

communication, et cetera. And last but not least, appropriate planning should 
Transcript_VGF Best Practices Technical Webinar Page 3 of 5

be conducted based on established principles and practices of effective 

management.

So now let's start diving into some of the identified volunteer recruitment best 

practices that we have looked at in research. First, we have communicate the 

organization's investment in volunteers. Research has demonstrated that using 

marketing materials to convey that an organization in invests in and caress for 

its volunteers impacts participants' perception of the organization's attracts. It is 

then recommended that an organization may be able to effectively recruit 

volunteers by communicating both task oriented and emotion oriented support 

in recruitment materials.

Match recruitment messaging to volunteer motives. A review of studies found 

that matching recruitment messages to potential volunteer motives made them 

more likely to volunteer. Find what motivates a person to volunteer in your area 

of work and tailor your recruitment materials based on those interventions. 

Explicitly invite different populations of interest. Researchers argue that 

potential volunteers of a specific demographic are more interested in joining 

that organization when its recruitment messages emphasize that the specific 

demographic group have a unique added value for the work needed. For 

example, not all populations will relate to the term volunteer. Some 

organizations have provided training to their staff on the language used in 

volunteer recruitment and how to make that language more inclusive to diverse 

populations.

Provide easy entry, onboarding and remove barriers. Organizations with 

effective evidence-based programs have noted that providing a smooth 

pathway to entry makes people more likely to join your organization. Provide 

clear instructions and communicate what the steps of the process will be. 

Furthermore, keep in mind your intended demographics and its specific 

challenges like access to documentation, technology, internet, transportation, 

and even understanding of technical language. Some organizations, for 

example, have simplified their messaging to support those with a less complex 

command of English. Others have decided to have both online and in-person 

recruitment activities to target people that are not online. The goal is to get 

volunteers in the door and remove complicated onboarding tasks.

Write strong volunteer position descriptions. This practice has come up 

repeatedly in our study of the Volunteer Generation Fund program. Physician 

descriptions should demonstrate the value for volunteers even when they won't 

receive monetary compensation. Be specific about what is needed and 

expected. Also, note any requirements and trainings or other resources that will 

be provided. It won't hurt to highlight what the volunteer will take out of the 

experience. When a position requires a specific skillset, provide detailed 

information and target your messaging to people who have them.

Now, let's switch and go deeper into volunteer management strategies and talk 

about volunteer engagement and retention strategies. Remember that by 
Transcript_VGF Best Practices Technical Webinar Page 4 of 5

engaging volunteers, you are working towards retaining your volunteers. First 

strategy match volunteers to roles based on interests. Matching volunteers to 

their roles based on career goals has been empirically supported as best 

practices. In a longitudinal examination of AmeriCorps members, researchers 

found that members who perceive their activities to be aligned with their longterm career or job interests were more likely to complete their service terms. 

Based on these findings, it is suggested that organizations survey new 

volunteers to understand their interests at the beginning of the volunteer 

organization relationship to best match volunteers with roles based on those 

interests.

Provide training and learning opportunities. Another practice is providing 

orientation and training for volunteers, which not only prepares them for their 

role, but has been correlated with their sense of belonging in an organization. In 

a longitudinal examination of older adult volunteers, researchers discovered 

that those volunteers who felt they had adequate training and support from 

their organization were more likely to stay. Another study showed that 

volunteer perceptions of learning and development opportunities are 

significantly related to organizational commitment. That means feeling a strong 

sense of belonging and an intention to stay in the organization. This means that 

providing training and learning opportunities increase the chances of retaining 

and having engaged volunteers.

Support your volunteers professionally and emotionally. Several studies on the 

impact of organizational support show that volunteers' perception of both task 

oriented and emotion oriented organizational support were related to positive 

volunteer outcomes. In an examination of volunteers', general perception of 

these tasks and emotional oriented supports, researchers discovered that 

volunteers' perception of each type of support equally enhance their 

engagement with their voluntary work. This in turn, was positively co-related 

with volunteers' happiness and perceived social worth, or how one sees oneself 

as valued in interpersonal relationships and negatively co-related with 

volunteers' intent to lead.

Promote volunteer autonomy and open communication. Some studies have 

found that volunteer autonomy and decision making are related to service 

completion and retention. In the longitudinal examination of AmeriCorps 

members, researchers found that members who are highly involved in planning 

their service activities were more likely to complete their service jump. Research 

has also shown that volunteers who perceive that they can provide input into 

the decision making process is associated with positive outcomes. According to 

the research volunteer organizations that promote ways for their supporters to 

voice their opinions to leadership may promote retention and mitigate any 

intentions of quitting.

Clearly define volunteer roles. Role ambiguity was found by researchers to be 

related to feelings of burnout and increased endorsements of intentions to quit. 

Based on these findings, the researchers suggest using practices such as forming 
Transcript_VGF Best Practices Technical Webinar Page 5 of 5

written guidelines, formally outlining roles to decrease the likelihood that 

volunteers will feel burnout and therefore want to quit.

Foster relationships between volunteers and organizational peers. The research 

has shown a positive correlation between volunteer relationships with their 

peers, mentors and supervisors, and other positive outcomes such as intent to 

remain in higher satisfaction. One study showed that volunteers access to social 

support relating to their feelings of connectedness, which was also correlated 

with positive outcomes, including volunteer satisfaction and determination to 

continue. Therefore, to improve their retention rate of volunteers, studies that 

organizations promote activities that reinforce bonds among your supporters 

and the organization staff.

And last but not least, provide recognition and feedback. Research shows that 

volunteers who perceive that their organizations provide them with feedback 

and show them appreciation are more likely to endorse and intend to continue 

volunteering within an organization. There are many public free resources 

available that can help an organization to have a system in place to provide 

consistent recognition and feedback to their supporters.

In this short video, we have quickly walked through what AmeriCorps knows 

about current research on volunteer management and engagement, including 

researcher and practitioner based best practices. Let's not forget that there is 

wide evidence to the claim that volunteering brings out the best in America. 

60.7 million people firmly volunteered with organizations between 2020 and 

2021. Service continues to be a priority for millions of Americans. This means 

that organizations need to be ready to engage those who want to give back. 

AmeriCorps is the federal agency that helps organizations do precisely that, 

supports those who want to give back. I thank you for having stayed with me 

until now and encourage you to check out our resources linked to this video and 

in the americorps.gov/impact website. Have a great rest of day or night. Thank 

you.