Blog

Posted Thursday, August 10th, 2017 by Melodie Bissell, President of Plan to Protect™, adapted by Sterling Volunteers

You may have read the title of this blog and thought to yourself, “My organization has a well written manual with comprehensive policies and procedures.  Why would we need to update it?” Most organizations carefully piece together policies and procedures that fit their particular mission when they first begin – but how long ago was...

Posted Thursday, August 3rd, 2017 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

We recently hosted a fun and informative webinar, Volunteer Background Screening: Ask Us Anything! (seriously, ANYTHING), and had a great time answering questions from our audience. At the top of the webinar we discussed the most commonly asked questions we get asked by those in the volunteer management space.

Posted Thursday, July 13th, 2017 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

Every day, millions of people volunteer. Whether they build houses, distribute food, raise funds, care for animals, tutor students, or provide comfort, volunteers make an incredible difference by sharing their time and talent. Each of these volunteer’s commitment to an organization’s mission is a lifecycle, and Sterling Volunteers’ informative new eBook, “Enhancing the Volunteer Lifecycle,”...

Posted Thursday, July 6th, 2017 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

As a Volunteer Manager, you know that when it comes to running a volunteer program for a nonprofit organization – and creating change in the community through volunteerism – one of the most important pieces of the puzzle is volunteer recruitment. Sure, there are other factors (such as your budget!) that are also extremely important, but volunteers are the backbone of any volunteer program and finding good volunteers is like striking gold. That brings us to the question this blog addresses: What are some great ideas for recruiting volunteers?

Posted Thursday, June 29th, 2017 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

We recently hosted the third webinar of our three-part series, Enhancing the Volunteer Lifecycle. In Part 3, Engaging Volunteers for Impact & Success, we discussed how to track the impact of your volunteer program beyond counting the number of volunteers and the hours of service they provide.

Posted Wednesday, June 21st, 2017 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

If volunteering were an Easter egg hunt, skilled volunteers would be the rare but much appreciated golden eggs of the volunteer candidate pool. Regular volunteer candidates are amazing; they can help in a wide range of positions and are eager to learn new skills. That said, skilled volunteers come equipped with specific types of experience and are excited to immediately put that experience to use!

Posted Thursday, June 15th, 2017 by Gilbert Colobanea

Ask a volunteer manager to name the single biggest concern they have about running their nonprofit’s volunteer program. More likely than not, they will name their budget. Too often, volunteer managers are tasked with running their volunteer program on a shoestring. Of course, they try to do everything they can to keep costs down while still doing incredible work for their local community, but there’s one cost-saving opportunity they might be forgetting: volunteer background screening costs.

Posted Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

Most nonprofit organizations try to take every possible precaution to keep volunteers and the groups they serve safe. When it comes to vulnerable populations like children, you can never be too cautious with your policies and procedures as they relate to the vetting of volunteer candidates who work alongside these groups. Though you would assume organizations working with any type of vulnerable population would maintain airtight screening and onboarding regulations, not all do…and persons with harmful intentions sometimes gain access to these groups.

Posted Wednesday, May 31st, 2017 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

Summertime is almost here and along with the gorgeous weather, vacations at the beach, and the meaningful work your organization does for your community, comes lots of fantastic opportunities to show your group of volunteers some sunny volunteer appreciation.

Posted Thursday, May 25th, 2017 by Sterling Volunteers Staff

Despite the universal nature of Girl Scout troops, Girl Scouts of Maine faced a range of challenges when recruiting the 4,000 volunteers they depend on to lead troops and provide support. Most working parents simply don’t believe they have the time to volunteer. A volunteer screening and onboarding process that was painfully slow often served to discourage potential volunteers.