Tools to Implement the System

Implementing a complex management system for volunteers requires a lot of planning! Along with our co-creation team, we’ve created a series of tools to help you in the process.

Where do volunteers and staff add the most value?

We have developed a set of suggested guidelines outlining the roles and tasks ideally performed by staff and volunteers. Since every organization is unique, we understand there will be variance but we hope it provides you with a general idea of where volunteers and staff add the most value.

What makes an active volunteer?

First thing’s first: evaluate the current engagement of your volunteers. An active volunteer is someone who donates their time annually to AFS. This can range anywhere between one-time tasks every several months to a person donating multiple hours every week. The reality is we have various amounts of time to give at different stages in our lives.

An inactive volunteer is someone who wants to remain in touch with AFS but is not able to contribute any time to the organization. This person may want to continue receiving communications and stay connected but cannot commit to a specific volunteer activity.

Creating an Implementation Plan

The Volunteer Engagement System Roadmap was created to help you set up the steps necessary to implement this program in your organization. You will find it is not a linear road as each organization will have a slight variation in how they apply the different steps.

Big Picture

Start with understanding the big picture realities of your organization with the help of your scorecard. Answer the following questions: Are your volunteer and chapter numbers increasing? Decreasing? What might explain the numbers? What do you notice about your other scores? Anything surprising? How might this affect your ability to prioritize volunteer development in your organization?

Examine the basic indicators to start the Project

Support: Present the case for change and the overall purpose of the project to make sure you have support from leadership figures in your organization.
Dedicated Staff: Without staff 100% dedicated to developing volunteers and new chapters, nothing will change. How do you plan to go about restructuring or ensuring there is staff solely dedicated to volunteer development?
Budget: How many resources do I have or can ask for? How much does the organization want or can invest in the project? How do I plan to use these resources?

Self-assess

Analyze

Define goals for Volunteer Engagement

Annual Volunteer Engagement Plan

Ready to start working on your annual plan? Check out this excelent tool created by AFS Intercultura to plan their work with each local chapter!

Locate where you are
Background
System Proposal