Training Materials
Learn more about best practices in volunteer recruitment and engagement, and how to get the results you need.
NOTE: These are examples from public libraries and should be reviewed and modified to ensure fit with local policies and culture.
Title | Keyword | Tags | Year |
---|---|---|---|
Building Capacity: Strategic Volunteer Engagement
In this Points of Light blog post, the point is made that organizations that build a culture of volunteerism, and purposefully embed volunteerism… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | Strategic | 2018 |
Volunteer Background Checks: Giving Back without Giving Up on Privacy
How do nonprofit organizations screen volunteers? There are several options. The choices depend largely on the volunteer job involved and the… more |
Volunteer Screening / Interviewing, Capacity Building, Staff Training | background checks, screening | 2018 |
Build Staff Buy-In for Volunteer Engagement
Often one of the biggest challenges to a new model of volunteer engagement is the resistance of paid staff. Often attitudes and fears of our co-… more |
Staff Guides for Working with Volunteers, Capacity Building, Engaging Staff and Unions | Staff Resistance, staff buy-in | 2018 |
Three Things We Know About Engaging Millennials in Your Cause
A quick read on what Millennials are interested in to help you in your recruitment efforts. |
Millennials | Millennials | 2018 |
Grow Staff Volunteer Harmony
Tips from Energize Inc. on helping staff to work more productively with volunteers. |
Engaging Staff and Unions | staff buy-in | 2018 |
GenerationOn Projects, Ideas and Resources
Looking for possible library volunteer projects for kids, teens and/or families? Check out GenerationOn's projects and resources to get some… more |
Millennials | Teens, family volunteering | 2018 |
Can We Reject a Volunteer?
What do you do when someone applies to volunteer and you realize they will not work out? How can we justify rejecting anyone who steps forward and… more |
Interviewing Volunteers, Staff Training | Fire, reject, complaints | 2018 |
You Can't Fire Me, I'm a Volunteer!
This quick read from Blue Avocado focuses on addressing volunteer dissatisfaction points to the right way to handle disgruntled volunteers. |
Staff Training | Fire, disgruntled | 2018 |
Getting the Highest Visibility on VolunteerMatch – How to RePost Your Listing
Keeping your volunteer opportunity near the top of the list in your zipcode is critical to keep it visible to potential volunteers. One of the… more |
VolunteerMatch Tools and Resources | RePost | 2018 |
Volunteers: More Work? or More Work Force? - Idaho Commission for Libraries
This is a 30 minute archived webinar, presented May 15, 2017 by Sheila Winther, Volunteer Coordinator for the Idaho Commission for Libraries. This is… more |
Staff Guides for Working with Volunteers, Capacity Building, Staff Training | volunteer coordinator | 2017 |
ASCLA Library Accessibility ToolKits
An excellent list prepared by ASCLA of links to resources that can help in a number of areas including: Autism Spectrum Disorders, blind, deaf,… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | disabilities | 2017 |
Volunteers are the Reputational Assets Your Organization is Overlooking
A great reminder in a brief article by Erin Rebecca Spink. |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | 2017 | |
ESL Conversation Circles Toolkit
This wiki from settlementatwork.org could be useful for staff designing and implementing ESL Conversation Circles, and also for training ESL… more |
Job Specific Volunteer Training, Staff Training | 2017 | |
A Different Kind of Volunteer Work: More companies are encouraging empoloyees to donate their professional expertise
This brief September, 2017 Wall Street Journal article speaks to societal factors leading to the increase in corporate pro bono programs. |
Capacity Building, Engaging High Impact Volunteers | 2017 | |
How to Turn Away Volunteers and Still Have an OK Day
In this August, 2017 article, Elisa Kosarin shares her basics for making this difficult experience manageable. |
Volunteer Screening / Interviewing, Interviewing Volunteers, Staff Training | 2017 | |
How Changing Our Volunteer Interview Approach Increased our Retention Rate by 30%
Elisa Kosarin of Twenty Hats describes Behavior-based interviewing, and how its implementation in her situation helped to increased the quality of… more |
Volunteer Screening / Interviewing, Interviewing Volunteers | interview, screening, retention | 2017 |
The Volunteer Interview: Making the offer . . . or not
This July, 2016 article from Verified Volunteers covers strategies for assessing candidates, how to handle when it's not a good fit, and… more |
Volunteer Screening / Interviewing, Interviewing Volunteers | 2017 | |
Small Library VolunteerMatch Success -- Johnson City TX
In this 4 & 1/2 minute video, Johnson City Texas Library Director, Maggie Goodman, shares her successful experience in posting a need for IT… more |
Capacity Building, Engaging High Impact Volunteers, On-line Volunteer Recruitment, VolunteerMatch Tools and Resources | rural, small, maker space, LinkedIn, VolunteerMatch | 2017 |
Small Library VolunteerMatch Success Story - Brownwood Texas
In this 2 minute video, Brownwood Texas Library Director, Becky Isbell, shares her successful experience in posting a need for a skilled graphic… more |
Capacity Building, Engaging High Impact Volunteers, On-line Volunteer Recruitment, VolunteerMatch Tools and Resources | rural, Skilled Volunteers, VolunteerMatch | 2017 |
If Your Board Looked Like Your Community
While written by an Arts organization, the 4 “Hurdles” described, along with strategies to consider and actions to take are relevant to all… more |
Staff Training | diversity, inclusion, inclusive | 2016 |