Overview

The volunteer department is responsible for creating a meaningful, productive and recurring volunteer experience. The department assists with planning in advance of the volunteers’ arrival, troubleshooting during the trip and keeps them informed and active in the organization after their departure. The volunteer department collaborates closely with the construction team on weekly schedules and ensuring a steady workforce that is actively engaged with meaningful work on-site.

Goals

Maximize engagement, e.g., empower volunteers to donate or fundraise before, during and after their trip
Meet the workforce demand of the construction department
Provide a meaningful experience to volunteers

Themes and Values

Consistency

Homes are rebuilt most efficiently when a steady number of volunteers are available to work. In order to provide that consistency and combat the natural trends of volunteer availability, the department recruits for times with low volunteer.

Deep appreciation and meaningful experience

Every volunteer should hear “thank you” often and from multiple team members. There’s no deception behind telling volunteers that you couldn’t do your work without them, and they should be made to feel as such. A well-planned rebuilding trip complements this sentiment with inherent meaning and impact that should be highlighted.

Emotional engagement

Volunteer groups are more than just our workforce; they are also a pillar of development and volunteer recruitment. Volunteer groups that develop an attachment to their homeowner, site supervisor, or the organization are a valuable resource for outreach, fundraising, in-kind donations and networking.

Objectives and tactics

Meet workforce demand of the construction department

Recruit to fill capacity at each site
Maintain updated predictions of future need to reference during recruitment and scheduling
Conduct pre-arrival assessment to determine the skill level of incoming volunteers

Provide a meaningful experience to volunteers

Trip planning and scheduling
Onsite volunteer troubleshooting
Orientation

Maximize engagement

Express appreciation and highlight unmet needs
Open fundraising dialogue

Records and data

Keeping recently updated data on volunteer groups is as invaluable as it is straightforward. Volunteer coordinators keep regular contact with groups in order to engage, research and update. This information helps inform the volunteer schedule – a collaborative effort between construction and volunteer departments.

Key Terms and Roles

Engagement: Fostering connection with volunteers to encourage additional volunteering, financial support and community outreach.

Group leader: Point of contact for volunteer groups with whom the volunteer coordinator interacts most frequently.

Common Barriers and Stumbling Blocks

The needs of the volunteer group will occasionally conflict with the needs of the organization.

Volunteer groups are sometimes unhappy with where they’ve been placed. They may wish to keep their whole team together and are on two sites, or only have one vehicle making transportation difficult. Below are a few things to keep in mind as you work with them to find a solution:

Your goal for a customizable experience to every volunteer group. Work with your construction team to provide creative alternatives that are preferable to the group.
Provide an explanation on why the change is necessary. A simple reason may easily defuse the situation.
Ultimately, the organizational mission is to rebuild homes efficiently.
Volunteers are an integral part of this process, but if a group is detrimental to it, they must adjust their plans, even if it’s not an ideal solution for them.

Over/under capacity
The volunteer department is responsible for providing the construction team with a consistent supply of volunteer labor. In order to achieve this, the volunteer department has to sometimes recruit, and other times turn down or reschedule groups.

Do not immediately turn down groups interested in coming on a day that’s over capacity. Try to get to know their background and motivation. There are some groups for whom you might make an exception, and even if you do not, it may help when finding an alternative date.
If you must turn a group down, be sure to make clear it’s based on organizational capacity, and not a lack of need.

In situations when there are not enough volunteers, the department needs to recruit. Recruitment is explained thoroughly in the “Responsibilities Explained” section.

Lack of predictability
The only certainty in volunteer construction is that advanced planning is likely to change dramatically, often multiple times. This presents a challenge when working with volunteer groups in anticipation of their trip, and sometimes during it when last-minute changes occur. The key is managing expectations.

Control the framing of the issue. Preemptively alert groups to the unpredictable nature of volunteer construction and tell them upfront you will not have confirmed addresses until shortly before their trip.
Last-minute changes are an unavoidable part of our model. Be prepared to explain exactly why you must make the changes, help them find a solution and thank them for their flexibility.

Unfulfilling experience
Occasionally volunteers do not have the desired experience despite volunteer coordinators’ hard work. Do not be discouraged, apologize and ask them to come again for a chance to see what a great volunteer experience feels like. Review their experience with a manager or co- worker later to identify what you could have done differently and how to improve.

Staffing

The volunteer coordinator is the building block of the volunteer team. The number of volunteer coordinators should be proportional to the volume of volunteers. Each volunteer coordinator should serve between 5-15 volunteer groups per week. More than this, and prompt and meaningful communication grows increasingly difficult. A volunteer manager is helpful even with only one volunteer coordinator as he or she can help with VIP groups and coordinate with a director of construction on more equal footing.

Volunteer coordinator: The primary point of contact for volunteer groups before their arrival and after their departure. Works with volunteers to plan their volunteer trip, implements engagement plans and coordinates logistics with the volunteer manager. The volunteer coordinator serves as initial point of contact for individuals and volunteer groups, guiding them through the process of registering and preparing for their trip. Once the volunteer is confirmed, the volunteer coordinator works to ensure that every volunteer has a meaningful experience and is fully engaged with the organization.

Volunteer manager: The manager of the volunteer coordinators – responsible for recruitment vision and VIP groups. Oversees the volunteer process, supports volunteer coordinators and acts as point of contact for some VIP volunteer groups. Collects all volunteer information and coordinates with the construction and development teams to schedule and successfully engage volunteers respectively. This person is ultimately responsible for each volunteers’ experience with the organization, as well as ensuring appropriate number of volunteers for each day. Like other managers, the volunteer manager is responsible for all volunteer coordinators.

Processes & Tools

Volunteer Contact Timeline

First contact
When potential volunteers make contact, register or respond to recruitment – a volunteer coordinator calls them to:

Thank them for their interest
Select dates
Get to know the group or individual

Advanced planning - Create regular contact with volunteers before their trip to:

Assist with travel plans
Maintain updated numbers and dates
Further research the group
Introduce enduring need and fundraising suggestions

Confirmation calls
Two weeks out:

Confirm numbers
Dates
Times
Transportation

One week out:

Give volunteers addresses
The stage of construction
Site supervisor’s name

Orientation

Introduce organization
Describe the disaster story
State a typical client story
Answer questions

During trip

Troubleshoot volunteers’ problems (lost, delays, etc.), keep supervisors updated
Make volunteer changes based on the construction needs

Follow up

Within one week, send thank you email or call
Send updates with milestones in construction, especially the “Welcome Home”

Onsite Volunteer Troubleshooting

Volunteers will sometimes call volunteer coordinators, particularly on their first day for construction problems (need materials, tools, etc.). Assure them you’ll resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Pass the message to the project manager (PM).

More rarely, volunteers will have a problem with a supervisor, PM, other group, or skilled trades worker. In these cases, a volunteer coordinator should forward the complaint to their manager who can coordinate with the construction team to get the volunteer or the other party offsite, and follow up on the situation. Such situations are often an issue of incompatible personalities, but the volunteer manager should let the AmeriCorps or staff supervisor(s) know, and if necessary alert Human Resources.

In general, the volunteer department will assist remotely by facilitating communication between volunteers and construction, and coordinators should consider the severity of the situation before traveling to the site.

Maintain Updated Future Numbers

Decisions about recruitment and interested volunteers are monitored closely by the organization’s capacity for volunteers. The volunteer department must keep detailed records of groups that have reserved spots, and initiate regular conversations with the construction/AmeriCorps departments regarding future capacity.

Track Volunteer Data

Detailed volunteer data is important to the development and volunteer departments. For development, volunteer statistics are used in grant writing and reporting, while volunteer contact information is used for fundraising campaigns and outreach. For the volunteer department, statistics help predict trends of low and high volunteer interest, while contact information can improve a future volunteer coordinator’s report with returning volunteers.

All volunteer’s contact information, homeowner(s) and hours should be accurately maintained on the volunteer document, schedule, or independent data tracking system.

Waiver

The volunteer waiver or release form is a necessary liability release form. It also allows you to collect volunteer data and disperse information/tips in an official capacity.

Express Appreciation and Highlight Unmet Needs

Every volunteer should hear and understand the value of their contribution from the volunteer department when they arrive and before they leave. Highlighting the unmet need can help underscore the value of the contribution and serve as a conduit to continued engagement, outreach and financial support.

Open Funding Dialogue

Volunteers can be a valuable source of financial support through direct donations, fundraising and/or networking with companies or people. If volunteers have a meaningful experience and become emotionally engaged with the community served, they often want to do more. It can be helpful to nudge them in this direction by telling them the average cost of a rebuild, the cost per volunteer per day, or simply that the biggest obstacle to getting families home is often the funding gap.

Recruitment

When volunteer numbers are low, the volunteer department must recruit quantitatively so that work doesn’t come to a halt.

Quantitative recruitment

Reach out indiscriminately to school groups, churches, clubs and local businesses to sponsor a volunteer day to cover a period of low volunteering.
Put your organization on volunteer aggregate sites, increase visibility online or in the press.

Qualitative recruitment