idealist.org

The experts in the field of volunteer management are the individuals already out there, doing the day to day work of finding, matching, supporting, and recognizing volunteers. In other words: you. With that in mind, we’re offering up a section of best practices – tools, models, advice – to guide your work. So whether you’re looking for great strategies on how to find male volunteers, seeking innovative ways to communicate with volunteers via technology, or not sure how to determine whether or not your organization can engage volunteers in meaningful ways, this is the place.

Many of these best practices have already been identified by our partners at Energize, Inc., so where that’s applicable, we’ve included a box under the topic with a link to their site. We’ve also found a few additional resources though that we think are worth checking out, so look for those just under the link to Energize, Inc. Soon we'll be adding a feature for you to rate resources and keep us informed on which practices truly are the best...watch for that in the next few months. In the meantime, if you know something we missed, please let us know!

Note that this section largely provides models and tools for doing the day-to-day work of volunteer management. While these come from volunteer management professionals all over the world, most if not all are universal in application; where the information is country-specific, the country name is listed in parentheses after the resource title and author. If you’re looking for information and issues specific to population (family, faith-based, corporate/employee), form of volunteerism (board, international, virtual, skilled), structure of organization (corporate/employee, government, volunteer center) and broader themes like legal issues, trends, and research, check out the Resources section.

Star Ratings
Lastly, throughout the Best Practices section, you'll see the opportunity to rate specific resources, using a five star system. By identifying which tools were most useful for them, our hope is that VMRC users will be able to better identify best practices in the field. At the same time, however, we recognize that different resources work for different people, so please use the ratings system as only one of your methods for determining best practices for you and your volunteer program.

• Organizational Readiness
• Risk Management
• Developing Your Volunteer Program
• Finding Volunteers
• Screening, Selecting, and Matching Volunteers
• Training Volunteers
• Supervision and Retention
• Financial Management
• Communications
• Conflict Resolution
• Motivation and Recognition