Participant's Workbook Part 3: Volunteer Management

Safe Food For the Hungry -- II

Participant's Workbook Part 3: Volunteer Management

Learning Center Activity 6: Developing an Effective Volunteer Program

Volunteerism Fact Sheet

Why do people volunteer?

People volunteer for a wide variety of reasons. If you would ask 100 different people why they volunteer, you would get 100 different answers.

Top Five Reasons for Volunteering:
(Based upon data collected by the Gallup Organization)

To do something useful to help others.
Enjoy doing the work.
Have an interest in the work or activity.
Felt those with more should help those who had less.
Gained a feeling of personal satisfaction from giving and volunteering.

Who volunteers?

In many ways, the statistics show us that there is no clear "profile" of the American Volunteer. However, there are several trends that can be helpful when attempting to identify potential volunteers. Refer to the next page for information about today's volunteers.

Be sure to ask!

The fastest and most significant way to increase volunteerism is to ask more people to help. People are more than four times as likely to volunteer when asked than when they are not. Among the 45% of respondents who were asked to volunteer in the past year, 82% actually did.

Make use of under utilized groups

. Certain demographic groups are asked to volunteer less often: African-Americans and Hispanics; families with household incomes under $20,000; single people; people who are divorced, widowed or separated; and persons who are not employed. But, when asked, these groups volunteer at a similar or even higher rate than the national average.

Who Are the Volunteers of Today?

Attracted to issues
Married (52%)
Single (39%)
Largest Age Category
35-49 (54%)
Attracted to a cause
Employed (62% full or part time)
54% of parents in households with children under 18 years old do some volunteering.
38% of Seniors over 65 volunteer
Likely to make short term commitments
Likely to prefer on-the-job training
Approximately 52% of the U.S. population volunteers on a regular basis for a wide variety of causes

ISOTURES-A Volunteer Management System

Volunteers are the key to successful programs. The processes implied by ISOTURES are not done in sequence. Rather, all are important as a part of an effective volunteer-led program. Each part of the ISOTURES system can be thought of as a piece of a puzzle. All pieces are necessary to complete the puzzle.

Pieces in the ISOTURES Puzzle

I     Identification

Finding people who have the competence and attitude to fill specific positions.


S     Selection

Placing motivated volunteers.


O     Orientation

Orienting those recruited for the positions they will fill.


T     Training

Preparing volunteers to be successful.


U     Utilization

Providing opportunities to increase knowledge and skills.


R     Recognition

Recognizing and rewarding volunteer performance.


E     Evaluation

Giving useful feedback.


S     Supervision

Helping leaders obtain the results they wish to accomplish.