A year from now, where and how we work will be different—so different that we may look back on the workplace of 2019 the way we do on an office with a typewriter or a dial phone today.
Our friends at the Minnesota Alliance for Volunteer Advancement (MAVA) have recently published the latest report from their inclusive volunteering project. Whilst the report has it’s origin in the ongoing racial tensions in the USA, the findings have lessons for all of us engaging volunteers, and so we are pleased to share the following update from MAVA on our blog.
Let’s be honest for a minute. Bad volunteers DO exist, and nonprofits struggle to fire bad volunteers generous enough to work for free. It is important to clarify that there are “bad volunteers,” and then there are volunteers who are a “bad fit” for your organization. Knowing how to fire bad volunteers is important. Nonprofits could and should be more selective when determining what skill sets and performance they expect from volunteers. According to Volunteer Hub, only 55% of nonprofits report that they assess volunteer impact. How can a nonprofit justify “firing” a volunteer without outlining expectations and completing performance reviews for volunteers?