ALIGNING SERVICE TO STRATEGY

Creating Value for Your Volunteers

NIKKI RUSSELL, CVA

• Director of Development and Community Engagement

• United Good Neighbors of Jefferson County

• Chair, Volunteer Administrators Network

• Board Member: CCVA and AL!VE

• 18 years in Volunteer Engagement field

INTRODUCTIONS

Your Name

Organization

City, State, Country

One word about your conference

experience so far…

IN THIS SESSION, WE WILL

EXPLORE:

The Strategic Value of

Volunteers

The Creation Value through

strategy

Strategic Investment in

volunteers

Managing Strategically

Strategic

Success Stories

WHY DO NONPROFITS INVOLVE VOLUNTEERS?

STRATEGIC VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT

6

Inspiring people to

join you and take action!

Inspiring and supporting the involvement and commitment of

community members in order to accomplish your organization’s

mission and vision

Volunteers are not just

“nice” but are a core

strategic function for

achieving the social mission

of the organization

Service Enterprise

An organization that fundamentally

leverages volunteers as a core strategic

function to achieve the social mission of

the organization

http://www.reimaginingservice.org

Strategic: displaying a sound strategy or plan of action

Strategy: a carefully devised plan of action to achieve a goal, or the art of developing or carrying out such a plan

a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal

STRATEGIC?

STRATEGY

addresses

the question of how to get done what we want to get done—in other

words, how we achieve our mission/vision.

BEING STRATEGIC

Means having a well defined roadmap

that bridges the gap between “where we

are” and “where we want to be”

EFFECTIVE STRATEGY

strategy is deeply

understood and shared

allows flexibility - adapts to changing

circumstances.

taps a diverse group of thinkers.

knows external environment

and the internal

capabilities of the

organization

identifies areas of competitive

advantage

Mark Rhodes, Five Essentials of an Effective Strategy, 2010

STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT

OR

HAPHAZARD ENGAGEMENT

Volunteer engagement

that is not

strategically aligned

with the organization

strategic goals and

objectives is like a

ship without a

rudder.

AKA-

Haphazard Engagement

HAPHAZARD VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT

A clumsy or inelegant solution to a problem

REIMAGINING SERVICE: 4 PRINCIPLES

•The volunteer ecosystem is more effective when all sectors participate in its evolution. Principle 1:

•Make volunteering a core strategic function, not an add-on. Principle 2:

•Focus volunteer engagement on true community needs. Principle 3:

• In order to get a return, you have to invest. Principle 4:

Your current volunteer involvement efforts

How well does your organization work across sectors/departments?

How does your organization value volunteers? Core Strategic Function or add-on

How does your organization invest in volunteer involvement?

How are volunteer engaged to meet true community needs?

How does your organization acknowledge volunteer contributions (measure results/ ROI)?

WRITE AN ALTERNATIVE HEADLINE

1. If a news story was being written about your

organization’s volunteer efforts today, what

would the headline say? (reflect today’s

situation)

2. What would you want the headlines to say in

future articles about your organization?

(project the future you desire for volunteer

engagement at your organization)

HOW CLOSE TO YOUR FUTURE HEADLINE ARE

YOU?

Our Volunteer Programs

MIND THE GAP

KEY ISSUES IN ENGAGEMENT

•From Management to Engagement

•Investment & ROI – Volunteers are NOT free!

•From magical thinking to strategic-

Collective

Collective action through

membership in nonprofits,

clubs, churches, etc.

Reflexive

Reflexive (self-referential)

action, based on individual

interests, motivations and

needs.

Hustinx and Lammertyn, 2003

Collective Reflexive

FROM MANAGEMENT TO ENGAGEMENT

Position-centered

Management

Person-centered

Engagement

•Volunteer management

•Recruitment

•Placement

•Supervision

•Tracking hours

•Recognition

Volunteer Engagement

Building Relationships

Negotiation & Agreement

Support

Measuring results

Acknowledgement

HAPHAZARD

ENGAGEMENT:

LET’S JUST GET A

VOLUNTEER TO DO

IT…

Magical Thinking….

RESOURCING VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT

OUR CURRENT EXPERIENCE

Volunteer Resource

Management

How can we transform our

experience and create value

for our volunteers and

organizations?

BY BUILDING SERVICE INTO STRATEGY

Have a vision for volunteer service aligned with strategic goals and priorities

Manage Strategically

Design 21st Century opportunities

Resource Engagement Efforts

ALIGNING SERVICE TO STRATEGY

Goals and Priorities

and Plan for

Engagement

Mission and Vision

+

Strategic Plan

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

STEPS TO BUILDING SERVICE INTO STRATEGY

Know where you are now Review your current strategic plan and clarify your mission, vision and

values. Do a SWOT Analysis

Decide where you want to go See clearly the direction your organization is headed.

Plan how you’ll get there Layout the roadmap to connect where you are now to

where you’re going.

Set goals and action steps for volunteer engagement.

Decide when and how to execute your plan.

KNOWING WHERE YOU ARE: SWOT ANALYSIS

SHAPING YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE

32

LAYOUT YOUR ROAD MAP

33

SET GOALS AND STRATEGIES

34

Planning for Engagement

Volunteer

Involvement

Strategy

Preparing

Volunteers for

Success

Negotiating

involvement

Attracting

Volunteers

Evaluating Results

Supporting

Volunteers

Guided by

mission &

strategic plan

BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURE

What systems, structures, activities and resources are required to support an effective engagement cycle?

Have a vision for engagement built into your organization's strategic plan

Manage Strategically

Design 21st Century Roles

Resource volunteer engagement

ACTION STEPS

Small Group

Brainstorm:

Identify 3 Strategic

Management Actions

EXAMPLES

Washington Serves Plan http://www.501commons.org/support-nonprofits/washington-serves/washington-serves-plan-1 U.S. Forest Service Good example of a situational analysis, forging a “strategic identity” with a long term vision: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5428349.pdf Special Olympics Pennsylvania VERY simple, but has key indicators outlined. http://www.specialolympicspa.org/polar-bear-plunge/documents/SOPA_2013_Strategic_Plan.pdf Volunteer Florida Textbook example with S.W.O.T., with realistic goals and “Next Steps” http://www.volunteerflorida.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/VF-Strategic-Plan-2013-2018.pdf

VOLUNTEERS – A POWERFUL RESOURCE

They are not just “nice” but are a necessary part of the solutions to today’s most pressing societal

challenges…

For nonprofit [leaders], there is both challenge and opportunity to meet [volunteer] expectations by creating flexible and strategic opportunities for

[involvement].

Volunteering Reinvented: Human Capital Solutions for the Nonprofit Sector, Corp. for Natl. & Community Service, July 2007