What a nice problem to have!
It’s a problem some of us just dream about – imagine having too many people eager to volunteer at your school or program! Managing an abundance of volunteers with skill and grace is critical. The more involvement opportunities you can generate, the more commitment and ownership your volunteers will feel towards your school or nonprofit. If you stick to the same core group of volunteers, not only might they succumb to volunteer burnout, you run the risk of other eager volunteers-to-be thinking the organization is selective, run by cliques, or worse, doesn’t need or value their participation (and financial contributions).
We recently spoke with Rhonda J., a parent leader at a (lucky) public elementary school in Houston and member of the Texas PTA that has just this problem. Her elementary school has 800 students, 600 PTA members and 350 active parent volunteers! Because they do such a good job of managing their wealth of parent volunteers, parents feel involved and come back year after year. They’ve even managed to turn their situation into financial bounty for the school.
DON’T Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Sustainable earth-friendly strategies and sustainable volunteer management are opposites in this situation. Rhonda works with all her PTA’s committee chairs, room parents and teachers to follow these guidelines:
No Reducing: When someone offers a suggestion for help, find a way to make it work. Efficiency isn’t the goal, maximum participation is. For example, making Cafeteria Volunteer shifts 40 minutes each instead of 1 hour and 15 minutes so more parents have a chance to participate.
No Reusing: Once a volunteer has helped with a classroom or PTA activity, check them off and put them at the bottom of the volunteer list. This way everyone rotates, getting a turn to be involved and be seen by their kids helping at school.
No Recycling: Broaden your network – don’t just call on your circle of friends to help with the project at hand (class party, book fair, bake sale, talent show) or to lead the committee next year. Go to the master list and see who has indicated interest in participating. Call folks you haven’t met before and get to know them.
Volunteer Buy-Out Fundraiser
Acknowledging that there are so many eager parents on her campus, and wanting to appeal to the parents that are not the super-active type, Rhonda’s PTA has turned not-volunteering into a fundraiser for the school. A $25 donation flags the volunteer on a limited call list to support just three events during the year, $50 for two, and a $100 donation gets a busy parent a buy-out of all but one school event.
Next Steps – a Community-Building Invitation
We think Rhonda’s school has done a terrific job of managing an abundance of volunteers. Clear communication and reinforcement from the volunteer leadership at all levels keeps parents interested, involved, and willing to go the extra mile for their school. We invite fortunate groups like these to consider sharing the wealth by partnering with another school or nonprofit in their area that’s not as well-off in its volunteer roles. Imagine the positive community impact if a prerequisite to getting on the volunteer list for choice committee jobs is donating service hours at a partner school or program in need.
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Engaging Parent Volunteers, Action Planning for Back-to-School
