Week 6 – Assignment Proposal for a Volunteer Program

Week 6 – Assignment

Proposal for a Volunteer Program

Imagine that you have recently accepted a position as the new Volunteer Administrator at Difference Today Nonprofit (hypothetical). Because of your expertise, you have been hired to establish the volunteer program.

Develop a proposal describing your volunteer program and how you see yourself working as the Volunteer Administrator for Difference Today Nonprofit. This is an organization struggling with recruiting, retaining, and coaching volunteers. The organization is well-funded by a for-profit company and has experienced great success, but has never established a strong volunteer program. You are the first Volunteer Administrator that the organization has hired.

Your role will be to assess how to:

1. Create and manage the volunteer program.

2. Prepare the organization prior to launching the program.

3. Develop a strategy for recruiting and retaining volunteers.

4. Train and develop volunteers.

5. Develop policies and procedures for the volunteer program.

6. Evaluate the effectiveness of the volunteer program.

Your volunteer program proposal should include a section corresponding to each of the above six issues. Support your recommendations in each section, where appropriate, with research or examples from scholarly and credible professional sources.

In addition, since you are responsible for developing the comprehensive program to be rolled out in the next six months, a timeline for important functions and milestones should be included in its own section of the proposal. It will help to think in terms of what is in the best interest of Difference Today Nonprofit, the volunteers, and the support staff.

Your paper should be 2,800-3,500 words (8-10 pages) in length, not including the title page, abstract, and reference sections. You should use and cite a minimum of 10 scholarly and credible professional sources in support of your proposal. All sections of your paper, including references, must follow APA guidelines.

Resources

Required References

Connors, T. D. (2011).  Wiley nonprofit law, finance and management series: volunteer management handbook: leadership strategies for success (Links to an external site.)  (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN-13: 9780470604533.

Chapter 15: Evaluating the Volunteer Program Chapter 16: Evaluating Impact of Volunteer Programs

Rosenthal, R. J., & Baldwin, G. (2015).  Volunteer engagement 2.0: Ideas and insights changing the world (Links to an external site.) . Somerset, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN-13: 9781118931882. Found in the University of the University of Arizona Global Campus ebrary. Chapter 20: Measuring the Volunteer Program

Recommended References

Buote, D. (2013, November 13). What is program evaluation? [Video file]. Retrieved from What is program evaluation?: A Brief Introduction (Links to an external site.) 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016, November 17). A framework for program evaluation [Web page]. Retrieved from  https://www.cdc.gov/eval/framework/index.htm

Required References

Connors, T. D. (2011).  Wiley nonprofit law, finance and management series: volunteer management handbook: leadership strategies for success (Links to an external site.)  (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN-13: 9780470604533.

Lee, Y., Won, D., & Bang, H. (2014).  Why do event volunteers return? Theory of planned behavior (Links to an external site.) . International Review on Public and Non-Profit Marketing, 11(3), 229-241. doi:10.1007/s12208-014-0117-0

NCVO Knowhow Nonprofit. (2015, December 15). Volunteer policies [Web page]. Retrieved from  https://knowhownonprofit.org/people/volunteers/keeping/policy (Links to an external site.)

Pitney, N. (2013). Safeguarding volunteers with effective risk management. Retrieved from  https://nonprofitquarterly.org/safeguarding-volunteers-with-effective-risk-management/ (Links to an external site.)

Rosenthal, R. J., & Baldwin, G. (2015).  Volunteer engagement 2.0: Ideas and insights changing the world (Links to an external site.) . Somerset, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN-13: 9781118931882. Found in the University of the University of Arizona Global Campus ebrary.

United States Department of Labor. (n.d.). Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor. Retrieved from  http://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/whd/flsa/docs/volunteers.asp (Links to an external site.)

Volunteer Protection Act of 1997, 42 U.S.C. § 14501 (1997, May 19). Retrieved from  https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt101/pdf/CRPT-105hrpt101-pt1.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Recommended References

Agovino, T. (2016).  The giving generation (Links to an external site.) . HR Magazine, 61(7), 36-38, 40, 42, 44. Found in the University of the University of Arizona Global Campus ebrary.

Alfes, K., Shantz, A., & Saksida, T. (2015).  Committed to whom? Unraveling how relational job design influences volunteers’ turnover intentions and time spent volunteering. (Links to an external site.)  Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations, 26(6), 2479-2499. doi:10.1007/s11266-014-9526-2

Buote, D. (2013, November 13). What is program evaluation? [Video file]. Retrieved from What is program evaluation?: A Brief Introduction (Links to an external site.) 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016, November 17). A framework for program evaluation [Web page]. Retrieved from  https://www.cdc.gov/eval/framework/index.htm (Links to an external site.)

Dunn, J., Chambers, S. K., & Hyde, M. K. (2016).  Systematic review of motives for episodic volunteering (Links to an external site.) . Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 27(1), 425-464. doi:10.1007/s11266-015-9548-4

Elias, J. K., Paulomi, S., and Seema, M. (2016).  Long-term engagement in formal volunteering and well-being: An exploratory Indian study (Links to an external site.) . Behavioral Sciences 6(4), 20. doi:10.3390/bs6040020

Groble, P., & Brudney, J. L. (2015).  When good intentions go wrong: Immunity under the volunteer protection act (Links to an external site.) . Nonprofit Policy Forum, 6(1), 3-24. doi:10.1515/npf-2014-0001

Kolar, D., Skilton, S., & Judge, L. W. (2016).  Human resource management with a volunteer workforce (Links to an external site.) . Journal of Facility Planning, Design, and Management, 4(1). doi:10.18666/JFPDM-2016-V4-I1-7300

Manetti, G., Bellucci, M., Como, E., & Bagnoli, L. (2015).  Investing in volunteering: Measuring social returns of volunteer recruitment, training and management (Links to an external site.) . Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 26(5), 2104-2129. doi:10.1007/s11266-014-9497-3

Mind Tools. (n.d.). SWOT analysis: Discover new opportunities, manage and eliminate threats [Web page]. Retrieved from  http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm (Links to an external site.)

Nesbit, R., Rimes, H., Christensen, R. K., & Brudney, J. L. (2016).  Inadvertent volunteer managers: Exploring perceptions of volunteer managers’ and volunteers’ roles in the public workplace (Links to an external site.) . Review of Public Personnel Administration, 36(2), 164-187. doi:10.1177/0734371X15576409

Pynes, J. E. (2013).  Training and career development (Links to an external site.) . Human resources management for public and nonprofit organizations: A strategic approach (4th ed.). pp. 275-302. Somerset, NJ: Jossey-Bass. ISBN-13: 9781118398623. Found in the University of the University of Arizona Global Campus ebrary.

Riddle, R. (2016, November 14). 5 deadly sins of recruiting volunteers [Blog post]. Retrieved from  http://blogs.volunteermatch.org/engagingvolunteers/2016/11/14/5-deadly-sins-of-recruiting-volunteers/ (Links to an external site.)

Scott, C. L. (2016). 7 reasons nonprofit organizations have trouble recruiting volunteers [Video file]. Retrieved from 7 Reasons Nonprofit Organizations Have Trouble Recruiting Volunteers (Links to an external site.) 

Sellon, A. (2014).  Recruiting and retaining older adults in volunteer programs: Best practices and next steps (Links to an external site.) . Ageing International, 39(4), 421-437.

Studer, S. (2016).  Volunteer management: Responding to the uniqueness of volunteers (Links to an external site.) . Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 45(4), 688-714. doi:10.1177/0899764015597786

Stukas, A. A., Snyder, M., & Clary, E. G. (2016).  Understanding and encouraging volunteerism and community involvement (Links to an external site.) . The Journal of Social Psychology, 156(3), 243-255. doi:10.1080/00224545.2016.1153328