We’ve all heard the mantra “Volunteers are the heart of our organization”.  I know I’ve heard it…a lot.  But how vital are they really?   And if they are the “heart” of our organizations, how do we talk about it.  How do you talk to volunteers, the community and funders about the vital contributions your volunteers make to your organization?  How do you measure volunteer accomplishments?

In a recent King County volunteer management capacity study, conducted by United Way of King County, the majority of survey respondents indicated that they either did not measure the impact of their volunteers, or they measured volunteer contributions in terms of volunteer hours contributed.  But what does volunteer time tell us about the actual contributions or accomplishments of volunteers working with our organizations?  Not very much.

I will confess that as a volunteer program administrator I often measured the contribution of volunteers in terms of hours contributed.  Our agency newsletter would celebrate the number of volunteers involved and how many hours they contributed.  And recognition was often tied to hours or years of service.  I was often so caught up with the hectic day-to-day business of managing the volunteer program, I didn’t have much time to figure out how to do more than report hours.    I did talk passionately about the “difference” volunteers made for our agency, but I really didn’t have much to back that up.  What was the outcome/impact of their involvement???

I believe strongly that it is incumbent on us (volunteer program administrators and non-profit leadership) to give credit where credit is due.  Volunteers do make a difference for our organizations, so let’s figure out how to measure that difference. And as the awareness of volunteers as a critical resource to the nonprofit sector increasingly takes center stage, it is imperative for organizations to be able to capture and describe just how much volunteers contribute to the achievement of mission and goals.

So that brings us back to the question: “how do you measure impact?”  For an answer to this question (I’m not about to cover the “how to” here), check out:

Melissa Eystad’s Measuring the Difference: A Guide to Outcome Evaluation for Volunteer Program Managers (1997) It’s available for free at: http://www.energizeinc.com/download/Measuring_the_Difference2003.pdf

In addition, consider attending the Advanced Volunteer Management training on April 26th

What’s It Worth?:  Measuring the Impact of Your Volunteer Program

April 26^th, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Tuition: $50

“Volunteers are our most valuable asset.”  But how are we conveying to the community, funders and our executive leadership what our volunteers really worth?  In a recent bench mark study of volunteer management capacity in King County, United Way of King County’s Volunteer Center asked organizations to identify how they measure impact.  Many measured impact by counting the number of volunteers and hours contributed.  But what does this really tell us about impact of our volunteers on our programs?  Can we justify the investment of time and resources required to engage volunteers effectively?  In this workshop we will explore the value volunteers bring to nonprofit organizations and strategies to effectively measure the real worth and impact of volunteers in our organizations.

To view information about the trainings and to register, follow this link:

www.uwkc.org/nonprofit/training/calendar.asp

Hope to see you there!