Guest Author Liz Adamshick, Volunteer Resources Manager, American Red Cross
Volunteer retention begins the minute a prospect calls your office. Having a solid application process in place, one that tracks a prospect's movement from initial inquiry through to placement, is an essential retention tool for volunteer administrators to utilize.
At the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus, our Volunteer Resources (VR) department is responsible for coordinating the volunteer staffing needs for the chapter, and has developed a 7-step application process that ensures applicants do not fall through the cracks. Our chapter's structure consists of 3 direct service departments (which house most of the volunteer opportunities we offer), and 6 support departments, of which VR is one.
Our volunteer application process is supported by a Microsoft Access database, from which we can pull data to reflect how many people have received information about our volunteer opportunities, as well as how many applicants have competed training and are now placed as active volunteers with our organization. Here's the 7-step process and how it works:
Inquiry
An individual contacts our chapter to learn more about volunteer opportunities. S/he can call, complete a preliminary form and submit it on-line, or walk in. In the course of a live conversation with this individual, we ask these questions:
"What prompted you to contact the American Red Cross?" In a "Source" field in the database, I can select from a drop-down menu of possible recruitment sources, such as "community presentation", "volunteer staff referral", or "web site", to name a few. This helps us track how people are coming to us, what visibility our organization has in the community, and which recruitment efforts are most successful in leading people to us.
"What is your availability?" Before we can discuss a particular volunteer opportunity or position, it is important to find out when the inquirer intends to make herself available to volunteer, i.e., days, evenings, weekends, flexible, etc. Once we know this, it is easier to direct her to volunteer positions that will, at a minimum, match her schedule.
"What is your particular area of interest?" Now we can begin working with the inquirer to find out the type of volunteer work that most interests her (front line, support, special projects/events, etc.), and put together the appropriate packet of information to send.
Before we close this conversation, we schedule the inquirer for an interview and give instructions about how to complete the materials included in the application packet. The application packet includes an application, a volunteer opportunities brochure with job-specific inserts, and 2 reference forms-one personal and one professional. Applicants are directed to secure their own references and bring all the completed paperwork with them to the interview. (Average time spent on the phone per inquiry is about 12 minutes; average time between inquiry and interview date is about 7 - 10 days). Throughout this conversation, we are capturing all contact and other relevant information in the database, including date of inquiry, type of info sent, and date of interview.
Interview
Because prospective volunteers' schedules vary, we are quite willing to schedule interviews outside our regular business hours. We are also willing to meet applicants away from the office (at libraries, coffee shops, and the like) if this is more convenient.
In the interview itself, we ask a standard set of 6 - 7 questions, and then ask an additional 2 -3 questions that focus more on the applicant's area of interest. We review our interview form regularly to make sure that the questions we ask are providing relevant information for proper referral to our various direct service departments.
Orientation
Using either a hard copy or CD ROM version of our volunteer handbook, we review with applicants our policies and procedures during the interview, as well as the overall mission and vision of the organization. We direct them to our local and national public web pages for additional information about organizational structure. The hard copy or CR ROM handbook is theirs to keep (the latter version offers links to our web sites, and is formatted to be revised with minimal expense to the chapter).
Referral
Once we receive all the necessary paperwork we need in the Volunteer Resources department, we then send a referral to the appropriate paid staff contact in the direct service department that houses the applicant's position of interest. The referral form gives the applicant's name, phone #, e-mail address, area of interest, and a brief summary of his/her skills (based on responses to interview questions).
The paid staff person receiving this referral is responsible for contacting the applicant within 5 business days, to answer additional questions she may have and schedule her for training.
Through the referral form, the paid staff contact can communicate with VR the status of an applicant. For example, if an applicant attends a couple of training sessions and decides that her initial interest in a position has changed, the paid staff contact notes that on the form and directs VR to follow-up with the applicant to re-direct her interest. Or, if paid staff is unsuccessful in contacting an applicant, (i.e., leaves messages and receives no response from the applicant), this is indicated on the referral form and returned to VR for follow-up. This is the step that minimizes, if not eliminates, the possibility of applicants falling through the cracks. VR regularly checks on the status of referrals, contacting departments every other week or as needed.
If all goes well (and it usually does!), the applicant completes all training necessary to become active, and signs up for her first assignment. This first day of work becomes her "start date", and the paid staff contact confirms placement via the referral form, sending it back to VR.
New volunteer entered into chapter's main volunteer database
In an effort to keep this database clean, an applicant is not entered and assigned a job title until placement is confirmed. From this database, VR runs labels for mailings to the entire active volunteer workforce, prints copies of volunteer service records, and tracks training and other relevant information.
ID badge printed and Welcome Packet sent
For security reasons, new volunteers are issued a temporary ID badge that expires 3 months from the date of issue. One week prior to this expiration date, VR conducts its 3 month check-in call, to find out from the volunteer what her experience has been like thus far, and to confirm her desire to continue as a volunteer. Upon confirmation, a new permanent badge is issued.
The Welcome Packet we send to new volunteers contains a handwritten note, a coupon for a free dinner at a local restaurant, and other Red Cross logo'd items (magnets, lapel pins, static cling window decals, etc.). We've been fortunate to receive thank you notes from new volunteers who receive these packets! That says a lot.
While this 7-step process might not work for every organization, it does, in my estimation, include essential elements of properly administering the volunteer application process through to placement. We screen effectively and appropriately, establish relationships with volunteers from the point of inquiry, where retention begins, and are able to provide excellent customer service as each applicant has a point of contact in VR who provides follow-up calls for the first 6 months of volunteer service. We are also able to track volunteer involvement and ongoing satisfaction, providing a context for feedback, recognition, and volunteer input.
And finally, this process helps VR maintain effective and timely communication with the various departments that receive referrals, allowing us all to be on the same page regarding changes in volunteers' involvement, satisfaction, and job performance.
The success of this system for our Red Cross chapter has been based on this internal collaboration. When other paid staff are involved in the application and placement process, they understand more fully the importance of their role as supervisors, and can extend genuine recognition and appreciation to our volunteers. Retention then becomes everyone's responsibility, with track-able, tangible results.
If you need additional information about this process and its components (including details about the Access database that supports it), I'd be happy to share with you what works for us. Please contact me via e-mail, adamshickl@usa.redcross.org.