Discussion
NPOs/NGOs depend on volunteers to fulfill their mission and vision. Fortunately, more people are feeling a call to engage in volunteer work for their communities and the causes they support. Christopher Gearon (2010), writer for U.S. News & World Report, observed, "Though the economy is hurting, volunteering in the United States jumped last year at the fastest rate in six years. At least 63 million gave of their time and energy...." Organizations should have the opportunity to take advantage of this trend to build a volunteer workforce. If the volunteers are available, what can leaders do to attract and retain them?
New professionals in the nonprofit sector might view the task of managing a reliable volunteer workforce as a daunting one. Organized effort makes the task less daunting. By observing best practices of successful organizational leaders who recruit and manage the best possible volunteer workforce, you can build your volunteer management skills.
For this Discussion, review your Learning Resources. Select an area of volunteer management from the following: recruiting, supporting, motivating, managing, and evaluating. Find scholarly resources published in the past 7 years that document what leaders in NPOs/NGOs do to successfully manage volunteers. Consider a best practice that you feel should be shared to improve the volunteer management in NPOs/NGOs.
Post a best practice to manage volunteers in which you do the following:
• Identify your selected volunteer management area.
• Provide an explanation of the best practice for your selected volunteer management area.
• Provide an explanation of why your best practice is effective for the selected area of volunteer management.
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.