Resources for Volunteer Managers

This area provides information on all aspects of volunteer management, including getting your organization ready to involve volunteers, volunteer screening, matching, record-keeping and evaluation, legal issues/risk management, volunteer/staff relations, online activism by volunteers, and volunteer management software.

If your organization involves online volunteers, or would like to, more helpful information may be found in the virtual volunteering section of ServiceLeader.org.

Best Practices
  • A Few Pointers On the Unpleasant Topic of Firing Volunteers
  • Volunteer Lobbyists: Utilizing Nonprofits’ Advocacy Assets
  • How Can We Help? Nonprofit Boards and the Volunteer Program
  • Best Practices in Employee Volunteerism: Corporate Volunteer Councils, Volunteer Centers, and Nonprofit Organizations Partner to Strengthen Communities and Improve Performance
  • Encouraging and Delegating Tasks and Responsibilities
  • Human Resource Management Materials
  • Intergenerational Programs
  • Legal, Accountability, Risk Management, and Legislative Issues
  • Managing Volunteers: Supervision and Progress Reports
  • Online Service Learning Resources
  • Program Evaluation
  • Recognizing Volunteers
  • Record Keeping for Volunteer Programs
  • Retaining Volunteers and Keeping them Motivated
  • Volunteer Handbooks and Policies


    • Implementing a Volunteer Program
  • Volunteer Recruitment: Tips from the Field
  • Corporate Volunteerism Resources
  • Getting Your Organization Ready to Involve Volunteers and the Community
  • Marketing Volunteer Opportunities Online
  • Recruiting Volunteers
  • Staff and Volunteer Relations
  • Volunteer Task Descriptions
  • Why Involve Volunteers?


    • Miscellaneous Information for Volunteer Managers
  • Fundraising: Special Events
  • International schools offering volunteer management courses
  • Idealist.org's Top Ten Websites Every Nonprofit Should Know
  • Anti-Volunteerism
  • Forms
  • Legal, Accountability, Risk Management, and Legislative Issues


    • Professional Development
  • Online Discussion Groups and E-Mail Lists for Volunteer Managers
  • Online Volunteer Management Resources
  • Studies on Volunteers and Volunteerism


    • Working with New Volunteers
  • Interviewing and Screening New Volunteers


    • Working with Specific Volunteer Populations
  • Corporate Volunteers in Arts Organizations: Giving Beyond Money; Volunteering Beyond Ushering
  • The Future of Volunteering: Children under the age of 14 as Volunteers
  • Engaging Disengaged Youth in the 21st Century: A Guide for Understanding the Trends & Meeting the Challenges
  • Family Volunteering and Youth Engagement in the Non-Profit Sector: An Analysis of Benefits
  • Why Nurses? Nurses and Volunteering: A Perfect Match
  • Formal Volunteering by the Elderly: Trends, Benefits, and Implications for Managers
  • Including the Developmentally Disabled in Traditional Volunteer Programs: Why Organizations Should Do It, and How to Get There