Orienting and Evaluating Volunteers for Virtual Assignments

Once your organization is ready for virtual volunteering and you've set the internal groundwork for staff buy-in and internal controls, you are ready to look into implementation of a virtual volunteering program.

As part of your efforts to set up and manage a virtual volunteering program, you need to develop a system of orienting and evaluating volunteers to work offsite via home or work computers.

Your orientation and evaluation of onsite volunteers who work only with staff is probably very different from your orientation and evaluation of volunteers who interact directly with your clients and the public. The same is true for volunteers working virtually -- you will probably have different systems for online volunteers who work just with staff, as opposed to those who interact with clients, the public, and each other.

Online volunteering assignments vary widely: volunteers can simply surf the Internet and gather information for your agency, or they can actively participate in and supervise a chat room for your clients. These assignments require a varying degree of orienting and evaluating of the volunteer, as well as screening. Therefore, not all of the following tips are applicable to every online assignment.

Many volunteers who contribute virtually to your organization will work only on a short-term basis, because of personal preference; they may complete one project in two weeks and then withdraw from your program, content with this one time virtual experience with you. This is not uncommon. So you may not need to follow all of these orientation suggestions initially with volunteers who want to work virtually; it depends on the nature of the work they want to do and the amount of time they want to contribute to your organization, as well as your own level of comfort.

Some agencies working with online volunteers require such volunteers to make one onsite visit to the organization for the volunteer orientation, evaluating and screening process. While this practice excludes people outside of the nearby geographic area from volunteering with your organization, it may be necessary to implement this requirement, depending on the nature of the work the volunteer is going to do as well as the culture of your agency.

However, a word of caution -- meeting and orienting online volunteers only face-to-face or on the phone means that you have no way of knowing how they work and interact online. Many potential volunteers will be enthusiastic and seem perfect on the phone or in your onsite orientation, but then not do well at all via e-mail. Therefore, it's imperative that at least a portion of your screening and orienting of online volunteers be done online.

You can also screen and orient some volunteers to support your organization without requiring any face-to-face or phone meetings.

 
Tips for Orienting and Screening Volunteers Online

  • Your online screening process should be similar to the one you use for on-site volunteers. Ask the same questions of the volunteer via e-mail or a form on your Web site as you do on your printed volunteer application and in your face-to-face meetings with onsite volunteers. In addition to providing the volunteer's postal mailing address, daytime phone number, etc., the volunteer's completion of this form should provide you with the person's motivation for and interest in volunteering in general as well as in volunteering for your organization, how the person heard about the agency, the person's availability, the person's strengths, desires, and apprehensions regarding volunteering, etc.

    You may require them to provide you with professional references as well. Some organizations, such as CyberAngels (see below), require potential volunteers to submit, via postal mail, a letter of "Good Conduct" or /and "Character Reference" from their local police department or law enforcement unit. Again, the level of orientation and screening depends on the nature of the volunteer assignment(s) and the culture of your organization. Look to your offline practices for orienting and screening volunteers to guide you in developing online practices.

    For more detailed information about screening volunteers working directly with clients, the public or each other, and for guidelines and practices for ensuring the safety of all participants in such program, please see the VV Project's safety guidelines.

    Examples of online orientations, volunteer applications and other volunteer forms:

     
    Track responses sent to you via online forms! This feedback will help you understand how your agency is perceived and how well your organization's volunteer opportunities are communicated. It will help you see what volunteers' expectations are for their service, and how each person represents him or herself online -- something that's critical in deteriming if the person is appropriate for online assignments. And it will provide you with feedback you could use down the road in grant applications, program reports, brochures, etc.

     
    Make sure the volunteer understands your organization's mission, program focus, and value to the community, as well as how the work of volunteer benefits the organization's work. This can help put their volunteer contributions in context, and motivate them to complete the assignment. Also, online (and offline) volunteers can be wonderful ambassadors on behalf of your organization; helping them to understand the mission and focus of the organization will give them more to say when promoting your organization to family and friends.

    Information about your organization should be readily available via your organization's Web site; if the volunteer is preparing your agency's Web site, then make sure the person has all of public printed material about your organization and understand's your agency mission and program activities.

    Also make sure that the volunteer has your organization's postal address, daytime phone number, e-mail address and World Wide Web address.

     

  • Ask questions to get an overview of the resources available to them as part of a virtual assignment. Confirm that the volunteer has regular access to:
    • a computer (what kind?)
    • their own e-mail account
    • the Internet, both via e-mail and the Web

    It shouldn't matter what kind of computer the volunteer has -- a Macintosh user and an IBM/Clone user should have no problem transferring most files, if they are saved correctly -- but if the volunteer can't answer this very basic question, he or she may not be appropriate for your program.

    You may or may not need to also know the following, depending on the nature of the assignments in which they are interested:

    • do you know how to use Web search engines? which ones do you use regularly?
    • do you know how to zip/unzip or stuff/unstuff a file?
    • do you know how to e-mail a document as an attachment?
    • what word processing software do you have? spreadsheet software? database software? artwork software? how experienced are you with each of these software packages?
    • do you know how to convert documents to other formats:
      • one kind of word processing document to another, such as Microsoft Word to Word Perfect?
      • a word processing document to a spread sheet?
      • one kind of database to another?

    • do you know how to import data into a database from another data file?
    • do you know how to export data from a database?
    • have you ever participated in an online chat, and/or been a regular participant of an online discussion group via e-mail or USENET newsgroup? were you a participant or a moderator?

     
  • Even though the volunteer will be working via e-mail (and, perhaps, fax), you may want to talk to a potential volunteer over the phone before giving that person an assignment, to become further acquainted with them and what they want to do at your organization. It can be hard to get to know someone via e-mail, so if the volunteer's personal style is important for you to understand, talking live on the phone at least once is a good idea. Again, however, we strongly suggest that you do a significant portion of your orientation and screening ONLINE, so you know how well this person works via e-mail, the Web and written communciations in general.

     

  • Make sure the volunteer understands:

    • that the volunteer is responsible for all equipment purchases and maintenance, and that little or no support is provided by the company regarding equipment and, perhaps, even software use.

    • that the equipment to be used by the volunteer is fully operational at the time volunteer services are offered.

    • your policy regarding volunteer expenses. For instance, your policy may be that all expenses must be approved by the volunteer's staff contact before they are actually incurred if the volunteer wants to be reimbursed.

    • your other policies relating to volunteers, such as grounds for dismissal, chain of approval, confidentiality information, etc.

     
  • Go over in detail how assignments will be made and how volunteers will be managed virtually (setting objectives, reporting requirements on the part of the volunteer, what staff support the volunteer can expect, etc.). Volunteers need to understand exactly what will be expected of them as part of this assignment, and that there are real objectives and deadlines associated with the job.

    The Virtual Volunteer Project suggests new online volunteers start off with a simple assignment that can be completed in 5 hours or less, with a deadline of two weeks after the assignment is made. This gives the volunteer a sense of what volunteering with your organization is like, as well as what it's like to volunteer virtually. This gives you the sense of how well this volunteer works virtually.

     

  • Tell the volunteer exactly what forms of communication are needed for this assignment: e-mail, ofcourse. But do you also need someone with a fax machine? voice mail?

     

  • Review with the volunteer our tip sheets for volunteers who are going to work virtually:  
    Ask the person if she or he has any questions about these suggestions. This is a good way to make sure the volunteer understands the realities of virtual volunteering, as well as the unique climate of nonprofit and public sector organizations that involve volunteers.

     

  • Convey your organizational culture and policies. In addition to knowing your mission, volunteers also need to know about your agency's concept of corporate culture, morals, and ethics; this understanding can be as important to the management of a project as its strategy and structure.

    If the volunteer is going to be working with your organization for more than just a few weeks on a virtual volunteering assignment, you need to communicate your agency's policies for volunteers IN WRITING. It's a good idea to have volunteers sign an acknowledgement of receipt that says that they have reviewed certain information; in this acknowledgement, some agency's note that, by signing, the recipient agrees that they understand the agency's sexual harassment policy.

    Two examples of policies for online volunteers:

     
  • Stress to the volunteer that there is nothing virtual about the deadlines of assignments or the organization's need for those assignments to be completed. Let the volunteer know how important this assignment is to the organization.

    Explain to the volunteer how his or her work is going to be used, or where the volunteer fits in the overall project. Giving volunteers the "big picture," and showing how their contributions are going to impact the organization, are excellent motivation tools. This in turn can help prevent virtual no-shows on assignments.

     

  • Tell the volunteer when the natural stopping points are in assignments, when you both can look at what the volunteer has completed, re-evaluate the volunteer's expectations and availability (these things DO change), and decide how best to proceed. Don't automatically assume that volunteers are going to be around for several months, particularly if you have never worked with them before.

     

  • Require participation in surveys and evaluation as part of the volunteer assignment, and communicate this requirement at the time of the orientation. The success of a volunteer program cannot be determined without feedback from participants. Let the volunteers know that they will be surveyed at least once to get their feedback about their experience with your organization. Stress to them the importance of responding to this survey. Let the volunteer know if this information will remain confidential, and exactly who will have access to the information. Our Web site has a volunteer survey sample to help you.

     

  • You may also want to direct the volunteer to Advice for volunteers by volunteerism expert Susan Ellis, here on our Web site.

 
There are four sample online orientations by four different organizations here on our Web site. These orientations incorporate the aforementioned suggestions, to give you an idea of how to create an online orientation for your own agency.

In addition, you can read a first hand account of how the Virtual Volunteering Project Manager screens and evaluates online volunteers here on our Web site.

For more detailed information about screening volunteers working directly with clients, the public or each other, and for guidelines and practices for ensuring the safety of all participants in such program, please see the VV Project's suggestions for direct contact online volunteering.

 

If you use this material to help your organization, please e-mail us and let us know!

Some information on this page is based on:

    Robert Moskowitz's "Are You Ready To Telecommute? An Objective Checklist To Determine If Your Company And/Or You Are Ready For Telecommuting", published in MicroTimes magazine.

    Successful Management in the Virtual Office, by Bernie Kelly and Bruce McGraw (no longer available via the Web).

    Pacific Bell Network Telecommuting Guide. Pacific Bell's telecommuting program was one of the first in the nation.

Links to other telecommuting resources can help you learn more about managing and working virtually.

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