09. Helping Nonprofit Employees See the Value of Volunteers

Do your coworkers understand and celebrate the value of volunteers within your organization? If the recurring questions we receive here at VolunteerPro are any indication, the answer may be “not yet.” We often see comments in the Volunteer Insiders (our free Facebook group) and in our VolunteerPro Premium Membership community that are tinged with a little bit of frustration.  Leaders of volunteers want to know how they can bring their co-workers along, the ones who don't understand the value of volunteers, treat them as second-tier help, or are downright resistant to having them in their departments. Lack of support and buy-in from paid staff is actually one of the top five challenges cited by leaders of volunteers each year in our Volunteer Management Progress Report. It is a pervasive concern for many, and it’s not something we can wave a magic wand at and solve overnight.  The good news: changing the viewpoint of your coworkers and executive leadership to help them see the value of volunteers definitely won’t happen overnight, but it CAN happen with intentional relationship building and influence.  In this episode, Tobi shares five steps for building that relational influence so that, as a leader of volunteers, you can effectively advocate for your team, collaborate to place volunteer talent within your organization, and get the respect and support your volunteers deserve.   Full show notes: 009 - Helping Nonprofit Employees See the Value of VolunteersThanks for listening to this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast. If you enjoyed it, please be sure to subscribe, rate, and review so we can reach more people like you who want to improve the impact of their good cause.  For more tips and notes from the show, check us out at TobiJohnson.com. For any comments or questions, email us at [email protected].