Educational requirements for the volunteer manager jobs are also anchored on the organization’s type of volunteer work. Some organizations may prefer to hire volunteer managers that have an undergraduate or graduate degree in non-profit management or someone with extensive experience in marketing or maybe someone who has exceptional communication and people skills. Volunteer managers usually are highly organized people because they are the ones keeping things in order in the organization and are patient. Working hours and environment of a volunteer manager also depends on the organization’s programs and respective responsibilities of the volunteers. The volunteer manager jobs may include a need to travel in order to train and observe volunteers on-site or do some recruitment for new volunteers in the community. Their schedules can be hectic as they are the ones working on the sustainment, recognition, and expansion on the work of seasoned volunteers and at the same time leading new volunteers.
Some of the probable employers for volunteer managers are libraries, parks, and places of worship. The volunteer managers who recruit people to work on any of these sites use different criteria and qualifications depending on the employers or organization’s goals and objectives. Volunteer managers need to understand fully the organization’s goal and the role volunteers play. The average salary of volunteer managers as of June 2010 based on a job site was at $55,000. Some volunteer managers work part time and were earning between $20,000 and $40,000 per year but these averages mentioned vary greatly on the organization, applicant’s experience, and location of the job. Since volunteer manager employment is mainly dealing with volunteers, special considerations should be made in order to continue having volunteers in the organization. Knowing the potential risks volunteers may pose to the organization must be considered. Volunteer managers must be energetic, dedicated, and considerate and a good judge of character to achieve a well-run volunteer program.
Qualifications needed for volunteer manager jobs include experience volunteering, managing a volunteer database, team leading personality, and knows how to choose volunteers. Being involved in the program will result to volunteers respecting your volunteer work and urge them to work harder. Some of the reliable software applications for managing volunteers are CiviCore Volunteer Management software and Cervis Tech. This software enables volunteer managers to find and track a volunteer’s hours worked, contact details, knowledge, interest, skills, and performance. Investing on volunteer database software will make organizing of large group of volunteers easy and efficient. Volunteer managers must also possess a team leading personality to keep the organization going. Volunteer managers must be able to motivate volunteers, keep them on track, and effectively communicate needs and wants of the organization.
A creative thinking while leading a team of volunteers can result to good problem-solving skills which are essential in successfully leading volunteers. Knowing how to choose volunteers to work on the organization’s program is vital. Volunteer manager jobs should look into a volunteer’s specific skills and attributes as well as physical limitations, age, financial obligations, transportation, motivation, and desire to learn prior to choosing. Since volunteers will be doing pro bono work, choosing volunteers who understand the works of a volunteer rely solely on the volunteer manager. In lieu of monetary gain, volunteer managers must think of alternative incentives to keep volunteers working such as regular thank you and recognition of hard work to let them know that their works are not left unnoticed. Respect for people, determination, and patience are just few of the personal traits that are needed by volunteer managers when managing groups of people especially those who work pro bono.
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