”My Improvement Plan”
Created by a federal agency (the Corporation for National and Community Service) for its community volunteer service grantees, this online tool is useful for any community volunteer program. It is a no cost, self-paced guide to strengthening local volunteer program operations.
Users create an account so that the work completed can be saved and they can return to the place they left off at a later time. Each topic begins with a self-assessment and the results lead to an immediate study and resource guide tailored only to the areas needing improvement. Users then read and explore the resources at their own pace. After applying the information to their situation, they can re-take the assessment and determine what areas need additional work.
Program operation modules include: Volunteer Management; Staffing and Development; Board and Advisory Leadership; Community Collaboration; Financial Management; Marketing and Communications; Service Learning; and more.
To learn how to improve your program operation, click here.
LE@D: Lifelong Learning at Desktop
The University of North Texas has many Lifelong Education @ Desktop tutorials available. Course fees are about $20 each.
Are You REALLY Ready for Volunteers? by Kathleen McCleskey
This 2.5 hour course will assist you in understanding the importance of having a nonprofit that is READY to engage volunteers. For a full description and registration information, click here.
Risk Management
The Washington DC-based Nonprofit Risk Management Center has five, free online risk management assessment tools. To check out the full set of tools, click here.
To work through the Volunteer Risk Managment Tool only, click here.
Volunteer Management Certificate (Washington State Univ.)
Non-profit organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on volunteers to help achieve the mission of their organizations, and the need for well-trained managers of volunteers continues to escalate.
The Volunteer Management Certificate Program (VMCP) is a four-course online training program. There are two certificates that can be earned through the online program.
“Basic Training” for managers of volunteers consists of one course in each of these areas: Recruiting, Training, Supervision, Evaluation and recognition. To learn more, click here.
“The Advanced Volunteer Management Certificate Program” includes four online courses in Organizing and Managing Episodic Volunteers, Risk Management, Outcome-based Volunteer Programs, Volunteers as Middle Managers. To learn more, click here.
This is an online, distance education program from Washington State University. Tuition for each course in 2006 = $195.
Special Topics
Emergency Response and Recovery.
Volunteer programs that join forces with emergency management personal during times of local crises need to understand and have basic training about how emergencies are handled. The Emergency Management Institute at FEMA has a series of online courses that can prepare organizational leadership to talk with and support emergency management personnel.
To learn more, click here to visit the FEMA Independent Study website.
