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Volunteer coordinators play a crucial role in maintaining the morale and productivity of their teams. However, volunteer burnout is an ever-present challenge that can undermine even the most well-intentioned efforts. In a recent Civic Champs webinar hosted by CEO and Co-founder of Civic Champs Geng Wang, Patty Gentry, a seasoned nonprofit professional, shared actionable insights on how organizations can address this issue head-on. Below are the key takeaways from the webinar discussed by Patty on identifying burnout, taking action to mitigate burnout, and preventative strategies to prevent volunteer burnout.
Key Insights:
Signs of Volunteer Burnout
Patty defined burnout as the emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. In the nonprofit sector, where volunteers often juggle their personal lives alongside their commitments, the risk is especially high. Recognizing the early signs is the first step to prevention. These signs include emotional exhaustion, where volunteers may appear detached or unenthusiastic about their roles; a decline in performance, with tasks once done with excellence now completed with minimal effort; and withdrawal, such as a once-active volunteer skipping meetings or events.
Strategies for Prevention
Preventing burnout requires intentional strategies that support volunteers both practically and emotionally. Patty emphasized the importance of setting clear expectations and providing comprehensive training to help volunteers feel prepared and confident in their roles. Regular check-ins create opportunities for honest communication and foster a sense of belonging. Flexibility in scheduling acknowledges that volunteers often juggle multiple commitments, reducing stress and enhancing their overall experience. Additionally, cultivating a positive work environment through acts of gratitude, like thank-you notes or public recognition, can significantly boost morale. Encouraging peer support and creating mentorship programs further build a community spirit, reducing feelings of isolation and strengthening team cohesion.
Addressing Burnout When It Occurs
Despite the best preventive measures, burnout can still happen. Patty advised that acknowledging the issue is the first step; opening a dialogue with the affected volunteer helps in understanding their challenges. Offering a break and encouraging them to take time off to recharge without guilt or pressure can be incredibly restorative. Reassessing responsibilities and adjusting roles to better align with the volunteer’s current capacity and interests ensures they feel supported while staying engaged in meaningful ways.
- Acknowledge the Issue: Open a dialogue with the affected volunteer to understand their challenges.
- Offer a Break: Encourage them to take time off to recharge without guilt or pressure.
- Reassess Responsibilities: Adjust their role to better align with their current capacity and interests.
Conclusion
Patty underscored the importance of proactive strategies to prevent burnout and the value of empathy in volunteer management. By prioritizing the well-being of volunteers, organizations not only retain their team but also strengthen their overall mission.
As Patty aptly stated, “Volunteers are the heart of our work. Taking care of them ensures they can continue to make an impact in the communities we serve.”
Transcript
Disclaimer:
This transcript was generated using an automated transcription service and has not been edited for accuracy. As a result, it may contain errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. Please refer to the audio/video recording for the most accurate representation of the content.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Hi! Everyone.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Thanks for joining today.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Um as you're getting in. I'm gonna share my screen here shortly.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Um. But yeah, please put your name and organization in chat. Um, we'd love to always get to know who's who's here today. Um, and then we always have a fun question. And so for today well.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): But yeah, it's relatively fine. How do you, de-stress? After a long work week? So.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Curious to hear how people.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): De-stress. Personally, since our topic is around um.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Stress today and how to curb volunteer burnout. So.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): But yeah, uh, let's see, yeah, if you guys take a moment to put that in chat, that'd be awesome.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Um.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): For? Yeah. Actually, Patty, if I I'd be curious, Sam, I don't know. Do you have any.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): De-stress techniques, or things that, or rituals that you you do.
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Patty Gentry: Okay.
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Patty Gentry: Yeah, I, actually, um.
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Patty Gentry: I have. I could go to toolbox.
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Patty Gentry: Um depending on how I feel. I need to de-stress. And so I love the word that you just said like nurturing. I think about that a lot. But I have, you know, like my go-tos are, I love movement. I love being outside.
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Patty Gentry: Um. I love reading, and so sometimes I'll go to different things, depending on if I just need like time away from.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Hmm.
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Patty Gentry: The world, and that's reading for me, or I just need to get the energy out of my body. Um, sometimes movement really helps with that.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Right. Yeah, no, I I agree for me. I don't do it as much. But um! My my wife is good at uh encouraging me slash, forcing me to join her in some yoga. Once in a while I.
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Patty Gentry: Yeah.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): I always enjoy it after, you know, after the fact, I'm like, Oh, that feels so good, you know, and I I feel so much better um, but like.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Sometimes, you know, getting getting over it as opposed to like you know what? Maybe I'll just. You know, I saw Margaritas uh Carol mentioned, you know, whip up a drink and and and relax with the TV.
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Patty Gentry: Yeah.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): But um.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): I love this. Um, wes, said De-stress, with video games, Yup, and spending time with my cat.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Austin, I like to take walks and read, yeah.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Walking is awesome, too. I love that. And then Tanya said, from.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Uh, seniors, I own a senior services. I enjoy work, games and puzzles of many sorts.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah, I actually find um, I was surprised. I uh, I used to go to a Co work space and they would have um a puzzle laid out.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Uh, just like for the community. And there would just be people walking by like in between, you know, calls or whatever, and just like kind of, you know, work on the puzzle. And it I I didn't. It was. It was actually very, very nice and and sort of de-stressing so, and community building, too, right? Because it brings people together so.
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Patty Gentry: Mhm.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): I love that.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Um alright. Well, we'll start recording today if we haven't already.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): And get started. Here.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): And so today our topic is on spotting and curbing volunteer burnout.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): And we have an awesome, awesome guest the 1st time with us on a civic champs webinar. But we, you know, you might have seen Patty at other places as well, and so Patty Gentry is joining us today, and so real quickly. Before I introduce Patty, my name is Gung. I'm the co-founder and CEO here at civic Champs. Here's a little bit of background information on myself, but.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Uh, basically, you know, uh, I, I enjoyed technology and and building new things. So um, you know, this is my 3rd startup company uh, but have really enjoyed it even more. So being in the nonprofit space because you all uh make it really special. So uh, thank you guys for for being such such kind people in the space.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): But and then, um, Patty, right is our guest today. Um, she is the director of volunteer engagement. Um and um! You can see some of her experiences here on the page. But I'll actually turn it over to Patty if you wanna say Hi! And.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Give a little bit of a background on yourself.
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Patty Gentry: Yeah. Hi, everybody.
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Patty Gentry: Um, Patty gentry, and just really excited to be here with you all today I've worked in the nonprofit sector, for I think a little over 17 years now, and.
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Patty Gentry: Throughout that time I worked with all different size nonprofits from local nonprofits to national nonprofits. And now I'm in an enterprise organization that works with many regions across the country, working in blood cancer. And so.
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Patty Gentry: I've worked in so many different spaces, which I'm sure many of you have to. As I grew up in the nonprofit sector, I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do when I 1st started out, so I was.
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Patty Gentry: Working in events, planning, working with volunteers. I then shifted to a communications role, working with young people and um then have now sort of rounded out my time, where I sort of figured out I really loved working with volunteers. And now I work a lot with our board volunteers and higher level volunteers and really just helping them raise.
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Patty Gentry: Uh uh revenue and create an impact in the communities that they're in. I also, you can see here I also um.
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Patty Gentry: Volunteer myself. So I volunteer with the Pope, the Potomac Conservancy. Locally. Um, we do trash cleanups, and I mentor other volunteer leaders as well.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Hmm.
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Patty Gentry: And I am also a positive psychology practitioner. So I'm really excited about this topic because it's really at the intersection of the the work that I love with working with volunteers, and the sort of idea of really, how do you cultivate a positive work environment for the people that you work with so excited to be here excited for this conversation.
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Patty Gentry: I think.
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Patty Gentry: Think that was. Those were the main things I wanted to make sure to share.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah, no, we're.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Um, yeah, I think this is gonna be an awesome topic. Um, we um, and hopefully also applicable to you know, if you're learning about how to mitigate volunteer burnout um, it might be personally applicable to so excited for that.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Um and real quickly before we dive into the meat of the presentation. Um, a couple of logistical notes. Right? So people always ask. You know we will share out the slides and recording um afterwards. So uh, no need to take out, you know. Super copious notes.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Uh, and then the presentation. Usually it's about 30 to 40 min. Um, and then we're gonna have room for QA. So um, if you do have questions, put them in chat. Um, we'll try to, you know. Keep an eye out for them. Maybe we'll answer them in in um.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Uh right away, but if we don't, you know, we'll keep track of all those, and circle around uh to any questions towards the end as well, so make sure your questions are answered. So um! And finally, yes, stay till the end. We have some freebies um, and some prompts for you all uh here? Um towards the end. So with that, yeah, Patty, I'll sort of turn it over to you if you wanna.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Share your screen, and we'll dive in.
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Patty Gentry: Yeah.
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Patty Gentry: Um.
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Geng (pronounced Gung): I'll stop sharing my side here first.st
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Patty Gentry: Okay, can everybody, can you see that? Okay?
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Geng (pronounced Gung): Yep.
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Patty Gentry: Awesome. Okay? So I wanted to start with this because.
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Patty Gentry: Like um, Jen said, that this is really about you, too. And so I wanted you all to give yourself just a quick high 5, which, if you're sitting alone, is really just putting your hands together. But if you're with a friend.
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Patty Gentry: Um, give them a high 5 because you survived. Right? Scientists estimate that 99.9% of all of the species on the planet.
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Patty Gentry: Arcs team today, and the fact that you and your gene line have lived and survived. That means by nature. You're resilient.
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Patty Gentry: And as humans. I bring this up because our brains are hardwired for survival.
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Patty Gentry: And we're here because of it. But it can also cause us to suffer. And I want to explain this right. So the human brain is really hardwired to survive. Our defaults can show up as a negativity bias. It can show up as worry, fear of isolation.
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Patty Gentry: Right? Humans want connection. We want a sense of status. We want a sense of autonomy. We want for things to feel certain we want, for there to be a sense of fairness in the world.
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Patty Gentry: And our defaults aren't necessarily good or bad. They're just being. They're just a part of the overall human experience.
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Patty Gentry: And they're really there to keep us alive. But if we let them control our lives and these emotions.
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Patty Gentry: Or these states of extreme like burnout.
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Patty Gentry: That's where things can get to be a little bit more complicated.
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Patty Gentry: And largely, this is because we, our brains, are running new software on an old computer.
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Patty Gentry: And you know, I think you've probably heard this before where you know we're not really getting attacked by tigers this day and age, although some people are that still is a threat for them. But many of the threats that we experience in our lives are social threats.
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Patty Gentry: There!
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Patty Gentry: And they trigger really the same response in our brains. Our emotional brains trigger that flight, fight or freeze or fawn response.
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Patty Gentry: And as usual, it's just our usual stress response to things. And our body's job is to move us out of those situations.
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Patty Gentry: Through those situations are away from those stressors. And then our body really comes back down to equanimity.
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Patty Gentry: So you might be thinking, Why is this important for this conversation?
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Patty Gentry: Um and spotting and curbing volunteer burnout. Because our volunteers are humans.
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Patty Gentry: Right with brains and minds, too, that typically want to show up in their volunteer roles.
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Patty Gentry: And provide a positive contribution and make an impact with those that they interact with.
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Patty Gentry: And because stress can be subjective, what might be stressful to you might not be stressful to somebody else and vice versa. And so it's important to be able to identify what is stressing folks out because.
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Patty Gentry: Before they're on the path to Burnout.
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Patty Gentry: So that in the case of burnout those tigers still aren't chasing them right? It's our sort of our job to really help identify when things are on the path to burnout.
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Patty Gentry: Um. I also wanted just to say, you know, Burnout, in 2019 for the World Health Organization was actually officially classified as a medical diagnosis. I don't know if you all knew that.
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Patty Gentry: Probably shocks no one going through what we all went through during 2019 and 2020, if you can remember. And if you yourself are feeling a little bit burnout. You're not alone. We've had a lot of years of transitioning both in and out of the nonprofit sector. There's highs and lows in the work that we do in terms of the economic impact. We have sometimes overwhelming times in the workplace. We have stress in our own lives and our families, lives.
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Patty Gentry: Um, so you might have been there yourself, I know, for me personally, when I.
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Patty Gentry: When I start to get on the road of burnout I use the word. I'm tired to explain a lot of my experience like I'm just tired. I can't. I can't do more. Um! That's really the the limited language that I have to wrap.
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Patty Gentry: My head around the experience that I'm having, and so that for me is is an indicator that I need to prioritize my own self care and stress management.
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Patty Gentry: Um. So I wanted to bring this up, because this really was building off of the webinar that Sarah King did in terms of your own.
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Patty Gentry: Burnout um, and I want this might be familiar because I I wanted to do the same exercise.
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Patty Gentry: As it relates to us, and really just take out a piece of paper, or think about in your mind.
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Patty Gentry: What hats you all wear? Um! What are the different roles that you play in your own life? I'd love for you to pop it into the chat. Um, and just share one or 2 of those ways.
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Patty Gentry: That uh.
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Patty Gentry: Of the roles that you play in your own life.
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Patty Gentry: Waiting for some in the chat.
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Patty Gentry: Father, husband, coach, boss.
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Patty Gentry: Yeah, volunteer, partner, friend.
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Patty Gentry: Daughter supporting aging parents.
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Patty Gentry: Law, student.
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Patty Gentry: Volunteer daughter.
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Patty Gentry: Love all of these mom daughter Nana. Whatever comes along with that volunteer coordinator.
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Patty Gentry: Yeah, we all wear a lot of different hats. Right? So. And I want you to think like, with these hats, be similar to the hats our volunteers wear in their own lives.
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Patty Gentry: Probably.
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Patty Gentry: And many of you said it too. You're you're a volunteer. They're also volunteering. So if you consider your volunteers, volunteers can really experience burnout, and this might look like them, contributing less time. It might.
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Patty Gentry: Look like them, taking on less intense roles.
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Patty Gentry: And of course, there's lots of ways that burnout can really impact your all's organizations. And so it's really important to support volunteer wellness, really thinking about their holistic mind, body, and spiritual nature, when volunteerism at the end of the day should really be something that gives folks energy.
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Patty Gentry: But how we go about doing that. That's really what we're talking about today.
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Patty Gentry: Um. I wanted to really just go into identifying burnout.
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Patty Gentry: Delving into the signs of burnout as well as share actionable steps you can take. I'm going to share some preventive strategies, actually, quite a bit. So I don't need to get overwhelmed by that. You'll have them all that will hopefully just really inspire you to build in proactive program elements.
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Patty Gentry: To prevent burnout before it starts. So I'm hoping, just like we just did, that you all can share some of your own experiences throughout this conversation. Because I'm not the expert. Necessarily. You all are the experts at your organizations, and how you work with volunteers, and there's so much that we can learn from you all as well.
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Patty Gentry: Before I wanna dive into how I can really identify Burnout. I just.
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Patty Gentry: I want you to.
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Patty Gentry: To know that how important it is to build a strong staff and volunteer partnership. This was one of the things that showed up time and time again in conversations around. Well, how do you really start to identify how that volunteers are burnout like? What signs you see.
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Patty Gentry: Well, you have to invest time in really getting to know them, so that you can understand when something is unusual or something is a little bit off in how they normally operate as a volunteer. So I really want to encourage you all. I know you probably are already doing this, but.
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Patty Gentry: We can get busy and our days get away with us. But to really carve out that time to invest that time in your volunteers.
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Patty Gentry: And to create that positive experience from the start. From day one.
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Patty Gentry: Making sure that you're setting clear expectations for how you work with volunteers, what your volunteers can expect from you.
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Patty Gentry: Um, and and making sure that they understand that volunteering should really fill their cup, and not necessarily take from it.
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Patty Gentry: So I wanted to just talk a little bit about stress versus burnout. Obviously, stress is a very natural part of life. Burnout doesn't have to be. And so it's not just a matter of doing too much. We've all had moments in our life where we're we're busy, we're doing things. We're and we're jazzed by it. We're excited about it. We're skipping down the street, so excited to go to the next thing that we're a part of.
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Patty Gentry: Um. But when we feel the opposite of that, when things feel a little bit more chaotic, or things feel uncertain, or things are not necessarily in our control. That's where it can contribute to to burnout.
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Patty Gentry: And while there are, of course, a lot of different nuances to this.
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Patty Gentry: Um.
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Patty Gentry: Stress. Again, it's just that natural response to those extraordinary stressors and.
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Patty Gentry: Burnout is really about.
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Patty Gentry: This sense of lack. So stress involves too many pressures that demand too much of someone physically or mentally. Society have too much pressure with too few resources, whereas Burnout is this state of.
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Patty Gentry: Emotional, physical and mental exhaustion. It's at this extreme end of the stress continuum.
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Patty Gentry: And it really is about being in this prolonged state of stress.
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Patty Gentry: It's about too long in that stressful situation, and really not having enough resources when you're in that situation. And so.
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Patty Gentry: It's when you have those more intense, severe symptoms that can really impair your ability to function. So when you start to see some of that function impairment, it gets called burnout, and for volunteers. This is a very real experience. I wanted to include this from the Corporation for National Community service. When they did a survey they reported that 20% of volunteers discontinue their service within a year with burnout being a contributing factor.
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Patty Gentry: 20%.
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Patty Gentry: That is a high percentage of turnover that impacts our organizations. It impacts our ability to make an impact through our missions.
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Patty Gentry: And so what can that show up as.
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Patty Gentry: Or look like in our volunteers.
00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:01.000
Patty Gentry: This can look like fatigue.
00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:04.000
Patty Gentry: Overwhelming exhaustion.
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Patty Gentry: Um. It might look like cynicism or just attachment from the job job or task that we're asking our volunteers to do.
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Patty Gentry: Our volunteers might.
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Patty Gentry: Feel a sense of Hey, I'm not feeling productive or accomplished or effective in my role. Um might be managing some of their emotions a little bit more around that.
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Patty Gentry: Volunteers could be slower to get things done or start to make mistakes.
00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:36.000
Patty Gentry: They might uh get a little bit quiet. I know that's probably what I would do is just get a little bit quiet while I'm trying to figure out my life.
00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:45.000
Patty Gentry: Um, they might isolate themselves and overall. They might have a negative outlook on things, and so burnout as we get to that place.
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:51.000
Patty Gentry: We have just an overall harder time with it getting out of that pattern of negative self talk.
00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:55.000
Patty Gentry: And that is large part, because when we get into.
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.000
Patty Gentry: Areas of stress. We're hardwired for that negativity bias.
00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:04.000
Patty Gentry: So I wanted us to be really rooted in what burnout is, and some of those signs.
00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:08.000
Patty Gentry: I would love to have folks just come off of um.
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:10.000
Patty Gentry: Just to pop into the chat.
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:13.000
Patty Gentry: Some of those signs that you've noticed with your volunteers.
00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:29.000
Patty Gentry: This is where you find out if people are.
00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:30.000
Patty Gentry: Sleep it.
00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:34.000
Patty Gentry: Okay.
00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:35.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): We got.
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:38.000
Patty Gentry: Lack of communication. Yeah. Great. Carol.
00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:42.000
Patty Gentry: Um disengagement with emails. No responses, right? Maybe start ghosting.
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:49.000
Patty Gentry: Um leaving Oxford without telling us. Yeah, David, that's very specific. But um, I feel like there's a story there.
00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:50.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:57.000
Patty Gentry: Alexandra, a volunteer, a volunteer questioning what they're doing if they're actually having an impact. Yeah, you guys are seeing.
00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:03.000
Patty Gentry: All of those signs that talked about, not energetic complaining about other volunteers.
00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:04.000
Patty Gentry: Commenting on what it feels like.
00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:08.000
Patty Gentry: I'd never make a difference in the amount of work, grumpiness.
00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:15.000
Patty Gentry: Leslie said, volunteers that have been serving as mentors to new volunteers, stepping back in their roles and mentoring less.
00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:19.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah, lack of commitment quietness, canceling memberships.
00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:35.000
Patty Gentry: Not following through on tasks. Yeah, exactly. Those are all burnout is is such a multifaceted thing. And disengagement. That sort of initial disengagement might be an early indication of burnout, and just an opportunity to check on your volunteers.
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:46.000
Patty Gentry: See how they're doing and sort of deprioritize the work that they're doing through their volunteer role and really just connect with them and see what's going on in their life.
00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:51.000
Patty Gentry: So thank you all for for offering up some of those signs.
00:33:51.000 --> 00:34:04.000
Patty Gentry: I wanted to just talk quickly about some of the root causes and and what organizationally, that it's really just critical for us to do what we can to prevent Burnout as a part of our work with volunteers.
00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:14.000
Patty Gentry: Because once volunteers really start to make some of those mistakes, it can really create risks both for our staff, for other volunteers that our volunteers interact with.
00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:28.000
Patty Gentry: Um the people that your organization serves. And of course your organization's reputation is on the line. If if people aren't feeling supported as a volunteer that's gonna impact the other volunteers who really want to serve at your organization. And so.
00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:33.000
Patty Gentry: You know I wanted to explore some of these routes, but just know that.
00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:46.000
Patty Gentry: A volunteer's experience is unique. There are still some common factors that really can contribute to the development of burnout in the nonprofit, in the voluntary sector, overcommitment, unrealistic expectations.
00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:55.000
Patty Gentry: Are 2 of them right? I work within an organization. You all do, too, where volunteers are just driven by their passion or their connection to the cause.
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:57.000
Patty Gentry: And their desire to make a difference.
00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:01.000
Patty Gentry: Can really get them to a place where they take on.
00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:05.000
Patty Gentry: Take on more than what they can realistically handle.
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:16.000
Patty Gentry: And so they might also just set unrealistic expectations of themselves or the impact of their work leading them to disappointment. You all said it just like not feeling like they're making the impact that they want to make.
00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:25.000
Patty Gentry: Um. Lack of support or recognition is another one. We're gonna talk a little bit more about that. In a moment emotional strain or heavy emotional toll.
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:36.000
Patty Gentry: You know, if you have volunteers who are working with different populations or volunteers that are suffering or hearing stories of suffering, and your volunteers don't know how to process.
00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:37.000
Patty Gentry: That.
00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:40.000
Patty Gentry: That's going to contribute to to Burnout.
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:46.000
Patty Gentry: Having a poor work, life balance, or, as I like to say, sometimes a life work, balance.
00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:49.000
Patty Gentry: Um, where those boundaries really blur between.
00:35:49.000 --> 00:36:00.000
Patty Gentry: Their volunteer commitments, and, you know, not prioritizing self care, or having those boundaries in place to prioritize relationships and and just things that they need to do in their own lives.
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:09.000
Patty Gentry: Can lead to imbalance can lead to them, resenting the volunteer opportunity, or just have guilt associated with spending the time volunteering.
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.000
Patty Gentry: Of course, there's also just organizational factors at play. Um.
00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:19.000
Patty Gentry: High pressure environments can contribute to this. If we have unclear communication.
00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:26.000
Patty Gentry: Uh. Frequent changes in leadership or direction can create stressful environments for volunteers.
00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:36.000
Patty Gentry: And if you don't have the proper volunteer management practices in place that can really inadvertently create some of those conditions that lead to burnout.
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:48.000
Patty Gentry: So it's really our job as volunteer managers and and individuals who work with volunteers to talk about the ethics of overwork, and really to have an environment that doesn't contribute to.
00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:49.000
Patty Gentry: For now.
00:36:51.000 --> 00:37:03.000
Patty Gentry: So I wanted to spend just a little bit of time about how do you really create a supportive environment for volunteers? These are just some ideas. I'm sure you all have some ideas as well and hopefully you'll share those.
00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:04.000
Patty Gentry: With the group.
00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:14.000
Patty Gentry: I wanted to talk a little bit about, you know, training your volunteer leaders and your staff to look for the signs of burnout, talking about burnout, raising awareness about Burnout.
00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:15.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:17.000
Patty Gentry: Can really help.
00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:20.000
Patty Gentry: Start the conversation around.
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:21.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:30.000
Patty Gentry: Just how it relates to work. We want to make sure that this is an energy giving activity, and that you have the tools and resources.
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:38.000
Patty Gentry: To talk and understand with the volunteers that you work with. Right. What are those signs that they need to be looking out for as staff.
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:42.000
Patty Gentry: And then what are the next steps that they need to take when they start to see those signs.
00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:55.000
Patty Gentry: Creating a positive work environment. Um, where people have permission to be human and really offering a supportive and empathetic environment. This is looking at their workload, looking at the time pressures.
00:37:55.000 --> 00:38:10.000
Patty Gentry: Managing conflict proactively, which sometimes in our line of work, is probably the hardest thing for all of us to do. Our volunteers don't want to work in a place where they're navigating drama or chaos.
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:17.000
Patty Gentry: Right. So our role is to really help create that positive work environment by managing conflict proactively.
00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:20.000
Patty Gentry: Again ensuring a work, life, balance.
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:28.000
Patty Gentry: Um, we talked about that encouraging and fostering social support. This is team building, for example, networking activities.
00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:53.000
Patty Gentry: Help your volunteers have fun while they're volunteering through their role, help them make connections to other volunteers, make connections to other areas of your work that they might be interested in, and make sure that you see your volunteers. I know I personally have been in volunteer experiences where I go, and I volunteer, and nobody really says anything while I'm there, and I.
00:38:53.000 --> 00:39:04.000
Patty Gentry: I personally just see that as such a missed opportunity of just even having one person look you square in the eye and say, hey? I'm so glad you're here. Thank you so much for coming. We hope to see you again. Um!
00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:13.000
Patty Gentry: And it's it's always surprising to me when that happens and when that doesn't happen, just the impact that I feel when I um.
00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:14.000
Patty Gentry: And volunteering.
00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:38.000
Patty Gentry: Um setting clear expectations and healthy boundaries helps to create a supportive environment. Right? The clearer we can be, the kinder we are. And when we help our volunteers understand what our boundaries are, what what does it look like to be a professional volunteer at this organization? It just helps them have be able to um set and have healthy boundaries as well.
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:43.000
Patty Gentry: And then, of course, creating a culture of appreciation.
00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:45.000
Patty Gentry: And so.
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.000
Patty Gentry: Sharing some fun staff and trying to read those, too. Um!
00:39:49.000 --> 00:40:12.000
Patty Gentry: Obviously volunteerism should be a feel good experience. So if it feels like the rest of the world, which the rest of the world feels uncertain and chaotic, at least right now for me, then, people aren't going to want want to volunteer at your organization, and if we can really focus on the wellness of volunteers. We're going to have volunteers that really love what they're doing through their volunteer role.
00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:25.000
Patty Gentry: And that's going to be sustainable over time. And this is your organization will be a place that volunteers want to be at, but also that they're going to bring their friends, their family, and others to volunteer as well.
00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:39.000
Patty Gentry: And this is a place where, if we can really operate at this level, that's what volunteer appreciation is all about. And it's also about creating a culture of appreciation. So I just wanted to lean in here because.
00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:52.000
Patty Gentry: Um, you know gratitude, and how you cultivate a gratitude. Mindset is a very powerful human emotion, and it's something that I think is really tangible for folks, and it's something that you can practice.
00:40:52.000 --> 00:41:04.000
Patty Gentry: Um and integrate in a lot of different ways across your organization, and it has value beyond just one day or one month. I know we talk a lot about it in November, just because we're getting into the holidays.
00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:08.000
Patty Gentry: But research really shows that grateful people overall are less negative.
00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:17.000
Patty Gentry: They're less self preoccupied. They're more satisfied with their life. They have more pro-social behavior, which means hopefully that they're more active in the community.
00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:37.000
Patty Gentry: They're more other center. They sleep better, they have more vitality. Generally they have more optimism and overall gratitude really works because it increases positivity, and it just enhances people's experience. It allows them to really savor the moment. And it's it's sort of proven to decrease stress.
00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:46.000
Patty Gentry: So I wanted to um, just sort of an important caveat to that is to really know how volunteers want to be thanked.
00:41:46.000 --> 00:42:11.000
Patty Gentry: There's nothing, I think, more stressful than if your preferred way of receiving gratitude isn't an award on a stage or being the center of attention. And you're brought on stage sometimes that can create stressful environments for our volunteers. And so it's really important to really ask our volunteers, how do they prefer to receive recognition? Or how do they prefer to receive appreciation through their service?
00:42:11.000 --> 00:42:13.000
Patty Gentry: And and make sure to make note of that.
00:42:14.000 --> 00:42:26.000
Patty Gentry: And I'm curious on your all side. Um, I'd love to just hear how you integrate gratitude into your volunteer activities. What are some of those things that that you all build into the fabric of your organization.
00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:41.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Well, people are. Oh, there it is! We got our 1st one.
00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:44.000
Patty Gentry: Handwritten. Thank you. Cards. Go ahead.
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:52.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Now I was. Gonna say, this isn't necessarily for us just things that we've seen right? So handwritten. Thank you. Cards, the emails.
00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:55.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Obviously, I think, one of the.
00:42:55.000 --> 00:43:02.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Uh, really interesting ones is um a uh a nonprofit actually has their board call.
00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:03.000
Patty Gentry: Mhm.
00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:07.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Um like. They have a a list of 2 volunteers a week that you're supposed to call.
00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:14.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): And um, and they just they pass it around the 20 or so uh board members. And so they're, you know, they think.
00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:17.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): 40 or so, volunteers and and donors as well.
00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:22.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Um on those, so I thought that was kind of a great way to engage the board in a fun way.
00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:27.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah, I love that. And I'm sure the Board members themselves really love that interaction.
00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:27.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah.
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:30.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Right, because oftentimes, you know, you're.
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:28.000
Patty Gentry: 2.
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:38.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): You have a meeting once a month or every other month, and it's it can be a little dry. But this makes you feel more involved. So, but we have a ton coming through here. Yeah.
00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:37.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah.
00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:37.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah.
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:46.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah, I've seen um remembering birthdays. Thank you. Cards, newsletters, that remembering piece.
00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:56.000
Patty Gentry: I think it's really important, Carol. Thank you for saying that because oftentimes people tell us things that are happening in their lives, and it really can mean a lot when the next time you see them, you ask.
00:43:56.000 --> 00:44:01.000
Patty Gentry: Hey? How's so and so, or oh, it's your birthday today. Happy birthday!
00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:02.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:04.000
Patty Gentry: It helps them to feel, seen.
00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:08.000
Patty Gentry: David said tea and cakes, or go to the pub after action day.
00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:12.000
Patty Gentry: Madison shout outs particular volunteers for particular action. Weeks.
00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:15.000
Patty Gentry: Sarah's shout outs on social media.
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:18.000
Patty Gentry: Volunteer badges for different skill areas.
00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:19.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:22.000
Patty Gentry: For the number of hours. Volunteers. They get swag.
00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:26.000
Patty Gentry: Thank you. Cards, public recognition, creative services.
00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:30.000
Patty Gentry: Lots of social media spotlights. I'm loving all these ideas.
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:33.000
Patty Gentry: Birthday Cards Group Cards.
00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:39.000
Patty Gentry: Reflection time at the end of volunteering activities. I love that. Yeah. So getting them to reflect.
00:44:39.000 --> 00:44:41.000
Patty Gentry: In that moment. So they have.
00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:43.000
Patty Gentry: They're leaving with some positive thoughts.
00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:50.000
Patty Gentry: No matter what happened during their volunteer opportunity, they're really reflecting and and ending on a positive note.
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:52.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:54.000
Patty Gentry: Mixers, socials.
00:44:54.000 --> 00:45:00.000
Patty Gentry: Trisha said many things. We have pies, social coming up, social events. Thank you. Cards having said, Thank you. Volunteers.
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:03.000
Patty Gentry: Oh, I love that. Keep sharing your ideas. Um!
00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:05.000
Patty Gentry: Just so folks have.
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:07.000
Patty Gentry: Hopefully. It sparks some, some new and exciting things.
00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:10.000
Patty Gentry: I wanted to share a few of my own.
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.000
Patty Gentry: Um in terms of the gratitude practices. You know.
00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:36.000
Patty Gentry: Gratitude overall just really helps volunteers get to that bigger picture. Um, instead of just staying entangled into the smaller details of their lives. And and these are just some that you all have already shared, so I won't go over some of the ones that you've already shared, but wanted to share some new ones. Things like gratitude jars. This is great for groups or committees or volunteers that are sort of convening um over time.
00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:42.000
Patty Gentry: That they can really see and refer back to some of the things that they've written in the past.
00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:52.000
Patty Gentry: Um focusing on long term goals. If you have, you know, volunteers who are getting sort of into a narrow mindset, having them think about the longer term impact that they're gonna make.
00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:56.000
Patty Gentry: The why, the purpose of why they're there just helps them broaden their focus.
00:45:56.000 --> 00:46:04.000
Patty Gentry: Um gratitude, Pong. Something easy you can do if you have just 2 pong balls, pong balls, or grab a couple.
00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:21.000
Patty Gentry: Pair people off have them throw the pong ball back and forth and say something that they're grateful for. It's kind of hard to get started. But once they get started, they're really gonna notice those little things. And I've done this myself. And just you leave kind of smiling and laughing. And it's just a really fun activity.
00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:24.000
Patty Gentry: You can keep a gratitude. Journal. Um.
00:46:24.000 --> 00:46:28.000
Patty Gentry: You know, writing down 3 to 5 things, and there's a lot of research to back up.
00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:31.000
Patty Gentry: Um. Why, you know 3 to 5 things.
00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:40.000
Patty Gentry: Um. Gratitude splashes. A lot of you all talked about that doing group gratitudes. We're thinking a lot about that for some of our high level volunteers of how can we really do drops.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.000
Patty Gentry: Um, so that they feel really appreciated. And it's a little bit of a surprise.
00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:56.000
Patty Gentry: And then, of course, expressing gratitude in the moment when someone's been kind or influential, and just making sure that as we build that practice that can become a little bit more easy for us to flex.
00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:06.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah, Nancy, I love that meet and greet them daily. Affirm them what they do and how important they are. Yeah, that really goes a long, long way.
00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:09.000
Patty Gentry: Okay, so.
00:47:09.000 --> 00:47:12.000
Patty Gentry: How might we offer a different experience.
00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:23.000
Patty Gentry: One that really shows our appreciation by giving them the best experience that doesn't delete them. To begin with, that is in large part what some of these preventative strategies is all about, and so I have a few slides.
00:47:23.000 --> 00:47:42.000
Patty Gentry: Um. I wanted to share just a few different cycles and models and ideas, to really give you all plenty of options. And so I'll start with 2, and then ask you all what some of the strategies you all use. So start thinking about that, and then, if we have time, which I'll do a time check. I have a few more that I can share as well.
00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:49.000
Patty Gentry: So I wanted to to build it off of the volunteer management cycle that civic Champs use.
00:47:49.000 --> 00:47:58.000
Patty Gentry: Uses um recruit onboarding schedule, engage, retain, report, and give you ideas for this. So when you're thinking about recruiting.
00:47:58.000 --> 00:48:06.000
Patty Gentry: Um, provide enough information so people can choose. If it's the right role for them. Um, make sure that they have the information of what it is.
00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:09.000
Patty Gentry: What am I going to be doing? What do I need to wear.
00:48:09.000 --> 00:48:13.000
Patty Gentry: Where am I gonna Park? Do I have to pay for parking.
00:48:13.000 --> 00:48:22.000
Patty Gentry: Um. Is it accessible? You know all of the information upfront, so that they really can do their due diligence to make the decision? If it's the right fit for them.
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:31.000
Patty Gentry: Um onboarding. When I think about onboarding Orient orienting and training your volunteers effectively. I know we all do this.
00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:35.000
Patty Gentry: Probably at this point in our volunteer management careers.
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:36.000
Patty Gentry: But.
00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:47.000
Patty Gentry: Getting this right, I think, is one of the most critical pieces. And I I actually was just on a walk with a friend. Um, who also works in the nonprofit sector a couple of weeks ago, and she's like, Oh, I I.
00:48:47.000 --> 00:48:58.000
Patty Gentry: I'm interested in volunteering with this organization, and I went to their orientation. They have a 2 main orientation and um. I went to the 1st one, and it was just really inefficient.
00:48:58.000 --> 00:49:09.000
Patty Gentry: And as somebody who works in nonprofits, I don't think I can sit through the second one and not want to change things, and she's like. I can't volunteer there. That's not going to be a.
00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:30.000
Patty Gentry: A not stressful situation for me. So even though we have orientations, even though we have training, how can we make it more effective? How can we make it more inspiring and engaging for our volunteers? What do they need to know when they need to know it? They don't need to know everything all at once. So how can we really break it down for them and make it um?
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:33.000
Patty Gentry: Inspiring and engaging.
00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:34.000
Patty Gentry: Process.
00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:36.000
Patty Gentry: And an experience.
00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:48.000
Patty Gentry: Um, provide mental health training if you can. Right? We were talking about those volunteers who work with people who are suffering, or who have different experiences for them. Is that something you could think about offering.
00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:54.000
Patty Gentry: Of course, discussing burnout and and training your staff and volunteer leaders to look for those signs.
00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:55.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
00:49:55.000 --> 00:50:05.000
Patty Gentry: When you're onboarding them, make sure that you're setting those clear expectations and setting health healthy boundaries for interactions and communications, and that you have those clearly stated goals.
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:12.000
Patty Gentry: Um. When I was thinking about schedule, be flexible. Be mindful about what's going on in the world and the volunteers life help them balance.
00:50:12.000 --> 00:50:14.000
Patty Gentry: Work and life.
00:50:14.000 --> 00:50:22.000
Patty Gentry: Um. And also this is an area where I struggle. Sometimes I am often the type of person who goes right into the thing that I need.
00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:31.000
Patty Gentry: Um, especially in this virtual environment, I can sometimes forget. Hey, let me just pause. Let's see how they're doing what's going on in your life. Um!
00:50:31.000 --> 00:50:38.000
Patty Gentry: And you know, I started to build agendas where it's like the 1st 5 min is just catch up.
00:50:38.000 --> 00:50:47.000
Patty Gentry: With the volunteer, especially in this virtual space, even in the in person. Space like you can just sometimes forget and move quickly on to the task at hand.
00:50:47.000 --> 00:51:11.000
Patty Gentry: Um when I was thinking about engage right? This is taking the time to get to know your volunteers, having those consistent check-ins with volunteers, so that as things start to change or evolve in their life, you have the ability to have that open communication. They feel comfortable with you to say, Hey, life has changed. I can't commit to this anymore. Or Hey, something's going on. How can we sort of navigate this together?
00:51:12.000 --> 00:51:14.000
Patty Gentry: It also gives you the opportunity to notice.
00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:20.000
Patty Gentry: Any of those signs of burnout or stress, and and have those discussions with your volunteers individually.
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:27.000
Patty Gentry: Um. Consider offering flexible commitments. If you have the ability to do that, or balance tasks with other volunteers.
00:51:27.000 --> 00:51:33.000
Patty Gentry: And just overall, making sure that the volunteer assignment really can spark. Enthusiasm.
00:51:33.000 --> 00:51:38.000
Patty Gentry: Um. And again, really thinking about how to foster those social connections.
00:51:38.000 --> 00:51:43.000
Patty Gentry: When I was thinking about retain. It was a lot about role fit and making sure that the.
00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:55.000
Patty Gentry: The the fit is good for both the organization and the volunteer, and sometimes we put volunteers into roles just because we need somebody there, but it's not necessarily something that's going to energize our volunteers.
00:51:55.000 --> 00:52:01.000
Patty Gentry: And so having those conversations getting them into a role where they they fit best.
00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:07.000
Patty Gentry: Building a support system for volunteers. I have a few ideas uh on another side around that.
00:52:08.000 --> 00:52:17.000
Patty Gentry: Managing their workload. Um! Another sort of thought is pairing high performers together. Right? The people who have the highest expectations. How can they support one another.
00:52:17.000 --> 00:52:18.000
Patty Gentry: In a project.
00:52:18.000 --> 00:52:24.000
Patty Gentry: Honoring term limits. If you have those for your board volunteers or higher Level Committee volunteers.
00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:29.000
Patty Gentry: And of, of course, just having a succession plan in place for volunteer leadership roles.
00:52:29.000 --> 00:52:31.000
Patty Gentry: There's nothing.
00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:37.000
Patty Gentry: I think, more important than having that succession plan in place, and having those volunteer leaders involved.
00:52:37.000 --> 00:52:46.000
Patty Gentry: To know that the work and the legacy that they have set up is going to be carried on by another dedicated and passionate volunteer.
00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:58.000
Patty Gentry: Um. So having that succession plan in place is really important. And then, from a report standpoint, getting volunteer feedback, having those systems and structures in place, to have surveys, to have feedback loops.
00:52:58.000 --> 00:53:10.000
Patty Gentry: And then also prioritizing volunteer feedback. That strengthens your mission and that strengthens your volunteer program and actually using that retention data to pinpoint areas of your program.
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:12.000
Patty Gentry: Um, that could use some updates. So.
00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:25.000
Patty Gentry: If other folks have ideas too, please pop those into the chat. This is, those were just some of the things that I was thinking of as I was looking at them. This this volunteer management cycle. I know some of us have different ones or different words that we use.
00:53:27.000 --> 00:53:36.000
Patty Gentry: Um. I also wanted to talk about the traditional wellness categories. A lot of these ideas are the same, but depending on how your mind works, or how your program works.
00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:55.000
Patty Gentry: Wanted to share some of those ideas from the sort of physical volunteer accommodations. How are you supporting volunteers in that way from their physical space to the spiritual. Is there an opportunity to have Yoga workshops or think about mindful meetings.
00:53:55.000 --> 00:54:00.000
Patty Gentry: So some great ideas there, too, that you can take for consideration.
00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:15.000
Patty Gentry: And then I wanted to expand a little bit on building a support system for your volunteers, and so I think some folks had said this before, but just mentoring mentors for volunteer leaders or pairing your volunteers, it doesn't have to be anything formal.
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:28.000
Patty Gentry: Um, I think a lot of times we think that we have to have a formal mentorship program or formal um pairing up for our volunteers, but it can just be as simple as you know. You have a new volunteer coming on board, and you have a veteran volunteer who's just.
00:54:28.000 --> 00:54:34.000
Patty Gentry: Sort of assigned to check on them. Have a coffee conversation. Make sure that they're okay.
00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:39.000
Patty Gentry: Um volunteer ambassadors, at events, or programs that are focused on volunteer wellness.
00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:47.000
Patty Gentry: This is something where, if you I think about it? Um, you know, we're coming up on Thanksgiving. A lot of people have fundraising events or trots.
00:54:47.000 --> 00:54:48.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
00:54:48.000 --> 00:54:58.000
Patty Gentry: Where you could have a volunteer ambassador. If you have 500 volunteers at the event, you have 25 volunteer ambassadors who are walking around, and their role is to check on the volunteers.
00:54:58.000 --> 00:55:00.000
Patty Gentry: Make sure they have water.
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:05.000
Patty Gentry: Have you used the restroom? Okay, I'm gonna stand in here while you go take a bio, break.
00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:06.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:09.000
Patty Gentry: And have a conversation with them.
00:55:09.000 --> 00:55:16.000
Patty Gentry: How, how did you hear about this volunteer opportunity, or just get to know them a little bit, and volunteer ambassadors can sort of.
00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:23.000
Patty Gentry: Keep one eye on, you know. Is this somebody who might be invested in the organization for the long term, and make those connections with your staff.
00:55:23.000 --> 00:55:44.000
Patty Gentry: You could consider a volunteer wellness advisory committee, a group of volunteers who are really solely focused on overall volunteer wellness and creating those moments for your volunteers. These could be people who are yoga practitioners or mindfulness folks, or who are willing to donate their their time and talent for your volunteers. And of course, team building activities.
00:55:44.000 --> 00:55:47.000
Patty Gentry: Um. I wanted to share some ideas for meetings.
00:55:47.000 --> 00:55:51.000
Patty Gentry: And this really is sort of leaning into the mindful meeting.
00:55:51.000 --> 00:56:07.000
Patty Gentry: Framework of really spending the time. You know, volunteers are, I think, about sort of volunteers who are coming from their workday or coming from a family obligation, and they're coming to volunteer for your organization. We have no idea, really, what has been going on before they step through your doors.
00:56:07.000 --> 00:56:13.000
Patty Gentry: And so what role can we play to help them ground to what they're going to be doing next?
00:56:13.000 --> 00:56:29.000
Patty Gentry: And be present, fully present in their volunteer service, and so, taking a moment to ground. This could be as simple as asking attendees to take a deep breath in 3 times out uh 3 times, and you do it with them right, and just have them mark.
00:56:29.000 --> 00:56:32.000
Patty Gentry: How the energy changes within themselves and within the room.
00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:36.000
Patty Gentry: Another fun, one that I like to do. Um is.
00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:44.000
Patty Gentry: Is giving volunteers and your staff permission to be human. And this is uh like permission slips. So I give myself permission to.
00:56:44.000 --> 00:56:56.000
Patty Gentry: Um to be fully present here I give myself permission to have fun during volunteer service, so whatever they want to give themselves permission. Um. It's this idea of permission slips.
00:56:57.000 --> 00:57:12.000
Patty Gentry: Intention setting is another one integrating those gratitude practices, giving people time to think. Um, I I put this in here because oftentimes we pack our agenda so full that there is not time to actually.
00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:30.000
Patty Gentry: Give people time to think, and as somebody who is more on that introvert side, I need time to think. And so I'm sort of advocating for those other folks, too, is carving out a little bit of time or having those activities where you're doing something. That's you know.
00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:45.000
Patty Gentry: Getting people to share ideas or getting people to share contacts as an example, using post it notes to have them start to write before having the group share out. So that's just another idea for for meetings and for engagement.
00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:48.000
Patty Gentry: I wanna pause. And just I know we're sort of.
00:57:48.000 --> 00:57:51.000
Patty Gentry: Coming up on time. I have a few other slides, but.
00:57:53.000 --> 00:57:54.000
Patty Gentry: Good.
00:57:54.000 --> 00:58:08.000
Patty Gentry: Um, I just wanted to ask the the group, you know, which strategies for preventing and managing burnout, do you think are most effective in the work that you all do at your organizations? Or what have you tried and and seen.
00:58:08.000 --> 00:58:09.000
Patty Gentry: Successful.
00:58:21.000 --> 00:58:23.000
Patty Gentry: Listening.
00:58:23.000 --> 00:58:23.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah.
00:58:31.000 --> 00:58:36.000
Patty Gentry: So, Harrison, instead of micromanaging, I try to be understanding, and that volunteers feel comfortable leading.
00:58:36.000 --> 00:58:38.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah, empowering into lead.
00:58:39.000 --> 00:58:41.000
Patty Gentry: Sarah Rotating volunteers to task.
00:58:41.000 --> 00:58:48.000
Patty Gentry: Staff or groups that they are most comfortable with enjoy. Yeah, that role fit, making sure it's a good fit for them.
00:58:48.000 --> 00:58:51.000
Patty Gentry: Carol, setting very clear expectations from the beginning.
00:58:53.000 --> 00:58:57.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah, I found that setting the clear expectations from the beginning can really.
00:58:57.000 --> 00:58:59.000
Patty Gentry: Even if they.
00:58:59.000 --> 00:59:05.000
Patty Gentry: Sort of go beyond the expectations. You always have something to come back to, to reset expectations. If you need to.
00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:08.000
Patty Gentry: Letting them choose their schedule when possible.
00:59:09.000 --> 00:59:12.000
Patty Gentry: That's the under. It's not something I've done, but something I've noticed.
00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:19.000
Patty Gentry: Those who have friends create friends while volunteering tend to be much happier and stick around longer. Yeah. So those social connections.
00:59:19.000 --> 00:59:20.000
Patty Gentry: I love that.
00:59:20.000 --> 00:59:23.000
Patty Gentry: Keep sharing them as they come to mind.
00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:32.000
Patty Gentry: Um. I wanted to share just a few other. I'm not gonna go into detail on these. But if you're really interested in exploring this topic and learning about it more yourself.
00:59:32.000 --> 00:59:38.000
Patty Gentry: The Burnout challenge is a really great book. Um, it's more on the people management side. But you know, if you're.
00:59:38.000 --> 00:59:41.000
Patty Gentry: Paying people or not paying people. We're all working with people.
00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:51.000
Patty Gentry: And I encourage you to check that out the mindful day. This leans into more of those mindful practices. There's a lot in this book around, leading mindful meetings.
00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:56.000
Patty Gentry: Um, you know, creating safe spaces, things like that.
00:59:56.000 --> 01:00:20.000
Patty Gentry: So definitely encourage you. There's this model and positive psychology called the renew model around replenish needs escape well-being. And this we talked about. This, somebody brought it up in the chat. But this idea of reflecting on the positive impact and what's been accomplished already can really enhance the general well-being right. So taking that time to do and build in that reflection so that people leave with this sensitive sense of positive impact.
01:00:23.000 --> 01:00:33.000
Patty Gentry: And then individual strategies. You guys probably have all of your. We started this on the call. But I'm sure you guys have a lot of individual strategies, and just reminding people to take care of themselves.
01:00:33.000 --> 01:00:41.000
Patty Gentry: To prioritize the things that they really care about. And I'm not sharing all of these different models and ideas to overwhelm you all.
01:00:41.000 --> 01:00:50.000
Patty Gentry: It. Just want you to have a lot of ideas to pull from. But just start small. Start from where you are, start from, where you have the resources.
01:00:50.000 --> 01:00:51.000
Patty Gentry: And.
01:00:51.000 --> 01:00:54.000
Patty Gentry: Leave the rest right. Take what works, and leave the rest.
01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:57.000
Patty Gentry: Um. But that's really all I had for today.
01:00:57.000 --> 01:00:59.000
Patty Gentry: I'm happy to take questions.
01:00:59.000 --> 01:01:02.000
Patty Gentry: If if folks have questions, or if there were any in the chat.
01:01:03.000 --> 01:01:15.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah, thank you so much, Patty. Yeah, if you have questions, please put them in the chat, and uh, we'll kind of circle uh around to them. Um, I love the engagement from today. That was really awesome.
01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:19.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): To see everyone's recommendations, suggestions, and and comments.
01:01:19.000 --> 01:01:22.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): And so, yeah, really appreciate that.
01:01:22.000 --> 01:01:27.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): And so be while we're we're waiting for folks to maybe share some questions.
01:01:27.000 --> 01:01:35.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Um. Let me just share my screen again real quickly, and we'll cover a couple of things. Um! And so.
01:01:35.000 --> 01:01:36.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Um.
01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:38.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): One uh.
01:01:38.000 --> 01:01:53.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Thing that we'd like to ask your support for is um. There's a new survey right? And so we'll put this in chat as well, and so this is um put out by volunteerpro. And so if you um have a chance to uh.
01:01:53.000 --> 01:01:58.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): To put, you know, share your voice right? This is typically, you know, there's maybe.
01:01:58.000 --> 01:02:22.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): A few 100 800, I think, was last year in terms of number of volunteer professionals or volunteer leaders of volunteers who completed the survey and really provides a great snapshot on, you know what's happening right? And so the more data we get the better. And and the information. And this report is out for free when it gets published, and so.
01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:35.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): You get to see, you know. How? How do you benchmark against? You know other organizations like, what are some of the trends that you see. And so uh, really, really awesome work that um, Toby Johnson, um and Patty, as well as.
01:02:35.000 --> 01:02:40.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Uh it, you know, contributes to to this report, too. So if you have a chance, please uh share your voice.
01:02:41.000 --> 01:03:04.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): And then the other thing, you know, for folks that maybe don't know about civic champs. Right? So. Um! I thought it was awesome, Patty, that used our volunteer life cycle uh image here. So that's what we aspire to. We're a volunteer management software company. And so uh, just 20 seconds of, you know, kind of some of the things that we do. We help with check ins and our tracking. This is kind of our mobile app. You could see.
01:03:04.000 --> 01:03:07.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): People can easily check in and out of events.
01:03:07.000 --> 01:03:11.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): We have a way to collect feedback from folks.
01:03:11.000 --> 01:03:30.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Right? Um, and then, of course, right, we collect all this information and present it. And so um, it's not just mobile, only it's um. It has, you know, website, calendars and kiosk and all that as well. And so if you're interested, yeah, please reach out. Um, you know, this is our contact info love to connect with folks that might be interested.
01:03:30.000 --> 01:03:31.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Um.
01:03:31.000 --> 01:03:33.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): With that.
01:03:33.000 --> 01:03:38.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah, let me see, I don't see any additional questions here in the chat.
01:03:38.000 --> 01:03:39.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Um.
01:03:39.000 --> 01:03:45.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): And so the one thing, I guess. Yeah, Patty, you know, you've worked with so many.
01:03:46.000 --> 01:03:50.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Nonprofits. Right? You said. Large and small.
01:03:50.000 --> 01:03:54.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Is there any difference, you know, in terms of.
01:03:54.000 --> 01:03:59.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): You know, as you're thinking about burnout or the psychology of your.
01:03:59.000 --> 01:04:07.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Um volunteers. Is it harder, do you think, for smaller organizations or larger organizations, or, you know, do you see any.
01:04:07.000 --> 01:04:08.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Differences in the challenges.
01:04:08.000 --> 01:04:10.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Between.
01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:14.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): You know, organization size and your types of volunteers that you're getting.
01:04:15.000 --> 01:04:16.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah.
01:04:19.000 --> 01:04:20.000
Patty Gentry: Differences.
01:04:20.000 --> 01:04:26.000
Patty Gentry: I think the thing that comes up for me when you ask that question is really around.
01:04:27.000 --> 01:04:30.000
Patty Gentry: I think something happens as organizations grow.
01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:31.000
Patty Gentry: And.
01:04:31.000 --> 01:04:37.000
Patty Gentry: Volunteer management can get a little bit further out of the priority.
01:04:37.000 --> 01:04:37.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Hmm.
01:04:37.000 --> 01:04:47.000
Patty Gentry: And so in my experience at smaller organizations, while you might not have as many resources to put towards your volunteers, there is a lot of intention and um.
01:04:47.000 --> 01:04:51.000
Patty Gentry: Just focus on volunteers as a strategy to meet your mission.
01:04:51.000 --> 01:05:07.000
Patty Gentry: And sometimes volunteers are the mission of the organization. But if they're a strategy to meet your mission, you really know and understand the value that they bring, because, you see, that day in and day out, as organizations tend to become larger.
01:05:07.000 --> 01:05:16.000
Patty Gentry: There's a lot of, you know, teams and departments and things that are are going on that sometimes the work of volunteer management can get.
01:05:07.000 --> 01:05:08.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Hmm.
01:05:16.000 --> 01:05:20.000
Patty Gentry: Put on the side, or or siloed.
01:05:18.000 --> 01:05:19.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah.
01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:21.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Right.
01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:37.000
Patty Gentry: And it can be really difficult, I think, as volunteer managers or folks who work with volunteers to consistently advocate for the resources that you need to really support volunteers in effective way, whether that be the tools and resources that you need, the system that you need.
01:05:37.000 --> 01:05:57.000
Patty Gentry: You know, and and even sort of these, these ideas for supporting wellness can be, can be a challenge. But I think, as the organization grows. It's even more important for us as volunteer managers and those who work with volunteers to find those ways to support volunteer wellness and and really keep the intention and the focus.
01:05:44.000 --> 01:05:45.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Right.
01:05:57.000 --> 01:06:00.000
Patty Gentry: On supporting volunteers, because.
01:05:57.000 --> 01:05:58.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Right.
01:06:02.000 --> 01:06:06.000
Patty Gentry: Other folks aren't thinking about that as much. Um, when there's.
01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:06.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Hmm.
01:06:06.000 --> 01:06:15.000
Patty Gentry: Revenue that has to be raised, or mission programs that that need to operate. And of course, volunteers are supporting that. But it can just be a little bit.
01:06:15.000 --> 01:06:16.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
01:06:17.000 --> 01:06:19.000
Patty Gentry: Harder to to focus on that.
01:06:19.000 --> 01:06:25.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah, yeah, once, once you have that dedicated person, then everyone feels like, maybe.
01:06:25.000 --> 01:06:27.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah.
01:06:25.000 --> 01:06:29.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): You know, not my job anymore. But you know.
01:06:27.000 --> 01:06:30.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah. And that's it's a lot. It's a lot.
01:06:30.000 --> 01:06:41.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Yeah, yeah, no, we. And and I always think it's funny, right? Because um to your point on sort of the siloed. Uh, there's so many organizations even that we serve where um as you get bigger. The.
01:06:31.000 --> 01:06:31.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah.
01:06:41.000 --> 01:06:55.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): The types of tasks you can do as a volunteer shrinks down. Actually, right? So um, you know, every every nonprofit starts as all volunteer based right? And and you're doing everything from finance to, you know, operations to everything in between and.
01:06:50.000 --> 01:06:51.000
Patty Gentry: Mhm.
01:06:55.000 --> 01:07:02.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): And then later on, it becomes, you know, like, Oh, our volunteer program, you know, does this very narrow thing right? So.
01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:02.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah, yeah.
01:07:02.000 --> 01:07:03.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah.
01:07:03.000 --> 01:07:10.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Um. And Madison, you asked if you can come off mute to to ask your question. Yeah, please please feel free to do that.
01:07:10.000 --> 01:07:11.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Um.
01:07:11.000 --> 01:07:14.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): You had a question on self, paced virtual onboarding.
01:07:15.000 --> 01:07:39.000
Madison Knapp: Yeah, thank you so much. I appreciate it. And thank you for this training. I actually, before I go into that, the thing you just talked about really sparked, you know, recognition in my program of like we went from, everything is volunteer run. And now we have a volunteer program. And because we're so large. Things have to be done, maybe more consistently than they used to.
01:07:38.000 --> 01:07:39.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Hmm.
01:07:39.000 --> 01:07:41.000
Madison Knapp: How do you navigate that like kind of.
01:07:41.000 --> 01:07:43.000
Madison Knapp: Pulling back on how much.
01:07:43.000 --> 01:07:45.000
Madison Knapp: Ownership, and like.
01:07:45.000 --> 01:07:51.000
Madison Knapp: How much decision making power a volunteer has cause. That's something we've really struggled with recently.
01:07:51.000 --> 01:07:52.000
Patty Gentry: Hmm.
01:07:54.000 --> 01:08:10.000
Patty Gentry: Yeah, I mean, I think what comes to mind for me is um, you know, as you get larger and your organization gets to a place where things have to be a little bit more consistent. Sometimes volunteers can get frustrated by that, because they're not always in the know of why.
01:08:10.000 --> 01:08:21.000
Patty Gentry: Some of those decisions have been made. And so I think it's just really important to as much as you can bring volunteers along in that growth, and help them understand where they fit into that.
01:08:21.000 --> 01:08:22.000
Patty Gentry: And help.
01:08:23.000 --> 01:08:24.000
Patty Gentry: Set with.
01:08:24.000 --> 01:08:47.000
Patty Gentry: Sort of reset those clear expectations like, here's how we work with organizations. Here's how we expect our our volunteers to work with us, and that might mean some of those volunteers that you've worked with over time sort of self. Select that this isn't the right volunteer role for them anymore. And that's okay, right? Or maybe there's a different opportunity within your organization that could be a better fit for them.
01:08:47.000 --> 01:08:51.000
Patty Gentry: Um, because, as we evolve, we do have to.
01:08:52.000 --> 01:08:59.000
Patty Gentry: Have more consistency. Just if you have one person who's focused in on volunteer engagement, they have to have things that.
01:08:54.000 --> 01:08:55.000
Geng (pronounced Gung): Hmm.
01:08:59.000 --> 01:09:04.000
Patty Gentry: Uh, really just are easy to to do over time.
01:09:04.000 --> 01:09:08.000
Patty Gentry: Um. Otherwise they are not gonna be able to do their full scope of their job.
01:09:08.000 --> 01:09:09.000
Patty Gentry: Um.
01:09:11.000 --> 01:09:18.000
Patty Gentry: I don't. I don't know if that answers your question, or if that helps Madison, I'm I'm happy to dig in, and more.
01:09:18.000 --> 01:09:20.000
Patty Gentry: 2 on other areas of that.
01:09:23.000 --> 01:09:35.000
Madison Knapp: Yeah, that is helpful. Um, it's also, I think, helpful to hear that sometimes people will make that choice, and that there's not a lot you can do about it. Um, because that's.
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Madison Knapp: Kind of how I felt. But um, you know, it's helpful to kind of hear that. That's other people's experience. Sometimes, too, of like.
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Madison Knapp: You know, some people just want different experiences. So, um, yeah, to to go into the virtual onboarding effectively. Um, we decided to switch like we used to give like an hour presentation, talking about all the different things. Um, that you need to know as a volunteer. And we switched that to like effectively. We give the presentation through Youtube.
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Patty Gentry: Mhm.
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Madison Knapp: Youtube videos that are like broken up into smaller sections. And then you schedule a 1 on one with a volunteer like trainer. So some of those are volunteers. Some of those are um, like staff members.
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Madison Knapp: Um. And so like, we just made this change. I think we just got the 1st person through the system. Um, so.
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Madison Knapp: I would like to head off issues with people who are maybe like less Co uh, comfortable with technology or that feel like that. You know, they kind of get lost in this process.
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Madison Knapp: Because we have 4 videos that you need to watch instead of doing one long video. We tried to break it up and.
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Madison Knapp: I don't know if there's any resources you can share, or things about that, about how to not lose people in that process.
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Madison Knapp: Oh, good!
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Patty Gentry: Yeah, I, definitely, we. We've been there. I've been there in my career, too. And it's it's a challenge. And it's not just a challenge for people who are who tend to be a little bit older. I think some people are just.
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Patty Gentry: More apt to adopt technology, um over others. And that can be that can be a challenge. I think one thing that I thought about, as you were saying, that is, if you had one person go through that, I would.
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Patty Gentry: I would ask their feedback on the process.
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Patty Gentry: Um. You know, I think we think that once we get it virtually, it's gonna be seamless and easy. And sometimes the systems and the tools that we put those trainings on can be a barrier for folks, whether that's you know. Sometimes they work well on chrome, or sometimes they don't work well on other um.
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Patty Gentry: Other uh browsers, and so getting a sense for especially that one person. And as people go through that, making sure that you're asking for their feedback. On what was that like to navigate through that process, and as much as possible.
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Patty Gentry: Making some of those changes early on to make it as easy for folks to access those trainings.
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