Field Notes:
A Volunteer Manager's Toolkit

Volunteers can be an addition that enhances an organization's operations and services. Sometimes, however, volunteers can be a burden, rather than a blessing, if the organization is not fully prepared to absorb them. The Vermont State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) knows the importance of the volunteer manager in making the volunteer program successful.

The Vermont SHIP participated in HAP's 2008-2009 Collaborative State Projects (CSP) with the goal of growing their volunteer program by strengthening the volunteer management capacity of the regional coordinators.

As part of the CSP, Dolly Fleming, Executive Director of the Community of Vermont Elders (COVE) was invited to share her immense experience gathered from working with volunteers at a variety of non-profit organizations. Vermont's Senior Medicare Patrol is a COVE program, so Dolly works closely with the Vermont SHIP as a committed partner. 

In the following Best Practice package, Dolly shares her thoughts and some tools to support volunteer managers:

• Q&A: Dolly Fleming, Executive Director, Community of Vermont Elders (COVE)
• Tool: Volunteer Management Toolkit, including:
• Ten Commandments of Working with Volunteers
• 11 Basic Elements of Volunteer Management
• Are you an Effective Volunteer Motivator?
• Coaching Steps
• Terminating a Volunteer
• Exit Interview Questionnaire