Responses to:
The
Great Divide: Leaders Who Are Paid and Leaders Who Are Volunteers
Submitted on 3Jan03 by Pamela Rout, Wild Canid Center,
Eureka Missouri
I completly agree with Susan. I am a new education/volunteer coordinator
at an organization that has about 100 volunteers. My predecessor let
the volunteers do whatever they wanted and now I have to lay down
authority because they dislike being "managed" and the President is
constantly disobeying me. thanks for writing the article, its good
to know that I am not alone.
Submitted on 30Oct02 by Betty Stallings, Trainer/Consultant,
Pleasanton, CA
In my experience, I would note 5 commonalities in groups that successfully
combine an overall salaried leader of volunteer programs and an existing
membership group giving service to the institution:
- Prior to hiring the salaried leader of the overall volunteer program,
a task force made up of leadership of the membership group and other
voices such as someone in administration, staff who are champions
of volunteer engagement in the institution and others give input
as to the nature of the position. Thus there is clarity of expectation
understood throughout the institution prior to the hire.
- The current membership group agrees to do an assessment (with
the aide of an outside facilitator) to determine current member
satisfaction and impact on the institution. The results are given
back to the group in a retreat format where the focus is to determine
their vision for the future, any barriers they perceive in reaching
it and plans to diminish those barriers. They explore many options
and decide if they wish to continue to operate as they have been
or make any changes. This gives them a chance to decide on their
future, while acknowledging implications of the decision.
- The salaried Manager of Volunteer Resources sees the membership
group as one means of serving the organization and supports them
in reaching their vision and goals while simultaneously developing
numerous additional options for folks to serve the institution in
other capacities, not requiring membership.
- Specific tasks and assignments of service to be provided by the
membership group are initially defined as the work they contribute
to the institution. If there comes a time when the group can not
provide volunteers in these capacities, other non-members can fill
the positions.
- A volunteer advisory council is developed with representation
of the variety of volunteers serving the institution (membership,
interns, groups, individual service, etc.) the purpose being to
enhance the over-all volunteer service to the institution and to
determine ways to join together in training, orientation,etc., to
better utilize resources and time of volunteers and staff.
Submitted on
24Oct02 by Heidi Walker, Coordinator of Volunteer Resources, Natrona
County Public Library, Wyoming, USA
I'm the new Coordinator of Volunteer Resources
at the same public library where I was on the Friends board for about
10 years. The Friends have become almost solely devoted to doing a
booksale, generating $30,000/yr, but taking a tremendous amount of
year-long work. This leaves out other members who would love to help
in the actual library, and that is where my new (paid) position came
into being. It's actually a different function, trying to involve
the general community in "their" library. I heard from some
Friends' board members that there was opposition to my new position
since it could "steal" people from their group! I've been
trying to overcome this fear in many ways, including being open and
helpful with them, even sending volunteers to them if that is their
interest! We've made progress, I think, and now I even have used "my"
volunteers to help with a large mailing for the Friends. I think that
some of the opposition comes from a misunderstanding of the role of
a true "coordinator of volunteers" vs. working with an all
volunteers group with one purpose, such as fundraising. I hope that
ours will end up a model of cooperation in the library setting, but
it will take time to evaluate that!
Submitted on 7Oct02 by Mary Ryan, Manager, Community
Resources, Southlake Regional Health Centre, Ontario, Canada
Oh Susan you have definitely struck a cord! I have wrestled
with this issue for the past 4 years in my role as a manager of community
resources in a hospital. Sometimes it has been good, sometimes bad,
depending on who was the auxiliary president and/or membership of
the Executive. I believe the root of this issue is related to boundaries
and the strategic planning sessions we have held with a facilitator
have been helpful. However, I am still dealing with a group who once
had a great deal of power and are finding change extremely difficult.
Even though a primary focus and "areas of excellence" were
clearly identified both for the auxiliary and our department at the
strategic planning session, it is difficult to make this a reality.
I am continuing to focus on the mission of the organization and encourage
our auxiliary to do the same so that time and energy is not spent
on negativity or "push/pull" behavior. However, even with
the support of our administration it is a difficult road to hoe and
I am interested in other detailed responses of how change occurred
to create a "win-win" situation.
Submitted on 5Oct02 by Evelyn Ewing, Lakeview Village,
Lenexa, Kansas
Although I am now a Volunteer Manager Consultant, for
the last ten years I was the Volunteer Director for a large retirement
community that had a Volunteer Program run by a 20 person Volunteer
Committee. There was a very small number of active volunteers outside
of this committee. When I was hired, the administration wanted a strong
Volunteer Coordinator to guide the Volunteer Committee, take the very
damaging control away from the committee, and yet keep the 20 member
committee as volunteers and create a Volunteer Department that would
allow everyone to volunteer from the resident population.
The barriers of resistance to a hired Volunteer Director took a total
of three years to overcome. However, by the end of this 1994, everyone
on the committee was a strong supporter of the Director and the change
that was occurring. At the end of 2002, there are over 109 volunteer
positions, 400 resident volunteers, 1500 youth volunteers in a strong
national award winning Intergenerational Volunteer Program, and an
ever increasing community volunteer program with approximately 70
community volunteers per year.
Breaking down the walls and barriers were accomplished by the golden
rule of giving unconditional love to each and every potential volunteer
and specially to those of the 20 member committee.
Submitted on 5Oct02 by Wendy Moluf, Director of Servant
Development, First Presbyterian Church, Mount Holly NJ, USA
You didn't mention churches as all-volunteer organizations,
but I think generally they are. I am an anomaly of sorts in the church
world since I am paid (a little!) as a director of volunteers for
our Presbyterian church. I myself started as a volunteer. We also
have many unpaid leaders of volunteers on our ministry teams. I have
had mixed success with fulfilling my role - which I see as providing
support to these volunteer leaders in the areas of recruitment, training,
evaluation, recognition, etc. Some welcome my help and others basically
do things as they always have. My sense is that one thing that makes
volunteer leaders different from paid ones is that they have less
time to give to this work and so doing things the "right"
way often simply looks to be more time-consuming.
What I have done to counteract any negative interaction is to make
sure I communicate regularly with my leaders. I try to provide lots
of recognition for their efforts and trainings to help them with skills
needed for their work with volunteers. I am about to implement a new
team of "Connectors" who will serve as liaisons between
my team and these leaders and am hoping this will improve communication
even further. I can't do my job effectively without their support
- and vice versa!
Submitted on 5Oct02 by Hortense Casillas, Los Angeles
County, California
I have been volunteering in a variety of activities
for the
past 35 years without pay and many times as a leader. I have been
very fortunate to work under the direction of paid volunteers and
have truly enjoyed every minute of it. It was very rewarding since
I was learning from the paid volunteers. I do recall several
instances where some of the other volunteers were uncomfortable with
this situation, however, once we focused on the project and overall
mission of our effort it all became doable and satisfying.
Submitted on 4Oct02 by Mary B. O'Brien, Director, Volunteer
Services, Lowell General Hospital, Lowell MA
I comment only about my own 22 years of experience as
a Director of Volunteer Services in two different hospitals. From
the very beginning, back in 1980, the roles of the paid DVS and the
unpaid Auxiliary President have been separate but cooperative. We
have helped and learned from each other. Both positions have been
evolving over many years to the point where the dividing line here
seems to be that the DVS manages all in-service volunteers and the
Auxiliary President manages events involving the community or being
run by the hospital's development/philanthropy staffs.
As a DVS who gives 100% I am impressed and inspired by the Auxiliary
President and Board who put their hearts and souls into "their"
hospital, and all gratis. If, as you say, the "seeds of discontent
are sown by unwitting executives who add the new staff position without
any clear explanation of what will be expected....." then I would
suggest that the new employee make haste to join an organization of
peers. In my case that would be the American Society of Directors
of Volunteer Services. These organizations have much to offer the
new as well as the seasoned professional -- including a network of
people who care. Call 312-422-3939 and let ASDVS help you!
Submitted on 02Oct3 by Donna W. Koons, Director of Volunteer
Services, North Mountain Campus - John C. Lincoln Health Network,
Arizona, USA
I am the paid Director of Volunteers for one of two
hospital campuses in our John C. Lincoln Health Network. On this campus
we have a thriving Auxiliary! Our network is celebrating 75 years
of service to the community and our Auxiliary is celebrating 50 years
of service. And yes, our Auxiliary pre-dates our official Volunteer
Services Department. We are blessed with several full and part-time
paid staff members of this department who are passionate about what
they do, but even more valuable are the many officers and chairmen
of our Auxiliary who allow us to extend our services far beyond what
we could do alone. While it is usually a challenge to recruit Auxiliary
leaders, we all work hard to ensure this symbiotic relationship is
a success.
Here are some of the ways we make sure we collaborate:
- We have monthly meetings with the Director of Volunteers, the
Auxiliary President and the President-Elect where daily operations
and future planning are discussed.
- Our Auxiliary President meets quarterly with the Director of Volunteers
and the VP to whom the Director reports.
- The Auxiliary President is included as a member of the Leadership
Council which meets quarterly. This body consists of all department
directors and some area supervisors.
- The Auxiliary President also sits on the Foundation Board of Directors,
ex officio, and as a voting member of the Network Board of Directors.
Submitted on 01Oct02 by Susan LaPat, Volunteer Coordinator,
Contra Costa County Library, California, USA
I am the paid Volunteer Coordinator for a library system
comprised of twenty-three branches. All but one of these library branches
has a Friends of the Library or Library Foundation group of volunteers.
In addition, two of the libraries have paid, part-time Volunteer Coordinators
and two have volunteer Volunteer Coordinators. I am pleased to say
that I have developed a very positive relationship with all of these
individuals and groups.
I believe the reason we work together so well is that we each have
different functions and responsibilities: the branch Volunteer Coordinators
are the experts on their communities and volunteer needs; the Friends
of the Library groups have fundraising and financial support functions.
My role is to provide the groups and individuals with information
and assistance in program planning, developing training materials
and volunteer job descriptions; assist with recruitment and recognition;
and, maintain statistical information. We meet quarterly to share
information and ideas and to receive training on topics of interest
to all. The individuals and groups involved feel supported and respected
for their contributions to our organization.
