If you're like me, whenever a volunteer comes up to you and says, "I have some extra time today (or this week), so what else could I do?" - every idea for what needs to be done suddenly drops out of your head! It's frustrating because we all want to direct volunteer time and skills towards work that's truly meaningful.
Here's an idea. Train yourself (and others) to write down work assignments as you think of them at any time. These can be the sublime to the mundane, from developing a five-year plan to cleaning out the supply closet. Not "busy work," but things that genuinely would be of use but aren't at the top of anyone's current to-do list. In between the plan and the closet might be things like:
- Check that reading materials in the client waiting room are current, in good shape, and offer variety.
- Take important instruction sheets and photocopy them at 125% so that the enlarged type can be read more easily by someone who is vision impaired.
- Find a great children's story about volunteering that could be read on a visit to a school.
- Go through the photographs of the last event and pick the best three to post online.
- Handwrite thank-you notes to the officers of the community groups that helped with a special event.
- Talk to a new volunteer about how her or his first month is going.
- Interview a unit supervisor about what else the right volunteers might do in that work area.
You might also break down a big project into small bites. For example, if you're coming up to a big celebration and are creating centerpieces, figure out how long it might take to sit down and do one decoration only - or if people can come and go from the work area, as time and interest allows.
Put each idea on a separate slip of paper and number it. Then jot down some quick instructions (or which staff member to see to do this piece of work) and file the papers by number, matching the slips.
Separate the slips into tasks that can be completed in 1 hour, 3 hours, and a day or more. Then put them into three bowls or boxes, with the timeframe marked on the outside.
The next time someone offers to do something extra, let them pick a slip at random. If they don't like it, they can pick again, but at least you'll know that everything in the bowls is a real task. Sure some of the things will be clerical or physical, but when volunteers offer you an extra hour or two, they want to do something useful and will understand if it is a smaller or less sophisticated task than their usual assignment.
Note that the grab bag tasks could also be used if someone brings along a friend or teenaged child for the day. It's also a way to respond to a staff member with a special request that you can't fill immediately. Tell the person it will become a grab-bagger item (and maybe you'll put it on yellow paper so it can jump out visually!).
You can even keep an electronic list of short activities that can be done virtually or off-site and do something similar by e-mail, if you have volunteers who work remotely.