How to Build A Volunteer Onboarding Process & Why You Should

Do you have new volunteers starting at your organization? If so, you only have one chance to make a good first impression and welcome them into your community, and a great volunteer onboarding experience does just that. 

In this article, we’ll explore the basics of the volunteer onboarding process before going over how your nonprofit can create an effective one.

What is Volunteer Onboarding?

Volunteer onboarding is a series of meetings and trainings where volunteers learn what they will be doing at your organization and who they will be working with. 

However, volunteer onboarding should be more than just an orientation about your organization. It’s an opportunity for new volunteers to get a sense of your organization’s culture, create relationships with fellow volunteers and deepen their commitment.

Why You Need a Volunteer Onboarding Process

Volunteer onboarding can be used as an opportunity for nonprofits to build connections, show appreciation and spread awareness. Remember that new volunteers can go on to become donors, highly skilled volunteers or even full-time members of your team, and it all starts with the onboarding process. 

Use your volunteer onboarding process as an opportunity to:

• Build relationships. A volunteer onboarding process creates opportunities for volunteers to interact with one another and their future volunteer manager in a casual setting before the work begins. For instance, Double the Donation’s volunteer statistics report explains that 35% of individuals volunteer to socialize. Volunteer managers can also use this as an opportunity to instill trust by making a formal announcement inviting volunteers to come to them with any questions, comments, or concerns.
• Establish expectations. Onboarding is your first and best opportunity to go over what volunteers will be doing at your nonprofit and how they should conduct themselves as representatives of your nonprofit. Have a volunteer handbook ready that goes into more detail and provides step-by-step instructions for various scenarios, such as a volunteer needing to miss an assigned shift.
• Improve retention. Volunteers who start their experience with your nonprofit off on a positive note are more likely to volunteer again. The more volunteers you retain, the fewer resources you will need to spend on recruiting new volunteers and the more knowledgeable your volunteer base will become. eCardWidget’s volunteer retention guide provides this useful formula for calculating your retention rate:

Volunteers who feel connected to your nonprofit, understand what is expected of them and continue to volunteer long-term provide nonprofits with an invaluable, experienced workforce. Your onboarding process is your chance to help your volunteers get started on the right foot. 

How to Create an Effective Onboarding Process 

An effective onboarding strategy makes everyone’s lives easier. Your volunteers will feel confident in their duties, and your managers will save time and energy by following the structures you’ve established. 

Creating your volunteer onboarding process will encompass four simple steps:

Step 1: Analyze Your Current Strategy 

Building an effective onboarding process starts with assessing your current strategy. When analyzing your current strategy, ask yourself and your team questions like these: 

• What aspects of our volunteer program have been effective, and which areas need improvement?? 
• Do our volunteers ask a lot of questions after onboarding? 
• Do we have good volunteer retention? 
• What are the demographics of our volunteers? Are the majority participating remotely or in person?
• What kind of feedback have we received from volunteers? 
• Is our training consistent across all trainers? 
• What extra training materials might benefit volunteers? 

Consider sending out a volunteer survey to get answers to these questions, too! Then, compile this information to determine what volunteers have responded well to and what needs to be rethought.

Step 2: Gather Your Team 

Once you’ve evaluated what’s working (and what’s not), it’s time to appoint and train those in charge of your volunteers. These individuals should be passionate about your mission, have experience in your field and possess strong leadership and communication skills. 

When selecting your volunteer managers, look for individuals who are:

• Passionate about your mission
• Experienced in your field 
• Strong leaders and communicators
• Able to relate to your volunteers

Remember, your volunteer managers should help make your volunteers feel like they have autonomy, mastery and purpose. This will keep your volunteers coming back and allow your organization to better impact your community through a successful volunteer program.

Step 3: Orientation and Training 

Arguably the most important part of your volunteer onboarding process is your orientation.  

This is one of the first experiences your volunteers will have with your organization, so you want it to be a good one! 

Depending on the volunteer opportunities you offer, you may provide materials before the official orientation. This could be any of the following: 

• Description of your organization’s mission and vision 
• A list of all the volunteer opportunities your organization offers 
• Opportunities for remote volunteers 
• Your organization’s expectations for volunteer behavior and/or dress code 
• Policies and safety regulations 

This information could be in a pamphlet, on your organization’s website or in documents you email to interested parties before training. 

For your volunteer training, consider how you want to present information:

• In-Person Presentation: In-person training helps volunteers create meaningful connections with other volunteers and your team. They will be able to physically shake hands, meet other volunteers and obtain all the information they need to volunteer properly. 
• Virtual Presentation: Going virtual allows for more volunteers to be trained at once. This is also great if you are on a time crunch and need to get your volunteers onboarded quickly. You’ll be able to save any questions asked in the chat and follow up with specific individuals after the presentation. For those volunteers who may be shy, they won’t feel the pressure of eyes on them when they have questions too! 
• On-Demand Presentations: If you’ve recorded your onboarding training, you can share the presentation at any time with all new volunteers. This is great for volunteers who may have tight schedules and cannot attend in-person or online training. Plus if they need to rewind and rewatch, they can do so at their leisure. 

Additionally, consider groups of volunteers who should go through onboarding together. For instance, if you work with corporate volunteerism groups, you should arrange for their team to do onboarding together and likely separate from other volunteers. Allowing volunteers to onboard with those they already know can help create a more familiar, welcoming environment. 

Step 4: Manage Your Volunteers 

Once you’ve onboarded and trained your volunteers, it’s time to let them do their good work! Empower your volunteer managers to keep up consistent communication. For instance, you might send out regular newsletters that list new volunteer opportunities and highlight all the wonderful things your volunteers have accomplished. Sharing impact with volunteers is vital for retention and makes everyone feel good about the work they’ve done. 

To strengthen your nonprofit’s relationship with volunteers, implement a volunteer appreciation strategy. Finding consistent and creative ways to say “thank you” will build a loyal volunteer base and encourage them to continue their involvement year after year.

Bonus: Volunteer Management Software 

Volunteers are exceptionally valuable, but it still takes time and resources to manage them. Keeping track of the number of volunteers, volunteer hours, feedback, contact information, communication and more can be quite daunting. 

This is where volunteer management software comes in. With volunteer management software, you can:

• Track volunteer hours 
• Manage remote volunteers’ work
• Manage communications with volunteers so no one misses an opportunity 
• Maintain a database of all active and inactive volunteers 
• Send out newsletters sharing the impact volunteers have made 
• Receive feedback from volunteers 
• Allow volunteers to view and sign up for volunteering shifts virtually

WildApricot—that’s us!—is a powerful all-in-one software solution that can help your organization manage its volunteers and make a bigger impact. 

Try our 60-day free trial (no credit card required!) and see what a difference we can make for your org. 

Read More:The Top 15 Free and Inexpensive Volunteer Management Software Solutions For Any Organization

With effective onboarding, you can inspire deeper participation and commitment among your amazing team of volunteers and help your organization thrive. Good luck with your volunteer onboarding!