Volunteer Evaluations
Your Volunteer Plan should include processes and protocols for evaluating volunteers. We often neglect this important work. It must be done, and you want to make sure your volunteers are aware of the process during recruitment.
Evaluating volunteers is important for your organization and for the volunteers. All parties should know their work is making a difference.
Use two type of information in your evaluation activities.
Quantitative Evaluation
Quantitative data will be numbers. This may include the number of volunteers and their hours.
You should look at program data as well.
- How many clients were served by volunteers?
- What was the financial savings of the volunteer time?
- For volunteers engaged in fundraising, how much did they raise?
As you go deeper with your evaluation, analyze the impact per volunteer, or the increased program results that came about from volunteers.
Qualitative Evaluation
Use information beyond the numbers.
Anecdotes and testimonials from clients, volunteers, or your community show how well your Volunteer Program operates.
Survey your volunteers, clients and others impacted by the work to generate this information. Examine one program, or activity, and generate an in-depth case study showing the impact of a volunteer.
Examining numbers isn’t enough to fully realize the impact of your Volunteer Program. Volunteer work has an emotional impact, and this should not be ignored.
