Jennifer Bennett

Jennifer Bennett

Jennifer Bennett, CVA is the Director of Education & Training at VolunteerMatch. Jennifer joined VolunteerMatch to formalize and manage the organization’s volunteer engagement program. With her breadth of experience, she is well qualified to help VolunteerMatch’s community of nonprofits better recruit and engage volunteers.

Recent posts by Jennifer Bennett

1 min read

4 New Pro Member Features to Make Volunteer Recruitment a Breeze

By Jennifer Bennett on July 6, 2023

If you’re looking to make the most of your VolunteerMatch account, you should check out our Pro Membership. We’re changing up some things and adding new tools and benefits. We’ll be sharing more over the Summer, but we’re excited to share this update now. 

VolunteerMatch is committed to always offering a free Standard Membership and we’ll be updating those tools as well. But, if you want to invest in your online recruitment we’re now offering more to help you find the volunteers you need!

Topics: nonprofit resources
2 min read

Is it Time to Renew Your CVA?

By Jennifer Bennett on May 17, 2023

Topics: nonprofit resources
2 min read

The line between volunteers and paid staff

By Jennifer Bennett on January 23, 2023

Over the last couple of months I’ve been having some interesting conversations about the line between volunteers and paid staff. And, since it’s the start of a new year I thought it might be a good time to brush off those volunteer position descriptions and do a little risk management!

Topics: nonprofit resources
2 min read

Should you ask volunteers to donate?

By Jennifer Bennett on December 6, 2022

Today I wanted to share a little more about how we can blur the lines between volunteers and donors and create stronger connections with both groups. I know traditionally, many organizations keep these list separate— that Development communicates with donors and that we, as leaders of volunteers, only communicate with volunteers. But, there’s so much to gain on both sides when we think about collaboration! 

Topics: nonprofit resources
2 min read

3 Ways to Boost Your Volunteer Recruitment on Giving Tuesday

By Jennifer Bennett on November 16, 2022

Giving Tuesday is kicking off the holiday giving season again this year, and while organizations encourage their supporters to give financially, many are also interested in the gift of time! If you haven’t included volunteer recruitment into your Giving Tuesday strategy in the past, here are three easy ways to get ready before November 29th.

Topics: nonprofit resources
4 min read

Volunteer Managers—Are you quietly going about your day, solving problems, and being awesome?

By Jennifer Bennett on September 22, 2022

The September issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy highlighted some current challenges in volunteer engagement with two in-depth articles. In the article “Why and How Charities Should Revive a Declining but Vital Resource ... Volunteers” reporter Ben Gose interviewed me, along with many others working with and leading volunteers, to bring some perspective and insight into what’s changed and what’s stayed the same since the pandemic. He asked insightful questions and did a great job framing up the story. I want to share a little more on our discussion, where we are as a field and a profession, and some things to consider moving forward.

Topics: nonprofit resources volunteer engagement
5 min read

Ask Jennifer: Questions from the Field

By Jennifer Bennett on April 5, 2022

Hi Jennifer-

I just listened to your excellent webinar, “The New Volunteer Managers Toolkit.” I am a retiring psychologist and have decided I’d like to focus some of my time and energy on volunteer retention. I’m not yet sure how to narrow the field, but I learned so much from your webinar and you sounded so receptive and encouraging, so I thought maybe I’d start by contacting you.

Topics: volunteer engagement Ask Jennifer
4 min read

4 Ways To Prepare Your Nonprofit For Reopening

By Jennifer Bennett on May 27, 2020

What should volunteer engagement look like as we move forward with the next phase of COVID-19 response? While things are opening back up, we are not just returning to life as it was before March.

What should we consider before inviting volunteers to return, and how can we ensure that we’re doing our best to protect our volunteers, our clients, and others in our organization?

Topics: covid19 nonprofit resources volunteer engagement
5 min read

How to Tap into the Power of Virtual Volunteers

By Jennifer Bennett on March 26, 2020

Featured

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    Every follower on your organization's social media is a potential volunteer—they just might not know it yet. Building...

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    Does Your Volunteer Manager Know You?

    Guest Post by Courtney Tull

    “Volunteers Needed.” After seeing this ad pop-up on your social media page for the fifth...

    4 min read
    Volunteer Managers—Are you quietly going about your day, solving problems, and being awesome?

    The September issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy highlighted some current challenges in volunteer engagement with...