Volunteer Management for Schools: 5 Best Practices

Your school is fully committed to nurturing student learning and growth, but teachers and staff can’t do it all alone.

Parents and other volunteers contribute their time, energy, and talents at no cost to schools. To retain their support, your school must provide them with fulfilling roles, individualized appreciation, and an overall smooth volunteer experience—it’s the least they deserve.

Let’s explore five best practices you can use to improve your school volunteer program and build a loyal community of volunteers you can count on.

1. Partner with local businesses.

When you think about asking local businesses to support your school, event sponsorships or auction item donations might spring to mind. And they should—these are common ways local businesses make an impact on their community. At the same time, however, many local businesses provide their employees with volunteer time off (VTO) or similar programs.

According to 360MatchPro:

• 40% of Fortune 500 companies offer volunteer grant programs.
• 80% of companies with volunteer grant programs provide between $8-$15 per hour volunteered.
• The majority of companies that have a VTO policy offer 20 hours off to each employee per year.
• Corporate volunteer programs are on the rise, as 61% of businesses have reported an increase in employee participation in volunteer programs.

VTO provides employees with time to volunteer beyond their paid vacation days. Volunteer grants allow employees to secure corporate donations to your school after they contribute a certain number of hours of volunteering. By making more members of your school’s community aware of these opportunities, you can attract more dedicated volunteers to support your goals.

2. Streamline the volunteer sign-up process.

Your school likely uses various marketing strategies to share volunteer opportunities and fill open roles. Once you’ve reached people who are interested in lending a hand, however, you must make the sign-up process as easy as possible to maximize their chances of following through.

Here are some ways in which your school can simplify volunteer sign-ups:

• Create an online sign-up form for volunteer opportunities (and make sure it is mobile-friendly!)
• Add QR codes to physical volunteer recruitment materials, such as posters and flyers, so volunteers can sign up immediately through their smartphones.
• Provide clear, concise job descriptions. Make sure your volunteers know what you are asking them to do and, equally important, when they will be done with the job.
• Offer both short-term and long-term volunteer opportunities. Some volunteers may be looking for one-time events, while others prefer ongoing roles that allow them to make a more substantial impact.

For volunteer opportunities that involve interacting with students or working in the building during the school day, conduct background checks to ensure student safety. Your school can use volunteer management tools to tailor the screening process based on each role and how closely the volunteer will have to interact with students and other school community members.

3. Prioritize communication and team building early.

Volunteering at your school is a team effort, with each individual acting as a representative of the school. As such, volunteers need to understand not only the task you are asking them to do but also how their work fits into the bigger picture.

Here are some ways in which your school can prepare volunteers to excel in their roles:

• Provide in-person and virtual orientation sessions. Explain your mission and goals clearly and how each volunteer job contributes to them.

• Host an informal gathering to break the ice. Don’t overlook the social aspect of volunteering. Many people are inspired to volunteer because they want to connect more with others in their community.

• Designate a point of contact or mentor for support. Every year, some of your most productive volunteers will move on and be replaced with fresh faces. Plan for the hand-off by pairing your new volunteers with experienced ones.
• Offer hands-on training sessions as needed. If your volunteers will be working with tools or platforms like auction software, contact the vendor for training materials and schedules. 

Once everyone knows what they are supposed to do, make sure to communicate frequently with your volunteers. Send text reminders before each shift and promptly inform volunteers about any changes in time, location, or other key details.

4. Incorporate gamification into volunteering.

While volunteers should take their responsibilities seriously, this doesn’t mean they can’t have fun while carrying out their roles. By incorporating gamification elements into your school’s volunteer program, you can make the volunteer experience much more enjoyable, increasing the likelihood of volunteers returning for future shifts.

Some incentives your school can use to motivate volunteer participation include:

• Offering free childcare during volunteer shifts.
• Giving out branded merchandise, such as t-shirts.
• Providing free meals and refreshments.
• Entering volunteers in a raffle drawing.

Consider creating a points system where volunteers earn points for completing tasks such as attending orientation and contributing a certain number of hours. They can then use these points to redeem prizes or special benefits. Your school can even design its own digital volunteer badges or certificates, which it can award to top contributors, such as volunteers who helped you raise the most during your last fundraising campaign.

5. Develop a variety of appreciation methods.

During the year, it is important to have a steady stream of volunteer appreciation efforts to ensure everyone understands how important they are to your community. Not all of these have to be public and showy; some of your volunteers will respond best to simple, personal outreach.

Consider these popular ways to appreciate your volunteers:

• Send a personalized thank-you email or eCard.
• Host a volunteer appreciation event.
• Award gift cards or baskets.
• Shout out volunteers in social media posts and email newsletters.
• Spotlight key volunteers on your website.
• Create a thank-you video featuring your students.

You can also send post-volunteering surveys to collect feedback and make more strategic improvements to your volunteer program going forward.

Ask volunteers about the quality of training they received, how supported they felt throughout their experience, and any suggestions they have. For example, if several volunteers indicate that they ran into some issues with your online auction software, you could consider investing in a new solution or providing more training materials to guide them through essential processes.

As you refine your school’s volunteer program over time, track the following metrics to assess what’s working and what you can improve on:

• Acquisition Rate. How good is your parent group at recruiting new volunteers? Calculate this rate by comparing the number of new volunteers each period to the total outreach or existing volunteer base.
• Retention Rate. Calculate the percentage of volunteers who continue to participate beyond their initial involvement to understand and improve long-term engagement strategies.

• Volunteer Hours Worked: Monitor the total hours volunteers spend on tasks to effectively allocate resources and recognize their commitment to your program’s success.

• Volunteer Impact: Quantify the impact of your volunteer efforts; doing so might be required if you are utilizing volunteers acquired through a Volunteer Time Off (VTO) program.

With a strategic approach, you’ll be able to provide fulfilling experiences for volunteers and secure more lasting support for your school’s goals.