Starting a Volunteer Program

Hello to all!

I was wondering if anyone will instruct me on how to start a volunteer program within my church. I know I need to identify skills, but I don't know the preliminaries. Are there grants available for this type of program? If so, how do I locate them? Are there any IRS issues? Insurance issues? Legal issues?  I've become weary searching the web. I hope someone can give me some good instruction.  Thanks to all!!

What exactly are you looking to do with these volunteers?

I suspect that a lot of the legal, liability, and financial considerations stem from that basic question.

Thank you for your response!

I want to have a volunteer group within my church. Individuals from the group would volunteer for community related functions, organizations, etc. It would be as if we the Church would be "loaning" our members because they would be representing the church.  I see this as a way for our  (the church) presence to be seen and known in the community.

I also wanted to know if there were grants that to help with mileage and other incentives.

This would be just a beginning

Howdy! FYI, the TechSoup Volunteers & Technology Forum is for discussions regarding volunteers and technology -- how to use tech to support volunteers, how to work with volunteers working on tech-related projects, etc.

The web is a great place to find references regarding volunteerism, but for comprehensive information to start a quality volunteering program at a church, I think you should invest in these books:

Beyond Police Checks: The Definitive Volunteer & Employee Screening Guidebook by Linda Graff. In a church setting, volunteers will have a lot of contact with other parishioners, including children. This book provides complete details on all of the various methods you can use to ensure your volunteer program has everyone's safety in mind. I consider it an essential for any volunteering program.

Screening Volunteers to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse: A Community Guide for Youth Organizations
Just 31 pages long, this isn't just for organizations focused on youth.

The (Help!) I-Don't-Have-Enough-Time Guide to Volunteer Management by Katherine Noyes Campbell and Susan J. Ellis
This is, IMO, the best basic volunteer management book ever. Most people who manage volunteers have many, many other responsibilities; this book recognizes that, and provides ready-to-use resources and easy-to-use references to get you up-and-running immediately with the basics of managing volunteers. This is now available as a downloadable book from Energizeinc.com (I believe the other two books are available from there as well; if not, just type the names into google).

You can view my favorite volunteer management resources here (some are books, some are free online resources).

For your future questions regarding general volunteer management issues, I recommend CYBERVPM, which is an online discussion group regarding general volunteer management issues. However, if you ever have any questions regarding how to use technology to support volunteers, how to work with volunteers online, how to work with volunteers working on tech issues, etc., I hope you will come back to this forum and ask your question!

Bless You!  You are very kind to share this info!! Thank you so much!  It's very much appreciated!!!

Hi, it's currently my job to start a volunteer program, so I know where you're coming from!  It's very confusing in the beginning.  Some good first steps are:

1)  Contacting other volunteer coordinators in your area to see what works for them

2)  Asking what potential volunteers are looking for in terms of opportunities

3)  Asess the needs of your organization (talk to different people and ask what sorts of things they would do if they had more time or resources)

4)  Decide how you're going to keep track of volunteer contact info, hours, etc.

...Hope that helps!  It's a long process, so hang in there!