Volunteer management

Managing your volunteers effectively and providing them with adequate support will help you retain them. It will also enable you to ensure that their work is contributing to the overall aims of your organisation. Managers of volunteers have challenging roles, often carried out with few resources and as part of a much wider role.

Organisations need structures and systems to manage and support volunteers. There should be someone in your organisation with responsibility for volunteers. This could be a dedicated volunteer manager, or it might be part of someone’s wider duties. They could be an employee or a volunteer, but they need to have the right experience and support to fulfil this role.

National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Volunteering guidance

The management and co-ordination of volunteers is time consuming. It should either be a separate role, or a clear part of another role. NCVO’s Involving Volunteers provides a summary of the role of a volunteer co-ordinator.

The Heritage Volunteering Group was set up to offer support, advice and guidance. They have a wealth useful resources for staff and volunteers responsible for volunteer management, including regional networks which provide a forum for those managing volunteers to meet and share good practice.

The Army Museums Ogilby Trust’s Volunteer Management Toolkit includes top tips and templates to help you manage your volunteers.