Developing a volunteer program: Initial assessment
By Monika Penner
October 29, 2001
Designing and implementing a volunteer program from scratch is not easy but
it can be a lot of fun. Similarly, revamping an existing program may be a
somewhat stressful task, but with the understanding, input, and cooperation
of all, it can be less daunting. Often volunteer programs have been put together
quickly and out of necessity. Thus, it is a good idea to ‘go back and
reflect’ on the volunteer program and evaluate its challenges and successes.
The easiest and least expensive way to assess a program is through surveying
methods. Quantitative assessing methods include surveys (preferably anonymous
or confidential) to agency staff, volunteers, clients, and/or community members.
The purpose of quantitative methods is to gather a large amount of non-detailed
information. On the other hand, qualitative methods are more detailed and
usually involve in-depth interviews with people about the volunteer program.
When creating your assessment tools determine who should be a part of this
survey (i.e. volunteers, clients, staff). Remember, the more people involved,
the more information you will receive!
Volunteer Program Survey:
SA: strongly agree A: agree D: disagree SD: strongly disagree |
| Question |
SA
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A
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D
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SD
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| Volunteer roles and expectations are clearly
defined. |
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| Staff roles and expectations are clearly defined. |
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| There are adequate policies in place regarding the volunteer
program. |
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| The confidentiality policy is clearly understood and followed. |
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| Volunteers are well supported at the Centre. |
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| Volunteer feedback is important to the Centre. |
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| Volunteers regularly receive feedback about their work
at the Centre. |
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| Volunteers are regularly asked to provide input at the Centre. |
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| It is easy to get a hold of the Volunteer Coordinator. |
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| Volunteers are given a sufficient orientation of the Centre. |
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| Volunteers are given sufficient on-the-job training. |
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| Emergency procedures are clearly defined. |
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| Volunteers are regularly appreciated. |
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| Volunteers are regularly challenged to try new things. |
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| There are clear conflict resolution tools in place. |
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| Are there any other comments you would like to make? |
Assessment questions to ask before implementing and designing a volunteer
program
- In what areas are volunteers needed?
- What tasks specifically would volunteers do?
- What skills are needed for these tasks?
- What are some of the short-term goals of having a volunteer program?
- What are some of the long-term goals of having a volunteer program?
- What would be some of the benefits of volunteering at your agency?
- Who would coordinate the volunteer program?
- How much money should be budgeted for the volunteer program?
- What are some foreseeable problems, and potential solutions?
- What are your personal feelings about working with volunteers?
- What do you think are the attitudes of other staff when it comes to working
with volunteers?
- What are some strategies of promoting positive staff/volunteer relationships?
Questions
to ask when assessing an existing volunteer program
- In what capacity are volunteers being used in the agency?
- What are the strengths of the volunteer program?
- What are some of the gaps/challenges in the volunteer program?
- What are some suggestions to improve the volunteer program?
- Have short-term goals been met?
- Have long-term goals been met?
- Are there any other areas that volunteers can be used?
Compiling the Assessment
After being collected data should be catalogued in a meaningful way. It should
clear, concisely and accurately represent results. There are many ways to
catalogue data; you can base it on position, on issues, or on both. Below
is an example of data compilation for the above survey.
Step One: Analyzing Representation
Number of complete surveys: _____
Number of incomplete surveys: _____
Surveys with no response (not turned in): _____
These three questions may determine whether the survey questioning was suitable
and comfortable for individuals. A high number of incomplete surveys may indicate
unclear or redundant questions; a high number of unreturned surveys may indicate
a lack of interest, willingness, or time. As well, this determines the quality
of the data (i.e. the higher the response rate, the better).
Number of staff members completing surveys: _____
Percentage of total completed surveys: _____
Number of volunteers completing surveys: _____
Percentage of total completed surveys: _____
Number of clients completing surveys: _____
Percentage of total completed surveys: ______
Percentage of staff members (out of total number of staff, volunteers and
clients) _____
Percentage of volunteers (out of total number of staff, volunteers and clients)
_____
Percentage of clients (out of total number of staff, volunteers and clients)
_____
These questions evaluate the representation of the sample. Is anyone over
or under represented? This may indicate invalid results (i.e. not the ‘complete
picture’).
Step Two: Summarizing Comments
Create charts to record and summarize how survey respondents answered the
following questions:
- What are the strengths of the volunteer program?
- What are the gaps/challenges in the volunteer program?
- What are some suggestions to improve the volunteer program?
Be sure to record whether the response came from a staff member, volunteer
or client and note the number of similar answers received. Outlining comments
in chart form retains anonymity of results. No one knows who said what. This
allows one to share the information with agency staff, volunteers, and surveyed
clients.
Step Three: Adding Up Table Responses
Group and tally all table responses together. Chart the number of people who
strongly agreed, the number that agreed, disagreed and strongly disagreed, as
well as the number of individuals who did not check off any box for each statement
in the table.
Step Four: Summarizing Chart Responses
For each statement in the chart you want to determine the mean, median and mode
response. In order to do this you must evaluate your chart using a point system.
Strongly disagree=1, Disagree=2, Agree=3, Strongly agree=4.
Mean refers to the average. If for the first statement there were 2 Strongly
Agrees (4 points each) = 8, 15 Agrees (3 points each)= 45, 3 Disagrees (1 point
each) = 3 and no Strongly Disagrees then you add up the totals (8+45+3) and
divide them by the number of respondents (not including ‘no answer’).
For the first statement, the mean would be (8+45+3) divided by 20. The result
would be 2.8, which would be rounded to 3, indicating that the mean response
to the first statement would be "Agree".
Median refers to the middle number when you line up all the numbers in
the row. If there are odd numbers, the exact middle one is the median. If the
numbers are even, you average the two middle numbers. If we refer to the numbers
from the above example, the responses were: 4,4,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2.
Thus, the median is 3 or "Agree".
Mode refers to the response occurring most often. If for the first statement
there were 2 Strongly Agrees (worth 4 points each), 15 Agrees (worth 3 points
each), 3 Disagrees (worth 2 points each) then the most common response was Agree,
which is 3.
The purpose of using multiple calculating tools is to ensure an accurate reflection
of individuals' responses. In this case, they were relatively uniform. But in
some cases there may be a survey ‘way off the chart’ (which changes
the average) but the mode and median will demonstrate that that is not the norm.
Step Five: Summarizing the Data
You want to present the data in a concise, concrete manner, such as a summary.
A summary outlines the findings of the survey. For example, "The majority
of respondents agreed that.... Challenges reflected in this survey include volunteers
not being regularly challenged to try new things, and conflict resolution tools
not being in place." It is a good idea to offer recommendations with summaries.
After the Assessment
After the initial assessment, there are many other things to do before actually
implementing the volunteer program. For instance, the agency should develop
guidelines and policies before actually recruiting volunteers. Screening techniques
should be developed and used and recruitment strategies should be determined
beforehand or at least the agency should have an idea of who and where it wants
to recruit.
Excerpt from "Volunteer Synchronicity". To order this 400+ page manual
please call (250) 762 2355 or e-mail the Kelowna Women's Resource Centre at kelwomenscentre@telus.net.
