Volunteer Coordinator Manual - Florida Department of Juvenile Justice

volunteers’ skills to facility/program needs, youth interest to volunteers’interest, and facility/program goals to volunteers’ motives.At times you may have openings in the volunteer’s area of interest.Volunteers are applying for a job and are interested in making a contributionto your facility/program. If you do not need their help, be honest. Do notplace them somewhere because you feel obligated to accept everyone asvolunteers. Everyone can be a volunteer, but not everyone can volunteerin your facility/program. Be selective and do not overload staff with helpthey do not request or need. Volunteers must feel needed and useful. Youcan always refer them to another agency or keep their application on file.D. A NOTE ON OBJECTIVITY AND EFFECTIVENESSIn matching the facility/program goals with the volunteer’s motive, you mayfind it appropriate to consider the degree of objectivity the volunteer will beable to maintain because of his/her motivation. Some people come to yourfacility/program to volunteer because of strong personal feelings whichresulted from an experience of their own or that of someone very close tothem. Although their intent may be to put the facility/program goals first andpersonal crusades second, such volunteers will probably not be able tofunction effectively within your framework.Volunteers with personal commitments to the goals and principles set downby your facility/program may prove to be the most effective persons inworking with youth. A volunteer who has personally known the situations thatyouth are dealing with may also have a lot of credibility with them, so personalcommitment should by no means automatically indicate that a volunteer willbe to close to a situation to be effective. Objectivity is a vital part ofeffectiveness and maintaining objectivity should be included in a volunteer’sorientation. By clearly expressing the goals of your facility/program, andmaking certain that the volunteer understands that those goals are theobjectives of your program, both the volunteer and your facility/program willbe on the right track.E. TRAINING AND ORIENTATIONThe Association of Voluntary Action Scholars found in research that an hourspent in training the volunteer would yield about 15 hours in service. It iscertainly a crucial element in a successful volunteer program, and it is onethat volunteer coordinators stress as being important. Good training is alsosomething that volunteers often use as their first way to evaluate yoursupervision of them. If you start a volunteer off with appropriate andadequate training, the volunteer can begin with a positive frame of mind aboutyour ability to provide the training needed to do a good job. In trainingvolunteers, the goal is to equip them to perform the tasks you assign.Chapter 13Page 2 of 34/22/2010