The World Cafe | Metoo Project

Needed: Volunteer Coordinator

Working as a volunteer coordinator, you'll manage all elements of volunteering and recruiting volunteers with the Cognitive Institute of Dallas at their Arlington and Fort Worth offices. The role involves assessing and meeting our organization's needs through the recruitment, placement and retention of volunteers. You'll also monitor, evaluate and accredit volunteers.

Responsibilities

As a volunteer coordinator, you'll need to:

• research and write volunteer policies and procedures, including risk assessments
• liaise with departments within your own organisation or with organisations for which you are recruiting volunteers (e.g. charities and councils) to understand how they work, develop partnerships and assess their volunteering needs
• generate appropriate volunteering opportunities and role descriptions based on the needs of the organisation
• raise staff awareness of the role and the function of volunteers
• ensure there is appropriate support and training for volunteers
• promote volunteering (internally and externally) through recruitment and publicity strategies and campaigns
• interview and recruit volunteers and ensure they are appropriately matched and trained for a position
• organise rotas and provide inductions and training
• monitor, support, motivate and accredit volunteers and their work
• celebrate volunteering by nominating volunteers for awards and organise celebration events
• offer advice and information to volunteers and external organisations through face-to-face, telephone and email contact
• organise profile-raising events to attract new volunteers
• attend committees and meetings
• manage budgets and resources, including the reimbursement of expenses
• keep up to date with legislation and policy related to volunteering and make any necessary modifications to accommodate changes
• work with multiple agencies across different sectors in order to establish good working relationships to influence decisions about volunteering
• generate income, write funding bids and raise funds to make projects sustainable
• monitor and evaluate activities and write reports for funders and trustees
• maintain databases and undertake any other administrative duties.

Salary

• Volunteer. Although salary is possible within the 2018 fiscal year.

Working hours

Part-time and full-time positions are available. Short-term and fixed-term contracts would become more common for this position. You have the flexibility of working from home or in office.

What to expect

• You are generally office-based with some opportunities for home-based working.
• The work can also involve visits to organisations which use volunteers, outreach work and site visits.
• Freelance work is possible, but requires experience and contacts.
• Opportunities are available more frequently in towns and cities, but also arise in rural areas.
• Work can be stressful when assuring reliability on the part of the volunteer. Projects and jobs are often dependent on short-term external funding.
• Travel within a working day can be frequent, either on a local or national level.
• There are international opportunities for volunteer coordinators to manage teams of volunteers overseas.

Qualifications

Although this area of work is generally open to all graduates, a degree or HND in the following subjects may increase your chances:

• business and management studies
• human resource management
• social work
• youth and community work.

Entry without a degree is possible as employers often value experience over academic achievements.

Skills

You will need to show:

• excellent communication skills
• strong interpersonal skills and the ability to deal with a diverse range of people
• experience of managing or coordinating projects and volunteers (paid or unpaid)
• an empathy with volunteers and an understanding of their needs
• the capacity to inspire and motivate others
• the ability to deal with information in a confidential manner and respond with sensitivity
• good organisational skills and the ability to manage a variety of tasks
• administrative and IT skills, and an ability to maintain records and produce clear written and oral reports
• experience of working across different sectors and developing links with other agencies
• a flexible and non-judgemental approach to people and work.

An understanding of the sector, a commitment to the organization to which you apply and, if relevant, empathy with service users are also important. Charities need people who have the ability to cope with limited resources, seize opportunities and think creatively.

The ability to handle numerical data may be required if the role involves budget management or fundraising, as well as political awareness and the ability to remain impartial, as many roles involve working in politically-sensitive areas.

Work experience

Pre-entry experience is essential, especially voluntary experience. If you are applying to work as a volunteer coordinator for an international organisation, having voluntary experience overseas, an understanding of other cultures, international contacts and a second language will be very important.