Volunteer Management in 2021
Nonprofit organizations love their volunteers. Oftentimes, the work of nonprofits, and other community organizations could never be accomplished without the help and support of their volunteers. If volunteers have a critical role to play in the health of your organization, it is equally important that you take the steps necessary to protect the health and well-being of your volunteers – especially as groups begin to shift away from working virtually, and begin to gather in person again.
Here you will find a compilation of suggested practices for smart volunteer management and COVID-19, gathered and compiled from the CDC, FEMA, and AMERICORPS – the National Service Organization.
Important to Note
These are broad guidelines, meant for a general audience. Be sure to check with your local health officials, for more location-specific, applicable guidelines that best suit the need of your local community. (For those looking for resources outside the state of Michigan, start here.)
If your local health department is yet recommending limits on in-person gatherings, consider opportunities for virtual volunteering.
To keep your Volunteers safe and healthy, consider the following:
Maintain a Healthy Environment
Provide volunteers with access to hand sanitizer (with at least 60% alcohol) and soap/sinks to wash hands.
Take the temperature of volunteers before, during, and after shifts.
Ensure that high-traffic areas (such as restrooms) are Cleaned and disinfected regularly, particularly high-touch surfaces such as faucets, toilets, doorknobs, and light switches.
If volunteers are working indoors - increase the circulation of outdoor air as much as possible
If food is being offered, the CDC suggests having individual, pre-packaged boxes or bags, using disposable food service items.
Communicate Clearly
Designate a point person who is responsible for responding to COVID-19 concerns. All volunteers, as well as staff, should know who this person is and how to contact them
Encourage volunteers to self-report to the designated COVID-19 point of contact if they have symptoms of COVID-19, a positive test for COVID-19, or were exposed to someone with COVID-19 within the last 14 days in accordance with health information sharing regulations for COVID-19
Post signs in highly visible locations that promote everyday protective measures and describe how to stop the spread of germs by properly washing hands and properly wearing a mask.
Consider developing signs and messages in alternative formats (e.g., large print, Braille, American Sign Language) and languages
The CDC offers free print and digital resources on CDC’s COVID-19 communications main page.
Be flexible
Consider scheduling staff and volunteers together in small groups or cohorts, that is always scheduled to work on the same days/times together. Ensure these groups of volunteers are as small and as static as possible.
Limit the amount of time that volunteers are within 6 feet of others, to the extent feasible. This may be accomplished by rearranging physical workspaces, or by carefully considering volunteers’ schedules.
Use flexible volunteer sites and/or flexible volunteering hours (e.g., staggered shifts or arrival times) as much as possible.
Further Resources:
Supporting Volunteer Efforts During Coronavirus: https://www.energizeinc.com/hot-topics/2020/march_0
PDF - COVID-19 Best Practice Information: Managing and Deploying Volunteers in a
Pandemic Environment (FEMA) https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/fema_covid_bp_volunteer-management.pdf
Serve Washington: Covid-19 Guidelines for Volunteers and Volunteer Organizations: https://servewashington.wa.gov/covid-19-guidelines-volunteers-and-volunteer-organizations-updated-772020
CDC: Organizations and Gatherings https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/index.html
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