Training Materials | Get Involved! Resource Clearinghouse

Learn more about best practices in volunteer recruitment and engagement, and how to get the results you need.

NOTE: These are examples from public libraries and should be reviewed and modified to ensure fit with local policies and culture.

Title	Keyword	Tags	Year
Controlling Complaint Conversations This quick read provides quick tips to being a better listener and sorting through ‘provable facts’ from emotions and hearsay when a volunteer… more	Staff Training	Complaint, problem, unhappy	2019
Beware of These 6 Trends Lurking in Your Volunteer Program This brief article from November 2019 delineates troubling trends about volunteer engagement programs gleaned from the most recent Volunteer… more	Capacity Building		2019
Shelving with Dewey - Illinois This 1 hour self-paced course from LibraryU, a program of the Illinois State Library and the regional library systems is archived by WebJunction. It… more	Job Specific Volunteer Training	shelve, book shelving, shelver	2019
Recruitment Success Story - Flagstaff Arizona In this 4 minute video, Claudine from the Flagstaff library talks about her successes in finding a volunteer to serve as her assistant volunteer… more	Capacity Building, Engaging High Impact Volunteers	online booksales, Book sale	2019
Volunteer Appreciation Guide is Volunteer Appreciation Guide is a free resource developed by Wild Apricot to offer tips and advice for volunteer programs just getting started… more	Capacity Building	recognition	2019
Want to Write a Volunteer Program Annual Report? Here's How to Start VolunteerMatch blog guest post by Elisa Kosarin. This post originally appeared on Twenty Hats. Your volunteers tell a compelling story. It’s time to… more	Capacity Building		2019
Skills-Based Volunteering Toolkit This toolkit complete with worksheets was developed by Serve Ohio and Common Impact to assist in preparing to engage skills-based volunteers.	Engaging High Impact Volunteers, Capacity Building, Staff Training	Skills Based Volunteers, high-impact volunteers	2019
Skills Based Volunteering Toolkit - Common Impact Since 2000, Common Impact has supported nonprofits in effectively utilizing skills-based volunteering to build internal capacity to better serve the… more	Capacity Building, Engaging High Impact Volunteers	Skills Based Volunteers	2019
Playing by the Rules: Creating an Effective Volunteer Handbook. This one hour archived webinar was presented by Jennifer Bennett of VolunteerMatch in conjunction with the 4 state Get Involved: Powered by Your… more	Volunteer Handbooks	policies, handbook	2019
How to Build a Successful Volunteer Program This brief guidebook was created by the International City/County Management Association.	Capacity Building, Staff Training	toolkit	2019
Walking the Walk: Engage Library Volunteers in your Volunteer Engagement Program This 1-hour webinar by Jennifer Bennett of VolunteerMatch (recorded on August 29, 2019) focuses attention on how to engage volunteers in the work of… more	Engaging High Impact Volunteers, Capacity Building	Skilled Volunteers	2019
Do's and Don'ts of Supervising Library Volunteers This July 2019 article from Public Libraries Online provides an excellent overview of working with volunteers in large and small libraries.	Capacity Building, Staff Training	supervision	2019
Capacity Commons Guidebook on Skills-Based Volunteerism This guidebook will help you prepare your organization for the idea of utilizing skills-based volunteers, help you scope out the project(s) you need… more	Engaging High Impact Volunteers, Capacity Building	Skilled Volunteers, Skills Based Volunteers	2019
Arizona's Buckeye Library Shares it's Experience with Get Involved In this 6 minute video, Krista Cornish, Buckeye Library's (AZ) Volunteer Engagement Coordinator shares her library's experience and best… more	Capacity Building, Engaging Staff and Unions		2019
How to Prioritize When Everything Feels Important There's never enough time to do everything you want to do. It's a universal problem. And we all accept that fact and live with its reality until the… more	Staff Training	prioritize, priorities, planning	2019
Could Volunteers Replace Paid Staff?? Have No Fear! An organization’s decision to bring in volunteers may spark fears that volunteers could eventually replace staff. After all, volunteers can do many… more	Staff Training, Engaging Staff and Unions	Staff Resistance, staff buy-in	2019
Getting the Highest Visibility on VolunteerMatch – How to RePost Your Listing Keeping your volunteer opportunity near the top of the list in your zipcode is critical to keep it visible to potential volunteers. One of the… more	VolunteerMatch Tools and Resources	RePost	2018
Volunteer Management: How to Get it Right A 2018 study by MAVA (Minnesota Association of Volunteer Administrators) showed a lack of understanding about the essential nature of volunteers and… more	Capacity Building	volunteer coordinator	2018
Engaging Volunteers from Diverse and Immigrant Communities The Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (MAVA) has developed a set of 8 strategies for creating a more inclusive volunteer program at… more	Capacity Building, Staff Training	diverse, inclusive, immigrant	2018
New Volunteer Manager's Toolkit Get Involved Webinar Archived June 27, 2018 New to volunteer management? Looking for a refresher on the basics? This one hour webinar, presented by… more	Capacity Building, Interviewing Volunteers, Staff Training		2018