Training Materials

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
Library Shelving Quiz
This quiz could be used as part of your training for volunteers who do shelving. See also:
https://getinvolvedclearinghouse.org/training-materials/… more
Job Specific Volunteer Training Shelving, shelver 2023
How to Build a Truly Inclusive Nonprofit Volunteer Program
In 2023, the Assessing Diversity and Equity in Volunteer Involvement (ADEVI) project started with a survey of 564 individuals with a Certification in… more
Staff Training diversity, equity, inclusion 2023
How to Recruit and Retain Gen Z Volunteers
Interesting facts and trends about Gen Z presented by Gen Z members themselves.
Slides available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/… more
Capacity Building Gen Z, Recruitment 2023
Mirror, Mirror on the wall - The role of self-awareness in equity work
Take a moment to read this very brief article about how to be more self aware while doing equity work.
Staff Training diversity, equity, inclusion 2023
5 Myths About Volunteer Engagement
Beth Steinhorn, President of VQ Volunteer Strategies prepared a 4 - 5 minute YouTube video on each of her top 5 Volunteer Engagement Myths. They can… more
Staff Training myths 2023
Book To Action - Solano County CA
Solano County Library's 2023 Book to Action project
Staff Training 2023
10 Must Have's for a Well-Crafted Volunteer Job Description
Great reminders about what every volunteer job description should contain.
Capacity BuildingStaff Training job descriptions, Position Descriptions 2022
Bringing Volunteers Back: “Re-Booting” as We Come Out of the Pandemic
This one-hour live online meeting was held on July 13, 2022 and features California library volunteer engagement leaders sharing their experiences… more
Capacity Building COVID-19 2022
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Resources - California State Library
This website of applicable materials was developed and is maintained by the California State Library.
Staff Training diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging 2022
Consequences of Good v. Bad Volunteer Experiences
A brief article detailing a couple of ways to make your volunteers have a good experience, or to respond to situations where someone's had a bad… more
Staff Training 2022
Professional Ethics in Volunteer Administration
These handouts and powerpoint are from a webinar titled: "Sticky Situations: Applying Ethics to Your Work with Volunteers" presented by Katie… more
Staff Training Ethics, CVA 2022
Volunteer Orientation and Training: The Ultimate Guide
A 2022 article from Wild Apricot on what to consider when planning volunteer orientation and Training.
Capacity Building volunteer training, orientation 2022
Fun Volunteer Teambuilding Activities That Will Keep Your Remote Team Engaged
This article from Tobi Johnson about Volunteer Team Building activities includes instructions for both in-person and virtual activities.
Capacity BuildingEngaging High Impact Volunteers team building 2022
Survey Design: The Top 10 Best Practices to Maximize Your Results
Survey design is extremely important as it can make or break your survey's completion rate. This article reviews some survey design fundamentals, and… more
Capacity BuildingStaff Training surveys 2022
Sticky Situations: Applying Ethics to Your Work with Volunteers
We all encounter ethical dilemmas in our daily work.  But rarely do organizations focus on ethics related to volunteer engagement.  This… more
Staff Training Ethics 2022
Changing the Frame: Civic Engagement Through A Racial Equity Lens
Since Robert Putnam’s book Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital came out in 2000, policymakers, nonprofit funders, and pundits have sent… more
Capacity BuildingStaff Training diversity, equity, inclusion 2022
Preparing Co-Workers to Lead Volunteers Online and On Land
Ideas for training staff to engage with volunteers.
Staff TrainingCapacity Building Staff Resistance, staff buy-in, staff training 2022
Research and Case Studies Regarding Virtual Volunteering
Research on virtual volunteering compiled and updated in March 2022 by Jayne Cravens of Coyote Communications.
Capacity BuildingEngaging High Impact Volunteers virtual, virtual volunteer 2022
Privilege, Bias and Microaggressions
On Aug 25, 2022 Points of Light and the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration led a conversation exploring identity, privilege, bias and… more
Capacity BuildingStaff Training privilege, bias, microaggression, diversity, equity, inclusion 2022
Recruiting Local Volunteers to Increase Diversity Among the Ranks
This blog post by Jayne Cravens provides some ideas for expanding diversity among your volunteers. Includes a number of links to related topics as… more
Staff Training diversity, equity, inclusion, Recruitment 2022