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
Engaging Youth Volunteers: How Young People are Showing up in Service
2025 Galaxy Digital webinar on youth volunteers.
Millennials Youth, Teens, young adult 2025
Volunteer Recruitment Activities
Good overview of recruitment ideas in a 3 & 1/2 minute video. Check it out to see if you're missing a piece of the puzzle.
Staff Training Recruitment 2025
Multi-Generational Panel on Volunteering
This March 2025 panel of volunteers from varying generations provides some keen insights into engaging each group. This event was produced by the… more
Baby BoomersStaff Training generations, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, Millenials 2025
Where Do I Go From Here? Engage Volunteers in New Ways
This 1 hour webinar was presented for the Get Involved initiative by Jennifer Bennett, Director of Education and Training at VolunteerMatch on… more
Capacity BuildingStaff Training Recruitment, strategic planning 2025
Engaging Gen Alpha to the Silent Generation: Volunteer Strategies for Nonprofits
This brief article gives a great description of each generation along with what defines them and tips for engaging each in volunteering.
Baby BoomersStaff Training generations, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, Millenials, Gen Alpha 2025
6 HR Strategies for Nonprofits to Enhance Volunteer-Staff Collaboration
A quick read with ideas on maximizing volunteer-staff interactions.
Staff TrainingEngaging Staff and Unions Staff Resistance, staff buy-in, volunteer staff relations 2025
Social Media and Volunteer Engagement
This is the 30 minute recording of Jennifer Bennett’s March 2025 presentation on utilizing social media in your library volunteer engagement efforts… more
On-line Volunteer Recruitment social media, Recruitment 2025
Preparing for an Internship Program - Indianapolis IN
Attached are a treasure trove of documents that will help to establish and/or update your library's internship efforts. Many thanks to Wendy Johnson… more
Capacity BuildingEngaging High Impact Volunteers intern, internship 2025
Is Everyone Welcome? Tools to Broaden Volunteer Engagement
The "Is Everyone Welcome Toolkit" aims to support leaders of volunteers to be more equitable in their practice so more people feel welcome in the… more
Staff TrainingEngaging High Impact VolunteersCapacity Building diversity, equity, inclusion 2025
Statement on Artificial Intelligence - Indianapolis Public Library
Statement on AI from the leadership team of the Indianapolis Public Library - February 2025.
Staff Training AI, Artificial Intelligence 2025
Why Your Library Needs a Reading Dog
In 2010, the University Of California - Davis completed a study on reading dog programs, which found that readers who participated in a 10-week… more
Staff TrainingJob Specific Volunteer Training Pet Therapy, dog, reading 2025
VolunteerMatch Boot Camp: Recruiting 101
This webinar presents ways to get the most from your VolunteerMatch account, and how to use some of their new tools.
On-line Volunteer RecruitmentVolunteerMatch Tools and ResourcesCapacity Building Recruitment 2025
Neither//Nor: Stories of Life Beyond Binary Gender
More and more people are negotiating gender beyond the binaries of Male/Female/Man/Woman/Boy/Girl. This 60 minute webinar from the Human Rights… more
Staff Training equity, diversity, inclusion, Gender 2024
Disability Inclusive Volunteering Toolkit
Whether your organization already understands the benefits of welcoming volunteers of differing abilities, or has less experience with including… more
Staff TrainingCapacity Building disabilities, inclusive, inclusion, diversity, equity 2024
Book to Action - Santa Barbara CA
A history of Santa Barbara Public Library's Book to Action programs since 2019.
Staff Training Book to action 2024
Designing Volunteer Training in Niche Academy
This webinar was presented on March 27, 2024 by Jessica Link, Library Volunteer Supervisor, Cedar Rapids Public Library (Iowa) and Amy Selmi Amy… more
Staff TrainingVolunteer OrientationJob Specific Volunteer Training Niche Academy, orientation, Training 2024
Inclusive Volunteering Training Video
This 8 minute video is an accompaniment to the Disability Inclusive Volunteering Toolkit developed by Volunteer Fairfax.  You can find it here:… more
Staff TrainingCapacity Building disabilities, inclusive, inclusion, equity, diversity 2024
Tips & Tricks for Recruiting Online
This is the recording of a webinar presented by Jennifer Bennett, Director of Education and Training at VolunteerMatch on May 16, 2024. Passcode… more
On-line Volunteer RecruitmentVolunteerMatch Tools and ResourcesStaff Training 2024
Inspiring Action: How Volunteer Stories Can Drive Recruitment & Engagement
Including the story and impact of volunteers in recruitment messages can help recruit more volunteers and can help build stronger connections and… more
Staff TrainingCapacity Building Recruitment, public relations, social media 2024
Volunteer Value Beyond Numbers, Hours and Dollars
A great summary from Sue Carter Kahl of alternatives we can use beyond just numbers, hours, and dollars to measure the value of volunteer engagement.
Staff Training ROI 2024