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 |
|---|---|---|---|
Volunteer Recognition Beyond the Basics: Creative & Impactful Strategies
Webinar recording: Learning Goals: Explore budget-friendly ways to celebrate volunteers, from social media spotlights to personalized gestures… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | recognition | 2025 |
Train Volunteers with this Simple 4-Step Framework
This is a June 2025 episode of Tobi Johnson's podcast. She says: "Whether you’re building a new training from scratch or refreshing your… more |
Staff Training | Training, volunteer training | 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 Training, Engaging High Impact Volunteers, Capacity Building | diversity, equity, inclusion | 2025 |
Is Everyone Welcome? Tools to Broaden Volunteer Engagement
This is the recording of the April 15, 2025 webinar: Is Everyone Welcome? Tools to Broaden Volunteer Engagement. When segments of the community do… more |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | diversity, equity, inclusion, Recruitment | 2025 |
How Can the Nonprofit Field Better Support Volunteerism?
A very brief article to challenge the way you think about volunteers, and think about ways you can be more supportive to increase effectiveness. |
Staff Training | Recruitment, supervising | 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 |
From Nice to Necessary: Unleashing the Impact of Volunteering Through Transformative Investment
Points of Light believes volunteering is one of the most powerful tools we have to strengthen communities. They commissioned this report in 2025 —… more |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | funding, investment | 2025 |
The Volunteer Engagement Leader’s Playbook: Building Influence, Credibility, and Impact
Too often, volunteer involvement is treated as a program—a siloed effort managed by one department—rather than as a strategy that can transform an… more |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | 2025 | |
Toolkit for Working with Rural Volunteers
After completing a three-year research project on rural volunteerism the Rural Volunteerism Initiative created the Toolkit for Working with Rural… more |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | rural, volunteer engagement | 2025 |
Bibliography on Volunteer Engagement
Bibliography and Web Resources on Volunteer Engagement developed by Carla Lehn |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | bibliography, Lehn | 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 Training, Job Specific Volunteer Training | Pet Therapy, dog, reading | 2025 |
Hands-On Help and Generous Giving: How Volunteering and Donations Fuel Each Other’s Impact
Studies show that giving and volunteering work collaboratively to support each other and that volunteers are 14.5 percentage points more likely to… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | fundraising, giving and volunteering | 2025 |
Resources for Internship Programs - Idealist
Several articles on interviewing, hiring, and training interns, as well as managing an internship program. |
Interviewing Volunteers, Capacity Building | intern, internship | 2025 |
Volunteering: An Antidote to the Epidemic of Loneliness
In this webinar, experts and global leaders explore how volunteering serves as a powerful antidote to the growing epidemic of loneliness. The… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | loneliness | 2025 |
20+ Volunteer Survey Questions to Improve Your Program
This guide covers the ins and outs of volunteer surveys, from the best questions to ask to top tips for making the survey process a success. |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | surveys | 2025 |
| Capacity Building, Staff Training | disabilities, inclusive | 2024 | |
The Human Side of Recruitment
This webinar was presented by Beth Steinhorn of VQ Strategies on July 10, 2024. Recruitment is more than simply posting online ads. Ultimately,… more |
Staff Training, Interviewing Volunteers | Recruitment, pitch, interview | 2024 |
Disability Awareness and Inclusive Behaviors
This is a section of another publication that provides some great guidance. It starts on Page 9 of "Serving Patrons with Disabilities in Small and… more |
Staff Training | inclusive, inclusion, disabilities | 2024 |
Tips for Selecting a Volunteer Management Database
Wendy Johnson of the Indianapolis Public Library presented this session for the Get Involved Initiative in July 2024. If it's time to investigate a… more |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | volunteer management system, vms, database, Tracking, Reporting | 2024 |
Time Management for Volunteer Engagement Coordinators: Putting Volunteers to Work to Help YOU
This one hour webinar was recorded March 7, 2024, and was presented by Jennifer Bennett, CVA, Director of Education and Training for VolunteerMatch.… more |
Staff Training | time management, Program Assistant | 2024 |