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 |
|---|---|---|---|
8 Volunteer Recognition Ideas to Show Your Gratitude
A few new ideas mixed in with some old ones . . . worth a look. |
Staff Training | recognition, appreciation | 2025 |
6 Ways to Make Your Volunteer Opportunities Appeal to Short-Term Volunteers
The shift towards shorter volunteer commitments is no longer a passing trend; it's a lasting change. Short-term volunteers bring invaluable… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | Recruitment, job descriptions | 2025 |
Success with Idealist
This webinar was recorded on December 3, 2025. Jennifer Bennett, Director of Education and Training for Idealist helps us make a successful… more |
On-line Volunteer Recruitment, Staff Training | Idealist, Recruitment | 2025 |
Revitalizing Your Friends
Here’s the link to the recording and slides from our July 8 2025 webinar - Strategies for Revitalizing Your Friends presented by Isabella… more |
Staff Training, Capacity Building, Engaging High Impact Volunteers | Friends, Friends of the Library, Teens | 2025 |
Recruiting Multilingual Volunteers
This is a 7.5 minute video from consultant Dana Litwin with some excellent tips on reaching out to potential volunteers with language skills. |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | Recruitment, equity, diversity, inclusion, outreach, translator | 2025 |
Engaging Youth Volunteers: How Young People are Showing up in Service
2025 Galaxy Digital webinar on youth volunteers. |
Millennials | Youth, Teens, young adult | 2025 |
Ask an Exec: What Execs Really Think About Volunteer Programs
Recording of July 2025 webinar from the Association of Leaders in Volunteer Engagement dealing with executive director and leadership team support (… more |
Staff Training | leadership, staff buy-in, Director | 2025 |
Volunteer Retention: How to Foster Long-Term Loyalty
Includes why we should care about volunteer retention, how to calculate volunteer retention and retention strategies. |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | retention, 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 |
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 Training, Capacity Building | Recruitment, public relations, social media | 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 Training, Volunteer Orientation, Job Specific Volunteer Training | Niche Academy, orientation, Training | 2024 |
Successful Volunteer Interview Strategies
This webinar was delivered October 15, 2024 by Jennifer Bennett, Director of Education and Training at VolunteerMatch. She discussed why interviews… more |
Staff Training, Interviewing Volunteers | Interview Questions, interview | 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 |
How to Write Volunteer Surveys for Big Impact
Guidelines for creating your best surveys from VolunteerPro. |
Staff Training | surveys | 2024 |
Creating a Diverse Volunteer Pool
This is the recording of the May 23, 2024 – Get Involved Live Zoom Conversation: Creating a Diverse Volunteer Pool. An excellent discussion for… more |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | diversity, equity, inclusion | 2024 |
Engaging Position Descriptions for Boomers and Future Generations of Volunteers
A great list of dynamic words and catchy titles to use when describing your volunteer opportunities! – created by MAVA (Minnesota Alliance for… more |
Baby Boomers, Engaging High Impact Volunteers | job descriptions | 2024 |
Volunteer Recognition Ideas Across Generations
Ways to think about the types of recognition you provide for different generations of volunteers. |
Baby Boomers, Millennials, Staff Training | recognition, generations | 2024 |
A Guide for Creating Inclusive Volunteer Position Descriptions
This is one part of the 2024 "Is Everyone Welcome? Tools to Broaden Volunteer Engagement" toolkit found here: https://www.idealist.org/en/orgs/is-… more |
Staff Training | inclusive, Position Descriptions, job descriptions | 2024 |
Managing Volunteer Risks -- Where Are You Now?
In this blog, Volunteers Insurance Service Association, Inc. (VIS) suggests that to know where you need to be in managing your organization’s risk of… more |
Staff Training | Risk Management | 2024 |
Engaging the Volunteer of the Future
This 1 hour webinar was presented by Jennifer Bennett, Education & Training Director for VolunteerMatch in January 2024. In this webinar you’ll… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training, Millennials | Millenials | 2024 |