Are Volunteers Worth It? How To Engage Volunteers to Raise More Money!

Meaningful volunteer leadership continues to distinguish institutions that are most effective in their development and advancement programs. This fundamental ingredient for success begins with governing Board volunteers, and flows to other volunteer groups that provide important work for your institution – the Advancement Committee, Major Gifts Committee, Campaign Cabinet, Alumni Council, Community/National/International Advisory Council, Planned Giving Advisory Council, Parents Council, Strategic Planning Committee, Annual Fund Committee, and special task forces, to name just a few.

In this Gonser Gerber Institute program, we will address the important questions of volunteer engagement: Are volunteers needed and worth the investment of time and energy? And, if so, how can we better engage them so that they find the work meaningful and results are achieved for our institutions? Here is an overview of the issues we will be addressing:

About Volunteers

What is a volunteer?
Why volunteers can be viewed as a distraction or even as a problem
How and why volunteers can be an important part of your advancement program

Characteristics of Volunteer Engagement

Characteristics of successful volunteers
Characteristics of advancement programs that engage volunteers successfully

How To: Engaging Volunteers Better

Successful volunteer engagement strategies for all institutions and organizations
One-on-one engagements – building your network of committed people
Group engagement – what to do when you have them together
Toward a more clear (and helpful) understanding of our work

On Demand Details: After your registration, you will receive a copy of the power point presentation as well as a copy of the recording. (Please allow at least 48 business hours to receive your materials.) You will be able to share these materials with your entire team, including volunteers, and review the recording as many times as you need.

Your Faculty

Jason McNeal, Ph.D., Gonser Gerber partner, has provided advancement leadership to non-profit organizations for more than 20 years. Having served as the chief advancement officer at East Georgia College and Maryville College (TN), he also has consulted with institutions throughout the U.S. and Canada. Dr. McNeal has written extensively on key issues in non-profit fundraising and leadership including his blog that you can find at http://www.jasonmcneal.com.

Michael Littell joined the firm in 2007 as a Senior Associate, and has been in the advancement field since 1982. Beginning his 31st year with Saint Xavier High School, a private Catholic school for young men, Saint Xavier’s advancement program has earned several honors and awards including ten CASE Circle of Excellence Awards for Overall Development Performance most recently in 2013 and a Grand Gold CASE award for video productions.