Appalachian Center
Brushy Fork Institute

Brushy Fork Institute
CPO 2164
Berea, KY 40404
Phone: 859-985-3858
Fax: 859-985-3903

Office Hours:
M–F, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Contact:

Ten Commandments for Effectively Using Volunteers
 

DON'T

  • Just sign people up. . .
  • Recruit people to come to meetings . . .
  • Make new volunteers work alone. . .
  • Just tell them what to do. . .
  • Ask people what they want to do. . .
  • Use them up and burn them out. . .
  • Ignore their suggestions. . .
  • Let them starve for appreciation. . .
  • Assume volunteers can only be "workers". . .
  • Assume you don't have time to train volunteers. . .

DO

  • Give them something to do!
  • Recruit people to come to activities!
  • Assign them a partner or put them on a team!
  • Involve them in project planning!
  • Ask them what they like to do!
  • Keep expectations reasonable and keep adding new volunteers to share the work!
  • Let them know you appreciate their input!
  • Pay them with praise!
  • Let them run projects or be trainers and coordinators for other volunteers!
  • Consider whether you really have time to do it all by yourself

Download this file to print as a handout.
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