Retaining and Rewarding Volunteers
Volunteers are extremely important to aid the development of volleyball across the country. Without these individuals, the sport simply would not exist.
Retain & Reward
Volunteers are more likely to stay within the sport if they have a fun, enjoyable and rewarding experience. There are some small things you can do to retain volunteers in your club:
Make sure you communicate regularly
Setting aside some time to communicate with, and more importantly, listen to your volunteers is vital. Regular communication provides you with the opportunity to:
- Keep them updated on news & development
- Provide the opportunity to raise any concerns and for volunteers to ask questions
- Connect with them regularly through their preferred method of contact i.e. face to face, email, text, social media or phone
Personal Development
Provide volunteers with opportunities to attend courses, workshops, try a new role or give them more responsbility. This can lead to a greater sense of engagement and value.
Recognise their contribution
This doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, sometimes its about the small things. It can go along way to make volunteers feel appreciated. Examples of this are:
- Volunteer award evening – end of season events via clubs or other organisations such as Volleyball England Annual Awards, Active Partnership awards etc.
- Personal thank you messages - either from someone who has benefited from volunteering, or perhaps from someone in a leadership position within the club
- Regular ‘shout-outs’ or claps at activity sessions- this is often has the most impact coming from the participants who have benefited from the volunteers’ efforts
- A ‘thank you’ from any members of your club including players/parents go along way!
Keep them involved
Involving volunteers in decision-making, especially in areas which affect them, can be really advantageous. Consider inviting them to attend Committee meetings, working groups or ask them what they think. Allow them to see the impact their contribution.
Finally, make it fun!
Buddle have more guidance on meeting peoples needs here.
Succession Planning
Succession planning is really important to the future sustainability of your club. It enables you to identify and upskill suitable people to take up important roles or tasks so that the club can continue to run without any challenges when someone leaves.
A succession plan will allow you to:
- Understand each role and related responsibilities.
- Indentify and train volunteers to take up higher leadership roles.
- Plan training and development.
- Create a growth plan for volunteers.
- Share workload.
- Achieve good governance through diversity of leadership.
- Develop a sense of security.
The first part of carrying out successful succession planning starts with a skills audit. A skills audit is mapping out the skills, experience and behaviours needed for different roles required to run the club effectively and achieve pre-defined goals. You can find the steps to complete a skills audit here.
Step by step guidance on succession planning can be find here.
You can download a copy of the clubs succession planning template on the Volleyball England Club Hub.
