FREE Learning Library

Why Volunteers Violate Boundaries (and What You Can Do to Stop It)

Melina Condren, Director of Engaging Organizations

We all know them. The volunteers who are always willing to go that extra mile. They give their time and their energy to the causes they believe in, and no matter what, they’re always willing to help out. If a client needs a friendly ear, they’ll listen. If someone needs a ride to a doctor’s appointment, they’ll drive. They go above and beyond… Beyond the boundaries of their role, that is.

In theory, this sounds great. A volunteer who’s willing to do everything in their power to help? Someone who’s going to do whatever it takes to support your cause? It sounds like a dream come true. But in reality, a volunteer who violates the boundaries of their role can cause a lot of problems for your clients, your organization, and for themselves.

More often than not, volunteers violate boundaries because they want to do everything they can to help. That means that if you want volunteers to stop violating boundaries, you need to make them understand that the best way for them to help is by fulfilling their role to the best of their abilities, not going beyond it.

• If the volunteer crosses boundaries, is there an emotional or physical risk to themselves or to the client?

• Would more training or expertise be necessary to fulfill extra duties safely or effectively?

• If a volunteer “unofficially” helps out a client, is there a risk to the organization that could result in less capacity to deliver programs?

Make sure that volunteers know what damage could be done by going beyond the boundaries of their role.

Although letting them know about the risks is important, it may not be enough to stop a volunteer from doing a little bit more, when they feel like it’s necessary for the client’s well-being. The desire to help can be a powerful motivator. And because of that, you should also offer volunteers alternative ways of helping out when it seems like a client needs more support than the volunteer role can provide.

• Is there a different program or a different person in your organization with the resources needed to be able to provide the support the client needs? Make sure your volunteers know about all your services, and where to send clients who need to use them.
• If your organization can’t address the problem itself, is there another organization that can? Give your volunteers a list of places to refer clients when they need something you don’t offer.

Sometimes, problems might arise that are outside of the scope of what your volunteers are meant to do, but they won’t have anywhere else to refer the clients to. In these cases, it can be helpful to make sure your volunteers know that they can go to you, or a program supervisor, and try to find a soluntion together. Volunteers won’t feel as much need to go off on their own to help clients if they know that there’s a supervisor who is open to new ideas and wants to use volunteer feedback to improve services.

Your volunteers are no doubt wonderful people who have a huge capacity to do good. But they’re not the right people to do everything. If you help them understand why it’s important to stay within the boundaries of their role, give them the power to help clients find other sources of support when they’re needed, and empower them to come to you when they see an extra need so you can work it out together, you’ll soon have volunteers who are committed to doing what’s best for the clients, the organization and themselves—without going above and beyond their boundaries.

Recruiting & Engaging Newcomer Volunteers - Subscriber Circle Summary and Tips

Mona ElSayeh, Subscriptions Manager

On April 22, 2015, a number of Volunteer Toronto subscribers participated in a discussion group hosted by North York Seniors Centre. The following are highlights from that dynamic conversation about working with newcomer volunteers.

The contributions newcomer volunteers make:

Roughly 50 % of the population of the GTA was born outside of Canada. Not only does engaging this group widen your potential pool of volunteers, but this huge number of residents can make unique contributions that are a great way to increase the capacity of any non-profit

• They bring diverse experiences and fresh perspectives
• They reflect our society and our stakeholders
• Working with newcomers can raise cultural awareness amongst both paid staff and volunteers
• They can help strengthen positive relationships with local communities

Where to recruit newcomers:

The most effective approach to recruitment is to be intentional. These methods were suggested by the group:

• Ask existing volunteers for referrals
• Advertise in educational institutions
• Reach out to settlement workers and Local Immigration Partnerships (LIP)
• Use social media
• Recruit through faith groups
• Advertise through multi-cultural media and events
• Reach out to Ontario works
• Advertise in community centres and neighbourhood coffee shops
• Form partnerships with corporations

Engaging Newcomers:

A good starting point for engagement is to understand newcomers’ motivations and needs. Newcomers may be looking for the following:

• To understand their new home
• To connect with their new community
• To gain Canadian experience
• To learn new skills
• To improve their language skills
• To make social connections and prevent loneliness and isolation

An added bonus is that volunteering will help them become engaged in society and this builds social capital and social cohesion.

Supporting Newcomer Volunteers
Organizations have a variety of practises to support newcomer volunteers:

• Assessing the language requirements of positions to see what is actually necessary for each task to avoid excluding potential volunteers who don’t speak English fluently
• Matching a newcomer volunteer with an experienced volunteer to provide one-to-one orientation and training
• Creating bridging opportunities for newcomer volunteers to help them participate in core services and leadership opportunities

Sammy Feilchenfeld, Training Coordinator 

In May 2015, a number of volunteer managers and coordinators from Toronto’s non-profit and charitable organizations came together to discuss the planning of and potential for program evaluations at Volunteer Toronto’s Subscriber Circle. Here are a few highlights and tips from the session:

What is a Program Evaluation?

• It’s a way to collect and interpret data to answer questions about your program’s efficiency, effectiveness and impact
• It can help you determine strengths and weaknesses of your volunteer program and increase transparency
• The process can help inform the growth of your organization and program while working toward your mission

What should I evaluate?

To determine what you’d like to evaluate, you should:

• Identify the purpose of the evaluation - what are you looking to find out?
• Determine the stakeholders - where will the data you collect from and who will it affect?
• Identify the program goals and the indicators of success that you can measure

Some examples of what to evaluate include:

• Measuring volunteer contributions
• Examining volunteer return rates (retention vs. attrition)
• Determining volunteer satisfaction
• Analyzing your feedback and evaluation system

How do I collect data for an evaluation?

• Start by understanding what data you already have, who you want to ask and how much detail you’ll need
• To reach large groups, you can use surveys sent out electronically or physically
• To reach smaller groups and individuals, you can use interviews and focus groups

What does all this data I collect mean?

• Take a look at the totals, averages and/or percentages of the data you collect
• To understand and fully use this data, make comparisons (trends over time, performance vs. target, group vs. group)
• Apply this data and your analysis to your purpose and your organization’s missions and goals
• Determine the story your data is trying to tell – use the data you collect, including numbers (volunteer hours, dollars raised) and anecdotal or descriptive data (stories, written responses) to determine the strengths and weaknesses you want to address

Are there tools to help me?

• When collecting measurable data, consider using volunteer hour tracking tools, online/e-mail survey systems and spreadsheets to record and compare information
• For descriptive feedback, you can record interviews and focus groups, use physical evaluation forms and utilize volunteers to help you read through all of the data you collect

Giving Volunteers Feedback – Subscriber Circle Summary & Tips

Sammy Feilchenfeld, Training Coordinator

In March 2015, a number of volunteer managers and coordinators from Toronto’s non-profit and charitable organizations came together to discuss “Giving Volunteers Feedback” at Volunteer Toronto’s Subscriber Circle. Here are a few key highlights and tips from the session:

• Set up a Performance Review System:

• In the position description, include your expectations of the volunteer, the consequences for failing to meet those expectations and your timelines for follow-up and feedback
• Set-up a probation period (a few weeks to a few months, depending on the volunteer’s term), conduct a consistent feedback schedule (every 6 weeks or months, for instance) and also provide ongoing feedback

• Feedback takes many shapes:

• Evaluation forms are often one or two paged print-outs with various quantitative data collection tools - such as scales (1 to 5), checkboxes and/or degrees – as well as qualitative feedback in the form of questions/answers and comments
• Informal conversations can occur on a scheduled basis and allow you to have a more personal discussion with volunteers – this can help you provide genuine, face-to-face feedback and assess other areas of volunteer involvement through conversation
• End-of-shift feedback can be a simple “thank you” or impact statement; it can also allow you to address an issue that came up during the shift and get the volunteer’s side of the story
• Electronic follow-up utilizes web tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to facilitate anonymous or otherwise feedback

• Some key points about giving feedback:

• When providing feedback, focus on what the volunteer can get out of it as well as the organization – remember the “give and get” of volunteering, they’re giving you their time but they’re also getting something out of it
• Always allow for 2-way feedback, manager gives volunteer feedback, volunteer gives manager feedback
• Make sure providing feedback is built-in and standardized, all volunteers know that it is part of their engagement (short term or long term) – this also ensures that volunteers are aware of the consequences and the serious measures associated with them
• Reiterate the volunteer’s impact in their feedback – “because of your work, we were able to do ____” and encourage changes and improvements to increase potential impact
• Be a coach, a guide and be there for volunteers
• Use volunteer logs (work completed, notes, etc.) as a means to track progress and provide feedback for volunteers
• It is not your responsibility to pass on negative feedback from someone (a community member, a staffperson or another volunteer) to the volunteer; remember that “it doesn’t matter who said it, the volunteer’s work affects everyone”

Why Your Program Needs A "Big Bang" Theory Of Change

Melina Condren, Training Resource Specialist

Many people believe that 13.8 billion years ago all the matter in the universe was in a single point, and that it has slowly expanded into the cosmos we know today. It’s amazing to think that the planet we experience today started from something seemingly small and insignificant. Much like our universe, ideas and plans may start small but eventually expand, grow and collide to meet our intended goals.

At the beginning, planning your Volunteer programs can seem chaotic; with requests and needs coming from all directions the decision making process can seem overwhelming. Which programs need volunteers? Should you bring in as many volunteers as possible because more hands mean light work? Would recruiting the highest skilled volunteers mean a higher impact and more specialized contributions? Are there any special projects that volunteers should take on?

Well, a theory of change can help you answer these questions and transform your decision making process from a high-stress guessing game into a clear-cut choice.

A theory of change is a way to map out your long-term goals, and all of the actions and conditions necessary to reach them. It’s a logical sequence of cause and effect that can be used in planning or evaluation. It’s a great way to decide what your program should be doing now to reach your goals in the future, and to figure out what you should measure so that you can check whether or not you’re succeeding every step of the way.

Although theories of change are becoming more and more popular in the non-profit sector, so far they haven’t had much attention from volunteer managers. But a theory of change can be incredibly useful for volunteer programs. In volunteer management, there’s sometimes a tendency to try to cater to the needs of all potential volunteers, instead of establishing and working towards specific program goals. By using a theory of change, you can identify your goals first, and then work backwards to figure out the steps and interventions needed to reach those goals. By doing that, you’ll be able to see the areas where volunteers would be most useful in helping your organization fulfill its mission, instead of trying to fit in volunteers anywhere and everywhere in the hope that they’ll manage to have a positive impact.

To create a theory of change for your volunteer program, it can be helpful to follow the six steps described by the Center for Theory of Change:

1) Identify the long-term goals of your program or your organization.

2) Work backwards from your goals to identify the necessary requirements to meet your goals.

3) Identify your assumptions about the context you’re working within.

4) Identify the interventions that your program will perform.

5) Decide what you’ll measure to assess performance along the way.

6) Write a narrative to explain the reasoning behind your initiative.

To learn more about these steps and to access tools and examples to help you out, visit www.theoryofchange.org.

Choosing long-term goals and identifying a logical strategy to meet those goals is one of the most important things you can do to make sure your program is being productive and efficient. Using a theory of change will give yourself the time and tools to develop your programs, enabling your volunteers to reach your mission and maybe expand their “universe” in the process.