[OKC] Standards in Focus: Engage, Don’t Just Manage

You know the Standards for Excellence. Now let's get specific.

Standards in Focus is a new series of focused, three-hour trainings built directly from the Standards for Excellence educational resource packets, the same nationally recognized framework your organization may already be working toward, examined one topic at a time. Where the two-day Standards for Excellence course gives you the full picture, these sessions are designed to zero in on particular areas of nonprofit ethics, governance, and operations so you can walk away with actionable tools and clarity on the issues your organization is actively navigating.

Each training is its own complete learning experience. You don't need to have completed the two-day course to participate, these trainings stand on their own and are open to nonprofit staff, board members, and leaders at any stage of their standards journey. 

Course Description

Recruiting warm bodies and building a thriving volunteer program are two very different things. Built from the Standards for Excellence educational packet on Engaging Volunteers, this training takes a practical look at what it takes to move beyond filling slots, from developing clear policies and position descriptions to shifting your mindset from volunteer management to volunteer engagement. Participants will explore volunteerism trends, generational differences in how people serve, and the strategies that turn one-time volunteers into long-term organizational assets. 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

1. Explain the Standards for Excellence expectations for volunteer policies and how they connect to broader HR best practices. 
2. Identify key trends and generational differences in volunteerism and apply them to more effective recruitment and cultivation. 
3. Develop volunteer position descriptions that clearly communicate purpose, expectations, and benefits. 
4. Distinguish between volunteer management and volunteer engagement models and describe the shifts needed to move toward engagement. 
5. Build or revise volunteer policies that address conduct, safety, supervision, and recognition.