Tips for Mentoring New Volunteers

Question:

How do you deal with super nice people who offer to help but need a lot of hand-holding? As many executive board members are busy with work, families, and other commitments, it is very difficult to hand-hold inexperienced folks through every activity and task. How do you train new chairs?

Answer:

We’ve all had those volunteers who try hard to help but seem to take forever when learning something new. With our own schedules so tight, who hasn’t felt a twinge of annoyance at these well-meaning parents, and then a surge of guilt for getting peeved at them?

A better approach is to handle newbies with a few strategies that help them slowly ramp up so you don’t need to be there every step of the way. We asked our community about their best tactics and they shared some helpful tips:

Start small
I am a second-year president, a full-time teacher, a mom of two, and coach my kids’ sports. I have a lot of new board members this year and I give them small tasks to do and when they get those down, I give them a little more to the point where they just do it now. Even just a text or email reminder helps too. - Jana L.

Have newbies shadow the pros
If you have recurring events like a Teacher Appreciation lunch and the parent who has spearheaded it for the last few years is on her last year, find a new volunteer now and have her shadow the outgoing parent THIS year. Then she’ll have an idea how it was run in the past, what the expectations are, and how she can do it her way and make it successful when she flies solo the following year. – Lisa B.

Create instruction manuals
Our PTO is in the process of putting together instructional and informational sheets for the events we hold. They include timing, tasks, number of volunteers, and items needed. We also maintain a yearly calendar so that everyone knows what events happen when and can plan for them with appropriate lead time. - Michelle W.

Keep it simple
I always tell new chairpeople to reduce their first event to just the basics. Then if they happen to have more helpers than they know what to do with, add more things. – Crystal H.

Pair new folks with patient mentors
I think it’s a great idea to give these people responsibilities and partner them with someone who is patient and more comfortable with volunteering. Some parents who have not had much experience volunteering might need hand holding because they feel unsure or out of place with members who “know the drill.” There are so many ways that parents can help a school and I feel like it is our job as PTO representatives to put in the effort to find these parents meaningful ways to help that are as best suited to their needs as possible. – Amber H.

Boost their confidence
Simply asking the new chair “What do you think?” or “How do you think we should do that?” goes a long way in instilling confidence and it lets them know it’s OK to have your own opinion and ideas. That gets a lot of people rolling! Also, make sure that each committee chair has a designated go-to board member for their questions so it isn’t always the president. – Sarah L.

Give them room to succeed
I helped start a morning run club and talent show. Both volunteers [chairs] are new so I didn’t know if they could take the bull by the horns. I sent out the first email and agenda, steered them in the right direction, gave suggestions, and helped get it off the ground. Once I saw that they could handle it, I stepped back. So far so good! – Shay F.

For additional resources on working with new volunteers, check out these articles:

6 Ways To Connect With New Volunteers

How To Cultivate Long-Term Volunteers

A Culture of Volunteer Appreciation

Originally published in 2015 and updated regularly.