What challenge inspired this recipe?
Our office’s long term volunteers host monthly online meetings for the volunteers which projects we coordinate. The goal of monthly meetings is to make sure the long-term incoming volunteers are doing well in their projects and to make sure that they are informed about recent developments, organizational news, and upcoming events.
The monthly meetings are also useful tools for occasionally featuring workshops, guest speakers, or training sessions to help volunteers grow both personally and professionally. Lastly, monthly meetings allow volunteers to connect with fellow volunteers, share experiences, and establish meaningful relationships.
Ingredients :
Different online tools, such as WhatsApp, Doodle, Zoom, Google meets.
Step by step guide
Depending on the localisation of the volunteering projects, monthly meetings can be in person or online. To establish the fitting date of the monthly meeting you can use tools such as doodle that allows volunteers to choose the best days and hours for the meeting. The meeting should last around 60 minutes.
For online meetings, make a conference meeting on platforms such as Zoom or Google meets and send an invitation via email or WhatsApp messages.
After establishing the date, you can start preparation for the meetings. With the help of platforms such as Padlet (especially during online monthly meetings) you can create interactive activities such as ice breakers, welcoming of the new volunteers and as well feedback activities for their projects where you can in a fun way check their satisfaction in the project and use it as an opportunity for volunteers to share feedback, suggestions, or concerns and engage in open discussions.
Important to highlight!By continuously adapting and improving monthly meetings to align with the evolving needs of your volunteers and organization, you can unlock their full potential as a mechanism for strengthening your volunteer program. Monthly meetings, when executed effectively, can be a very important part of getting your volunteers involved and making the project successful. Upscaling : Customize meeting content to meet the specific needs and interests of different volunteer groups within your organization. Ensure that each meeting remains relevant and engaging. |
Before you start cooking, keep in mind…
The first and the most common challenge is low frequency and maintaining high levels of engagement. If meetings become repetitive or lack interactive elements, volunteers may disengage over time. Secondly, Volunteers have diverse schedules and commitments, making it challenging to find a suitable time and date for everyone.
Lastly, new volunteers may need time to get familiar with the organization and the event before fully benefiting from monthly meetings.
