Training & Volunteer Development:

Training Volunteers as Project Leaders

Volunteers who are prepared and supported throughout their service experience are more likely to volunteer again. Training and professional development are especially important for volunteers who serve in leadership positions.

Project leaders who are properly trained and supported can strengthen your program and expand the work you are able to do in the community. A project leader is a volunteer who:

• Takes charge of a project by coordinating it and taking accountability for its successful completion
• Communicates the details of the project and serves as a resource for other volunteers
• Organizes, leads, and inspires a group of volunteers before, during, and after the project
• May initiate new projects
• Represents the national service program to other volunteers and to the community

Once you have recruited and selected project leaders, build on their interest and skills by further orienting leaders to your program and leadership goals. Orientation doesn’t always happen in a formal setting. Connecting people to the program’s efforts can happen any time and place!

Volunteers may already possess strong leadership and project management skills. However, you should always make available additional training to help project leaders develop these essential skills.

Orientation and training for project leaders should be more intensive than for other volunteers. Begin planning your orientation and training process by defining the desired outcomes. What should project leaders know and be able to do after the orientation and training?

Orientation and training for project leaders should include these basic components:

• History and mission of the national service program
• Ways volunteers impact the community
• Importance of the project leader’s role
• Project leader responsibilities
• Project development and management
• Volunteer management basics
• Reporting requirements (if any)

You can use a variety of training methods (e.g., informal gatherings, one-on-one meetings, formal classes, Web-based training, printed manuals) and tie the method to the outcomes you seek. Whatever method you use, remember to make it as experiential as possible; acknowledge and build on the leaders’ experience and knowledge; and include time for reflective learning.

Some of this material is adapted from resources by Hands On Greater Portland and L.A. Works, two member organizations of Hands On Network.

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