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no plagiarize, spell check, and check your grammar. Please use the references below. Ask at least one question in response to an original peer post that you would like the author to explore further.
- Why do I need to evaluate the volunteer program?
After a program has developed over the past 24 months, I need to evaluate how effective the program has been. What are the strengths of the program and what are the continued areas that need to grow? I would need to evaluate in which capacity was the most effective such as an increase in recruiting methods, improvement in retention strategies, or successful coaching techniques that better supported volunteers. If an evaluation is not completed, then a program will not know what has been effective and what still needs more work.
- How will I collect the required impact evaluation data?
In collecting data, I would need to examine what goals were set at the implementation of the program and see how effective in meeting those goals the program was. I would utilize surveys for clients and focus groups for volunteers and programs impacted by the volunteers. Through analyzing numbers alone, you may only understand so much about the volunteers’ impact on an organization. Including surveys provides anonymity to help participants feel comfortable. Focus groups can provide an environment for participants’ ideas to build off one another. I know that it may be easier to break down the data to decide to do either quantitative research or qualitative research, but personally, I prefer mixed methodology. When both types of data are present, I feel that the numbers along with the personal attribute provides the strongest argument.
- Who wants or needs to know what about the evaluation findings?
For my volunteer program’s evaluation, I would feel the need to share the results with the organization’s directors, regional manager, executive core, and donors. Because some organizations struggle to embrace volunteers, I would be as transparent as possible with the results. If volunteers helped in one area but were not effective in another, I would want this to be known. If increasing volunteers helped the organization financially, I would be intentional to share those results with donors to see that we were attempting to be good stewards of their financial contributions.
- How do I communicate the evaluation findings?
In sharing the findings, I think the most important part about this is knowing my audience. If I am speaking with anyone that are decision makers that could impact my volunteers, I would be intentional to present a combination of colorful charts explaining the data, as well as including a narrative about an individual’s impact. Some people prefer to see the numbers while others prefer to see a face. I would want to include both.
References
Connors, T. D. (2011). Wiley nonprofit law, finance and management series: volunteer management handbook: leadership strategies for success (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
