Strategic Planning for Volunteer Programs

Coordinating volunteers takes time, effort, and constant attention to detail. But sometimes the daily tasks of volunteer management can get in the way of the big-picture evaluation and planning that is crucial to the future success of your volunteer program. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn practical techniques to improve their volunteer program through strategic planning, including:

• Evaluating your current volunteer program – what’s working and what’s not
• Performing a needs analysis – ensuring your volunteer program is meeting relevant needs
• Using job factoring to discover new opportunities for volunteer engagement
• Creating SMART Goals for your volunteer program
• Streamlining your volunteer management processes for maximum efficiency and effectiveness
• Creating annual volunteer recruitment and retention strategies
• Aligning the mission of your volunteer program with your organization’s mission
• Creating volunteer reports – and how to use them for strategic planning

Participants will leave the workshop with a comprehensive understanding of best practices for creating strategic volunteer management plans and how to apply these techniques to their own organization.
About the Presenter: Julie Strassman
Julie Strassman is an experienced volunteer engagement professional and educator, dedicated to helping organizations build mutually beneficial relationships with volunteers.  She currently works as the Volunteer Coordinator with Bethesda Hospice Care, where she has increased volunteer participation by 92% over two years. Previously, she worked with LifeWise (previously Kingdom House), where she achieved volunteer engagement goals such as a 78% increase in volunteer groups over two years. She passionately believes in utilizing best practices to create and sustain volunteer programs that mutually benefit organizations and volunteers.
Julie  has served on the Board of the Metropolitan Volunteer Management Association (MVMA) as the VP of Programming, and was awarded MVMA’s Volunteer Director of the Year in 2019.  She has also served on the Certification Committee for the United Way of Greater St. Louis’  Volunteer Center. She has presented on volunteer engagement best practices for many local and national nonprofit organizations, including MVMA, Lindenwood University, University of Missouri St. Louis, Send Me St. Louis, and the We Raise Foundation (previously Wheat Ridge Ministries).