Volunteers

Having great volunteers can be invaluable to your organization.  But where do you find the really good, dependable volunteers?  I have found that most of the time, those volunteers find me.  When I spend time and attempt to recruit volunteers, I usually don't get the best ones.  My facility has been around a long time and has a good reputation.  The people that come to me because they really want to volunteer are often the ones that stay the longest.   It is a special person who chooses a nursing home to volunteer with.  Working with the elderly is not everyone's first choice.  It certainly isn't a glamorous place, and it is not where many young people will choose to work in the future, so why volunteer here?  Volunteers can be a lot of work, or an invaluable asset.  You have to be able to set limits and say no.  Remember you are the boss and if a group is too big, an an inconvenient time or a student is too hard to train, you can send them of their way.  I often find myself wanting to help the volunteer, at the extend of not getting my own work done.  I am trying to limit the volunteer groups we take and learn to set my own limits on what I expect.