Pro Roundup: A Month of Love with Free Nonprofit Tools, Downloads, and Templates

Here at VolunteerPro, we love helping nonprofits and volunteer organizations elevate their programs and accelerate their growth through our world-class training and professional membership community.

And while we don’t really need an excuse, we felt like February was the perfect time to share that love with all our followers with a month of completely free nonprofit tools, downloads, and templates from the VolPro vault.

You don’t need to do anything special to participate in our Month of Love. Our newsletter subscribers will automatically get a notification every time we post a new freebie.

Not yet a subscriber to the VolPro Newsletter? Simply click HERE and sign up to receive a weekly roundup of VolPro news and resources every Wednesday, along with sneak peeks at upcoming events.

And make sure to bookmark this page, because we’ll be updating it all month long with links to super-helpful free nonprofit tools just for you.

We hope that you’ll find great value in each of these resources, and we’d love to hear how you use each one to benefit your own volunteer program – let us know in the comments or email us at wecare@volpro.net!

Free Nonprofit Tools from VolPro for You!

Freebie: 2023 Volunteer Management Progress Report

We’re starting our Month of Love with a biggie – the 2023 Volunteer Management Progress Report! This annual report, now in its eighth year, is the largest crowdsourcing of data for volunteer administration in the world and seeks to give nonprofit organizations the tools to compare their progress and improve their community engagement practices. Over 1,400 volunteer managers from 36 countries participated in this year’s survey!

Download your own free copy of the 2023 VMPR today – simply click HERE to start your download!

Freebie: Miracle Mindset Worksheet

There are many things we can’t change in the world, but one thing we definitely have control over…our mindset. Especially at nonprofits, our mindset pervades how we budget, how we set resources, how we staff projects (both volunteer and paid), and how things are approached in general.  

Negative mindsets can impact our own self-care and create an environment where, rather than seeking new ways to solve problems and get work done through the engagement of community volunteers at all levels, the sentiment is to do more with limited resources, work long hours, and sacrifice our self-care. The end result is burnout and high turnover.  

This isn’t good, because your nonprofit has so much important work to do in the world! So, for our second freebie of the month, we want to help you evaluate where you are right now with our Miracle Mindset Worksheet.

Click HERE to download your free copy of the Miracle Mindset Worksheet and start the year off in the right frame of mind! 

Freebie: The (Deceptively) Simple 2-Page Plan For Volunteer Managers 

This free nonprofit tool is designed to help you quickly strategize your goals for the coming year…and just as importantly, share them with others to inspire buy-in and enlist active participation.   

There is a time and place for massive 20-page strategy plans, with 30 pages of appendices (hello, project implementation plans!), but this is not that. The secret sauce in this freebie is simplicity.  

With this worksheet, you’ll create a two-page focused overview of what you will achieve together with your volunteer team. Then you can share that overview to help generate excitement and momentum for where your team is headed. Because after all, the more people understand your strategic goals, the more likely they’ll want to support them. 

Helpful tip: when drafting your goals and outcome indicators, remember the SMART-ER acronym. Evaluate each goal you set against the following criteria and make adjustments to strengthen it. 

Consider whether your goals are … 

• Specific – Is the goal focused on one clear objective that all parties understand? 
• Measurable – Are the results quantifiable and objectively verifiable? 
• Attainable – Is the goal realistic? Are resources available to achieve it? Are people committed to it? 
• Relevant – Does the goal offer relevant information to the process and its stakeholders? 
• Time-bound – Is the goal attached to a time frame within which progress will be measured? 
• Evaluated – Will the goal measure what it was supposed to measure? Is it a well-calibrated “stretch” goal? 
• Re-evaluated – Do you have a plan to revisit the goal to ensure it still works in the current context and whether it’s still a priority?

Ready to dive into strategic planning? Download The (Deceptively) Simple 2-Page Plan for Volunteer Managers to create and communicate an easy-to-understand plan that will generate excitement and momentum!

Freebie: The Quick Guide to Amazingly Simple Volunteer Impact & ROI

Return on investment (ROI) is simply a ratio used to calculate the benefit an investor (or organization) will receive in relation to their investment cost. The higher the ratio, the greater the benefit earned.

When applied to volunteer services, it takes into account the costs to support volunteer engagement and programming, and benefits gained through volunteer involvement in the form of time, talent, and financial contributions.

This may sound a little complicated, but good news: I created The Quick Guide to Amazingly Simple Volunteer Impact & ROI to help you get started!

There are several smart reasons to track how the budget and resources invested in your volunteer strategy are performing:

• To more deeply assess your organization’s assets and liabilities
• To determine impact of program changes
• To justify investments in improving volunteer coordination
• To identify specific areas for volunteer appreciation
• To demonstrate effective use of contributions
• To provide evidence of community in-kind support for grant proposals
• To paint a more complete organizational picture
• To market the volunteer function inside and outside the organization
• To remove some of the guessing game & build trust

Use the tips in this guide to help you check each one of those bullet points – download today to get started!

Freebie: Volunteer Resourcing Plan Template

Having a plan for your volunteers is one of the most important aspects of being a volunteer management professional. BUT, with the many hats, the fires, and the burnout, you may find yourself stretched to the limit already.

You want your volunteer program to be rock solid, but you need a tested system to use (rather than starting from scratch). That’s where the Volunteer Resourcing Plan Template comes in.

Download this freebie to plan out your volunteer goals in the following areas:

• Episodic/Event Volunteer Goals
• Ongoing Volunteer Roles
• Agency Volunteer Roles

Ready to proactively map our your goals and roles for volunteers in the coming year? Download this easy-to-use template to start getting your plan out of your head and down on paper!

Freebie: How to Overcome a Dysfunctional Board Webinar 

Shout out to all the nonprofit executives and board members…this freebie is just for you!  

We know that nonprofit board members are often overlooked and underserved as part of the volunteer team, and you have a HUGE effect on the success of an organization’s fundraising and strategic decision-making.

So, we’ve partnered with our friends over at the Nonprofit Leadership Lab to bring you a unique free webinar: How to Overcome a Dysfunctional Board.

I’ve volunteered as a board member myself and have experienced firsthand many of the hot-mess issues covered in this webinar. Thankfully, it’s designed to provide nonprofit leaders with everything you need to build a high-functioning board that aligns with your organization, is truly passionate about its mission, and fully understands its role and responsibilities.

Ready to move your board from hot-mess to high-functioning? Register for this free webinar and pick the time that works best for you.

(Note: As an affiliate, VolunteerPro may make a commission on some of the resources offered by The Lab.)

Freebie: Volunteer Interview Questions Cheat Sheet  

So, your team has been absolutely rocking new volunteer recruitment and now it’s time to do some volunteer interviews…great job!

Now you can use one of VolPro’s handy free nonprofit tools – the Volunteer Interview Questions Cheat Sheet – as a guide in your next one-on-one to better understand the motivations, skills, capabilities, and interests of prospective volunteers, and ensure they are a good fit for your organization. 

This cheat sheet will give you the top ten questions you should be asking potential volunteers, and it shows you how to start off your next interview the right way. 

Click HERE to download your free copy of the Volunteer Interview Questions Cheat Sheet for your next round of interviews! 

Freebie: The Amazing Simple Volunteer Training Evaluation Worksheet 

Research into instructional design has shown that satisfaction does not necessarily indicate learning. In other words, you can’t assume that just because volunteers rate your training highly, that they are actually learning the skills that can help them be successful during volunteer events, projects, and shifts.

As an alternate to more traditional ratings, VolPro has designed an Amazing Simple Volunteer Training Evaluation Worksheet based on the Kirkpatrick Model of Training Evaluation which outlines four levels at which the effectiveness of training modules can be assessed.  

You can use this tip sheet to gather feedback, document your learning assessment goals, and plan your levels of training evaluation to ensure a positive return on your training investment 

To download your own Amazing Simple Volunteer Training Evaluation Worksheet, simply click HERE!

Freebie: The Goal Cascade Worksheet 

Managing volunteers in nonprofit organizations can be challenging. Ever wondered where your community, program, and organization goals intersect?

Look no further. This easy Goal Cascade Worksheet will help you:

• Decide on a definitive direction for your volunteer program that coincides with your agency’s goals.
• Simultaneously address your volunteers’ and community’s goals
• Take the necessary action to get started

To prioritize your goals using this simple worksheet, click HERE! 

Let’s Keep the Love Going! 

Huge thanks to everyone who participated in our “Month of Love” – it’s been incredible to hear so much positive feedback and we’re happy to share all these fantastic and free nonprofit tools with you!

Although today is the final day of February, we definitely want to keep the love going, and we’re always here for any questions or needs you may have.  Let us know how VolunteerPro can help you build, grow, and scale the volunteer program at your organization – simply email us at wecare@volpro.net!