Have you ever noticed how, in some of the most successful nonprofit organizations, it can be difficult to differentiate the volunteers from the staff? They're all working side by side, passionately driven by the same mission. In many cases, the volunteers have been involved for ten to thirty years in a variety of roles, learning and contributing right along side the staff.

All the evidence about attracting and keeping donors points to the same thing: the more involved they feel, the more they give.

If you're a staff member contemplating following the Benevon Model of building a self-sustaining individual giving program, be forewarned: this model could wreak havoc with your existing volunteer program.

Just as our fundraising programs may need to put the "individual" back in "individual giving," the same is true of our volunteer programs. More and more, we will be seeing volunteer programs that are closely linked to, if not formally a part of, the development department.

The old model of one volunteer coordinator managing a team of volunteers, each with a tidy job description, will not provide the customized approach today's donors and volunteers expect. Today's volunteers may not be able to commit to a weekly time that coincides with your schedule. They may want to volunteer from home, put on parties for you, do computer projects, come in the evening and bring their families or co-workers. They may not have huge needs for social contact. They may be more driven by a personal sense of contribution, accomplishment and learning.

Are you prepared for this?

Imagine how your resources would mushroom if each staff member were to function as a part-time volunteer coordinator in their area?

What we hear repeatedly from staff are the remnants of a bad past experience with volunteers where the staff member was left feeling frustrated and inadequate and resolved, consciously or not, to prescribe only those roles for volunteers which could be tightly managed.

In fact, it may shake things up in an uncomfortable way. Roles for volunteers will no longer jive with your neatly crafted job descriptions. Today's volunteers (read "donors") want to call the shots. They are busier than ever. They have new skills to offer. They want to contribute time and talent. They want to see that what they're doing makes a difference in the organization fulfilling its mission.

To an already overloaded staff person, this may not be good news.

To give you, as a staff member, a sense of staying in the driver's seat, why not make your own wish list of programs or projects for volunteers to create, lead or participate in?

If the thought of adding one more project is more than you can handle, start paying more attention to your complaints about your work. Focus on the items that keep falling to the bottom of your to-do list. Odds are, you'll never get around to figuring out a system for handling those chronic items. Data entry, thank-you notes, all the extra special thank you's you know you should do but haven't gotten around to. Put those on your wish list.

I'm constantly bewildered by strong development staff who resist asking volunteers to take on projects they really need help with.

Several years ago, working in a very understaffed situation, I realized I could no longer manage a major individual giving program plus put out sixty to eighty grant requests a year. Yet, as with many start-ups, there was no money to pay a grantwriter.

I looked carefully through the database for people who had attended Point of Entry^® Events, were passionate about the organization and had excellent writing and organizational skills. One woman I came across was working full-time running a research department in a major company. She had no other major family commitments that I knew of. While I knew her as personable and fun-loving, I doubt that she had ever thought of herself as a fundraiser.

Picking up the phone and calling her may have been one of the most important "Asks" I've ever made. She became our grantwriter, putting out at least five grant proposals each month. She wrote them on her own computer, e-mailed me a copy for approval, then she put each package together and mailed them out. She even put a grid together describing each foundation, its priorities, past giving to our organization and which month to resubmit next year.

She got so good at it that she started researching new foundations that I'd never thought of. By then, she had several boiler-plates put together for our many needs, and she could prepare the packages quite independently.

Thanks to her efforts, we were able to develop a solid grants program. Eventually, she involved two of her other research friends and formed a grantwriting team. It was remarkable.

Just to complete the story, she later left her research position to work for a nonprofit organization. Today she is the Executive Director of a highly-successful United Way, exceeding her goals every year.

What are you waiting for?

List out all the parts of your job you know you're not getting done.

Or, you could put together your imaginary development department. List out all the staff positions you'd have. Then start filling them with volunteers.

Now, I know not everyone wants to volunteer in fund development. Some want direct service, some want social, arts or athletic projects, etc.

Rather than be overwhelmed by the flood of volunteers coming your way, why not interview your (non-development) staff about their wish-lists of volunteer projects. What are their dreams for their programs? What isn't getting done on their to-do lists?

Then pull it all together in one mega-list. Be sure to let the staff know you will not say "yes" to anything without their involvement.