Virtual Resources for Volunteer Managers to Connect with Volunteers

Plan BAfter completing a literature review that examined sources that discusses common strategies that successful virtual leaders use, both a survey and interview-based research study were conducted. Survey and interview questions were focused on asking participants--eight volunteer managers at non-profit organizations in the state of Wisconsin with active volunteer programs--if they followed these recommended strategies and the levels of virtual integration. Participants were also asked to comment on their impressions of virtual volunteer management to assess the efficacy of virtual leadership strategies and identify which aspects put volunteer managers at an advantage or at a disadvantage. The results of this research indicate that this sample of volunteer managers found the ability to send out information more frequently to volunteers living at greater distances from the participants’ organization site, and thus removing physical travel to be an advantage of virtual communication. Some aspects of connection to volunteers were viewed as improved, including volunteers having access to other staff members and more impersonal meetings. Aspects seen as disadvantages included barriers in forming personal connections to volunteers, frequent technical difficulties, and fatigue from a completely virtual management system