Decide what work genuinely suits volunteers, and design roles worth a volunteer's unpaid time, because a volunteer gives time for meaning, not for leftover tasks.
For each piece of work you want help with, ask honestly: does it suit a volunteer, bounded time given from goodwill, or does it need the reliability and hours of paid staff?
| Work you want help with | Suits a volunteer, or needs paid staff? |
|---|---|
The honest test: if this work absolutely has to happen on schedule every time, it is probably a job, not a volunteer role. If you are trying to staff core operations with volunteers because you cannot afford staff, stop and route to the staffing and HR work.
For each volunteer-suitable role:
The test of a good volunteer role: would someone who cares about your mission feel their time was well spent doing it? If not, redesign it until they would.
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