The Volunteer Handbook: How to Organize and Manage a Successful Organization

By Richard V. Battle

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0929174011
• ISBN13: 9780929174013
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Volunteer Concepts
• Length: 195 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Producing more effective volunteers

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (6/06) Richard Battle has written a guidebook for volunteers. He has provided well thought out and organized suggestions for getting involved in a volunteer organization. He then gives the reader a plan of action for moving into leadership within your chosen organization. The book is also a valuable refresher course for established volunteers. This is a positive "how to" handbook. Battle has written with insight. The book provides sound principles for recruiting, managing, and organizing volunteers. Recognizing the importance of the individual volunteer Battle emphasizes approaches to motivating, activating, and retaining the members of your organization. The author also provides pointers on training, planning, and developing community for your volunteers and for the organization as a whole. The author gives the reader a step by step guide for calendaring and planning activities and events. His stories and illustrations provide strong relevant reinforcement of his observations. Sample budgets, financial statements, and charts further illustrate and detail the need for planning strategy. A complete section of the book is devoted to communications with ideas for newsletters, brochures, new releases, and reports. Another section deals with the importance of and strategy for public relations. The author addresses legal issues to be considered, IRS implications, and the steps needed to organize a non profit tax exempt organization. Richard is well qualified to write this book and uses his first hand experiences from his involvement in the Jaycees, the Boy Scouts of America, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and other organizations, as a spring board for his blueprint for success. This compact, jam packed volume provides the necessary tools for any officer in a volunteer organization. I especially appreciated Richard's favorite motivational quotations. He also provided and excellent bibliography. This book should be read and implemented by every leader within a volunteer organization. It is a valuable reference book and should be readily available in the library of every civic group, community organization, and faith based ministry. This book is a "must read" for anyone hoping to strengthen his role as a volunteer.

Absolutely Essential

The author was named the Outstanding Local Chapter President in the world when he was president of the Austin Jaycees, and his chapter was named the Outstanding Local Chapter in the nation. A friend gave me this book when I was elected president of a volunteer group. I read it before taking office. I used it to work with my Board in building a detailed plan for every area, and we executed the plan with great results. I can honestly say that a great deal of the success we had that year was due to this book. The book is full of ideas in virtually every area, including training, starting and finishing strong, legal issues, getting people to volunteer, effective delegation, effective board meetings, and fundraising. If you read this book, you WILL have a successful year.