It’s never too early to think about the start of the new volunteer year (June 2022). While many chapters are likely preparing for their spring meetings, consider setting aside some time in the next month, or at the next board meeting, to assess your needs for the next volunteer year. Once you have assessed those needs, you’ll have plenty of time to address them prior to the start of the volunteer year.
Assess Your Board – Taking the time to assess your board can lead to some great ideas and improvement of chapter management. There are a couple ways that boards can assess themselves. They can use the self-assessment tool as well as the SWOT analysis (both templates available in Volunteer Resources). Both will help the board to understand where their strengths lie and where they can improve, as a board and as a chapter as a whole.
Assess Your Member Needs – One of the best ways to assess the needs of your members is through a survey. This allows for all your members to voice their opinion and needs and do so anonymously. You can also consider forming a focus group, a small sample of your members, to determine what your members would like to get out of their chapter and their current needs.
Assess Your Goals – Taking time to review your chapter goals and the status of these goals should be done on a regular basis (quarterly). This is a simple enough process, as the goal has either been met or not. However, you and the board can drill down further and determine what still needs to happen to meet that goal by the end of the volunteer year whether that’s financial resources, volunteers or more time.
Asses Your Needs – As a volunteer, it’s important to assess your own individual needs as well. You may have set goals for yourself as a volunteer, or perhaps you were looking to gain a specific skill. Did you accomplish that? If so, great! What’s next? If not, determine what needs to happen for you to reach that goal or what obstacles may be in the way.