Last updated by James McBryan on 03/17/2021 Community is such a great way to meet and connect with other people who have similar interests, passions, and goals as you. However, finding a great community can sometimes be hard to come by. As a volunteer organizer, your community may only meet up at annual conferences or maybe there are local monthly meet-ups you can attend. We’ve surveyed our community of volunteer coordinators and asked them where they go for networking, support and learning, and to our surprise, many of them don’t do anything or even more so don’t know where to go.
So if you’ve been searching for an online community to join, you can stop now because all the big and active groups are listed below! We’ve put together a list of online community groups that you can join on Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as some additional resources you can access for free.
Groups for Volunteer Coordinators
** NEW GROUP FOR COORDINATORS ON FACEBOOK**
We found that it was very difficult to find a group on Facebook specifically for volunteer coordinators where the people were interacting, engaging in conversation, and that wasn't flooded with self-promotions. So, we decided to create a group ourselves where we can ensure that there's always quality conversations to find. CHECK IT OUT:
Description: "This group was created to bring together volunteer coordinators and to facilitate conversation by sharing ideas, asking questions, providing valuable advice, and learning about the latest news in our area of expertise. The promotion of products or services are not allowed and will not be tolerated."
Description: “This is a place to network with other volunteer coordinators and managers, in addition to exchanging ideas and best practices related to the non-profit sector.”
Description: “A network of administrators in the field of volunteer management to share resources, discuss best practices, engage in conversation, ask questions and post interesting articles.”
Groups for Nonprofits
Description: “This closed group is for nonprofit communications professionals. That includes volunteers, nonprofit executives, interns, consultants, etc. It is for anyone that wants to learn and explore topics related to communications for social good.”
Description: “Nonprofit Happy Hour is an international peer support group for nonprofit professionals, a place for us amazing, talented, smart, and ridiculously good-looking nonprofit unicorns to ask questions, share important information and jokes, and provide and receive advice on nonprofit challenges.”
Description: “Social, Investment, program project management, philanthropy, fundraising, charity, development, grantmaking, health, public, policy, trade, society, green, environment, sustainability, sustainable, education, enterprise, energy, funding, jobs, job, career government, Business Corporate law.”
Description: "We’re a tribe of people working in membership organizations (associations, clubs, and nonprofits) who are ready to share insights on: growing your membership, running events, recruiting volunteers, marketing, database management, leadership, and more."
Groups for Charter Schools
Description: “This group is for everyone that is involved with starting, operating, and supporting charter schools.”
Description: “Charter School Authorizers is the official LinkedIn group of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). This group is for NACSA members and friends that share a commitment to improve the quality of public charter schools through the improvement of authorizing policies and practices. If you want to discuss topics, such as the procedures involved with approving charter schools, evaluating charter school performance, closing charter schools, and policy and strategy for increasing the number of high- quality charter schools, this is the group for you.”
Groups for Fundraising & Grants
Description: "This is a group created to be a resource for Nonprofit Development/Fundraising individuals, whether you are in the development department, or if your organization utilizes you for events and fundraising outside of your normal job description. This is an open forum for asking questions and advice about things such as donor platforms, end-of-year appeals, special events, donor development, diversified funding, sponsorship recruitment, etc.“
Description: “The mission of this group is to foster free communication between those in the nonprofit sector needing finance-related advice and those in the accounting field who have an abundance of know-how, tips, tricks, knowledge and good attitude. We cannot do this without you, our wonderful nonprofit folk, and you, our wonderful accountants.”
Description: “For discussing grant proposal writing, development programs, fundraising, and the various kinds of proposals prepared by non-profit and other organizations. Topics include finding grants, steps in the grants application process, fundraising channels other than grants, and the differences between the many organizations that issue grants. Non-profits need growth too. This group is about developing your organization so that it can fulfill its mission.”
Other Resources
There are many other great resources on the web where you can learn valuable information about being a great volunteer coordinator and managing volunteers. They may not be communities where you can engage in ongoing conversations with the members, nevertheless, the contributors are usually responsive if you have any further questions about the posted topics.
Description: “The VolunteerMatch Learning Center is chock-full of volunteer engagement tips, industry insight, and management best practices. Begin learning how to effectively involve volunteers in the important work your organization does, today!”
Description: “There are many sites that provide information for people who are seeking volunteer opportunities, but ourWeb site is especially for leaders of volunteers, offering over 1200 pages of information about successfully involving volunteers in your efforts.”
Description: “VolunteerPro provides online volunteer management training, coaching & community to leaders of volunteers at all levels. We share research, best practices & emerging innovations in volunteer engagement, all based on engaging today’s volunteers.”
Regardless if you’re a part-time coordinator that was voted into the position while your child is attending the school, or if this is your full-time job, everyone can benefit from online communities like the ones listed here. Communities vary depending on engagement levels, the tenure of the and roles of the participants, and of course the objectives of the group. Hopefully, you’ll find something in this list that will match what you’re looking for.