Want to volunteer but don’t know where to start? A Wausau foundation’s new model could help with that

A new model being developed by the B.A. & Esther Greenheck Foundation in Wausau could change the way that foundations engage with volunteers and influence foundations nationwide.

Jenn Golbach, director of community volunteer engagement for the foundation, described the centralized volunteer engagement hub as moving beyond simply using online sign-up software, which hasn’t fully met the community’s need for personal connection.

In a conversation with WPR’s “Morning Edition” host Shereen Siewert, Golbach emphasized the importance of recognizing both volunteers and volunteer coordinators.

“As a funder, it makes sense that if you’re putting funding into a nonprofit, you have to address the capacity of that nonprofit,” Golbach said. “One of the areas that has come up universally is more support around volunteer engagement. This is our way to elevate all nonprofits, all those that want to engage and do that in a way that increases their capacity to deliver on their specific mission.”

Golbach likened the new model to a temporary employment agency for nonprofits, with a goal of removing administrative burdens, particularly around recruitment and marketing, allowing organizations to focus on their core missions.

For potential volunteers, the hub will simplify the entry process, creating a single point of connection with numerous nonprofits. Volunteers would complete just one application to become part of a volunteer pool, with access to personalized guidance to find opportunities best suited to their interests.

Ultimately, the new hub represents an innovative step forward in how communities can harness the power of volunteerism — benefiting nonprofits, volunteers and the community at large by fostering stronger connections and maximizing impact.

The following interview was edited for brevity and clarity.  

Shereen Siewert: The foundation is working on a vision for this centralized volunteer engagement hub. Can you walk us through the concept? 

Jenn Golbach: First of all, as a funder, we realize that recognizing volunteer engagement is not just a program, but a critical strategy that can assist all organizations and community groups.

People want to engage with a person. They want to share their interests and their past. They really want to get support in finding a volunteer home. We are finding, as many volunteer centers around the state and nation are finding, that just having software where you go look for a volunteer opportunity and sign up electronically is not meeting that need for connection.

We’re looking for a way to enhance collaboration and streamline processes for nonprofits, and for those who are looking to connect with nonprofits and amplify their community impact.

We’ll still have an online platform to browse or post volunteer needs, but we’re working to simplify the process of recruiting for our nonprofits. We’ll take a lot of that effort and work off their plates.

As a simple analogy, it would be like a temporary employment agency, but for a nonprofit. We envision taking some of that administrative work off the plates of our nonprofits, and increasing their ability and capacity to deliver on their volunteer programs to make sure it’s a positive experience. 

SS: What are you personally most excited about when it comes to this new program? 

JG: Personally, working with all the nonprofits, the folks I’ve befriended through this process so far, I’m excited to elevate the role of volunteer manager.

To be able to shift some of the lift for them so those folks can do the parts of their jobs that they themselves are most excited about is great, knowing they’ll have more meaningful impact.

Shifting some of that administrative effort, especially recruitment and marketing, and having a point of entry to start the process will help them just go and do what they’re best at. That’s what I’m most excited for.  

SS: How will this change the experience for people who want to volunteer and get involved but don’t know how to go about it? 

JG: Imagine having an entry point into all the nonprofits that participate. You fill out one application and become part of a volunteer pool. If you want to try something different, you just jump back into the pool, and you have a human being to talk to and explain what you enjoy.

You can ask, “Where might I find a good connection for this?” You’ll have that entity, and be able to start a conversation, and find that perfect match for you.

For the folks saying, “I want to do something, but I don’t know where to start,” that’s the blank we need to fill in as a community. Everyone who is involved in this effort in the coalition is excited to be able to help with that.  

SS: Tell me a little bit about the Central Wisconsin Volunteer Coordinators group. How does it help elevate the work of nonprofit professionals in the region? 

JG: We have a very active group of volunteer managers and coordinators. It’s an affiliate of the Wisconsin Volunteers Coordinators Association. This group has volunteer managers from all different nonprofits.

What’s unique in the nonprofit world is that no matter what title you might have, you’re often a team of one. When you need a sounding board or someone to get excited about something with or to troubleshoot, this helps. You don’t necessarily have anyone else in your organization that has your responsibilities, so the volunteer coordinators group provides that team, that peer network that you can bounce ideas off.

At the B.A. & Esther Greenheck Foundation, we could not be executing a centralized hub if we didn’t first focus on elevating the role of the volunteer manager and creating that peer network first. That relationship building and support, and that capacity building at that level had to happen first. That’s what we’ve been doing over the past year.

Now, when we deliver the hub, we’ll already have those relationships, we have the trust, and we have them as a sounding board to help us design it all. All those things had to happen before we could ever float this idea of bringing a hub to our community. 

SS: Global Volunteer Month shines a spotlight on the impact that volunteers have across communities. How are you marking this during the month of April? 

JG: Right now, the nonprofits all talk about volunteer month individually, but when we have a hub as well as a collective throughout the community, we can really elevate the culture of volunteerism in our community and capitalize on it.

Martin Luther King famously said, “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve,” and we absolutely want to communicate that to the volunteers and the community in whatever way they do serve.

For the volunteer coordinators who make those meaningful connections, we want them to know that they are seen and that we thank them for all they do. That is 100 percent the mission behind all these ideas we’re working on. It’s all about capacity building for our nonprofits so they can execute their mission.

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