Provide the necessary resources, education, and training
· Ask volunteers through surveys what type of training, resources, and education would be most helpful to them
· Provide paper information and personally meet with the volunteer
· Make sure material available is sent to members
· Provide newsletters and books on tape to volunteers
· Have speakers and conduct discussions for volunteer training
· Conduct periodic inventory of volunteer needs
· Make available online training resources that can be accessed quickly
· Make sure all volunteers have the necessary national guidelines to avoid conflict and reinventing the wheel
· Assess needs of individuals early in committee formation—then act positively on assessment
· Provide an orientation packet with job description and commitment
· Conduct team building with new committee
· Suggest and recommend that members attend training
· Before first meeting send out booklet on questions about the organization—then have a first-timers meeting to review
· Make sure resources and training address goals and strategies
· Use different ways to educate and train: outside and internal speakers, mentor program, handbooks, best practice sharing
· Ensure instructions are available (email to affected volunteers) before the event so volunteer is knowledgeable before arriving
· Hold a coaches workshop to share skills and ideas
· Attend other non-profit training sessions in local communities
· Provide scholarships to the Community Development Workshops and other special workshops
· Attend SERV training sessions at national meetings
· Suggest outside sources of training—often volunteers don’t know where to go
· Create a manual for committee chairs
· Date the pages in a training manual so the latest material is evident
· Create a one-page concise description of committee charge and responsibilities to be reviewed and discussed at opening meeting
· Support presentations with written form documents (not just a copy of the Powerpoint—although that is a minimum)
· Create levels of training opportunities—both large-scope and job-specific
· Include training workshops in conjunction with events
· Share articles and notes with committee members that are relevant to tennis industry
· Start a community development workshop at section level
· Use fax and email to provide necessary information
· Hold every-other-year training session for volunteers
· Evaluate the budget starting at zero to identify wasted resources and reallocate where needed
· Provide yearbook, section delegate responsibilities, and other documents to committee members
· Allocate necessary funds to training
· Give handouts not only about tennis but also from other seminars or news items
· Give them copies of “A Friend at Court”
· Bring in outside speakers or sources of information when at all possible
· Invest more of your budget on resources—don’t be afraid
· Share background information and have committee members acknowledge receipt at beginning of term of service
· Give everyone budget and necessary support documents
· Develop a handbook that is usable
· Survey your volunteers to find out what type of training and resources would be most helpful to them
· Create a progressive notebook with objectives, history and future goals of the committee that includes what to do, how and when to do it, and by whom
· Stay after a meeting to take additional questions
· Develop roles and responsibilities in writing
Ideas compiled at the 2003 USTA Semi-Annual Meeting
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