Managing Volunteer vs. Paid Workers

If you are an experienced manager you might want to compare managing volunteer vs. paid workers. Working with volunteers has a lot in common with managing paid workers and some obvious differences.

In many ways volunteers are easier:

1. They want to be there
2. You generally don’t have to fire volunteers
3. There are no salary negotiations
4. They’re willing to do work that may be boring, unpleasant or too time consuming for you
5. They make you look good!

But managing volunteers adds some challenges:

1. They come in all ages
2. They take long vacations
3. Sometimes they don’t show up
4. They might cancel at the last minute
5. They may have more experience than you (or think they do)
6. Their priorities may not match yours.

Volunteer vs. Paid? Be a Nonprofit Champion and join the Winner's Circle