Free · Certificate included
Volunteer Onboarding
Set new volunteers up to succeed from their very first day.
What you’ll learn
- Design a welcoming, repeatable onboarding flow
- Tell orientation, training, and onboarding apart — and use all three
- Run a first day and 30-60-90 check-ins that boost retention
Screen your volunteers for $5
VolunteerBadge runs FCRA-compliant background checks for just $5 — with identity verification built in. No monthly fees, no contracts.
Create a free account →Course outline
- 1
Orientation, training & onboarding — three different things
Most programs use these three words interchangeably — and that confusion is exactly why so many new volunteers drift away before their second shift.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 2
Why the first 90 days decide everything
Onboarding is not a "nice to have." The data from both the corporate and volunteer worlds points to the same window: the first few weeks are when a person silently…
5 min Quiz Interactive - 3
Before day one: paperwork & screening done right
The fastest way to kill a new volunteer’s enthusiasm is a wall of forms on day one — or worse, a screening process that drags on for weeks with no communication.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 4
The first-day experience
A volunteer’s first day sets the emotional tone for everything after.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 5
Role-specific training & the buddy system
A warm welcome gets a volunteer in the door; competence and connection keep them there.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 6
The 30-60-90 check-ins
Onboarding doesn’t end after the first shift — that’s when it really begins.
5 min Quiz Interactive - 7
Reducing early drop-off: build the system
Great onboarding can’t depend on one heroic coordinator remembering everything.
4 min Quiz Interactive
Sources & further reading
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) — Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success
- Energize, Inc. — Retention of Volunteers (Volunteer Management resources)
- VolunteerHub (Galaxy Digital) — From Volunteer Orientation to Onboarding: A Framework for Retention
- Points of Light — Civic Life and Volunteer Engagement resources
- AmeriCorps & U.S. Census Bureau — Volunteering and Civic Life in America
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