Free · Certificate included

Volunteer Performance Management

Set expectations, give feedback, and handle underperformance with care.

32 min Intermediate 7 modules Pass 80%

For: Volunteer coordinators and managers

What you’ll learn

Set clear, written performance expectations before a volunteer ever starts
Give feedback to unpaid staff that improves results without driving them away
Apply supportive accountability through progressive, escalating steps
Decide when to reassign a volunteer and when to release one — with dignity and good documentation

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Course outline

1
Why managing volunteer performance feels different
Managing a volunteer who isn’t meeting the mark feels uniquely awkward — and most coordinators handle it badly precisely because they treat it as nothing like…
5 min Quiz Interactive
2
Set expectations before there’s a problem
You cannot fairly hold someone accountable to a standard they were never told.
6 min Quiz Interactive
3
Feedback that improves results without driving people away
Feedback is the daily engine of performance — far more important than any annual review.
5 min Quiz Interactive
4
The supportive-accountability mindset
When feedback alone hasn’t fixed a recurring problem, you escalate — but the spirit matters as much as the steps.
5 min Quiz Interactive
5
Progressive steps when performance lags
When a problem recurs after feedback, a progressive approach — borrowed from workplace progressive discipline but softened for volunteers — gives the person fair…
6 min Quiz Interactive
6
Reassign or release? Choosing well
When support hasn’t closed the gap, you reach a fork: reassign the volunteer to a role that fits them better, or release them from the program.
5 min Quiz Interactive
7
Documentation & releasing with dignity
If you do reach a release, two things make it fair and defensible: a quiet record that you handled it honestly, and a conversation that protects the person’s dignity.
5 min Quiz Interactive

Sources & further reading

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