Before looking for volunteers, consider what you need help with, and whether you have the capacity to supervise the volunteer. How many hours per week/month would the volunteer be needed, when and where? How much training would the volunteer require? Do you have a clear idea about what you need volunteers to do, space for them to work, and the ability to oversee the work?

 

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■ How can I find the right volunteers for my program?

The first step to finding a volunteer that fits well with your program is to develop a clear job description that includes the expected responsibilities, when you would like them to work (or if the work hours are flexible), and the skills needed. Then you need to advertise the opening: 

• Use your social media. Include video testimonials with how much they enjoyed it and the importance of the mission of the program for students’ lives.
• If your host organization does a newsletter or other promotional information, you could advertise there.
• Use the MCAEL website: https://apps.mcael.org/jobs-volunteer
• Put a listing on the Montgomery County Volunteer Center: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/volunteercenter/
• Post an announcement on Idealist.org, MAACE, WATESOL, and send to local TESOL training programs. 

Once you receive responses to your ad:

Be ready to respond to volunteer inquiries quickly with a thank you and to inform them about next steps. 

It is a good idea to take time for interviewing and screening applicants. A desire to help is a great place to start but may not be a sufficient reason for a program to accept someone as a volunteer. Especially for classroom assistants, but with any volunteer, remember that this person will be interacting with your students and staff. In addition to skills and availability, you may want talk to them about other qualities needed to be effective in your program. The program manager will know the values and mission of the program, and there are other questions you may want to be able to answer. Are they culturally competent? Patient? What is their experience with the community you work with? Many people are very eager to help, but you will want to ensure they don’t inadvertently cause more harm than good by losing patience with students; viewing them with pity; failing to recognize the life experience, skills, and capacities of students; or condescending to them.

These and other topics can be part of an orientation you provide to new volunteers, particularly those you want have working in classrooms. Other topics can include, principles of adult education, expectations and work standards, common misconceptions, and program policies and procedures relevant to what they will be doing, such as for liability and harassment. You may also want them to do a background check, which you can go over during that time.

■ How can they help in the classroom?

• Volunteers can serve as teaching assistants, doing a variety of tasks in the classroom to help out the instructor and facilitate instruction. Some ideas include:
• Working with individuals or small groups
• Distributing and collecting materials
• Sharing personal experiences 
• Making teaching materials 
• Assisting with attendance and absentees 
• Providing feedback to the teacher

Before assigning an assistant to a class, discuss with it the instructor. Some teachers may not initially be comfortable or accustomed to having an assistant. Be sure to talk to or train instructors on how to effectively use volunteers well. This article, “Using Volunteers in your ESL Classroom: Suggestions for Newer Teachers”, has a lot of good ideas for how you can help instructors to make best use of their teaching assistants. http://iteslj.org/Articles/Singleton-Volunteers.html

■ What are other ways volunteers can help with our program? 

• Volunteers can work alone or in teams on other tasks, assisting paid staff:
• Provide input on program planning, for an outside perspective. 
• Do data entry or analysis of attendance or evaluations, make photocopies, help with registration. 
• Conduct outreach: create and disseminate flyers; send outreach emails; respond to emails and calls; update social media. Since they will be the face of the program, make sure they are extremely well trained and supervised, and consider reviewing communications before they are released.
• Support student persistence: email/text/call students who have been absent; work with individual students to come up with ways to overcome obstacles to attending classes; just listen to students! You will want to provide supervision to be sure they are empathetic and use culturally competent communication with students.
• Tutor students one-to-one, helping students with individual needs in literacy or other specific areas not addressed in classes or students with immediate needs. You will want to be cautious with doing this at offsite locations to be sure volunteers are trained to avoid and potentially deal with inappropriate situations. Tutoring programs should have clear guidelines in place regarding where tutoring can happen. Screen tutors carefully and provide training and guidance both regarding not only language instruction but also cultural competency. 
• Facilitate drop-in conversation classes, particularly if they have experience in training, facilitation, or teaching.

■ What should we do to supervise and support volunteers effectively?

Since volunteers are not getting paid a salary, you need to do your best to pay them by offering them a great experience and a way to use their talents. Volunteers need to be welcomed warmly every day, have clear assignments, know who to report to and ask questions of, and have the resources they need to do the work assignments. In addition:

• All volunteers appreciate quick responses to their questions, and clear thanks from all staff.
• If it’s possible to provide volunteers with professional opportunities, training, or gatherings with other volunteers, this will be much appreciated. Often serving as a reference in a job search or for a program of study is another way you can support your volunteers. See your volunteers as your customers, and they will keep giving back.
• At the same time, you must ensure that your staff and students are receiving the best support possible. Be ready to provide extra support and training as necessary. Sometimes it is necessary to conclude a volunteer’s work with your program.
• Keep track of your volunteers’ hours, and offer recognition in some way—certificates, thank you letters, celebrations, etc.