Volunteer Coordinator Burnout (And How To Avoid It)

When you’re new to your role as a volunteer coordinator, you are excited to dive into the work, impress your colleagues and build, build, build an incredible volunteer program.

 

If you love your job, it’s not as if those ambitions fade, exactly. But as time goes by, you might feel like your patience is thinning, your stress is rising and – is that a smell of smoke in the air? You’re headed for burnout. Pump those breaks!

 

 

Get over your 24/7 do-gooder guilt. Your volunteers work for free, so you shouldn’t feel stressed about supervising events every evening and weekend, in addition to weekdays at your desk, right? Wrong. Your organization benefits from dedicated volunteers giving of their time. But as an employee, sustainability is important. Talk with your supervisor about taking flex time, if you have to be at events outside of your typical work hours. Make sure as you’re building your volunteer empire, you’re training others for management roles so you don’t have to be present at every event. Zoom out on your quarterly calendar to identify the high-stress times and block out some recovery time to take care of yourself and your needs.

 

Regularly seek support. When you’re headed for burnout, it’s difficult to see solutions clearly, and anxiety can take over. Attend that monthly meeting of volunteer managers hosted by your local young nonprofit professionals chapter. Join a Facebook group for people in the social sector. Hit up the hive mind on your organization’s list serve to solicit suggestions from others on how to tackle a tricky issue.

 

Reconnect with your mission. Combatting cynicism is an important burnout prevention tactic. If you’re feeling cranky and bogged down with everyday tasks, try to set up a meeting with a colleague or client to talk about what is meaningful about the work being done now, or exciting about the future of your organization. Re-read those thank-you notes you’ve stashed in a drawer. Look for ways to remind yourself how your daily tasks contribute to the bigger picture.

 

Switch up your routine. Seek out a morning to work off-site at a coffee shop. Take a lunchtime stroll. Schedule a tour of another organization that might inspire your work. Check out a business book and try to read a chapter a week.

 

Celebrate what you’ve accomplished. Reflection is a critical component of learning and growing. Don’t just plow through a to-do list with check-marks. Check in and recap what you did, why it mattered and how it’s connected to the future. If you can’t make time to celebrate your own accomplishments, build celebration into your recognition of others.

 

 

Brianne Sanchez

Brianne Sanchez is a staff writer at VolunteerLocal. She loves bikes, crafts and a good book.