The Invisible Volunteer: Teaching Volunteer Managers How To Welcome New Volunteers

Will Rogers, the American vaudeville performer and erstwhile cowboy, once famously said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” This truism definitely extends to Volunteer Managers when they welcome volunteers for the first time. In this Engage feature, author Laurence Bolotin explains the value of teaching volunteer managers how to welcome new volunteers, and why doing so provides lasting benefits. The article reflects Bolotin’s personal experience as an “invisible” volunteer board member, when he once wondered if anyone even cared that he was there.