Not long ago, I had one of my most embarrassing moments as a leader of volunteers.
I was working at an organization that had no shortage of people wanting to help. Recruitment wasn't the problem, capacity was. We simply didn't have enough roles available for all the people applying to volunteer.
Like many volunteer managers, I was tracking applications in a spreadsheet while juggling everything else on my plate. When a role opened up, I would look at the newest applicants and start onboarding them. It felt efficient. It felt manageable.
Until one day I realized something that made my stomach drop.
I took a deep breath and started making phone calls.
Some people never returned my messages, and honestly, I can't blame them. But many were still interested in volunteering, which was both surprising and incredibly encouraging. Those conversations helped me rebuild trust with those volunteers and protect the reputation of the organization.
More importantly, that moment changed how I approached volunteer engagement. It was the spark that made me realize: we needed a better system.
After a recent webinar for new leaders of volunteers, we asked participants about their biggest challenges. Again and again, the same themes appeared.
The most common pain points were:
In other words, the biggest challenge wasn't recruiting volunteers. It was everything that happened between interest and activation.
When onboarding is unclear, inconsistent, or overly complicated, even the most enthusiastic volunteers can lose momentum.
It's easy to think of onboarding as a checklist of tasks: applications, background checks, orientation, training, forms and more forms. But from the volunteer's perspective, onboarding is something very different. It's their first experience with your organization. Every step either builds commitment or drains it.
When onboarding takes months without communication, volunteers start to wonder if they're still needed. When expectations aren't clear, they may hesitate to continue. And when systems aren't in place to track progress, even the best-intentioned volunteer leaders can accidentally lose people in the process.
Trust me — I've been there.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned is this: sometimes the most productive thing you can do is pause. Pause for a day. Pause for a week. Take the time to figure out where things stand and create a system that works.
Because once you have a system in place, the work becomes dramatically less overwhelming. Instead of constantly reacting to emails and applications, you start to see a clear path forward. You can track where volunteers are in the process, communicate expectations early, and keep people engaged while they wait to begin.
And here's something many volunteer managers don't realize at first: volunteers can help you build and run that system.
When you create roles that support your process, you reduce your workload while strengthening the program at the same time.
Upcoming Webinar · Hosted by Better Impact
Thursday, April 2, 2026 9am–10am PST · 12pm–1pm EST · 5pm–6pm GMT
Angela Williamson, CVA and I connected through the incredible network of CVAs and quickly discovered we share the same mission: helping leaders of volunteers build sustainable systems that reduce friction and burnout. Angela brings deep expertise in the systems and tools that make volunteer programs run smoothly, and together we're combining strategy and implementation.
If you're new to volunteer management, or feeling like you're "building the plane while flying it" — please know this: you're not alone. Many of us have had those moments where we realize something in our system isn't working as well as it could.
But those moments are also where growth begins.
Sometimes all it takes is stepping back, building a clearer path, and creating a process that works for both you and your volunteers. Because when onboarding works well, everything that follows becomes easier.
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