Nonprofits are invited to apply to participate. The program spans a six-month period and involves training sessions, coaching, and project development and implementation. There is a $250 fee for participation.

The VIP program was developed in partnership with JFFixler & Associates with generous support from VolunteerMatch, the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation, and Boomers Leading Change, an initiative of Rose Community Foundation.

Metro Volunteers knows that it is more important than ever to shift from a culture of traditional volunteer management to a collaborative model of volunteer engagement. Engaging Boomers in high-impact volunteer positions is a powerful way to bring them into a relationship with your nonprofit's mission, and to use their skills and passions to collaboratively build your capacity to serve clients and deliver programs, even in these challenging times.  

Through this innovative program, nonprofits can gain the experience and competencies to make the organizational shift to this new model of volunteer engagement.  Working with a trained Facilitator (who is also an experienced Boomer volunteer), your nonprofit will follow a process for organizational capacity-building outlined in the guidebook Boomer Volunteer Engagement: Collaborate Today, Thrive Tomorrow (Fixler, et. al. 2008).

Through this program – and the newly grown ability to tap into the abundant resource of Boomer volunteers – your organization will develop a sustainable capacity to involve volunteers directly in the accomplishment of your mission, even during times when resources are tight.

Program Outcomes

Resources Available to VIP Participants

Criteria for Participation

Commitments of Participation

VIP Application

Process and Timeline

Be a Boomer Volunteer Engagement Facilitator

VIP Program Outcomes

Successful completion of the program should result in your nonprofit organization realizing these outcomes:

• Completion of a project that demonstrates the value of effective Boomer volunteer engagement
• Development of an enhanced and sustainable capacity to effectively engage Boomer volunteers in strategically important ways
• Realization of an expanded capacity to deliver services through the use of this Boomer volunteer resource
• Joining with other nonprofits in a community of practice around Boomer volunteer engagement

In addition to these outcomes, as more and more nonprofits grow in their ability to engage Boomer volunteers, there will emerge a greatly expanded opportunity for Boomer volunteers to share their experience and energy in meaningful ways.

Resources Available to VIP Participants

By participating in this six-month project, your nonprofit will have access to the following resources:

• Current and relevant research on Baby Boomers and the volunteer resource they offer
• A trained Facilitator to guide you through a proven process for Boomer volunteer engagement
• An array of tools to help create a Boomer volunteer engagement project that fits your organization’s priorities
• Support and encouragement in the development of skills your organization needs to apply VIP concepts and practices as an ongoing and sustainable part of your operations.

Criteria for Participation

Nonprofits interested in applying to the VIP program should be able to demonstrate:

• Board and senior staff support for participation in this project.
• Commitment by the board and senior staff for shifting to a culture of volunteer engagement at all levels of the organization.
• A willingness to try new models for getting work done – in other words, an openness to shifting from a traditional culture of volunteer management to a powerful culture of volunteer engagement.
• The availability of resources (both financial and human) to support the commitments required of participation.

Commitments of Participation

If selected to participate in the VIP Program, a nonprofit commits to:

• Convene a Task Force to oversee a project demonstrating the benefits of Boomer volunteer engagement.
• Participate in internal training sessions and 1-2 meetings with the other participating nonprofits over the course of the six months.
• Complete work products in a timely fashion, including a needs assessment, work plan, position descriptions, strategic messaging and progress reports.
• Develop and implement one project designed to demonstrate the potential of high-impact Boomer volunteer engagement in their organization. Recruit the volunteer(s) needed to carry out the project.
• Participate in regular coaching sessions with the Facilitator.
• Commit the necessary staff and volunteer time to attend trainings, complete assignments, participate in bimonthly Task Force meetings, and implement the pilot program over the six-month period.

Applications are now being accepted.
Applicants will be interviewed and then notified of acceptance status.

Click here to download the Application.

Process and Suggested Timeline

The VIP program unfolds over a six-month period.  What follows is a likely time frame for program activities.  A more detailed schedule will be worked out jointly by the Facilitator and the nonprofit.

Application and Orientation

• Attend VIP Orientation
• Gain Board support for the project by presenting the key elements and outcomes of the pilot program to them.
• Demonstrate Board commitment to the pilot program by having the Board sign a statement of commitment to and support of the program.
• Complete and submit the VIP application packet.
• Identify the co-chairs of a Boomer Volunteer Engagement Task Force including both key staff and volunteers to shepherd the organization through this program.
• Complete an organizational needs assessment and use it to identify Boomer volunteer engagement project options.

Month 1

• Initiate relationship between your nonprofit and the Facilitator trained and assigned by Metro Volunteers.
• Convene initial meeting of Facilitator and Task Force to review the program and agree on a schedule.
• Cultivate other members for the Task Force.
• Host the first task force training session conducted by the Facilitator. 

Month 2 & 3

• Complete an organizational needs assessment and use it to identify Boomer volunteer engagement project options.
• Continue to meet with the Facilitator for training, coaching, and to track progress.
• Identify a meaningful project to use to demonstrate the power of collaborative Boomer volunteer engagement.
• Prepare a Work Plan for the project.
• Develop position description(s) and cultivate volunteer(s) to take on the project.

Month 4 & 5

• Implement the pilot project.
• Meet as needed with the Facilitator for training, coaching, and to track progress.

Month 6

• Meet as needed with the Facilitator for training, coaching, and to track progress.
• Continue pilot project implementation.
• Gather data on the pilot project.
• Evaluate project and measure outcomes.
• Share outcomes within the organization and with others.
• Begin to position organization to expand on this project and apply lessons learned  to other key capacity-building areas.

Be a Boomer Volunteer Engagement Facilitator These skilled volunteers will work closely with selected nonprofit organizations to facilitate a process of learning – and applying – new approaches to effectively engage Baby Boomer volunteers in collaborating with the organization on fulfilling their missions.

• Boomer Volunteer Engagement Facilitator Job Description
• Metro Volunteers Volunteer Application
• VIP Volunteer Facilitator addendum