Shepherding an Effective Volunteer Program in the Virtual World: 2021 Governor’s Conference on Volunteerism

Presented by Marc Boyd, Volunteer State President, AARP NH; Karen Ulmer Dorsch, Volunteer, AARP NH; Mary Roberge, Volunteer, AARP NH; Jeannie Tucker, Associate State Director for Outreach & Advocacy, AARP NH

Session Description:

Three seasoned AARP NH Volunteers and their staff liaison will share their successful experiences creating an effective virtual volunteer program during the pandemic.

The session will focus on volunteers:

  • communication
  • recruitment
  • training
  • retention
  • program examples
  • effectiveness
  • and the dreaded “virtual fatigue”

Session Goals:

By the end of this session, participants will have learned how to:

  • identify the challenges that a virtual volunteer program presents
  • understand the “new” skills a volunteer will need
  • learn ideas for effectively recruiting, training & retaining volunteers
  • develop an awareness of actual programs and their effectiveness
  • identify and develop empathy for “virtual fatigue”

Resources:

Biographies:

Marc Boyd is a resident of New Hampshire for over fifty years.  He is a retired educator with over forty years of administrating and teaching at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels. Marc is a nationally & state-recognized elementary school principal, New Hampshire 2004 Elementary School Principal of the Year.  He has been an AARP NH Volunteer since 2013 and State President of AARP NH from April 2016-present.

Karen Ulmer Dorsch is an AARP NH Volunteer.  She is the Lead Trainer for the NH AARP Speakers Bureau, the Producer/Host of the AARP sponsored “Senior Speak NH” on Concord TV, a Lead Volunteer for the Tri-Community & the Greater Concord Area Team, and an active member of the AARP NH legislative task force. She received the AARP NH Advocacy Volunteer Award in 2018. 

Mary Roberge is an AARP NH Volunteer and a 2016 AARP NH Senior Leadership alumna. She is also a Speakers Bureau presenter and a Lead Volunteer for AARP NH’s Tri-Community & the Greater Manchester Area Team, along with doing advocacy work and various projects for AARP NH.  She received the AARP NH Advocacy Volunteer Award in 2019. In 2020 she received AARP’s highest award in New Hampshire – the Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus Award for Community Service.

Jeannie Tucker is AARP NH’s Associate State Director for Outreach & Advocacy.  Her role involves recruiting and retaining volunteers to build sustainable volunteer teams, cultivating collaborations with community organizations, negotiating local discounts; and delivering AARP’s messaging to communities statewide.