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Both volunteer management and human resources professionals work with the people-resources of an organization and are confronted with many similar work issues (recruitment, turnover, burnout, etc.). However, there are also major differences between the roles of volunteers and staff; for instance, volunteers are nearly always unpaid and have significantly different motivations, work schedules, and legal implications for the organization. In both cases though, the professional is often working with passionate, energetic, dynamic individuals with a lot to offer the organization.

The goal of this section is to foster collaboration between volunteer management and human resources professionals by sharing information and best practices and supporting one another. As each field is often managed by only one person (only large organizations have multiple staff in HR or volunteer management), we believe there is genuine common ground that these two fields can share.

To that end, we’ve posted some resources that we think are of interest to both parties, including staff-volunteer relations, hiring volunteers to be staff members, and staff members volunteering their time. Also, for HR professionals, we’ve included some information on how to hire staff to fill a volunteer management position.

Finally, here's a discussion forum for HR and VM professionals to connect and share successes, discuss challenges, and find common ground.

• Staff-Volunteer Relations
• Hiring Volunteers for Staff Positions
• Staff as Volunteers
• For HR Professionals: How to Hire a Volunteer Management Professional

To return to the Nonprofit Human Resources Center, click here.

To return to the Volunteer Management Resource Center, click here.

	Staff-Volunteer Relations Aren't Volunteers "Human" and "Resources"? (Word document) – Energize, Inc. (A presentation from Idealist's 2003 Putting People at the Center conference) Best Practices in Staff and Volunteer Relations – Louise Chatterton Luchuk @ CharityVillage Board-Staff Relations – Idealist.org Nonprofit FAQ Effective Relationships Between Staff and Volunteers – Merrill Associates Employee/Volunteer Relations – Energize, Inc. From the Top Down: The Importance of Top Management Support for Volunteer Involvement – Volunteering England and WH Smith Employee/Volunteer Tension (Word document) – Energize, Inc. (A presentation from Idealist's 2003 Putting People at the Center conference) How Do I Build a Stronger Volunteer/Staff Partnership? – Ivan H. Scheier, Building Staff/Volunteer Relations @ CompassPoint Nonprofit Services How to Generate Conflict Between Paid Staff and Volunteers – Steve McCurley & Rick Lynch @ National CASA Association Staff Resistance and the Highly Skilled Volunteer – Susan Ellis, Energize, Inc. UK Workforce Hub (Resources to find and retain staff and volunteers) Volunteers: The Invisible Personnel Management Issue (Word document) – Energize, Inc. (A presentation from Idealist's 2003 Putting People at the Center conference) Volunteers & Paid Staff: A Challenging Relationship – Volunteering Ireland
	Hiring Volunteers for Staff Positions When a Volunteer Transforms into an Employee – Susan Ellis, Energize, Inc.
	Staff as Volunteers Utilizing Employees as Volunteers (PDF) – Connie Pirtle @ The International Journal of Volunteer Administration
	For HR Professionals: How to Hire a Volunteer Management Professional Check out our section on Volunteer Management as a Career for information on topics like position descriptions, interview questions, and skills required.