Managing Museum Volunteers

Managing Museum Volunteers

Instructor: Tara Young
Course Date: September 8, 2025
Cost: $400
Enroll and Pay
This course will focus on strategies for running a successful volunteer program that adapts to the needs of the museum. Appropriate for professionals starting a new volunteer program or wanting to reinvigorate an existing one, this course will include topics such as: assessing the museum’s needs for volunteers; managing the recruitment, selection, onboarding, training, and evaluating of volunteers; and troubleshooting problems with volunteers. We will also consider some of the ways that volunteerism in the US is changing overall and how those changes might affect museums.

 

Course Goals

  • Review some trends in the nature of volunteering in the US today, and what it might look like in the future
  • Employ strategies to ensure that your volunteer program is versatile, efficient, and resilient
  • Assess the volunteer needs of your museum and define the roles of volunteers
  • Review best practices for recruiting, interviewing, and selecting volunteers
  • Define systems for communication and evaluation within the volunteer program
  • Determine the most effective ways to train volunteers for each role
  • Troubleshoot issues that arise with volunteers and discuss how to solve them
  • Consider best practices for volunteer retention, including appreciation and benefits

 


Too learn more about taking an online professional development course with Museum Study visit What is involved in taking a Museum Study course?

Required Text:

Kristy Van Hoven and Loni Wellman, Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums: A Handbook for Volunteer Management 2nd Ed, Rowman & Littlefield/AASLH, 2024. ISBN: 978-1-5381-8764-7.

Museum Study students can take advantage of a special offer from Rowman & Littlefield to purchase the book at a discount.


Managing Museum Volunteers addresses the American Association for State and Local History's Management Standards 1 and 2.


Comments from participants:

I thought this course, the instruction, content, assignments and chats were wonderful. It was very thought and discussion provoking. I've been sharing with my colleagues as we develop our volunteer groups' handbooks and improve these programs. Thank you for this course online. It was very accessible.


Although we have some of these things is place, this provided fresh eyes on volunteer handbook content. Great inspiration which I will incorporate.

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