In a time when organizations are struggling with engagement, retention, and disconnected communities, traditional outreach models are no longer enough. Real impact happens when we intentionally design systems that help people feel connected, valued, and invested in something larger than themselves.

Serve & Learn is a practical, cohort-based volunteer leadership development model that bridges volunteer potential, peer connection, and program capacity. Using the Serve & Learn Volunteer Program as a case study, this interactive session will show how organizations can create structured peer leadership opportunities that support onboarding, engagement, retention, and volunteer growth without replacing staff responsibilities.

Participants will explore how experienced volunteers can help welcome new volunteers, support orientation, encourage connection, assist with engagement activities, and model mission-centered service. The session will include discussion and an application activity to help participants design one peer leadership opportunity for their own setting.

Attendees will leave with adaptable tools, including a program framework, selection considerations, role ideas, training topics, boundary guidance, and a 30/60/90-day implementation roadmap. This session is designed for volunteer engagement professionals across sectors who are looking for practical ways to strengthen connection, develop volunteer leaders, and build sustainable bridges between volunteers, staff, and the communities they serve.

Volunteers bring more than just their time. They bring experiences, perspectives, skills, and ideas that can strengthen an organization’s mission. Yet many organizations unintentionally limit volunteers to completing tasks rather than inviting them to contribute their thinking.

In this interactive session, we’ll explore how volunteer leaders can create environments where volunteers feel comfortable sharing ideas, taking initiative, and becoming active partners in mission impact. Together, we’ll walk through common barriers that prevent people from speaking up, creative strategies for building engagement, and simple tools that encourage collaboration and creative problem-solving.

Participants will leave with actionable techniques they can immediately apply within their own organizations to strengthen volunteer engagement, increase ownership, and unlock the untapped potential already present within their volunteer community.

Recruiting volunteers is one of the greatest challenges facing nonprofit organizations, yet it is essential to achieving meaningful impact. During the 2025–2026 school year, our team set out to increase the number of mentors serving students at three Title I elementary schools. By the end of the year, we had nearly tripled the number of mentors through a focused recruitment strategy built on proven volunteer engagement practices.

In this session, participants will learn the five key strategies that contributed to our success: assessing volunteer opportunities, making targeted recruitment asks, identifying community champions, building strategic partnerships, and creating recruitment campaigns that inspire action. Through real-world examples and lessons learned, attendees will gain practical tools they can apply immediately in their own organizations.

Whether you recruit mentors, tutors, event volunteers, or board members, this session will provide actionable ideas to strengthen recruitment efforts, attract the right volunteers, and increase your program’s overall impact.

This workshop will discuss how to get started building a teen volunteer program from scratch and how it may evolve. We will discuss leveraging your resources and how to ensure the program is both beneficial for your staff and of interest to teens. We will also discuss how to get corporate partners involved if applicable.

Volunteer leaders are often responsible for supporting others while balancing competing priorities, limited resources, and increasing demands. Over time, many find themselves operating in a state of constant capacity—continuing to give, lead, and serve long after their emotional and mental reserves have been depleted.

This interactive session explores the connection between emotional health, sustainable leadership, and volunteer engagement. Participants will learn how chronic stress impacts communication, decision-making, boundaries, and retention, while gaining practical tools to recognize signs of overload before burnout takes hold. Through reflection, discussion, and actionable strategies, attendees will leave with a greater understanding of how emotional awareness strengthens both personal well-being and organizational effectiveness.

Designed for volunteer managers, nonprofit professionals, and community leaders, this session offers a practical framework for sustaining impact without sacrificing the very people who make that impact possible.

Too often, volunteer experiences become transactional, people show up, complete a task, and leave without ever feeling truly connected to the organization. But when we create space for connection and growth, volunteers can become some of the strongest partners in our mission.

In this session, Kourtney Bonzo shares real examples of rethinking volunteer engagement and adapting volunteer programs to better suit the volunteer audience, from creating at-home volunteer opportunities during COVID-19 to helping one-time volunteers grow into instructors and program leaders. Attendees will explore practical ways to create more meaningful volunteer experiences that strengthen organizations, build community, and help volunteers discover new ways they can contribute.

Participants will leave with practical tools and ideas they can immediately use within their own volunteer programs.

Volunteers are often viewed as helpers, while community members are viewed as recipients of services. But what happens when organizations recognize community members as leaders, advisors, storytellers, and partners in shaping solutions?

This interactive session explores practical strategies for integrating community voice into volunteer engagement and organizational decision-making. Drawing from community engagement, participatory research, and asset-based approaches, participants will learn how to identify community strengths, build authentic partnerships, and create opportunities for meaningful participation beyond traditional volunteer roles.

Through case studies, discussion, and hands-on activities, attendees will explore how elevating lived experience can strengthen volunteer programs, improve community trust, and increase organizational impact. Participants will leave with practical tools and a framework they can immediately apply within their own organizations to bridge the gap between service delivery and community partnership.

Today’s volunteer landscape requires professionals to navigate complex relationships, diverse perspectives, and high-stakes interactions across sectors and communities. This interactive session equips participants with practical, research-informed tools to confidently address challenging volunteer behavior while strengthening engagement and program success.

Using a solution-oriented framework, participants will explore how to shift from reactive responses to intentional leadership practices that bridge differences, protect volunteer experiences, and support collective impact.

Grounded in real-world volunteer management scenarios, this session provides a structured approach to:
• Assess conflict through a risk-based lens
• Navigate “big personalities” and high-influence volunteers
• Conduct effective, respectful, and productive conversations
• Apply practical strategies to maintain both accountability and inclusion
Participants will leave with immediate, actionable tools that translate across nonprofit, Extension, community-based, and multi-sector environments.

Strong nonprofit boards and volunteer programs are built through intentional systems—not informal routines or reliance on a few highly engaged people. This implementation-focused workshop gives nonprofit leaders and volunteer engagement professionals a practical, repeatable framework to strengthen governance and volunteer leadership infrastructure through clearer roles, better recruitment and onboarding, and more consistent accountability.

Participants will explore strategies to improve board and committee recruitment/vetting, participation expectations, committee functionality, and stewardship practices that support organizational continuity and stronger engagement across staff and volunteers. Rather than focusing on “managing up,” this session centers on the structural building blocks that help leaders create shared ownership, better decision-making, and a healthier culture of follow-through.

Attendees will leave with templates, assessment tools, onboarding resources, participation practices, and an implementation plan they can adapt to their organization right away. Ideal for nonprofit leaders, board/committee chairs, and staff who support volunteer engagement and governance operations.