5 credits

Volunteers are one of the most important resources for nonprofit organizations. Through this course, students learn the crucial importance of volunteers to organizations and groups striving to build better communities and address important social problems. Students explore how successful leaders recruit qualified volunteers, retain their commitment over time, and empower them to act on behalf of shared goals. They identify the key challenges facing organizations that rely heavily on volunteers and the most effective means of addressing these challenges. Students also examine and discuss the particular leadership skills required in volunteer organizations and consider how they can develop these proficiencies to lead future volunteer efforts and effect positive social change.