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Youth engagement is extremely helpful in any non-profit organization.

However, there are many times when you may hit a snag and feel frustrated working with your teen volunteers.

Check out these great ways to overcome common mistakes.

Mistake 1. Always Saying Yes


Sometimes you may feel overwhelmed with having too many volunteers and not enough meaningful work for everyone to do. Do not feel compelled to always say yes to every volunteer. It is perfectly fine to tell some of your volunteers that you will call them in the near future when you have a specific project for them. In the meantime, they can be thinking about ways that they can help. This shows that you value and appreciate them.

Mistake 2. Projects are Only About the Non-Profit’s Needs

Do you constantly feel pressured to find ways to involve young volunteers in your organization? Stop making all of the projects center on the needs of the non-profit. As mentioned, every project needs to meet the non-profit and volunteer needs. Ask your teen volunteers what they would like to do! Talk to them about the reasons why they decided to volunteer with your organization. Learn about their unique skills and interest. Inform them on the general direction and goals of the organization, so they can understand the big picture. Allow your youth volunteers to be a creative part of your organization and encourage them to propose ideas for projects.

Mistake 3. Micro-Managing Each Project


It is completely understandable that deadlines must be met and projects need to be conducted properly. If your approach to ensuring that things run smoothly is to micro-manage your teen volunteers, you will unintentionally create a feeling of mistrust in their capabilities. This invalidates them and defeats their reason for volunteering in the first place.

Your hyper-involvement with your youth volunteers will cause them to have reflexive resistance to completing tasks. Throughout their daily lives at school and home they are constantly being told what to do and when to do it. The key is for them to become invested in the project they are working on and take ownership and responsibility for “their projects”. Give them creative control (within reason) to make some decisions about how they feel the current project should unfold, of course with positive feedback and guidance.
Another idea is to create a semi-social structure towards a common goal among your youth volunteers. Create a committee of several youth volunteers and allow them to collaborate on ideas about issues that are important to them. This type of social-structure will help meet their social needs, while motivating them to stay on track towards completing their projects in a timely manner.

The Take-Away

Remember, the key to a successful relationship with your youth volunteers- or with anyone in general- is reciprocity. If your needs and their needs are not being met, then the relationship between the two of you will not be successful. Be clear on what your expectations are and truly understand what each of your teen volunteers expect to gain out of their volunteer experience. When you’re both mindful of the expectations that have been set forth, you will both experience fewer frustrations and more success. In addition, be aware of volunteer needs that are not likely to be verbalized, such as self-esteem, validation and social needs.

What are other mistakes you have made when working with your youth volunteers and how did you overcome them? Let me know in the comments.

The post Are you Making These 3 Mistakes with Teen Volunteers? appeared first on TeenLife.