Next session
Date: Wednesday 14 October 2026
Time: 10:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Online, via Zoom
Cost: FREE
Strong volunteer programs don’t have to rely on large budgets or dedicated teams. With the right foundations in place, community groups, local clubs and volunteer-led organisations can create positive experiences that support an engaged and sustainable volunteer team.
Designed for grassroots organisations, this workshop introduces the fundamentals of managing volunteers across the volunteer lifecycle. You’ll explore practical approaches to recruiting, onboarding, supporting and recognising volunteers, along with strategies that encourage long-term involvement. The session also looks at how to foster safe and inclusive volunteering environments that benefit both volunteers and the communities they serve.
Whether you’re new to coordinating volunteers, serving on a committee, or leading a community initiative, you’ll leave with practical ideas that can be applied in organisations of any size.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- Understand the key stages of the volunteer lifecycle.
- Apply practical approaches to recruiting, onboarding and supporting volunteers.
- Recognise strategies that help volunteers feel valued and encourage ongoing participation.
- Identify ways to create safe, inclusive and rewarding volunteer experiences.
- Strengthen the foundations of your organisation’s volunteer program using practical, achievable approaches.
Meet the trainer
HAZEL MAYNARD
Hazel Maynard
Sector Development Trainer
Following an early-life career change (from patents translator to not-for profit), Hazel has worked for a number of Not for Profit organisations in the past three decades, including the Australian Red Cross, Amnesty International and The Cancer Council Victoria. She has managed large and small volunteer programs.
Hazel is a trainer for Volunteering Victoria and runs public and in-house training sessions for the not-for-profit sector. She is passionate about encouraging people who are socially isolated or marginalised to volunteer, and upholding the rights of volunteers. Hazel has volunteered for much of her life, joining St John Ambulance Brigade as a volunteer first-aider when she was eleven because she liked the uniform – this relationship was short-lived as she fainted at the sight of blood on her first assignment.
Hazel became a board member of Volunteering Victoria in 2006 and was the President of the Board of Management from 2008 to 2010. She was awarded honorary life membership of the national peak body, Volunteering Australia, in 2006 and has had a number of articles published in professional journals, mainly on topics relating to volunteer management.
Next session
Registrations full? Contact [email protected] to be added to the waiting list.
