Disaster Volunteers

Disaster Volunteers: Recruiting and Managing People Who Want to Help provides readers with information on why people volunteer, the benefits gained by volunteers and recipients, and how to leverage such good will. Learning lessons from a variety of past disasters, readers will gain realistic insights into the challenges of disaster contexts. Coupled with evidence-based best practices, the book organizes and illustrates the necessary steps needed to recruit, train, manage, reward and retain volunteers throughout the lifecycle of disasters. Sections walk both organizations and individuals through the entire process of volunteer engagement, from recruiting and training, to managing and rewarding/retaining volunteers. This important resource fills an existing gap in books on volunteer disaster management by incorporating research, generating sound recommendations, grounding ideas in a disaster context, and offering an inviting set of examples from which readers can learn. Includes appendix with sample materials that can be used by civic or faith-based organizations Provides case studies that offer first-hand experiences and bring the content to life Includes stepwise advice on how to recruit, train and retain a diverse set of disaster volunteers