What volunteer risks is your affiliate facing? Are you struggling with volunteer turnover? Do you have tenured volunteers and employees retiring or leaving? Are you seeing an increase in volunteer illnesses or injuries?
When it comes to navigating these challenges and protecting your affiliate, insurance and risk management can play a key role.
Habitat for Humanity Affiliate Volunteer Risks
Explore these common volunteer risks and how your affiliate can address them.
High volunteer turnover
Volunteers have many commitments vying for their time, and cultural shifts show that younger volunteers prefer to support causes that align with their personal ethics, rather than longstanding institutions.
To reduce volunteer turnover, consider implementing strategies that prioritize engagement and well-being. Offer flexible scheduling options to accommodate volunteers’ varied availability and personal commitments. Reinforce the tangible impact your volunteers make. Regularly check in with volunteers to assess their satisfaction and address concerns before they escalate.
Loss of institutional knowledge
As tenured volunteers and staff retire, affiliates may face the loss of institutional knowledge and key cultural ambassadors. There can be difficulty in finding new, dedicated volunteers to replace the experience and enthusiasm offered by long-standing volunteers.
To prevent the loss of institutional knowledge as your volunteers and employees retire, encourage cross-training and knowledge sharing in the weeks and months leading up to their retirement. This could look like pairing tenured volunteers with younger counterparts or phasing retirements on a schedule to ease the transition periods.
Long-term volunteer risks
Though we would all like to believe volunteers get involved in causes and organizations for the right reasons, it isn’t always the case. Your affiliate could be a victim of crime, suffer public relations issues or be held liable for a volunteer’s actions. Plus, with the high-risk activity that can be associated with build projects, like heavy lifting, carpentry and more, there is always a chance for volunteer injuries.
To address long-term volunteer risks, conduct a more thorough screening process with those volunteers seeking long-term positions. Create an application process, check references, conduct interviews and background checks and more.
Proper screening can help prevent both volunteer injuries and insurance claims. And after you’ve verified who you are working with, you can trust them with more responsibility and make meaningful change in your organization and communities.
Liability risks associated with volunteer illnesses and injuries
Without the correct procedures in place, your affiliate may face higher liability for accidents, higher financial drain from legal claims and the loss of a crucial defense against lawsuits for injuries or damages.
To reduce the amount of liability your organization faces, require that every volunteer sign a waiver. The volunteer waiver helps ensure that the volunteer releases your affiliate from liability and understands that there may be some level of risk involved in their activities.
Costs associated with volunteer illnesses and injuries
Unfortunately, safety and training can’t eliminate all risk, and a volunteer may one day suffer a serious injury. Though you have volunteers sign a waiver saying they understand they are not insured, some incidents can be substantial enough that your affiliate could face high costs for medical care, damages or legal fees if someone is injured while volunteering.
To protect against the costs associated with volunteer illnesses and injuries, HFHI requires that affiliates have Volunteer Accident Insurance, offered through the Habitat for Humanity Affiliate Insurance Program. Should a volunteer experience an incident, their personal health insurance would apply, and your affiliate’s insurance would cover any excess costs.
Protecting Your Affiliate’s Volunteers
Questions about protecting your volunteers or Volunteer Accident insurance?
As administrator of the Habitat for Humanity Affiliate Insurance Program, Lockton Affinity’s team understands the risks you and your volunteers face. Contact Lockton Affinity for support today.
