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The University of Texas at Austin

Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs

Volunteer Evaluation of Virtual Volunteering Experiences

Be sure volunteers are told during their initial orientation that they will be asked to complete a survey at some point about their experience (the Virtual Volunteering Project tells potential volunteers that completing such surveys is part of their duties as an online volunteer).

You can use all or part of the following survey to gather feedback from volunteers who have been involved with your organization virtually . These questions are designed to help you see the strengths and weaknesses in your management of volunteers who work offsite via their home and work computers.

Send this survey via e-mail rather than the Web (you will get a better response rate), with an introduction that notes why you are asking for this information ("to help us improve our interactions with and management of volunteers," for instance), and what you are going to do with feedback (will it be available for all staff members? will it be published in any reports?).

You may want to put in these assurances:

Not all volunteers will respond. But for those who do, study their feedback carefully. Does their description of what they did for your organization match the description from your point of view? Do they have a positive image of your organization as a result of their volunteer experience? Are volunteers noting the same problems or concerns? Be sure to thank respondents for their feedback!