How can you create a volunteer program that is sensitive to the needs of refugees and immigrants?

1 Know your audience

Before you recruit and train volunteers, you need to understand the specific challenges and opportunities that refugees and immigrants face in your area. Do some research on their demographics, cultures, languages, legal status, and settlement needs. Talk to local organizations that serve them and ask for their input and feedback. Identify the gaps and priorities that your volunteer program can address.

2 Define your goals and roles

Once you have a clear picture of your audience, you need to define the goals and objectives of your volunteer program. What are the outcomes and impacts that you want to achieve? How will you measure and evaluate them? How will you align them with the needs and expectations of the refugees and immigrants? Then, you need to design the roles and responsibilities of your volunteers. What tasks and activities will they perform? What skills and qualifications will they need? How will they work with staff and other volunteers?

3 Recruit and train volunteers

Now that you have your goals and roles, you need to find and prepare volunteers who are suitable and motivated. You can use various channels to reach out to potential volunteers, such as social media, newsletters, events, word-of-mouth, and referrals. You can also target specific groups, such as former refugees and immigrants, students, professionals, or seniors, who may have relevant experience or interest. When you select and onboard volunteers, you need to provide them with adequate training and orientation. You need to cover topics such as cultural sensitivity, diversity and inclusion, communication skills, confidentiality, safety, and ethics.

4 Support and engage volunteers

Once your volunteers are ready to start, you need to provide them with ongoing support and engagement. You need to assign them a supervisor or a mentor who can guide them, answer their questions, and give them feedback. You need to communicate with them regularly and keep them updated on the progress and changes of the program. You need to recognize and appreciate their contributions and achievements. You need to create opportunities for them to network and socialize with other volunteers, staff, and beneficiaries. You need to solicit their opinions and suggestions and involve them in decision-making.

5 Evaluate and improve your program

Finally, you need to evaluate and improve your program based on the data and feedback that you collect. You need to monitor and document the outputs and outcomes of your volunteer activities, such as the number of hours, participants, services, or resources. You need to survey and interview your volunteers, staff, and beneficiaries to assess their satisfaction, challenges, and recommendations. You need to analyze and report the results and impacts of your program and share them with your stakeholders. You need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your program and make adjustments and improvements accordingly.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?