• If you anticipate a waiting period before program participants can be matched with a volunteer, be sure to have other program offerings available to engage family caregivers and care recipients. This helps prevent attrition and having to waitlist individuals with no engagement from your organization.
  • Consider providing support to care recipients and caregiver awaiting their volunteer match by assigning them to a volunteer floater. This volunteer position could provide communication with those participants who are waiting to be paired minimizing lost referrals due to a prolonged wait time.
  • Continuity promotes stability, encourages familiarity and group cohesion, and increases feelings of comfort for participants. While it’s important to offer new groups to create excitement, variety, and interest, ongoing groups are also highly valuable to the community.
  • It is surprising how much a quick phone call or text can make a big difference to a volunteer or participant who is having a bad day. No gesture is too small.
  • Consistency in services offered to care recipients and family caregivers provides predictability and builds trust and loyalty between them and the organization and with the volunteers.
  • When developing programs for family caregivers, ask yourself “Is this program supporting the family caregiver or teaching the family caregiver how to support the care recipient?” It is important for the caregiver to shift their perspective to caring for themselves, to know and feel that their lives matter too while they, as caregivers, ensure that the care recipient’s wellbeing matters. Evaluate your programming to ensure you are meeting your intended goal.
  • Recruit a pool of volunteers who regularly call clients on the waitlist to keep them engaged in the program while you look for their match. This helps care recipients understand where you are in the process and helps to retain them in the program.