Certified Volunteer Manager Program

The Certified Volunteer Manager (CVM) Program teaches the leadership and management skills required of volunteer professionals including:

• Recruiting, placing, supporting, supervising, engaging, and recognizing volunteers.
• Creating policies and procedures that reduce volunteer program risks and liabilities.
• Assessing volunteer programs’ outcomes and achievements.
• Aligning a volunteer program with an organization’s mission and goals.

The CVM program provides expert instruction and significant opportunities for application. It is for anyone managing volunteers or volunteer programs (or who wants to learn how). Participants include individuals working for nonprofits, government agencies, cities, educational institutions, and other community based organizations. Volunteer professionals from around the world are invited to participate.

The current program is completed over 6-months. It immerses participants into the subject matter at a training retreat. Professional relationships with other volunteer managers are built during this time. Assignment work before and after the retreat focuses on applying what is being learned.

The CVM Program offered by APAC is the first certificate program in volunteer management in the country. Since the first graduating class in 1987, more than 500 participants have become Certified Volunteer Managers.

“The ideas, skills, materials gained in this program are INVALUABLE.” – 2019 Participant

The 2021-2022 CVM Application is Now Available

APPLY ONLINE TODAY

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Wednesday, September 29, 2021

The 2021-2022 CVM program requires approximately 80-hours of time between October 2021 and March 2022 including:

A TRAINING RETREAT: A four-day, three-night training retreat held at the DeGray Lake State Park Lodge beginning at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, November 9 and ending by 4:00 pm on Friday, November 12, 2021. The lodge is just over a one hour drive from the Little Rock International Airport.

ASSIGNMENTS: Assignments before the retreat include assessing your volunteer management skills, learning about the strengths and challenges of an “aspirational” volunteer program, reading about strategic volunteer engagement, and other related work.

CAPSTONE: The Capstone which is developed and implemented after the retreat will provide you the opportunity to apply what you have learned about volunteer management to improve a volunteer program.

Participants who complete all requirements in full achieve a Volunteer Manager Certificate.

The $1,300 program fee includes food and lodging for the four-day, three-night training retreat and all program instruction and materials.

“Love the idea of being ‘cloistered’ and leaving other work & personal [concerns] at home.” – 2019 Participant

Reasons to Participate

Volunteers are a valuable resource. Research shows that effective volunteer engagement is linked to stronger, more effective, and more efficient organizations. Engaged volunteers:

• Significantly increase organizational capacity.
• Become issue and organizational advocates.
• Provide more financial support.
• Make a bigger impact.

It takes significant time and talent to develop a volunteer program that has these impacts. In order to engage volunteers strategically, volunteer managers require not only knowledge, but also planning expertise, appropriate infrastructure, and leadership skills.  APAC’s Certified Volunteer Manager program focuses on developing volunteer professionals who can do just that

For More Information

Contact APAC at apacprog@ualr.edu or (501) 916-6050.

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