Volunteer Manager, Engagement and Retention

The mission of The Good Dog Foundation, Inc. is to ease human suffering from anxiety and trauma, support childhood learning, and assist people overcoming disability and disaster – using Animal Assisted Intervention. To do this, we train volunteers with especially loving, well-mannered pet dogs to be Certified Therapy Dog teams, and we deploy them for hour-long visits to hospitals, schools, universities, nursing homes, libraries, special needs facilities and workplaces across the Greater NYC / Tri-State Area. Volunteers are the core to the execution of our mission. This position reports directly to The Good Dog Foundation Vice President for Training and Research, with dotted line reportability to The Good Dog Foundation Founding President. This is an incredibly collaboration-focused position, working with all staff members across the organization but most closely with the Onboarding Coordinator, Programs Coordinator, and Director of Therapy Dog Visit Operations. Key Responsibilities The primary responsibilities of Good Dog’s Volunteer Manager are: Engagement Develop, in collaboration with the VP of Training and Research, Director of Therapy Dog Visit Operations and the Founding President, a sustainable strategy to increase volunteer enrollment Leverage current knowledge of how the public and potential volunteers learn about The Good Dog Foundation to target those markets and populations for recruitment In collaboration with the VP of Training and Research, develop strategies to either identify dogs at local shelters/rescues that could be “earmarked” as having the potential to be a therapy dog as well as helping potential adopters recognize the potential in rescue animals. Work with marketing and communications to identify and attend NY metro events (e.g.: “dog-theme” days, Parks & Rec events, Summer Streets etc.) Engage and network with established local community organizations Create alternative pathways to volunteering: virtual reading program, “captains,” new trainer development Develop and design recruitment materials for the staff and volunteer use Retention Creation and oversight of Volunteer Advisory Council Act as a liaison for our volunteers to the staff and Board Regular monitoring of online volunteer community forum Assist in roll out and maintenance of Salesforce-based volunteer and facility portal ensuring and encouraging high volunteer engagement Assist VP of Training and Research in implementation and design of volunteer continuing education opportunities (e.g.: training classes, webinars) Create opportunities for volunteer social engagement outside of visits (e.g.: social gatherings) Identify active and enthusiastic volunteers to assume the potential role of “captain” for our various Good Dog regions Work collaboratively with the Director of Therapy Dog Visit Operations to troubleshoot volunteer and facility issues ensuring policies and procedures are being followed correctly Engage with current volunteers to leverage their connections and have them assist in dissemination of recruitment materials Special Projects In conjunction with development staff, identify possible volunteers who might be future donors or Board members Qualifications Bachelor’s degree required 5+ years of volunteer management/engagement preferred Strong interpersonal skills; community-minded and relationship-oriented Interest in or familiarity with Therapy Dogs and the ability to galvanize volunteers and donors behind our mission Basic knowledge of dog behavior, welfare, and positive reinforcement/non-aversive training Demonstrated ability to interpret and use data, including assessing and using metrics to determine the progress and continued health of our volunteer pool The ability and willingness to handle multiple assignments and deadlines – print and electronic, creative and even administrative, given our small staff Mastery of the MS Office suite (especially Excel, Word, Power Point) as well as fundraising software and willingness to master the Salesforce CRM Apply Please, no calls. Submit your resume and cover letter with three references for consideration to: [email protected] Resumes without cover letters will not be reviewed. Salary: $65,000-70,000 (pending experience and other factors),with salary increases contingent on performance and goal achievementVolunteer Engagement Benefits: Health insurance plan Paid time off Location: Greater NY Metro / Tri-State area; work from home but willingness to travel within the Tri-state area; frequent in-person and Zoom meetings ______________________ The Good Dog Foundation strongly encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regar to race, religion, age, color, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, marital status, or veteran status or any other protected characteristic.