Volunteers-skilled, sensitive, and filled with integrity, sincerity, and perseverance-are often a vital component to the success of any thriving service organization. Their tasks are at the very heart of the organization and communities they serve, yet most volunteers receive little or no formal training before their first assignment. Training Volunteers for Community Service is a much-needed manual for leaders who are charged with the task of training, and preserving, their organization's most valuable asset . . . its volunteers.

Techniques presented in this manual are based on expertise gained over 25 years of training, managing, and retaining 12,000 volunteers at San Francisco's Shanti, an internationally recognized provider of volunteer training and direct services to those with chronic and life-threatening illness. Sixteen program modules enable volunteer managers to train their volunteers to provide high quality, compassionate service while increasing volunteer retention. Comprehensive and flexible, Training Volunteers for Community Service is a step-by-step guide for creating a training program that is sourced in an understanding of volunteers' primary motivations and offers trainees a uniquely rewarding training experience. The Trainer's Guide and Participant's Workbook provide methods for instructing volunteers in critical issues-such as listening and communication, psychosocial issues, the volunteer/client relationship, cultural diversity-and offers the tools and information agencies need to train, motivate, and retain volunteers.