Create a mentoring program - This is not something that "happens." It needs a sound plan. A team of experienced network members can draw together an organizational plan, training design, and means to evaluate the project.

"Choose mentors and mentees carefully - Success of such
a program will hinge on making choices about who should participate..."

Choose mentors and mentees carefully - Success of such a program will hinge on making choices about who should participate (especially at the beginning.) Some network members really don't want to share their knowledge, because it forces them to contemplate the time when they won't be with the organization or it challenges their control of a project, event, or task. The plan should have a process to screen and select people to be both mentors and mentees.

Match people who have something in common - Mentoring relationships for adults work best when they have something in common. The most important things that influence a good match are things like personality, type of music they like, or an interest in sports. Race is rarely as important as these other factors in ensuring a good match.

Train the mentors and the mentees - Preparing people to be mentors is critical. If you have people on the planning team who have mentored, let them share their experiences. Talk to people running mentoring programs for children. Some of their training material might be translatable to an adult format! Once the program is underway, experienced mentors can share what they know.

Have mentors and mentees set goals and time lines - Be sure that the team has a goal to work toward. If a network member who has led a major fund-raising event for years is looking for new challenges, find them someone who can take their place. The mentee can then go through the planning and implementation phases of the project, learning from the more experienced network member as they go.

Have realistic expectations - A mentoring program will not solve all the "transition" issues in the organization. It can help solve some problems, be an effective means of training incoming network members, but it isn't a quick or miraculous fix. There will be some failures, but it can be an effective means of passing the baton from one network member to another.

Adapted with permission from Volunteer Today   http://www.volunteertodaycom

Nancy Macduff
Nancy Macduff has 20 years experience managing volunteers in a nonprofit organization and a government based program.  She is the author of six books on volunteer management, and a contributor to two college text-books on nonprofit management.  She is on the faculty of Washington State University, teaching a distance learning course on volunteer management.  Nancy currently divides her time between Washington, DC, where she is the Senior Advisor for Education and Training for the Points of Light Foundation, and Walla Walla, WA, where she is president of Macduff/Bunt Associates, a training and consulting firm.

Laura Bunt
Laura Bunt of Walla Walla, Washington, has a Bachelors of Arts degree in Education and has completed the course work for a Masters Degree in Education with a focus in Instructional Media and Technology. She is the Webmaster for the online gazette, Volunteer Today. In addition she operates a personal services business.