Most associations don’t fail because they lack ideas. They fail because a small number of people carry too much, for too long, and eventually disappear. When that happens, the rest of the group loses momentum, new volunteers hesitate to step in, and the work that once felt meaningful starts to feel heavy.
A “volunteer wellbeing policy” sounds formal, but the goal is simple: protect energy, set expectations, and make it easier for more people to contribute without burning out. This proposal asks us to adopt a lightweight set of norms we can actually follow, not a document that sits in a folder.
We will choose a policy package, and then decide how we want to handle workload visibility and handoffs. The outcome should be practical: something the board and project leads can apply immediately.
Comments are important here. If you’ve felt overloaded, or you’ve hesitated to volunteer because you feared it would never end, say so. That’s the signal we need to design a healthier culture.
Limit how many active roles one person can hold at once, and require a named backup for recurring tasks. Build in an off-ramp, so stepping down is normal and planned.
Protects the people who are most reliable from becoming the default solution to everything.
Run work in 6 to 8 week cycles, then take a planned pause week. Projects must define what “done” means for the cycle.
Creates breathing room and makes it easier to join without committing forever.
No one leads alone. Every project lead has a buddy who can cover meetings, share context, and prevent single points of failure.
People can take breaks without a project collapsing.
Nonprofit governance and board practices relevant to sustainable volunteer operations.
Governance and good practice context for accountability and organizational health.
