Volunteer Nation

About Volunteer Nation

Nonprofit leadership author, coach, and expert Tobi Johnson shares weekly tips to help charities build, grow, and scale exceptional volunteer teams. Discover how your nonprofit can effectively coordinate volunteers who are reliable, equipped, and ready to help you bring about BIG change for the better. Rather than continuing to “do more with less,” achieve abundance for your organization by engaging community talent that helps you do more with more. Society is evolving and so, too, is volunteerism. With over 25 years of experience working in nonprofits, public sector agencies, and grassroots campaigns Tobi is known for her modern “big hat” thinking and straight talk about what it takes to achieve success in today’s world. You will learn how to coordinate volunteers, improve the volunteer experience, recruit volunteers, appreciate volunteers, and do it all more efficiently with the right volunteer management software and digital tools. It’s a mix of interviews and solo shows you’re not going to want to miss. So, if you’re ready to ditch the stress and harness the power of people to fuel your good work, you’re in exactly the right place. Hit subscribe and let’s DO this!

Publisher

Tobi Johnson, MA, CVA

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Apr 2022

Latest episode

16 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

124 of 223 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   16 Jul 2026

   223. We're Taking a Summer Break!

   Host Tobi Johnson discusses the importance of rest and shares insights on her upcoming book for volunteer leaders, offering strategies for confidence and impact.

2. 

   9 Jul 2026

   222. Volunteer Leadership Stories with Catherine Huckaby

   Tobi Johnson interviews Catherine Huckaby, author of Nobody Starts Ready, exploring how volunteer leadership stories inspire action and overcome self-doubt.

3. 

   2 Jul 2026

   221. How to Use a Google Grant to Recruit Volunteers with Clay Mansell

   Marketing expert Clay Mansell shares with host Tobi Johnson how nonprofits can leverage Google Grants to effectively recruit volunteers and secure $10,000 monthly in free advertising.

Inside a recent episode

216. Your Quick Guide to Better Volunteer Thank You Notes

Published 28 May 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] One of the things I want to just differentiate here between the thank you notes I'm going to talk about and the ones that I see a lot out there, the generic thanks for all you do. We couldn't do it without our volunteers. Those blanket statements are are not what I'm talking about today. I'm not talking about blanket statements. I'm talking about personalized notes to each individual volunteer. And we want to create these lasting connections. Now, you may think, well, we have thousands of volunteers or hundreds of volunteers. There's no way I'm gonna make this happen on a regular basis. Well, you can enlist the help of coworkers. […]

Who has been a guest on Volunteer Nation

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Catherine Huckaby
• Clay Mansell
• Breauna Dorelus
• Kaira Esgate
• Marg McLachlan

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

352,423

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

26 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

16 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 77 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

87

Social presence

0

YouTube

82

Engagement

85

Contact Volunteer Nation

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Volunteer Nation