The volunteer coordinator must connect - not be a bottleneck.
A coordinator creates overview and relationships, but the role becomes vulnerable if all questions, shifts, and changes have to go through one person.
Published August 18, 2026 · Hjerterum
A volunteer coordinator can make it much easier to find the right task and the right contact. But a skilled coordinator quickly becomes the person everyone writes to: cancellations, keys, questions, conflicts, and new ideas. It helps in the short term and creates a bottleneck in the long term.
The role should enable more people to act. The coordinator should connect people, maintain frameworks, and identify gaps—not personally solve everything that falls between the cracks.
Describe what the role owns.
Agree on the tasks the coordinator is responsible for. This could include receiving new volunteers, keeping the task catalog up to date, and helping teams with staffing. This does not necessarily mean that the coordinator will find a replacement for each shift themselves.
Also, write down what the role doesn't own. Financial decisions, personnel matters, or professional coach decisions can belong elsewhere. Clear boundaries protect both the coordinator and the volunteers.
Create direct contact in teams
If two bar volunteers can swap shifts directly within clear rules, the coordinator does not need to be the intermediary. If an arrangement team has a contact person, practical questions can be directed there.
The coordinator still needs to be able to see the change, but information and permission are not the same thing. Build a system where relevant people can update their own area while the coordinator maintains oversight.
Have more than one with access to knowledge
Contact lists, task descriptions, and upcoming needs should not only be in one private inbox. Use common, access-controlled tools and document the few routines that need to continue during holidays or illness.
Appoint a deputy and try the arrangement during a quiet week. If everything falls apart when the coordinator is away, the problem isn't the person, but the organization.
Aiming for fewer uncertainties
The success of the coordinator is not the number of messages answered, but rather whether new volunteers find a relevant task, whether teams solve normal changes themselves, and whether open tasks become visible in time.
DGI emphasizes clear roles, self-driven groups, and the board's ability to be a contact and coach. A coordinator can support exactly that if the role is used to build connections rather than dependency.
In Hjerterum Forening, the coordinator can oversee tasks across different areas and use member groups, while the group's own responsible individuals handle the details. Only grant the necessary permissions, and ensure that at least two relevant people can manage critical routines.