Both in paid and in volunteer contexts, working together has to be productive and efficient or we are losing money, energy, or volunteers themselves. Just as paid workers want to have a say in their work environment, volunteers may have a desire for that as well. For governance, there is no difference between a paid and an unpaid environment. Treat your volunteers like paid staff – have a contract that outlines how the organization will benefit the volunteer, how volunteers will benefit the organization, which defines what the rights and responsibilities of volunteers in the organization are. “Pay” volunteers with feedback about the impact of their work, opportunities for learning, and a sense of belonging and connection. Expect volunteers to be accountable to their commitments.

In a mixed paid and volunteer organization, a typical concern is that either or both a paid person filling a role of a volunteer coordinator could have too much power or carry too much of an organizational burden. A sociocratic organization that includes both paid workers and volunteers can work effectively to resolve their dilemmas when both share the responsibilities of decision making.

What do we have to keep in mind if we mix paid staff and volunteers in one organization? Again, for the governance aspect, anything works. Sociocracy is about who does what and who decides what, not about who gets paid for their work. Whether or not volunteers in a mixed organization are decision-makers will depend on their level of involvement.

If we can ‘‘hire’’ a volunteer, can we also ‘‘fire’’ them? It follows from the general principles of membership of circles (a circle can choose its members) that we have to be able to remove people from circles (see section Section 2.2.3.4, “How to remove a circle member from a circle”). This is true no matter whether that person is paid or not. That means we might be in a situation where we “fire” a volunteer because working with them negatively affects the circle’s ability to work toward their aim. Some find that hard to do because we want to be grateful for anyone putting in their volunteer time. However, remember that any organization based on consent requires its members to be accountable and constructive. If someone’s behavior is slowing down the circle significantly, it might be better to let that person go.

We can remove someone from a circle or a role and ask them to do other jobs within the same organization. In this case, we are not excluding them as a member – we might even hold them in appreciation as members of the organization while removing them from one particular circle. For example, someone might be the best cook and volunteer coordinator in a soup kitchen but drive people away as a fundraiser. This person might still be part of the meal or volunteer coordination circle but not the fundraising circle.

How can we include new members in a sociocratic system, especially in a volunteer context? It is harder to require training on sociocratic governance for volunteers because their involvement might be lower and more fluid. Someone told us about volunteers in a community garden, “the people don’t want to be trained in decision making, they are here to dig in the dirt.” Our response was: “Well, someone still has to make the decisions, and if they want to make them for themselves, they will need a framework to do it in.” Volunteers work within the context of the organization’s policies. Organizations need to be clear in their policies about which level of volunteering qualifies for decision making and which levels of volunteering welcome feedback but no decision-making rights. If volunteers have decision-making rights, then they need training and education about sociocracy just like any paid staff member.

Another way to include volunteers in an organization is as a stakeholder group. Volunteers have a stake in the well-being and effectiveness of the organization they contribute their time to. They have in interested in their work having meaning and they have an interest in how they are treated as volunteers. A circle of volunteers representing the interests of volunteers can be double linked with the Mission Circle. The leader of the Mission Circle (or other selected person) would serve as the leader of the Volunteer Circle and one or more delegates selected by the Volunteer Circle would serve on the Mission Circle,.Alternatively, a Volunteer Circle could be a sub-circle of the General Circle or any other organizational circle. In that context the Volunteer Circle would have its own aim and domain and relevant activity and authority like any other circle of the organization.