Volunteer Engagement & Groups Coordinator (St. Paul)

Organizational Summary:  

Open Arms of Minnesota (OAM) is a nonprofit that prepares and delivers healthy, nutritious food to people living with life-threatening illnesses. Our mission: by providing food as medicine, we nourish our clients and build community. In our two state-of-the-art kitchens, OAM staff members and more than 6,400 volunteers create meals specifically designed for our clients’ nutritional needs. We use fresh and, whenever possible, organic ingredients, including produce from our own 5 Open Farms urban garden locations. Volunteers deliver meals throughout the Twin Cities metro area to approximately 3,600 clients, caregivers, and dependents annually, providing nourishment and hope for families dealing with life-threatening illnesses. In addition, families in need throughout Minnesota receive meals shipped to them weekly. There are no fees for any of Open Arms’ services. Open Arms is a volunteer-driven organization and is culturally unique in our high commitment to an excellent volunteer experience.

To learn more, visit www.openarmsmn.org

Open Date: September 5th, 2025 Closing Date: Until filled

Position Overview:

The Volunteer Engagement & Groups Coordinator is a full-time and benefits eligible position at Open Arms, primarily working Tuesdays through Saturdays. The Volunteer Engagement Coordinator & Groups Coordinator is responsible for engaging and retaining volunteers in the kitchen, promoting a positive, impactful experience, and supporting daily organizational needs. This position is the first point of contact for face-to-face communication and is responsible for providing customer service in the OAM building, primarily in the kitchen. The Volunteer Engagement Coordinator & Groups Coordinator is also responsible for messaging to and from volunteers and is an integral part of the overall fundraising strategy at OAM. This position requires a high level of customer service and hospitality, and most of the work hours are spent interacting face-to-face with volunteers. As with all OAM staff positions, this position is responsible for ensuring volunteers and interns have an exemplary experience during all interactions with Open Arms and is expected to maintain the highest level of customer service to all guests, clients, and fellow team members.

Primary Job Responsibilities: 

• Welcome and engage volunteers in the OAM kitchen, providing high-energy hospitality to every individual kitchen volunteer and volunteer group, from arrival to departure. 

• Ensure Open Arms provides an outstanding experience for all volunteers by seeking out meaningful, positive interactions and maintaining a positive, friendly, and helpful attitude at all times. 

• Provide consistent recognition to volunteers and support the planning and execution of periodic recognition events. Promote communication between staff and volunteers by making introductions and sharing needs and issues.   

• Provide some administrative support for volunteer programs, attendance tracking, database management, and communicating in a timely fashion via email, phone, and other communications.  

• Assist in implementing volunteer retention and recognition efforts as directed by supervisor. 

• Assist with special events and fundraisers as assigned. 

• Greet, tour, and orient new individual volunteers, groups, interns, and guests. 

• Periodically support delivery drivers and the meal delivery program. 

• Support the mission, values, and brand of OAM. 

• Other duties as assigned.  

Group Coordination 

• Respond to group requests in a timely manner. 

• Collaborate with the Development Department to actively recruit corporate and community groups. 

• Schedule groups and coordinate open dates, manage roster, and keep all staff calendars updated. 

• Ensure all group information and waivers are complete and in the volunteer database.  

• Orient and train groups on volunteer expectations prior to their shift. 

• Lead kitchen groups, both corporate and community. 

• Follow up with groups on their experience, their impact, to continue engagement.  

• Collaborate with the Development Department on holiday group opportunities and outreach events. 

Delivery Support 

• Greet and train volunteer drivers, and ensure drivers receive correct routes. 

• Foster an outstanding volunteer delivery experience by maintaining a positive, friendly, helpful attitude at all times. 

• Supervise interns and volunteers assisting with logistics and hospitality. 

Kitchen 

• Greet, tour, and orient volunteers, groups, interns, and guests in the kitchen.  

• Foster an outstanding volunteer kitchen experience by maintaining a high-energy, positive, friendly, and helpful attitude at all times. 

• Help ensure Open Arms’ volunteers contribute to a safe and productive kitchen environment by modeling and encouraging OAM food safety practices in the kitchen. 

• Prepare for each individual shift and build rapport with volunteers by knowing volunteer names, history with OAM and other details.  

• Personalize the experience of kitchen volunteers by leading team huddles at the beginning of the shift, acknowledging new volunteers, birthdays, and other milestones, and facilitating games, conversation between volunteers as well as periodic recognition, drawings or other activities. 

• Promote communication between staff and volunteers by making introductions and sharing needs and issues.   

• Communicate fundraising and other Open Arms messages to volunteers in the kitchen.  

• Communicate with the Corporate and Partnerships Manager to ensure that all kitchen groups receive follow-up communication relative to weekly messages. 

• Lead corporate and other groups of volunteers in the kitchen, with cooperation from other members of the Volunteer Engagement Team. 

• Supervise all interns and volunteers participating in the kitchen. 

Requirements:  

• Experience working with volunteers preferred. 

• Demonstrated high-energy, friendly demeanor, and customer service excellence.  

• Outstanding ability and desire to foster genuine relationships and connections with the public. 

• Understanding of the importance of discretion and confidentiality.

• Ability to maintain professional demeanor under pressure. 

• Strong organizational skills and the demonstrated ability to work successfully both independently and collaboratively as part of a team. 

• Confident communication, writing, public speaking, and human relations skills, and a personal presence that garners respect from volunteers and the public at large. 

• Strong ability to multitask and work in a fast-paced, high-pressure setting. 

• Ability to support an experience-focused, energized, and positive team environment. 

• Ability to maintain a positive attitude and cheerful demeanor in stressful situations. 

• Knowledge of computers and technology and excellent phone skills. 

• Ability to maintain a detailed database. Experience with Volunteer Hub database is a plus. 

• Flexibility to work during hours of operations, including Saturdays.

• Flexibility to work in two different sites, with access to reliable transportation.   

• Ability to adhere to attendance and punctuality requirements, to meet time-sensitive client and organizational needs.   

• Sensitivity and commitment to diversity and ability to work respectfully with a wide array of coworkers and members of the community. 

• A passion for the mission and values of Open Arms.

Physical Requirements: 

• Ability to communicate in English verbally and in writing.  

• Able to operate standard office equipment (such as telephone, computer, printer, and copy machine). 

• Able to set up tabletop displays and speak at events. 

• Able to sit for long periods of time and/or work on feet for long periods of time.  

• Able to lift up to 50 pounds.  

• Able to stand, sit, walk, bend, stoop, and twist.  Requires full range of motion, manual dexterity, and eye-hand coordination.   

• Able to operate a computer, volunteer database, and other software programs.