Building Better Volunteers

In 2007, ROSE TATUM used all of her annual vacation available through her corporate job to volunteer with Awaiting Angels in Peru.  

“That experience and the people I met made an incredible impact on me,” she says. Profoundly moved by the experience, Tatum passed on her office’s offer to fund her college education as a CPA if she made the commitment to continue working there.  

Instead, she took a career path that led to a variety of community service roles, which last year culminated with her creation of The Volunteer Leadership Lab. The Lab provides hands-on, customized support to local nonprofits that want to build stronger volunteer programs. 

Tatum’s journey into the nonprofit sector began as a program coordinator at Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry. The position reminded her of a time in her life when an organization much like WARM made safety repairs to her family’s home. 

“Coordinating volunteers who were making urgent home repairs for families in Wilmington felt like coming full circle,” she says. “I fell in love with volunteer leadership when I saw how much a well-organized group of volunteers can change a family’s life.” 

Later, as the volunteer program manager at Lower Cape Fear Hospice, now Lower Cape Fear LifeCare, Tatum directed six volunteer coordinators to deliver community programs across nine North Carolina counties. 

She started her own consulting practice in 2018 and offered help with workshops, strategic volunteer recruitment, retention and engagement, fundraising support, and online learning to help nonprofits build strong volunteer programs. While traveling domestically and internationally with her late husband, CLARK TATUM, she consulted remotely.  

Just weeks after the invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, Tatum became the director of volunteering with corporate and community partnerships at ENGin, an international organization that connects Ukrainians with English-speaking volunteers. She created a system to recruit, onboard, match, and retain thousands of volunteers around the world. In just two years, ENGin grew to more than 20,000 volunteers from over 130 countries. “Here at ENGin, I really found my stride,” she says. 

After many conversations with nonprofit and community leaders, Tatum saw a bigger opportunity. In 2024, she began mapping out her strategy for a creative learning environment where nonprofit organizations and volunteer leaders could experiment and test new concepts. 

“I grabbed a whiteboard and started scribbling ideas like a mad scientist, kind of like Charlie’s conspiracy board in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” she says. “The word ‘lab’ kept standing out to me.”  

Resettling back in Wilmington one year later, Tatum combined her definition of a leader – someone who makes people around them better through integrity, compassion, and empathy in their everyday choices – with her whiteboard mind map. And The Volunteer Leadership Lab was born. 

The Lab is built on four pillars: nonprofit services, the ILM Volunteer Hub, the Annual Volunteer Impact Report, and community, education, and leadership. 

At its core, the Lab helps nonprofits build strong, sustainable volunteer programs through direct support and educational resources. Services are offered on a sliding scale to be able to include groups with all budgets. 

The Lab’s ILM Volunteer Hub connects individuals, service clubs, businesses, and faith communities with meaningful volunteer opportunities online and in-person. The Hub sets up an information table in The Harrelson Center lobby twice a month to answer questions for potential volunteers who are walking through. 

The Lab also delivers a data-informed picture of volunteerism in New Hanover County in its annual Volunteer Impact Report. The document serves as an advocacy tool and a proof of concept for funders, policymakers, nonprofit leaders, and corporate partners, Tatum says. 

Finally, the Lab’s training, certifications, and skill-building help volunteers and civic leaders serve with confidence, grow neighborhood leadership, and prepare for disasters, Tatum says. This facet of the Lab partners with other organizations already doing this type of work. 

Under Tatum’s volunteer leadership, the Lab operates with four additional part-time volunteers. MEGHAN ROONEY is responsible for data and quality control for the ILM Volunteer Hub; SUZY STRUHS is the Lab’s photographer and storyteller; AGNES NYAGAMI is responsible for the Volunteer Impact Report; and SANDY HARTUNG focuses on community connection and marketing. 

Tatum, who is certified in volunteer administration by the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration, is actively transitioning The Volunteer Leadership Lab to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. She is currently seeking volunteers to join the board of directors. 

Tatum, who also serves on the city of Wilmington Community Relations Advisory Committee, envisions Wilmington as a place where residents deeply care about one another and set the standard for a connected community. 

“When volunteerism is woven into the fabric of a city, it can build bridges across differences, help nonprofits multiply their impact, and turn neighborhoods into close-knit communities,” Tatum says. “Serving side by side, helping a neighbor in need, picking up trash on our walks, and inviting friends to volunteer at one of our amazing local nonprofits are some of the simplest and most powerful ways we can come together.” 

To view more of photographer Aris Harding’s work, go to arisharding.com.

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