Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Norris.
Hi Caroline, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My path to leading Volunteer Odyssey has been a bit of a winding road, but one with a consistent throughline: a commitment to serving neighbors and building community.
I spent the first ten years of my career working for small, scrappy companies where I learned how to do a little bit of everything—operations, strategy, marketing, people management, and problem-solving on the fly. From there, I moved into roles at larger, public companies and really sharpened my skills. What I feel especially lucky about is that every organization I worked for, big or small, had heart. They believed in showing up for their communities, and that shaped how I think about leadership.
When I moved to Memphis about ten years ago, I had this realization: I wanted my after-hours volunteer life to become my full-time work. This city has incredible heart and generosity. I had the chance to fundraise through large-scale events for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which will always be near & dear to my heart, and later to lead revenue operations for Shelby Farms Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country. Along the way, I also served on nonprofit boards and volunteered regularly.
That’s where I really started to see a pattern. Nonprofits were surrounded by people eager to help, but they didn’t always have the capacity, systems, or support to fully engage those volunteers. I saw firsthand how powerful Volunteer Odyssey was as a partner, helping nonprofits build that capacity and making critical connections.
So when the founder and board invited me to step into leadership about 18 months ago, it felt like a full-circle moment. Together, we’ve streamlined our vision around a simple but powerful idea: building a city where nonprofits have the right volunteers, in the right place, at the right time.
Today, Volunteer Odyssey supports more than 200 nonprofits and thousands of volunteers each year in every zip code of Shelby County. We’re strengthening not just individual organizations, but the entire philanthropic ecosystem in Memphis. I feel incredibly grateful to get to do this work and to do it in a city that believes so deeply in showing up for one another.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Like most nonprofits, our journey definitely hasn’t been a straight path. We’ve navigated a shifting philanthropic landscape, evolving community needs, limited staffing capacity … and like everyone else, the long ripple effects of the pandemic. Many of our nonprofit partners experienced burnout, shrinking resources, and a real drop in volunteer engagement, all at the same time they were being asked to do more.
One of our biggest challenges has been making sure organizations of all sizes have equitable access to strong volunteer management. Many small and midsize nonprofits don’t have a full-time volunteer manager, so they rely on us for much more than a platform. We often serve as a strategic partner, a sounding board, and sometimes even an extension of their team. Meeting that growing need with limited resources has required a lot of creativity, flexibility, and a deep commitment to collaboration.
What has made the road smoother (and honestly, what keeps us going) is the community itself. The dedication of Memphis volunteers, the passion of our nonprofit partners, and the talent of our team constantly remind me why this work matters. Even on the hardest days, it’s clear that this city shows up for one another, and we’re lucky to be part of that.
As you know, we’re big fans of Volunteer Odyssey. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Volunteer Odyssey exists to make leveraging the people-power of volunteers easier, more meaningful, and more impactful for everyone involved.
We specialize in:
Volunteer recruitment and retention for nonprofit organizations
Best-practices training for volunteer managers
Streamlined technology and data support through our volunteer platform
Matching volunteers to causes they care about
Fractional volunteer management services for organizations without a volunteer coordinator
Corporate community engagement strategy and implementation
What sets us apart is our ecosystem approach: we support nonprofits, volunteers, and community partners together, so the whole system works better. We’re not just matching volunteers to opportunities; we’re strengthening the relationships and capacity across the entire city. We amplify the voice of all our partners & we leverage every marketing medium we can to collectively promote all the causes on our one calendar. Because of that, every $1 invested in us returns over $5 in value to the community. That’s something we are incredibly proud of.
We’re known for being practical and collaborative. Our goal is always to meet organizations where they are, take the guesswork out of volunteer engagement, and help them build programs that last.
What are you most proud of?
I’m proud that we’ve built a model that increases both volunteer participation and nonprofit capacity. We’ve helped organizations launch new programs, revive old ones, and measure their impact more clearly. And, that we’ve done that while also thinking very intentionally about being good stewards of donor dollars. Every $1 invested in Volunteer Odyssey returns over $5 in value to the community.
I’m also proud of the culture we’ve built: one that values authenticity, connection, and continuous improvement. Whether we are hosting a large corporate service event or training a first-time volunteer manager, our goal is to empower people to connect with purpose. We remain committed to collaboration over competition.
What are your plans for the future?
Can you talk about your view on risk-taking? Have you taken any major risks?
I think about risk in terms of mission alignment and long-term value. Our work requires us to try new approaches, pilot new services, and adapt to the changing needs of nonprofits. Some of our biggest steps forward started as calculated risks: expanding fractional volunteer management, building new technology systems, restructuring our service tiers, and scaling corporate engagement partnerships.
For me, the greatest risk is standing still. Nonprofits evolve, communities evolve, and volunteerism evolves. If we don’t innovate with intention, we can’t serve the ecosystem as effectively as Memphis deserves.
Pricing / Funding Model (Optional for publication)
If helpful to include, here’s how we describe our model clearly and transparently:
Our platform and essential services are completely free for all nonprofit partners.
We serve over 200 organizations across Memphis at no cost to them.
We are funded almost entirely through the generosity of the community: grants, sponsors, individual donors, and corporate partners.
For elevated fractional volunteer management services, we have a sliding scale for our nonprofit partners depending on the needs and capacity.
We provide strategic plans, communications, and platform management for our corporate, civic, and higher ed partners as a fee-for-service.
This model allows every dollar invested in Volunteer Odyssey to generate exponential value across the entire nonprofit ecosystem.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://volunteerodyssey.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/volunteerodyssey/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VolunteerOdyssey/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/volunteer-odyssey
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VolunteerOdyssey/videos
