If you’ve worked in the nonprofit sector for any length of time, you know that donating isn’t the only meaningful, valuable way supporters can engage with your organization. Volunteering, in particular, is critical for many nonprofits to further their missions, whether you work for an animal shelter that needs help running its pet adoption events or a children’s literacy organization that recruits volunteer tutors for local students.
Just as donor retention allows your nonprofit to build a reliable support base for revenue generation, retaining volunteers helps you cultivate stable support through contributions of time and effort. But for volunteers to stay involved with your organization, they need more than just frequent communications and the feeling that you value them (although those things still matter). They also need sustained motivation to support your mission to the best of their ability.
In this guide, we’ll walk through some strategies for keeping volunteers engaged and motivated so you can develop a thriving volunteer program at your nonprofit. Let’s get started!
Consider the Entire Volunteer Management Lifecycle
Every aspect of your volunteers’ experience with your organization affects whether they’ll stay involved long-term. The volunteer management lifecycle is a helpful tool for visualizing a volunteer's journey with your nonprofit. Consider how you can motivate your volunteers and set them up for long-term involvement at each of the following five stages of the lifecycle:
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Recruitment. As you encourage new volunteers to join your program, be mindful of the first impression you’re making on them. Write clear role descriptions so they know what to expect from their desired position, create streamlined and user-friendly online applications, and let applicants know how to contact your organization with any questions or concerns.
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Onboarding. Build on the positive first impression you made during recruitment with a well-structured, thorough onboarding process. Ensure your orientation sessions cover everything new volunteers need to know (policies, responsibilities, communication, etc.) and include hands-on training by having them shadow more experienced volunteers.
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Engagement. This stage encompasses everything your nonprofit does after onboarding to keep volunteers active, informed, and excited about their duties. Think about the flexibility you offer in scheduling shifts, the content and frequency of your volunteer communications, the ongoing training and advanced skill development you provide, and opportunities to promote community-building, just to name a few.
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Appreciation. The best way to show that you value volunteers is by expressing gratitude. Certain forms of recognition will resonate more with some volunteers than others, so try out both private (e.g., handwritten cards, videos, and small gifts) and public methods (e.g., social media shoutouts or awards for exceptional service) to accommodate everyone’s preferences.
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Retention. Every stage of the volunteer lifecycle builds to this one, and appreciation is actually the first step to retaining volunteers. In addition to showing gratitude periodically so longtime volunteers know they’re still valuable to your organization, collect data on your program and ask for input (more on this later!) so you can continuously improve the volunteer experience over time.
It can be tempting for your nonprofit to attract lots of new volunteers, get them up and running in their roles, and only then start to think about how to retain their support. In reality, effective volunteer retention begins at recruitment. Explain this principle clearly to your staff during program planning sessions so they always develop strategies with it in mind.
Ask Volunteers for Feedback
While your staff’s input on your volunteer program is valuable, no one has a deeper understanding of what volunteers want to see from your nonprofit going forward than volunteers themselves. Asking for feedback also makes volunteers feel valued because it gives them a platform to make their voices heard at your organization.
Depending on your volunteers’ involvement level and program size, choose a regular cadence—monthly, quarterly, biannually, or annually—to send out a survey or schedule one-on-one meetings between volunteers and program staff. Regardless of the time frame or format, use these opportunities to ask volunteers about:
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Roles and responsibilities. How much do they enjoy what they do during their shifts on a scale of 1-10? Do they want to try out a new position, or are they happy staying where they are?
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Procedures. What did new volunteers think of the application process? Are all of your volunteers satisfied with how you schedule shifts and communicate with them?
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Training and development. Did new volunteers learn everything they needed to know about their roles during onboarding? Can longtime volunteers access the resources and assistance to learn and grow in the ways they most want to?
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Program perks. Are your appreciation methods resonating with volunteers? Are they connecting with other volunteers and becoming part of your organization’s community? Is there anything else they want to see from your nonprofit?
Track volunteers’ responses in your volunteer management system so you can view them all in one place. Then, see what feedback volunteers most commonly give and decide if and how you can use it to improve your program. For example, if many volunteers think your nonprofit could do more to help volunteers build community, you might create an online portal where they can communicate virtually or host appreciation events a few times a year so they can mingle in person.
Whatever feedback you implement, communicate the changes you make to volunteers to let them know that you’re taking their input seriously and truly want to make your program better.
Share Impact Information With Volunteers
A positive experience with your nonprofit only really matters to volunteer retention if they also know that their work makes a difference in the community—after all, that was probably the main reason they signed up to volunteer! You can share impact information with volunteers in various ways depending on their preferences, including:
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Statistics: Measure volunteers’ impact in tangible ways, such as the number of community members they’ve served or the estimated percentage by which beneficiaries’ lives have improved because of their work.
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Stories: Collect testimonials directly from individual beneficiaries or get their consent to discuss how volunteers have helped them in narrative form.
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Images. Back up stories and statistics with photos of your volunteers hard at work and community members benefiting from their efforts. Also, consider presenting statistics using charts and graphs to make them more digestible.
Incorporate this information into impact reports, website content, newsletters, social media, and any other communication channel you use regularly. Not only are volunteers more likely to see impact details if you disseminate them widely, but other community members will also learn about your volunteer program and potentially be inspired to sign up!
Every nonprofit and individual volunteer is different, so remember to adapt the above strategies to align with your program’s structure and participants’ preferences. However, these tips should provide a solid foundation for boosting volunteer retention rates and cultivating a community of passionate, dedicated volunteers to support your mission.