How can you help volunteers feel more connected to your organization's mission?

If initial rapport isn't established, individuals are less likely to volunteer unless compelled, such as through community service requirements or court mandates. Therefore, the challenge lies in transforming sporadic volunteers into committed, ongoing contributors to your organization. This can be achieved by highlighting the significance of their involvement, regardless of its duration—whether they volunteered for an hour, a day, or an entire week. For one-time volunteers, assessing their impact becomes feasible when assigned tasks with measurable outcomes, given their short-term involvement. Thus, assigning them to roles where their contributions yield tangible results enhances the likelihood of retaining their participation.

Volunteers want to be a part of something bigger than them! Create opportunities where they can share their knowledge and have a voice. Make sure to ask good feedback questions. Odds are that they won't openly share their perspective unless they are asked for it and chances are that they are a gold mine of actionable feedback. By involving them and acknowledging a volunteer's knowledge and contribution, you make them feel important. Volunteers that don't feel important or connected won't stick around. Volunteers who are connected and celebrated will be committed for the long haul!

This is huge! Please don't stick a volunteer in one task and leave them there for eternity. A volunteer position is just like a corporate position, most people want to grow, move, and influence. Offer opportunities for growth through formal training, but don't underestimate the power of inviting a volunteer to shadow you to see what you do and how you do it. More is caught than is taught!

When I think about the volunteers I have worked with in past leadership roles -- and even about my own motivations for volunteering -- while there's obviously an altruistic element, it's clear that people want to derive some personal benefit. For many, the greatest benefit of volunteering is the opportunity to connect with like-minded people. And particularly if your organization attracts older volunteers, leadership should remember that volunteering may be their primary way to build relationships in the community. Nonprofit leaders must create an environment where everyone, employees and volunteers alike, feel that they belong. Doing so is an important step in attracting great volunteers and keeping them fully engaged for a long time.

People stay for a friend and/or a function. I'm the kind of person that wants both and I think most volunteers want that. It's not enough to just do an important job, we need to offer ways for volunteers to build relationships, to actually like the people they serve with. Host a social event once a quarter for no other reason than team building. Delegate phone call tasks to them to call each other, fostering peer relationships. As a leader, call them once in a while just because. An old-fashioned phone call to say "how are you doing?" is huge these days!