How do you measure volunteer engagement for strategic goals?

1 Define your engagement goals and indicators

The first step is to define what volunteer engagement means for your organization and how it relates to your strategic goals. You need to identify the specific outcomes and behaviors that you want to achieve and measure with your volunteers. For example, do you want to increase retention, satisfaction, loyalty, advocacy, or referrals? Do you want to enhance skills, knowledge, performance, or productivity? Do you want to foster collaboration, innovation, or diversity? These are some of the possible engagement goals that you can set for your volunteer program. Once you have your goals, you need to choose the indicators that will help you measure them. Indicators are the observable and measurable aspects of volunteer engagement that can be quantified or qualified. For example, some common indicators are attendance, completion, feedback, ratings, testimonials, or referrals.

3 Analyze your engagement data

The third step is to analyze the data that you have collected and interpret what it means for your engagement goals and indicators. You need to use appropriate statistical and qualitative methods to process, summarize, and compare the data. For example, you can use descriptive statistics, such as mean, median, mode, or frequency, to describe the characteristics of your volunteer engagement. You can also use inferential statistics, such as correlation, regression, or t-test, to test the relationships and differences between your engagement variables. You can also use thematic analysis, content analysis, or discourse analysis to identify and explain the patterns and meanings of your qualitative data. You need to ensure that your analysis is valid, accurate, and objective. You also need to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your volunteer engagement.

4 Communicate your engagement results

The fourth step is to communicate the results of your data analysis and the implications for your engagement goals and indicators. You need to decide what format and channel you will use to share the information with your volunteers and other stakeholders. For example, you can use reports, dashboards, infographics, or presentations to communicate the findings and recommendations of your engagement measurement. You can also use stories, testimonials, or case studies to illustrate the impact and value of your volunteer engagement. You need to ensure that your communication is clear, concise, and relevant. You also need to invite feedback, questions, and suggestions from your audience and use them to improve your engagement measurement and management.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?