Volunteers are the lifeblood of many nonprofit organizations, but keeping them engaged and motivated can be challenging. How can you improve your volunteer retention and recognition strategies? In this article, you will learn some practical tips and best practices to increase your volunteer satisfaction, loyalty, and impact.
Before you can improve your volunteer retention and recognition strategies, you need to understand your current strengths and weaknesses. How do you measure your volunteer engagement, satisfaction, and retention? What are the main reasons why volunteers join, stay, or leave your organization? How do you collect and use feedback from your volunteers? Conducting a volunteer survey, conducting exit interviews, and analyzing your volunteer data can help you identify the areas that need improvement and the opportunities for growth.
Your volunteer value proposition is the unique combination of benefits, rewards, and experiences that you offer to your volunteers in exchange for their time, skills, and commitment. It should align with your organizational mission, vision, and values, as well as with your volunteers' motivations, needs, and expectations. To define your volunteer value proposition, you need to answer these questions: Why should someone volunteer for your organization? What do they gain from volunteering? How do you support and empower them to make a difference?
Recruiting volunteers for fundraising for nonprofits is one of the harder asks. However, when you can put fundraising into the larger context of sharing information, inspiring community members, and making connections, it can reduce the anxiety factor. Further, when you help potential volunteers understand the tremendous impact they can have as fundraisers, it can open them to a new depth of service and personal satisfaction.
Your volunteer journey is the sequence of interactions and touchpoints that your volunteers have with your organization, from the moment they express interest in volunteering to the moment they complete their service or leave. It should be a positive, meaningful, and rewarding experience that builds trust, loyalty, and engagement. To design your volunteer journey, you need to map out the different stages of the volunteer lifecycle, such as recruitment, orientation, training, supervision, recognition, and retention. Then, you need to define the goals, actions, and outcomes for each stage, as well as the communication channels, tools, and resources that you will use to support your volunteers.
Years ago, I visited a very large Episcopal church with multiple clergy, one of whom introduced himself as their volunteer facilitator. He told me he asks every new member of the church one question: "Would you like me to help you find your niche here?" They almost universally responded "yes!" He knew that one of the most powerful feelings is one of belonging, and he was taking the initiative to help people feel like they had a place. That moment has influenced my entire view of volunteerism for more than two decades.
Your volunteer recognition program is the set of activities and practices that you use to acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate your volunteers' contributions and achievements. It should be consistent, authentic, and personalized, as well as aligned with your organizational culture and values. To implement your volunteer recognition program, you need to establish the criteria, frequency, and methods of recognition, such as thank-you notes, certificates, awards, events, feedback, or testimonials. You also need to involve your staff, board, donors, and beneficiaries in expressing gratitude and appreciation to your volunteers.
Your volunteer retention results are the indicators and metrics that you use to measure the effectiveness and impact of your volunteer retention and recognition strategies. They should be relevant, realistic, and reliable, as well as aligned with your organizational goals and objectives. To evaluate your volunteer retention results, you need to collect and analyze data on your volunteer retention rate, turnover rate, satisfaction rate, engagement rate, and impact rate. You also need to monitor and report on your progress, challenges, and successes, as well as adjust and improve your strategies based on your findings.
One of the best ways to improve your volunteer retention and recognition strategies is to learn from other volunteer managers who have faced similar challenges and achieved similar goals. You can benefit from their insights, experiences, and best practices, as well as share your own learnings and questions. To learn from other volunteer managers, you can join online or offline networks, communities, and forums, such as VolunteerMatch, VolunteerPro, or Engage Journal. You can also attend webinars, workshops, or conferences, such as Points of Light, Volunteer Management Institute, or International Volunteer Managers Day.
Volunteering comes in so many forms, all of which are worthy and appreciated. We often hear about "worker bees" and "leadership volunteers," and while there are distinct attributes of each, they can both be deeply moving for the volunteer and the recipient nonprofit.