Volunteer Retention: 7 Effective Ways

We all know that a volunteer workforce is integral to many charities and organisations' operations. Without volunteers. the services that are on offer would be hugely restricted. Most of us need volunteers to continue to provide these key services that often support the most vulnerable people in society.?

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After working with many organisations over the past few years, it has become clear that volunteer retention is something with which many struggle. We have come up with seven 'top tips' to?help?improve your volunteer retention.

Often volunteers come and go, and this is a natural evolution; family or work commitments change and sometimes it is just not feasible for them to continue to give up their time any longer. However, there are some things that you can do to?help?retain volunteers. In these instances, are you able to offer more flexibility; provide a different role for them; or is there anything that they can do from?home? It could be as simple as answering a few emails or updating social media - often you can work around the change in circumstance to keep them on your books.

Volunteers offer their time for so many different reasons and understanding each individual's reason for volunteering is a great place to start. That said, people will usually only offer their time to a cause which means something to them or for a role that offers them fulfillment, so remember they have chosen you to offer their time and so they likely believe in your cause.

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Below are some tips that you could try to improve your volunteer retention:

1. Make sure volunteers have tasks and responsibilities to keep them busy, if a volunteer thinks there is not enough for them to do or their time is not valued enough to be given tasks and responsibilities, they are less likely?to continue. If a volunteer feels needed and valued this will be a huge incentive for them to continue to give their time.
2. Say thank you and show that you appreciate them. There are many ways you can achieve this: face to face; on your socials; thank you notes. You could try a kudos board or a shout out system, and don't forget to recognise small achievements. A little appreciation goes a long?way!
3. Assign roles that suit volunteers' skills and interests. If a person has a particular skillset that you are able to utilise, do it! They will feel more comfortable doing tasks that play to their particular skills. If they don't, are you able to provide training or mentoring to enhance their skillset?
4. Ensure that you are communicating with volunteers regularly, keeping them updated on what is happening in your organisation. Be clear on what their role is and what expectations you have of them. Be approachable, let them come to you if they have any concerns or if they need support. If you can, an open door policy is a great way to achieve this.
5. Work around your volunteers' commitments; if you are able to offer flexibility, this is awesome. We understand that this is not always possible, so in these instances be clear on what days and times they are required to give up and if there is a change in this, try to provide as much notice as possible.
6. Are you able to provide training opportunities for your volunteers? They are giving up their time for you, are you able to give something back to them? People volunteer for a plethora of different reasons, so find out why they are volunteering - it may be to expand their skillset to land their dream job, or to boost their CV... if you can support their dream, then do so.
7. Invite volunteers along to events; if a volunteer has chosen your organisation, it is likely that they will be interested?in your cause. The more that you can include them, the more that they will feel part of your team!

Need any additional tips? Community First is always running Training Courses around Volunteer Recruitment, Management, and Retention.

If you'd like advice specific to your organisation, you can always feel free to contact our Volunteering Service team to get a conversation going about your volunteer needs. - [email protected]