No question about it —Nonprofits rely heavily on volunteers. The good news is there is no lack of volunteerism in America. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, in 2011, the number of volunteers reached its highest level in five years, as 64.3 million Americans volunteered through an organization, an increase of 1.5 million from 2010. Americans volunteered a total of almost 8 billion hours, an estimated economic value of roughly $171 billion.
Impressive statistics, indeed, but the challenge is that approximately 30% of people who volunteer for an organization in a year, do not continue to volunteer the next year. If you want your volunteers to stay committed to your organization, consider these 5 reasons why volunteers stay.
- Volunteers’ Skills are Matched with Assignments. Considering the value of your volunteers’ specialized skills and using them benefits your organization and allows the volunteer to be uniquely valuable. Of course, you need to consider the desires of the volunteer. Sometimes a CPA may be volunteering because he or she wants to use other skills.
- Volunteers’ Contributions are Recognized. I cannot overstate the value of recognizing volunteers on an ongoing basis both as individuals and in groups and also in a ceremonies and events specifically for the purpose of volunteer appreciation. Some organizations actually announce the number of hours volunteered by individual volunteers and/or the dollar value of the volunteer hours.
- The Value of Volunteers is Measured. Actually measuring the value of volunteer hours in dollars shows that your organization understands the serious contribution being made by volunteers. A side benefit of measuring this value is being able to show it to potential funders and grantors.
- Volunteers and Staff Receive Training. Investing in training your volunteers is another way to demonstrate that you see their value and to keep them engaged. This could include training about the organization itself, training about the programs supported by the organization, skills training, etc. Training also serves to add to the skill set of your volunteer group. Investing in training your staff on how to manage volunteers is also important since they will likely be the ones to interface with the volunteers.
- The Board Provides Strong Leadership. If your board takes the time to develop and support volunteer talent adequately by providing the necessary staff and funding, the volunteers see that the organization values their services. This adds to the volunteers’ motivation to stay and support the organization’s mission.
Volunteers come to your organizations already enthused to make a difference. How amazing is that? Apply these principles to the care and feeding of your volunteers and you will have a powerful force supporting your mission. What do you do to make your volunteers feel special?
“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” – Elizabeth Andrew