Mastering Volunteer Management: The Ultimate Guide

Effective volunteer management is essential for any organization that relies on volunteer support. When done well, it benefits both your program and its volunteers, encouraging more people to contribute their time and skills to your mission. Conversely, it’s easy for volunteer programs to fall short when they lack structure, strategy, or clear communication.

In this guide, we’ll explore everything you need to know about volunteer management to maximize your program’s effectiveness, including:

• Volunteer Management FAQ
• Essential Elements of Volunteer Management
• Additional Volunteer Management Best Practices

Let’s dive into how to set your volunteer program up for long-term success and keep your supporters feeling valued, empowered, and eager to stay involved.

Volunteer Management: Frequently Asked Questions

What is volunteer management?

Volunteer management is the systematic process of recruiting, onboarding, engaging, appreciating, and retaining volunteers so that they can effectively support an organization’s mission. It involves everything from coordinating schedules and role assignments to ensuring volunteers have the resources, training, and motivation they need to succeed.

The goal of volunteer management is to create a thriving volunteer program where supporters feel empowered and where staff members can complete administrative tasks efficiently. This ensures everyone can work together for the greatest possible impact.

Why is volunteer management important?

Effective volunteer coordination benefits both your organization and its volunteers—a true win-win. Some key advantages include:

• Time and resource savings. When you allocate tasks efficiently and automate mundane processes such as data collection and scheduling, staff members have more bandwidth and resources to dedicate to higher-impact responsibilities like building relationships with volunteers and planning for the future.

• Data-driven decision-making. Having structured data on volunteer activities can reveal trends in your program that allow you to capitalize on your strengths, make improvements as needed to keep volunteers satisfied, and adapt to changes in the broader volunteering landscape.
• More passionate, skilled volunteers. Your organization will likely realize this benefit at every stage of the volunteer lifecycle (more on this later!), from attracting top talent to helping volunteers continuously get better at their duties through formal training and informal experience.

• Improved volunteer retention rates. Volunteers who feel supported and valued are far more likely to stay involved with your organization long-term, ensuring your program’s sustainability.

For volunteers, a well-managed program provides a better overall experience. They’ll receive clear directions, helpful support, and meaningful recognition for their contributions, which motivates them to serve to the best of their ability and spread the word about your program.

Who is in charge of volunteer coordination?

At most organizations, a lead volunteer manager or coordinator oversees the volunteer program. This team member should have the following skills in their toolkit:

• Supervising volunteers. Especially if a volunteer manager works alone or in a small team, they’ll spend a lot of time working hands-on with volunteers—training them, providing guidance, answering questions, and giving constructive feedback.

• Collaborating with other staff. In addition to their own volunteer coordination teams, volunteer managers will need to liaise with marketing professionals to promote the program, event planners to define event-based volunteer roles, finance department members to budget for volunteer-related needs, and other employees to fully integrate volunteering into their organization’s operations.

• Communication. To facilitate effective supervision and collaboration, volunteer managers should have strong oral and written communication skills so they can pass along and respond to messages via the best channel for any given situation.

• Time management. Volunteer coordinators have a lot on their plates and need to be able to juggle multiple projects and priorities well. They should also be able to delegate responsibilities as needed and create schedules and to-do lists for themselves and other team members (and volunteers!).

• Data analysis. Volunteer managers also need at least a basic level of data literacy so they can evaluate program metrics (more on these later, too!) and act on them accordingly.

Larger organizations may have multiple coordinators who oversee different locations or volunteer segments. For example, a church with a large volunteer base might put different staff members in charge of their children’s ministry helpers, small group Bible study leaders, and community outreach team. This allows each manager to focus on a narrower scope, leading to a more personalized and efficient volunteer experience.

Essential Elements of Volunteer Management

The nuts and bolts of volunteer management are easiest to understand through the lens of the volunteer lifecycle, a tool that describes how volunteers move from unengaged potential supporters to dedicated advocates for your mission and program. Let’s look more closely at the most important volunteer management responsibilities for each stage of the lifecycle.

Volunteer Recruitment

Recruitment is about more than just attracting new volunteers to your organization—it’s your chance to make a positive first impression on potential volunteers and find the best individuals to fill each of your open positions. In some ways, volunteer recruitment is similar to employee recruitment, including that you should:

• Write clear volunteer role descriptions outlining key responsibilities, necessary skills, expected time commitments, and how each position helps your organization further its mission.

• Create online application forms that are branded to your organization and include all essential form fields (contact information, position interest, availability, etc.) but aren’t so long that they overwhelm applicants.

• Promote opportunities across multiple channels—leverage digital marketing methods like email and social media, print communications such as direct mail and flyers, and current volunteers’ networks by offering incentives for referrals.
• Add steps to the recruitment process for specialized roles that are often included in hiring procedures, such as conducting interviews or background checks, to ensure applicants are a good fit.

Of course, there are some differences in the nuances of hiring and volunteer recruitment because volunteers aren’t compensated for their work. But approaching the basics of these two processes similarly (to the point that you may even run your volunteer recruitment strategy by your organization’s human resources professionals before implementing it) will help you attract the most talented and passionate individuals to your volunteer program.

Volunteer Onboarding

Once you’ve found the right volunteers, a structured onboarding process helps them understand their roles and your organization’s values. This initial round of training should cover three main areas:

• Organizational mission and program culture: Review your organization’s mission and values, explain how volunteering supports those key principles, and give volunteers time to mingle with each other and staff members to get a taste of your culture firsthand.

• Policies and procedures: Explain what’s expected of every volunteer—from safety regulations and emergency response processes to dress codes and communication with staff and beneficiaries—and where they can reference the documentation for these policies.
• Role-specific training: Instruct each individual on the specific tasks they’ll complete in their positions. For example, a volunteer working at your nonprofit’s thrift store needs to understand how to sort inventory and operate the cash register, while a marketing volunteer should know what communication platforms you use and how to correctly represent your organization’s brand.

After new volunteers complete their formal training (through live sessions, guided online courses, or a combination of the two), have them shadow an experienced volunteer during their first shift. This way, rather than throwing them directly into the deep end, they can ease into their roles by seeing how they’re supposed to perform their duties and asking any final questions of someone who has direct experience in their position.

Volunteer Engagement

Volunteer engagement encompasses everything you do after onboarding to keep volunteers active, informed, and excited to contribute. Some ways to boost engagement include:

• Allowing flexibility in scheduling: Try to accommodate volunteers’ availability as much as possible, and let experienced volunteers self-schedule so they can get their preferred shifts.
• Communicating consistently and clearly: Share updates and achievements across the channels your volunteers use most (email, social media, text, etc.) to keep them informed and motivated.
• Offering advancement opportunities: Rather than ending training after onboarding, provide resources (articles, videos, courses, etc.) that enable volunteers to continue developing their skills, as well as leadership or mentoring opportunities for top performers.

Consider creating a volunteer portal where volunteers can access their schedules, training resources, and contact information for staff and peers to centralize engagement. But no matter how you execute these tactics, you should emphasize empowering volunteers to take ownership of their roles and creating a culture that’s inclusive and supportive. 

Volunteer Appreciation

Expressing gratitude for volunteers’ hard work and dedication can take many forms, but the key is to ensure each individual feels like your organization genuinely values them. To achieve this goal, your volunteer appreciation efforts may include:

• Sending personalized thank-you notes via email, digital greeting cards, or handwritten messages.
• Giving tangible gifts like branded merchandise, discount cards, or other small items.
• Spotlighting individual volunteers on social media or in impact reports.
• Hosting appreciation events where volunteers and program staff can celebrate their accomplishments together.
• Presenting formal awards to volunteers who complete special projects or reach service milestones.

Always respect individual preferences for recognition—some volunteers prefer to be appreciated in private, while others enjoy a public shout-out.

Volunteer Retention

Volunteer retention is critical to your program’s long-term success. Not only is retaining volunteers less time and resource-intensive than continuously recruiting new ones, but longtime volunteers are more skilled at their jobs and more passionate about your organization because of their experience.

A strong appreciation strategy is the first step in motivating volunteers to stick around for the long haul. Beyond that, you should:

• Collect regular feedback via surveys or one-on-one check-ins to learn what volunteers like and dislike most about your program.

• Share impact statistics and stories so volunteers know that their work is making a meaningful difference.
• Understand common reasons volunteers lapse (e.g., burnout, poor communication, or changes in personal circumstances) and develop proactive strategies to prevent churn (e.g., letting volunteers try out new positions, adjusting communication cadences, or piloting virtual volunteer roles for additional flexibility).

The average volunteer retention rate across the nonprofit sector is approximately 65%. If your organization hasn’t hit that benchmark, aim for it first and grow from there.

Additional Volunteer Management Best Practices

Now that you understand the basics of volunteer management, let’s walk through a few extra best practices to take your organization's volunteer program from good to great.

Track Key Volunteering Metrics

Along with qualitative feedback, quantitative data helps you improve your volunteer program by concretely understanding where things are going well and where they could be better. While every organization ultimately benefits from tracking different metrics, a few you might start with include:

• Total active volunteers—i.e., how many individuals have volunteered within a specific time frame, such as one year or six months.
• Total volunteer hours contributed monthly or annually.
• Average hours served or shifts worked per volunteer.
• Volunteer retention rates year-over year or event-to-event.
• Conversion rates for different recruitment marketing channels.
• Open rates and interactions with existing volunteer communications.

Analyzing these metrics is what allows you to make the aforementioned data-driven decisions that empower your program to thrive long-term.

Don’t Put Supporters Into One Box

Many nonprofit professionals treat volunteer acquisition, engagement, and retention separately from the same donor-related activities. However, your organization’s most dedicated supporters may want to get involved with your mission in multiple ways. So, don’t be afraid to cultivate donors as volunteers and vice versa!

By encouraging volunteers to donate and donors to volunteer, you can deepen supporter relationships and uncover the new opportunities for involvement that they’re looking for. Plus, it’s easier for your team to acquire donors and volunteers who have pre-existing connections to your organization via participating in the other activity. This holistic approach ensures you maximize each supporter’s potential impact, leading to a stronger community around your cause.

Take Advantage of Corporate Volunteer Opportunities

Corporate volunteer programs have grown in popularity in recent years as businesses have seen the benefits of these initiatives firsthand. On average, companies experience 52% less turnover among new employees who participate in volunteer programs, and 84% of US employers believe volunteerism is an effective way to engage employees.

Research businesses in your organization’s area to see if they offer any of these programs:

• Team volunteer days: Company-sponsored outings where a larger group of employees volunteers together with a specific organization.

• Paid volunteer time off (VTO): Paid days off that are set aside to be used for volunteering, which staff can often take by themselves or with smaller groups of peers.
• Volunteer grants: Monetary contributions that businesses make to organizations that their employees volunteer with, where the size of the gift depends on the number of hours staff members spend volunteering (also known as dollars for doers).

Once you’ve identified volunteerism-focused companies, reach out to them to see if you can form partnerships that grow your volunteer base while boosting your partners’ reputations as socially responsible companies. Additionally, if any of your existing volunteers work for the businesses on your list, remind them about the initiatives they’re eligible to participate in to maximize the benefits of volunteering for them and your organization.

Leverage Volunteer Management Software

Like most operations at contemporary nonprofits, volunteer management becomes significantly easier when you invest in the right technology. However, looking for a new solution can be overwhelming, especially if you’re upgrading from spreadsheets and other manual processes. 

To make the process easier, we’ve created a checklist you can use to evaluate whether potential volunteer management platforms you’re considering have the features you need to succeed. As you fill it out, keep in mind that your volunteer management solution also needs to be easy to use and fit within your organization’s budget.

Volunteer Impact, Better Impact’s all-in-one solution, offers the above features and more at an affordable price, plus dedicated support to help you maximize your program’s effectiveness. But don’t just take our word for it—discover how organizations like yours have improved efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction within their volunteer programs by leveraging Volunteer Impact!

Wrapping Up: Additional Resources on Volunteer Management

Effectively managing volunteers is about nurturing supporters, showing them the value they bring to your program, and keeping them engaged over time. By implementing the tips above, you’ll be well on your way to mastering volunteer management and creating a program that truly benefits your organization, its volunteers, and the community you serve.

For more information on volunteer management, check out these resources:

• Nonprofit Volunteer Recruitment: Overview + Top Strategies
• Volunteer Management Training: Top Resources to Build Skills
• 18 Best Volunteer Management Software Tools for Nonprofits