4 Creative Volunteer Engagement Strategies To Try Now
Dedicated volunteers give your nonprofit the momentum to move its mission forward. With their time, talents, and energy, your volunteers help you...
4 min read
Team Better Impact : Feb 28, 2024 9:00:00 AM
People in the United States spend an average of 52 hours per year volunteering. Their reasons for giving their time vary, with research suggesting that some people volunteer to build their skill set while others find it gives them a greater sense of purpose or connects them with a community of like-minded people.
Regardless of each individual’s reason for volunteering, as a volunteer coordinator, it’s your job to cultivate their connection to your cause. If you succeed, you’ll be on your way to expanding your impact with a growing group of supporters who further your mission through advocacy.
In this guide, we’ll discuss four ways to elevate your volunteer’s investment in your cause and rally more supporters. Let’s begin!
If a volunteer has a positive experience at your nonprofit, they’re more likely to share it with their friends and family. To ensure each volunteer has a good experience with your nonprofit, walk through how a volunteer usually gets started and continues to serve at your organization. Then, amend any outdated, unhelpful, or inconvenient processes.
For instance, Funds2Orgs’ volunteer recruitment guide recommends surveying your current supporters to assess your program’s health. You can start by asking questions like:
Recruitment-related questions:
Onboarding and preparation questions:
Sentiment questions:
Carefully format these questions to keep the surveys quick and informative. In a survey using the questions listed above, you might use multiple choices for the recruitment-related questions, a scale of one to five for the onboarding questions, and a written response for the sentiment questions.
Then, gather feedback and make necessary changes. For example, if the results indicate that there is too much overlap between positions, you might decide to edit your volunteer best practice guide to clarify the duties for each role, so everyone is kept on the same page.
Double the Donation’s volunteer statistics indicate 35% of individuals volunteer to socialize. That said, your volunteer community plays a significant role in advancing your advocacy efforts. However, if your volunteer base is smaller or meets on an inconsistent basis, it can be difficult to foster a thriving, friendly volunteer community.
To combat this, there are a few strategies that your organization can employ to draw more interested volunteers in and keep them coming back:
Above all, remember to show gratitude for your current volunteers. This will strengthen their relationship with your staff and make them feel appreciated for going the extra mile. A dedicated volunteer appreciation event is a great opportunity for current volunteers to build lasting relationships and bond over their shared commitment.
Volunteers who take ownership of their hard work feel greater pride when speaking about your organization. Their personal stories can be compelling testimonials for other like-minded people in their network.
However, to encourage ownership, your nonprofit needs to balance autonomy with support. This means you could give a long-term volunteer a higher-stakes role, such as leading an environmental clean-up day. On the flip side, you can offer new volunteers shadowing opportunities to help them decide which position best suits their interests and abilities.
Other common volunteer-led opportunities you can promote include:
While encouraging ownership should be a priority, be sure to remain communicative, supportive, and transparent about what you’re asking from your volunteers.
In some cases, a committed volunteer might want to take charge of more to-dos than planned. If your budget allows, you could consider bringing that volunteer on staff part-time to show your appreciation and encourage their efforts. With your help, volunteers will be able to spread your mission by speaking from a personal, hands-on experience.
Each of your volunteers has different needs and preferences. To keep individual volunteers thriving, learn what they need and how you can provide it.
Remember to communicate regularly. Use email newsletters, online platforms, and scheduling software to establish a consistent cadence your volunteers can count on. Choose an option that can scale with your organization as it grows.
Keep a library of resources handy. If a volunteer needs to brush up on your nonprofit’s beginnings or wants to know more about a new program, online resources are a great help. Publish blog updates regularly, so they can find what they need and encourage others to conduct their own research.
Your volunteers are the hands and feet of your nonprofit’s cause. To deepen their connection and tap into more engaged support, follow the above strategies and enhance your overall experience. This way, volunteers can promote your organization in an inspiring and positive way.
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