Many nonprofits rely heavily on volunteers to share their missions, support the work of the staff and solidify community connections. Yet, volunteer retention is not always a priority.
In NonProfit Pro, Eric Burger provides some valuable tips in “Volunteer Retention: 3 Strategies for 2018.”
According to the article, only 55% of nonprofit organizations measure the impact of volunteers on their organizations. Understanding impact is critical for allocating resources and maximizing opportunities. Burger recommends that programs start assessing a range of factors including perceptions around opportunities, training costs and the rates at which volunteers become donors and vice versa.
Burger highlighted the three strategies he believes are most important for long-term retention:
- Engage: Organizations should think about rewards and recognitions, leadership opportunities and how skills and interests match up with volunteers.
- Monitor: Volunteer management software can perform useful tasks, like tracking behaviors and simplifying the creation and sharing of opportunities.
- Communicate: Saying thank you, collecting feedback and making genuine efforts to connect opportunities with volunteer skills and interests significantly helps retention.
To read more about Burger’s thoughts on volunteer retention, visit NonProfit Pro.