When working a day-to-day job, many people struggle with fulfillment in their work. If you’re filing paperwork or managing meetings, your mind might wonder: why is this document important? This email? What is the significance of my work? Nonprofits provide many with the opportunity to devote time to the things that have inherent value, and volunteers bring enthusiasm, dedication, and community. However, without consistency, training, and constant recruitment, volunteers can damage business momentum. So, a key issue for nonprofits: how to recruit and keep volunteers.
When considering the typical volunteer group, who comes to mind? There are college students or recent graduates trying to build a resumé or determine their field of interest, and there are those who work for a nonprofit in their spare time because they care about its mission.
Recruiting volunteers for a nonprofit will be more sustainable if nonprofits are familiar with potential motivations—volunteers primarily give their time in order to support a cause and develop desired skills.
People want to be proud of their work. If someone is asked about it, they want to be able to say “I work for [insert company name] and here is why it is a great group to work for.” If we are considering nonprofits, the Harvard Business Review argues that volunteers want their mission to be apparent. They want to know they are supporting a clear goal. No one wants to volunteer for a group where, when asked, they cannot elucidate why they are, say, bagging food or helping organize documents.
The big picture matters. Everybody needs a mission statement:
“I volunteer for a group that bags food daily for the homeless. My church has volunteer small groups where we work with teenagers.”
“The nonprofit I volunteer with hosts sports games for inner-city kids.”
“I spend my weekends helping manage donations to support refugees.”
If a volunteer knows clearly what your goals are as a nonprofit, they more readily step in and assist.
In addition to having a clear mission statement, having a clear vision forward is also essential in keeping volunteers engaged. If your goal is to serve the homeless in a city, then highlight the plan to gradually increase services. Show volunteers how they are a prominent part in this plan to maintain motivation.
Volunteers have to be willing to work with each other. There is not a schedule or set pay that is keeping them together; if they do not get along with a co-volunteer, then that might be a reason for them to leave.
Look for volunteers that uplift the rest and help motivate them to establish a healthy hierarchy. Encourage current volunteers to bring friends along with them and make invitations easy and accessible. Give current volunteers a link where others can sign up or an open house event where those interested in volunteering can come and get a taste of what it would look like. Advertise for these events online in a shareable fashion to build an online presence and recruit from those who may be searching your nonprofit’s market.
In Washington DC, one local church made volunteering easy and accessible to its congregation with two strategies:
Advertising as a nonprofit can often be an overlooked practice, but when it comes to how to recruit volunteers, marketing makes a huge difference. For some specific and easy tips to develop your nonprofit’s volunteer marketing, you can check out this article recently published by Amelia Grey on our website.
By building a community, nonprofits can keep volunteers engaged for the long term and build out from developed relationships.
For younger volunteers, many are using their time in a nonprofit to help them discern their career interests. On the other hand, some older volunteers may become motivated in a volunteer role and pivot their career to pursue that passion. When recruiting volunteers for a non-profit, recognizing your audience’s motivations can help cater the volunteer opportunity to maintain engagement.
Whether the volunteer is a recent college graduate or someone with an established career, everyone volunteering would be more enthusiastic if they could walk away from the experience with a new or improved skill set.
Give new volunteers the opportunity to discuss with leadership where they would like to grow, and if possible, offer them work opportunities that utilize their skills. Some helpful areas that volunteers may want to work in:
Yes, working for a nonprofit is primarily working for the mission, but for many young volunteers they feel pressure to continue building a skill set in whatever they are doing. Make your nonprofit opportunities more marketable and engaging by giving volunteers the chance to grow.
In addition, this approach will encourage volunteers by treating them like working employees. Volunteers are devoting their time and want to feel as if they are contributing, so let them contribute! Give opportunities to progress in an area, move into leadership, and generally take on more responsibility. This will also keep volunteers engaged as they see the opportunity to advance within the hierarchy of the nonprofit.
Volunteers primarily give their time in order to support a cause and develop desired skills, which is something we know well! Contact us to begin discussing a plan to support your volunteers by developing a clear mission, building a community, and offering skills development.
