How to Boost Volunteer Participation (and Keep Them Coming Back)

There's a true cost to retaining your volunteers – and it can be a costly one.

Studies have shown that the average volunteer commits 52 hours a year to volunteerism, and each hour costs $33.49. That means, if you lose one volunteer, it could cost your nonprofit upwards of $1,741! 

With a cost that high for organizers, it's critical that you're building a volunteer program that supports, highlights, and celebrates your volunteers so they keep returning. 

But don't like that number shock you! There are ways to ensure that your volunteers not only thrive, but want to recruit their network to get involved too. 

In this blog, we'll break down how to boost volunteer participation – and keep them coming back! 

Offer a Variety of Volunteer Opportunity Types

Flexibility is key when creating and offering opportunities for volunteers. When you begin to map the types of programs and opportunities your nonprofit will recruit volunteers for, be mindful by offering a variety of different types. Look beyond the traditional scope of in-person opportunities that require extensive requirements – such as time, resources, and skills. 

Instead explore opportunities like virtual, which can be completed anywhere and on their schedule, or short-term programs that can be completed in a day. Today's volunteers are busy individuals that are balancing their work and home life and desire to participate in volunteer opportunities that can seamlessly fit into their schedules. 

Be Clear About the Commitment 

When you're defining your volunteer opportunities, you should clearly state the expected commitment from the volunteer. Will this be a two-hour commitment or three months? You should clarify this at the beginning of the registration process so that your volunteers can make an informed decision. 

Pro Tip: It's incredibly important to track volunteer hours. This will enable your organization to identify their volunteer impact and can be included on grant applications.

Encourage Micro Actions

Go beyond the traditional ways of engaging volunteers and offer micro actions – task-based activities that can be completed anywhere. Micro actions allows your volunteers to engage however and whenever they want giving them a low entry-point to participate with your cause. This could be: 

• Signing a petition
• Engaging with a social media post
• Picking up trash and logging it in an app
• Completing a survey
• Sharing with a friend
• Handing out flyers
• Goods-based donations

Unlike traditional methods which can require a time commitment, conducted in-person, or have specific requirements, micro actions encourage volunteers to make a positive impact in a shorter amount of time, based on their schedule, and is an easy way to engage repeatedly with a cause. 

Pro Tip: Use a volunteer management platform, like Golden, that can help you promote and track micro actions completed by volunteers.

Offer Onboarding, Support, and Training

Once you recruit volunteers, the job doesn't stop there! Part of a volunteer's journey with your organization is offering onboarding and ongoing support and training. When you provide a holistic, informed, and supported experience, a volunteer is more likely to want to participate again. 

Inclusive Onboarding

Before a volunteer participates for the first time, you'll want to ensure that they're properly onboarded to your organization. This informative session should be a reasonable time commitment and cover important information about your mission, requirements to participate, paperwork completion, safety information, a tour of the facility, and introduction to key team members. 

Pro Tip: Try and combine your onboarding process with their first shift, that way a volunteer can seamlessly transition into their 

Support and Training

Continuing to provide ongoing support and training to your volunteers not only makes for an enjoyable experience, but a safe one as well! Provide your volunteers with training anytime something new occurs for their program, safety measures change, or new features are introduced. This will give them the confidence to continue returning to assist your nonprofit.

Highlight Their Impact

We all know the importance of highlighting donors in newsletters, social media posts, and reports, but have you considered highlighting a volunteer's story or impact? When you provide a stage for a volunteer's story, you not only bring a more authentic story to your mission, but provide a chance for that volunteer to feel appreciated. 

Ask repeat volunteers to sit down for an informal interview where they can share their story. Bonus points if you record this interview that can then be shared on your website, social media, or YouTube channel. Don't fear! Videos don't require top-of-the-line production equipment. Your cell phone has more than enough capacities for recording a interview to share with others. 

When sharing volunteer impacts in board reports, it's important to highlight data points, but also to craft storylines as well. Partnering data points with volunteer stories can really make the impact shine and showcase the importance of utilizing volunteers for pushing your mission forward. 

Recruit Through Current Volunteers

As you look to grow your volunteer recruitment, we often default to posting online, on forums, and posting flyers in our local coffee shop. Much like how asking a stranger for a donation, you'll be turned down, the same goes for asking a stranger to volunteer with little to no connection to your cause. However, when a current volunteer asks or recruits within their network, you're more likely to hear a responding, "yes"! 

Offer incentives to your volunteers to invite their friends and family to volunteer at your next event. If they work for a corporation or local business, ask about organizing a volunteering day with their coworkers. Your current volunteers are the best resource for finding, recruiting, and growing your volunteer program in an organic and authentic way. Let your faithful volunteers share their story of hope and passion in order to recruit others. 

Make it Easy to Volunteer 

For most organizers, the default for signing up for opportunities was good old fashion paper sign-ups sheets. However, it can be difficult organizing volunteers, especially for multi-day events, managing their preferred times, and ensuring all documentation is obtained prior to arriving to the event.

When you use a volunteer management platform that enables you to create, post, and manage volunteers through online registration pages, you can easily track all the important details so nothing gets lost!

Likewise, volunteers can find opportunities that align with their requirements – such as time, skill level, and more – as well as upload background checks, motor vehicle reports, and other documentation required to participate all before arriving. Talk about a time savings!

Pro Tip: Use a volunteer management platform that also offers a mobile app! Make it easier for volunteers to find, sign up, and get excited about participating with your organization.