How to Create a Volunteer-to-Donor Journey

How often does your volunteer team and development or fundraising team communicate? Better yet, how often are you communicating and creating relationships with your volunteers?

If your answers are more along the lines of, "we never talk to our development and fundraising team," or "I haven't thought about how we create relationships with our volunteers," that's ok! Often, as organizers and fundraisers, we bucket our supporters into key areas – supporter, donor, volunteer, and advocate. 

But when we limit our supporters to those buckets, we miss out on a big opportunity to transform them into more than just their title.

In this blog, we'll break down the importance of why you should consider adding volunteers to your fundraising strategy and key steps to creating a volunteer-to-donor journey. 

Why Volunteer-to-Donor Journeys Matter

Before we dive into why volunteer-to-donor journeys matter, let's set the stage. In a recent Giving USA report, it found that: 

• Volunteers donate 10x more than non-volunteers
• 90% of Americans want to volunteer, but only 23% did so in 2023

What would it mean for your organization to receive 10x more donations in a year?

Could that mean a new building to accommodate unhoused youths in your community? Perhaps it could mean more life-saving supplies sent abroad to assist with disaster relief. When you begin to look at your supporter-base as more than just different buckets, you begin to see that your most ardent supporters, volunteers, are the key to unlocking this level of generosity. 

But why is it that volunteers are more likely than non-volunteers to give and give generously? Volunteers have a personal connection to your cause with a deep conviction. When a supporter is deeply connected to your cause, they're more willing to donate their time, resources, finances, and encourage others in their network to give as well. 

When you look at your database, how many volunteers within it can you identify that you have a personal relationship? Whether that number be 7, 15, or 35, each of those personal relationships matter. In turn, how impactful would it be for your cause to transform them into regular financial contributors to your mission?

To us, that sounds like a dream come true! 

Creating a Journey Map

Gather Key Stakeholders

Don't feel like you have to go at this alone! Mapping your journey is a collaborative effort among your entire team. Gather key stakeholders across marketing, fundraising, and others that could help present unique viewpoints of how the journey should be shaped. 

Once gathered, collaborate in a way that makes the most sense for your cohort. This could be: 

• Using a whiteboard to write down your notes and ideas
• Writing it on post-it notes
• Using an online tool, like Miro or Figma, that allows you to collaborate remotely

However you choose to map your journey, what matters is that it's a collaborative, team effort!

Define Your Volunteer's Journey

In order to start mapping your volunteer-to-donor journey, you should take into consideration their own unique paths. Recognizing that each volunteer has a unique journey allows you to create a customized approach that is both meaningful and impactful. 

To better define this journey, start from the beginning and consider all pathways that led your volunteer to become involved with your cause. 

This journey could look something similar to this: 

• Recruitment: how your organization attracts volunteers
• Screening: how your organization screens volunteers
• Placement: how your organization places volunteers
• Orientation and Training: how your organization welcomes and trains its volunteers
• Recognition and Appreciation: how your organization celebrates its volunteers
• Engagement and Retention: how your organization works to retain its volunteers
• Donation: how your organization encourages its volunteers to donate

On your whiteboard, Figma file, or post-in notes, begin to mark key moments in the pathway that allows you to connect more deeply with your volunteers. This could be: 

• Congratulating them on their first-time volunteering 
• Celebrating a milestone such as a birthday, anniversary, or 10th time volunteering

Once you've identified the journey and touch points, the real fun begins!

Transforming Volunteers into Donors

Recall how we asked if you could identify a few volunteers within your database that you have a personal relationship with? Now's the time to put your plan into action! 

Start with a small segment of your database, those you personally know, and begin adding them to automated, celebratory emails that can be triggered once they hit a pre-set criteria like the ones we outlined above.

After a set period time, determined by your cohort, begin to make small acts of a financial contribution to your cause. That doesn't mean you immediately ask for hundreds of dollars! Simply start by adding them to your fundraising emails so they can begin to see other programs that you mission supports and ask them to follow your social media accounts. 

By becoming more familiar with other programs that rely on financial support, they'll begin to have a larger understanding of your cause's needs. 

In addition, you can add these asks in more native ways too, such as: 

• Add a 'donate now' button to your celebratory/milestone emails
• Offer a donation option on your registration pages
• Offer a donation option in lieu of service in the event of a cancelation 

Learn and Grow

No system is truly perfect and there's always a chance to review and build upon your work. As you start to run your volunteer-to-donor journey, make time to review how it's working, where you can make refinements, and review important metrics and KPIs as defined by your organization. Use data to your advantage to continue improving your volunteer-to-donor journey! 

Key Takeaways

Creating a volunteer-to-donor journey is vital for nonprofits. By following up with volunteers, tailoring messages, and creating a lasting relationship with your volunteers, you're more likely to transform them into lifelong supporters. Remember, your volunteer-to-donor journey is an ongoing process! Continue to review, refine, and execute new ideas based on the data collected inside your volunteer management solution. With Golden, you can track all these results and more, inside your preferred CRM – Salesforce, Blackbaud, Virtuous, and more! 

Next Steps

1. See the Golden platform in action. Schedule a personalized call with our team for answers and expert advice on transforming your volunteers into donors. 
2. Download our free Volunteer Evaluation Guide and identify what technology requirements your organization needs to create a more holistic volunteer experience. 
3. If you know of another nonprofit who'd enjoy reading this page, share it with them!