What is the link between donors and volunteers for your nonprofit organization? In one word, profound. There have been many studies in recent years sighting the fundamental connection between individuals that contribute their time through volunteerism and those who contribute financially. This trend is not the exception, but the rule. As it turns out individuals who are first engaged through volunteerism are 67% more likely to also make donations. Even more significant is that fact that volunteers give considerably more…in fact, much more. According to some sources volunteer are likely to donate 10 times more than the average donor. So what does all of this mean? Volunteers are important, and the organizations that make an investment in their volunteer base will see significant benefit.
While many nonprofit organizations have been historically focused on raising donations to fund their programs, and secondarily focused on volunteer cultivation, the tides are changing. Just like donor’s, volunteers want to make an impact. The more they feel that their time and efforts are leading to real change the more likely that a volunteer is going to be willing to continue to give their time, and contribute financially. The key to building a good volunteer-donor base is to start by building solid volunteer relationships. This begins by understanding your volunteers at an individual level. Knowing what your volunteers are passionate about, skills they have to offer, and the amount of time they are able to contribute are all important components to learning how to engage your volunteers successfully and, over time, helping to build fruitful donor relationships. Today there are a variety of great tools available to help you keep track of your volunteer data.
Using solutions like volunteer management software can be great technology to help you recruit, manage and place volunteers with opportunities that match their interests, skills, and passion. Some of the more sophisticated platforms will help you automatically match volunteers with opportunities and provide essential data that allows you to measure and track the effectiveness of your volunteer campaigns. Visit our site to learn more about volunteer management software or contact us to arrange a demonstration of Get Connected.
