Volunteer Management: Recruit, Engage, and Retain Volunteers

Volunteer retention and engagement have always been difficult for busy nonprofits — and decreasing volunteerism rates are only contributing to the challenge. 

Here’s the good news: with the right strategy, organizations can not only successfully recruit, engage, and retain volunteers year after year, but they can successfully scale their volunteer programs, too.

In this blog, we’ll cover exactly what volunteer management is, why it’s so essential, and the four steps nonprofits need to keep in mind in order to make volunteers a thriving part of their organizations.

What is the Concept of Volunteer Management?

Volunteer management is the process of overseeing and coordinating the efforts of those who donate their time and skills to an organization or cause without monetary compensation. This process, however,  goes beyond just volunteer coordination — it involves recruiting, training, engaging, and retaining volunteers to support an organization's mission and objectives.

Effective volunteer management offers lots of benefits that are vital to organizational success. In fact, 77% of nonprofits say they believe that skilled volunteers could significantly improve their organization’s business practices. That’s because effective volunteer management:

• Increases volunteer engagement: Proper volunteer management practices streamline organization and implementation, maximizing volunteer efforts and productivity. 
  
  
• Reduces volunteer turnover: When volunteers feel properly managed, engaged, and recognized, they tend to stay at the organization they volunteer for, rather than leave.  In fact, 72% of volunteers serve only one organization or cause.
  
  
• Funnels more money to the cause: The current value of an hour of volunteer time is $29.95. Meaning, by bringing on volunteers, nonprofits can save monumentally and focus on channeling funds toward their mission. Plus, 85% of people donate to the nonprofits that they volunteer for, meaning nonprofits can bring in an entirely new stream of revenue.

What Makes a Good Volunteer Manager?

At the forefront of any effective volunteer management program is a volunteer manager, or the person who oversees the cycle of retaining, onboarding, engaging, recognizing, and retaining volunteers. 

A good volunteer manager has:

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills: Clearly conveys information, listens actively, builds positive relationships, and adapts their approach to different volunteers.
  
  
• Organizational and leadership abilities: Efficiently manages tasks and resources, sets clear goals, inspires volunteers, and leads by example.
  
  
• Empathy and adaptability: Understands volunteers' needs, shows appreciation, flexibly responds to challenges, and fosters a supportive environment for growth and development.

How Do You Effectively Manage Volunteers?

To effectively manage volunteers, you need to recruit, onboard, and retain them continuously. Volunteer management is an ongoing process — not a one-time task on the to-do list.

Recruitment

Recruitment, which is the most difficult part of the volunteer management process — and that nonprofits often struggle with most — is all about attracting potential volunteers and evaluating their fit with the organization.

Recruitment typically includes:

• Describing: Just like creating job postings, volunteer managers need to create compelling volunteer role descriptions. As Michele Francesconi, Vice President of Capacity Building, Training & Strategic Initiatives at Jersey Care, says, one of the most important parts of this step is to make the descriptions as engaging and impact-driven as possible. “Tie everything back to the impact of the organization, even menial tasks, and use creative titles, not just “Volunteer,” so applicants feel important and necessary,” she says.
  
  
• Disseminating: Once volunteer managers create descriptions, they typically post these open roles on their website and social media, and send them via newsletters, direct mail, or a volunteer opportunity promotion platform.
  
  
• Deciding: Once applicants respond, it’s time to assess whether they’re the right fit for your organization and needs. This might include interviews, background checks, and more.

Pro tip: When beginning recruiting, make sure your nonprofit considers its four Ps: Policies, Positions, Practices, Personas, and Partnerships. These can help you assess and audit current volunteer practices, and decide whether or not you’re set up for success.

Learn more by watching the Watch Recruit + Rebuild Your Volunteer Base webinar →

Onboarding and Training

Once you’ve recruited volunteers, it’s time to make them feel like a part of your organization/ This includes the process of equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to work for and represent your organization to the best of their ability. 

This phase of any volunteer program usually includes: 

• Onboarding: Typically, at this point of the volunteer management journey, you’ll have your newly recruited volunteers sign necessary waivers or other paperwork. 
  
  
• Orientation: This might include an introduction to the organization's mission, values, and structure. At this point, the nonprofit might also cover policies and procedures and tools, like a volunteer app for tracking hours.
  
  
• Training: Though training varies depending on the duties of the volunteers, most training includes detailed explanations of job responsibilities, expectations, hands-on practice or simulations, safety protocols, and more.

Engagement

Your volunteers are only as good as their engagement. A bored or discouraged volunteer will, at best, deliver low-quality impact. In the worst cases, disengaged volunteers will leave your nonprofit organization and even have negative things to say. 

To keep volunteers happy and motivated, the engagement phase, which is all about creating ongoing relationships with volunteers, nonprofits often offer:

• Support: Continuously check in for feedback and progress updates and offer open communication for volunteers to ask questions or raise concerns.
  
  
• Care: Get to know your volunteers' preferences and skills so you can match them with the right opportunities. Send them personalized opportunities based on their volunteer preferences and automate recommendations, so they're more likely to enjoy and succeed in their roles.
  
  
• Access to success: Create leadership roles, like supervising a shift, or provide mentorship or upskilling opportunities to show volunteers you care about their growth.

Retention

As Elisabeth Donovan of Get Connected says, “Retention isn't something you do — it’s kind of the result. When you think of nurturing a plant, for example, it requires constant attention and love in order to thrive.” 

Just like a plant needs consistent care to thrive, retention doesn’t happen automatically — just because a volunteer participated once doesn’t mean they’ll participate again. 

To keep volunteers coming black, retention often includes consistent:

• Acknowledgement: Volunteer should be recognized for their efforts often, both personally and in public (social media, newsletters, etc). Part of this recognition requires a detailed understanding of their impact — including how many hours worked, specific projects they were a part of, and skills they brought to the table.
  
  
• Awards: Volunteers want to feel appreciated for the work they’ve done. Retention is all about doing just that, including sending small gifts, creating badges of achievement, and more.

Volunteer Management Best Practices

Want to make your volunteer management even better? Use some of these best practices and tips to make your volunteers the strongest part of your mission.

• Ditch the top-down approach: Volunteering can often be pretty hierarchical. Meaning, volunteer managers often hand down tasks to volunteers in a sort of top-down approach. But, one of the best ways to keep volunteers is to bring them into the fold and give them more power and autonomy to make decisions as leaders themselves.
  
  
• Reclaim purpose: Dr. Sue Carter Kahl, Volunteer Commons and President of Sue Carter Kahl Consulting, asks nonprofits to consider: “If you had all the money in the world, would you still use volunteers?” When creating your program, be sure to understand the purpose of a volunteer management program, including what you’re trying to achieve and what volunteers mean to you outside of saving money.
  
  
• Extend radical welcome: Dr. Sue Carter Kahl also notes that our volunteers should reflect the vibrancy and diversity of the communities they serve. Nonprofits should take a hard look at their programs and interrogate any lack of diversity. Consider how you talk about your volunteer management program, what language you’re using, who you tend to attract, and why.

What to Look for in a Volunteer Management System

There are lots of moving parts when it comes to managing volunteers. That’s why having a dedicated system, with all the right tools, is so important. But, not all volunteer management systems are the same.

When shopping around for the right one for your organization, be sure your chosen platform offers:

• A user-friendly interface: Look for a system with an intuitive design that's easy for both staff and volunteers to navigate.
  
  
• Volunteer registration and profiles: The system should allow volunteers to create and manage their own profiles, including contact information, skills, interests, and availability.
  
  
• Opportunity posting and scheduling: Ensure you can post volunteer opportunities and easily create schedules, offer easy sign-up, and more.
  
  
• Hour tracking and reporting: Look for robust time-tracking features and customizable reporting capabilities to measure volunteer impact and program effectiveness.
  
  
• Communication tools: The system should offer integrated communication features like email, text messaging, or in-app notifications to keep volunteers informed and engaged.
  
  
• Mobile accessibility: A volunteer management system with a mobile app or responsive design is crucial for on-the-go access and management.
  
  
• Integration capabilities: Consider how well the platform integrates with your existing tools, such as your CRM, donor management system, or event management platform.
  
  
• Volunteer recognition features: Some systems offer built-in recognition tools, such as tracking volunteer milestones or facilitating award nominations. These can be essential for retention.
  
  
• Reporting and analytics: Advanced reporting features help you gain insights into volunteer engagement, impact, and program performance.
  
  
• Training and support: Consider the level of customer support and training resources offered by the platform provider, especially during the initial setup and implementation.
  
  
• Scalability: Choose a system that can grow with your organization and handle an increasing number of volunteers and opportunities over time.
  
  
• Cost and ROI: Evaluate the pricing structure and ensure the system's benefits justify the cost for your organization's size and needs.

Investing in a Volunteer Management System

Volunteer management requires coordinating many different efforts to make volunteers feel important, included, and inspired to continue doing the work they’ve volunteered to do. For busy volunteer managers, this work can be quite time-consuming and, at times, overwhelming.

With the right volunteer management software, nonprofits don’t have to leave their processes to chance. With tools like Get Connected, nonprofits can automate the entire volunteer management lifecycle — from recruitment and training, all the way to engagement and retention.

With a volunteer management solution, nonprofits can scale their programs, engage their supporters, and actually keep volunteers for the long haul, and make more impact than ever before.