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Volunteer retention can feel like a never-ending job, especially as people juggle work, family, and other obligations. Retaining volunteers is a common challenge for nonprofits, as many organizations rely on these helpful individuals to keep overhead low and maximize donor impact.
However, nonprofits can struggle to maintain interest without investing the time and resources needed to properly recruit, train, and manage a volunteer program. It’s essential to show your volunteers how much they matter. Below, we’ll share our top tips to help you do just that.
What does volunteer retention mean?
Volunteer retention measures how an organization keeps a volunteer program engaged and committed over time. It’s about maintaining a consistent and loyal group of individuals who are excited about contributing their time and skills to the organization's mission.
Volunteer retention strategies center around activities that make people feel valued, supported, and happy with their experience. The result is that they often continue to remain active and involved in the long run.
What makes volunteer retention important is lower turnover and savings on staffing and training costs, allowing them to allocate more funding to the areas that matter most.
Whether they’ve been donors for years or are new to your nonprofit, welcoming them warmly is step one. While it is best to welcome new volunteers in person, it is not always possible.
Either way, here’s a list of what to include in your orientation package:
A bit of background information on your nonprofit. (Values, mission, history, etc.)
A few past projects
A tour of your facilities or the event location
The impact that being a volunteer will have in the lives of those they are helping
A description of their volunteering task(s)
Introduce them to a few other team members
A handout that they can take with them just in case they need a reminder
Doing this will help your new volunteers get to know and understand your nonprofit (consistent messaging is essential) and help them feel more connected to your cause.
Your volunteers’ time is valuable, so you don’t want to waste a moment. The most significant way to show people how much you appreciate their time is to respect it.
Make volunteering for your nonprofit worth their time with a few simple actions:
Before they get started, inform them of what they’ll be doing and when they’ll be doing it.
Connect volunteers through a social media group, text thread, or email chain to help them feel at ease and ask one another questions.
Provide a point of contact (like a volunteer manager) at your organization for all volunteer inquiries.
Create a plan B just in case you overbook your volunteers. (We know—what a luxury that would be! But it does happen.)
Try to schedule shifts that alternate the tedious but necessary tasks with the more interesting, involved ones.
Share your volunteer schedule way in advance.
Be flexible with scheduling and offer a variety of shifts.
A for-profit company probably wouldn’t hire someone with no experience in construction to build its new office. As a nonprofit, you probably can’t be quite as picky, but there’s no rule against asking new volunteers what they like to do, what they’ve done in the past, and if there is anything they’d like to learn.
These three questions will show volunteers that you are interested in them and will do your best to make their experience volunteering worth the time and energy:
What skills or experience would be most valuable to our organization?
Are there any tasks or areas you are particularly passionate about or would like to learn more about?
How much time can you commit, and do you prefer one-time projects, ongoing roles, or something in between?
Their answers will also help you get to know and understand your new volunteers and find a role they’ll like, increasing their chances of staying long-term.
4. Give back to your volunteers
Your volunteers spend a lot of time volunteering for your nonprofit. And, yes, even though the reward of helping a good cause is reward enough, investing in your volunteers definitely won’t go unnoticed.
Helping them learn and improve with workshops, mentoring opportunities, and training will empower them and show them that you’re as dedicated to them as they are to your cause. You might even want to offer free attendance to events they’re not working on to give a nice perk that helps them feel more connected to their work.
5. Keep good volunteers by giving and receiving feedback
Even if all you see is smiles, you must show people you care by checking in. Asking your volunteers how you’re doing is essential in keeping them around.
Even more important is listening to and acting on their feedback. To adapt and improve based on what volunteers share about their experience directly, you might send out a survey or host a debrief after a big fundraiser.
Giving your volunteers feedback is equally essential, even if they are not paid employees. Be aware of their performance, provide constructive feedback after key events, and reinforce this feedback with training that helps them feel like you’re invested in their growth.
A volunteer management system can help your nonprofit organization from volunteer training to organizing volunteer surveys.
This might seem obvious, but it's easy to forget volunteer appreciation in the stress of a fundraising event or the seemingly endless campaign to-do list. It also makes a difference when your thank you feel personal and beyond polite protocol.
Recognizing your volunteers' time and effort in your nonprofit will have a lasting, positive effect. A simple thank you at the end of a shift, a letter or email, a lunch now and again, or even some branded merch can show your volunteers how much you appreciate everything they’re doing.
A volunteer management software can also support you automating messages that go out at key milestones.
Volunteers want to feel part of something bigger than just their tasks. One way to make this happen is to connect volunteers as a community to rely on.
Hosting social events, team-building activities, or informal gatherings fosters a sense of belonging. When volunteers feel like they belong, they are more likely to return.
Ideas for volunteer retention socials might include:
Post-fundraiser appreciation parties
Themed potlucks
Picnics or BBQs where they can bring their friends and family
Team-building activities
Holiday-themed socials
8. Make volunteering fun
Volunteering is meaningful work but doesn't have to be serious business. Think about adding fun to the process by incorporating elements that keep things enjoyable and lighthearted.
Whether through creative volunteer roles, team competitions, or simply celebrating small victories together, making volunteering fun can enhance volunteer engagement and keep spirits high.
You want to be sure that volunteers look forward to their time showing up to do good work, because they really love the experience.
Some ideas might look like:
Theme days where everyone dresses up like their favorite superhero or in a specific color.
Gamifying the volunteer experience with points allocated to various activities that help people show up ready to go and excited.
Planning a volunteer trip where everyone can combine a weekend away with doing good
Elect volunteers to be on your “fun committee” and think of cool ideas that resonate with the group specifically.
Encourage storytelling time where new volunteers can hear what brought others to the space and what lights them up about doing this work.
9. Provide opportunities for growth
Many volunteers are looking for ways to develop new skills and grow professionally. As you learn more about your volunteers, think about ways to help them get experience that can help them in their own aspirations and careers down the line.
For example, you might have a talented creative trying to build a graphic design skill and partner with them for support on your next fundraiser’s visuals. You could also have an aspiring finance student shadow your accounting process and assist during tax season.
When you show volunteers that their personal and professional growth matters to your organization, they’ll be more invested in staying for the long haul.
10. Acknowledge milestones throughout your volunteer program
Recognizing your volunteers' contributions can have a considerable impact on volunteer retention. Celebrate milestones like anniversaries in creative ways or successful project completions to show them you see what they’ve brought to the table, which meant a lot.
You can anticipate a volunteer’s lifecycle and identify key moments, such as National Volunteer Day to make it special and unique to your organization so your impression lasts.
Keeping volunteers happy and engaged isn’t always easy, but with a bit of attention and effort, it’s totally doable. Volunteers are likelier to stick around when you show appreciation, offer opportunities for growth, and keep things flexible and fun.
By staying organized with volunteer retention, communicating openly, and creating a supportive community, you’ll help them feel inspired and motivated to keep giving. To stay on top of all fundraising activities and raise more with the help of your support team, try out Zeffy’s fundraising platform for 100% free.
Volunteer retention is all about making their experience fun and rewarding. One great way to motivate them is to add a little competition. Consider creating friendly challenges where volunteers compete to gather the most donations, pack the most food, or recruit the most volunteers in a set time frame. This gives everyone a clear goal and adds excitement to their work.
Don’t forget to celebrate those wins! Public recognition—like sharing a leaderboard on social media or in your office—can boost morale. Volunteers feel valued and motivated to keep going when their efforts are acknowledged.
Calculating volunteer retention rate is relatively simple and can be done by tracking how many volunteers continue to participate over a given period. Here’s an essential way to calculate it:
Volunteer retention rate = (Number of returning volunteers / Total number of volunteers at the start of a year) x 100
A few helpful steps to calculate volunteer retention rate:
Determine the period you want to measure (e.g., one year, six months)
Find the number of volunteers at the start of the period as your baseline count of active volunteers
Track how many volunteers returned or continued to volunteer throughout that period
Plug the numbers into the formula to get the retention rate percentage
A volunteer management software can help your nonprofit organization to:
Understand reporting and metrics to calculate your volunteer retention rate
Designate between new and existing volunteers in your communication strategy
Send out surveys to avoid volunteer burnout
Organize volunteer shifts to be flexible with busy schedules
Identify new volunteer opportunities quickly
Maintaining volunteer retention is all about keeping your volunteers engaged, appreciated, and motivated to continue contributing. Here are some strategies to help you do just that:
Regularly thank your volunteers for their time and contributions. Publicly acknowledge their hard work in newsletters, social media, or events. Simple gestures, such as handwritten thank-you notes or small tokens of appreciation (lean on your volunteer management system).
Ensure your volunteers feel part of a team and connected to the mission. Foster a supportive and inclusive environment where volunteers feel respected, and their contributions are valued. When volunteers feel like they belong, they are more likely to stay engaged.
Make sure volunteers understand their roles and responsibilities from the start. Clear communication about what’s expected helps volunteers feel confident and ensures they know how their work directly impacts the organization.
Ask for feedback regularly, whether through volunteer surveys, one-on-one conversations, or group discussions. Volunteer input can help you improve your programs and address retention concerns. Volunteers appreciate when they feel heard, which can help you adjust to meet their needs better.
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