Volunteer Management: What Every Nonprofit Needs to Know

Volunteering is an essential piece of any nonprofit. Some nonprofits can’t function without the help of their volunteers.

But how can nonprofit leaders ensure their volunteers are effective while creating a space that encourages volunteers to return?

The key lies in a strong, well-run volunteer management program. This guide will walk you through volunteer management best practices so your organization can optimize volunteer contributions, retain volunteers, and create a lasting impact for your cause.

Follow These Steps for Effective Volunteer Management

Set Clear Volunteer Rules

You don’t want to treat your volunteers as employees. They’re donating their time to you, after all. However, it’s also not a good idea to overlook the importance of setting clear expectations for volunteers.

This starts by creating volunteer positions that detail how and where people can help your organization. Think of creating something like a job listing, which details what is needed, how a volunteer is expected to help, and the time commitment to do so.

You don’t need to overthink it, simply make sure your volunteer expectations answer these questions:

• What is the specific task?
• Is this a one-time or recurring role?
• How often is the volunteer needed? Daily? Weekly? Monthly?
• What skills do volunteers need for the task?
• Where does the volunteer need to work from? Can this task be done remotely?
• How does this task impact the organization?

That last question, in particular, is important. Volunteers are giving their time freely, so they want to know how they’re helping your cause and making a difference.

Develop a Volunteer Recruitment and Screening

Some volunteers will seek out your organization and ask about volunteer opportunities, but the majority won’t. That’s why it’s important to have a volunteer recruitment strategy. Volunteer recruitment strategies work like your nonprofit marketing strategy: it walks volunteers through a pipeline from awareness to onboarding.

Volunteer recruitment strategies can include:

• Detailing the skills, experience, and passion necessary for various volunteer roles.
• Providing a wide range of ways to get involved: from one-time projects to ongoing help.
• Recruiting in person at local events, such as a community picnic or your own fundraising events.
• Encouraging existing volunteers to refer friends.
• Reducing the effort it takes to sign up for volunteer opportunities.

Once you have interested volunteers, you also need to screen them. Screening volunteers might seem counterintuitive, especially if you need all the help you can get.

However, screening your volunteers helps cut down on turnover by ensuring that each volunteer is the right fit for your organization. It can also help you identify potential conflicts of interest.

If your nonprofit works with children or other at-risk individuals, the screening process is even more vital. You may want to use background checks to ensure the safety of those you serve.

Provide Proper Training

Volunteer training programs can improve the effectiveness of your volunteers while also making them feel welcomed into your organization. Establishing a training program also makes it easier to onboarding new volunteers.

A strong volunteer training program should explain your organization, including its mission and values. This sets the tone for volunteers on what is expected while helping your organization.

Volunteers should also be trained on the specifics of their role. If you run an animal shelter, for example, you want your volunteer kennel cleaners to know the step-by-step process to safely clean and sanitize kennels and cages.

The most important part of your volunteer training? Clear and effective communication. Volunteer training should give volunteers the tools and resources they need to effectively complete their tasks.

Provide Recognition and Appreciation

Your volunteers are donating their time to your organization. It’s essential to show your appreciation for their time and efforts. Volunteers who feel needed, recognized, and appreciated tend to return.

A few ways to recognize and show your appreciation to volunteers include:

• Sending personalized thank-yous highlighting how the volunteer’s work impacted the organization.
• With their permission, shout out individual volunteers in newsletters, on your website, and across your social media platforms.
• Give out free swag like t-shirts, hats, pens, and more.
• Throw a volunteer appreciation event, such as a holiday party or family picnic.

Encourage Volunteer Feedback

Getting feedback from past and present volunteers can help you see the effectiveness of your volunteer program. An easy way to do this is through volunteer response surveys.

Send your survey to volunteers and encourage them to fill it out. You may need to offer a small incentive, such as a gift card for a local coffee shop, to increase participation.

In your survey, be sure to ask volunteers what they feel is–and isn’t–working within the volunteer program. Additionally, try to make completing the survey simple by using mostly multiple-choice questions. Give volunteers a chance to speak their minds by ending the survey with an open-ended format question.

Volunteer feedback isn’t just important for improving your volunteer program. It can also provide valuable insights into your organization as a whole, especially from an outsider’s perspective.

Focus on Volunteer Retention

A volunteer who keeps coming back to your organization requires fewer resources for training, onboarding, and recruitment. You want to build a group of volunteers who keep coming back.

The key to volunteer retention is making volunteers feel appreciated, letting them see their impacts, and creating a fun volunteer experience. Some ways to help retain volunteers include:

• Providing meaningful work
• Offering opportunities for advancement and growth in the organization
• Making sure volunteers feel valued through incentive programs

Improve Volunteer Management for a Stronger Organization

As you set your nonprofit goals, don’t forget the importance of volunteers. You can reach your volunteer recruitment, retention, and project goals by creating and following an effective volunteer management program.