Volunteer Retention

Nonprofits can help engage people in volunteering and play a big role in retaining volunteers.

• By increasing the options for volunteer activities (i.e. event set-up, fundraising, advertising, clerical work, running a race, manual labor, etc.) and the frequency of volunteer opportunities, nonprofits can make volunteering appealing to a wider range of people, and can make new or current volunteers participate more often.

• By following up with all volunteers (including ones who volunteered once or did a small job), expressing appreciation for the volunteer personally, and inviting them to volunteer with them again and again, they increase the chances for retaining volunteers. Volunteers want to have a positive, fulfilling experience when they volunteer, but the types of volunteerism they typically engage in (i.e. episodic volunteering) do not always foster those feelings after one experience, and they underestimate the value of their participation. By forming those connections with the volunteers and letting them know how valuable they are, volunteers are more likely to associate their participation with positive feelings and higher self-worth. This is what makes most volunteers come back again and again to offer their services.

• Many episodic volunteers also said that they would likely not volunteer unless they were asked to participate; it is not typically thought of as the role of the organization to reach out and ask people to volunteer for them again, but it may be a particularly effective approach to volunteer retention. If a one-time volunteer is asked to participate again, they are then made a part of the community, made to feel like an invaluable part of the organization, and develop an identity with the community for which they volunteer. At the very least, they will be aware of upcoming opportunities to volunteer without having to spend time searching for it.