by Eric Burger
I ran across this week’s blog a few weeks ago while I was doing research on volunteer retention tracking. I found this article by Eric Burger and asked permission to share with you guys. It is well-written and shares all the things, and more, that I wanted to write about. It’s good stuff!
– Mandy
Strategic volunteer retention is crucial for nonprofits wanting to make the biggest leap towards reaching their mission in 2018.
Volunteer retention is as important going into 2018 as it has ever been before. Volunteer behavior is changing and supporters want to be engaged in exchange for their time. What strategies is your nonprofit deploying to keep volunteers coming back? How is your organization measuring volunteer impact and communicating with your volunteer base? Did you know that only 55 percent of nonprofit organizations measure the impact that their organizational volunteers are making towards the greater good? The first step in retaining volunteers is understanding how big of a role supporters have towards reaching your organizational goals.
Here are a few impact metrics your nonprofit will want to measure in 2018:
Here are a few ways to engagement strategies that could be included in your engagement plan:
- Offer volunteers rewards, recognition and incentives in exchange for fulfilling opportunities.
- Consider using gamification to make the process of volunteerism fun for supporters.
- Provide volunteers with leadership and growth opportunities.
- Communicate often and effectively with your supporters.
- Focus on identifying volunteer interests, s, ills and intuitions.
Volunteer Retention Strategy No. 2: Simplify Volunteer Registration and Sign-Up
Making the process of identifying, registering and signing up for volunteer opportunities is one of the easiest and most effective steps your nonprofit can take to improve retention rates. If your organization is currently using a manual process, you may want to consider a volunteer management tool to make the process as easy as possible for your staff and supporters. Volunteer management software can make an immense difference in the volunteer recruitment process.
Here are a few additional ways that volunteer management software can streamline registration:
- Volunteer management software makes the process of creating opportunities and sharing them easy.
- Volunteer management software provides insights into volunteer behavior.
- Volunteer management data can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection.
- Volunteer management software can free up staff’s time to focus on building relationships.
Volunteer Retention Strategy No. 3: Stay in Touch
One of your nonprofits biggest assets is your existing volunteer base. Staying in touch with supporters can create buzz around new opportunities, provide your organization with valuable feedback and create new referral prospects. Communication is one form of engagement that your nonprofit cannot afford to miss.
Here are a few ways to stay in touch with supporters:
- Thank your organizational supporters for filling opportunities and helping your nonprofit towards the greater good.
- Let supporters and prospects know of new opportunities that relate to their skill-set and interest.
- Provide supporters with updates regarding your organization and the pursuit of your mission.
- Ask your volunteer base for their feedback regarding your organization and its processes.
- Just say “hi” from time to time.
Takeaways
Eric Burger is the marketing communications manager for VolunteerHub, an organization that provides volunteer management solutions for nonprofits across the globe. Eric has worked in the B2B software industry for the past two years and has over five years of experience in digital marketing.
Link to original article by Eric Burger: Click Here