Strategies for Keeping Volunteers Engaged
Volunteers are a vital resource to non profit organisations. They provide incredibly valuable, passionate support in terms of fundraising, practical help and advocacy for charities. The challenge for these organisations is how to develop effective strategies to keep these volunteers engaged.The key to keeping your organisation’s volunteers engaged with your organisation is motivation. You must invest time in each volunteer to discover the reason for them helping your organisation in the first place. In order to do this, you must patiently get to know your volunteer.Often the first answer they give you about why they volunteer isn’t always the real, motivating reason. Of course, many are simply motivated purely by ‘the cause.’ Who wouldn’t want to help cure cancer, end child poverty or third world hunger?Dig a little deeper, and you may find that many are also motivated by wishing to meet new people, or to gain a more prominent standing in their local community, for example. Both are perfectly valid reasons to volunteer for any organisation. Perhaps they are simply looking to be ‘useful’ in their spare time.Once you have figured out what motivates your volunteer, you can then tailor the kinds of activities you involve your volunteer in. If someone is personally passionate your cause, the kind of activities that you offer them will be different to a volunteer who wants to be publicly noticed for their charitable work.Does your volunteer enjoy meeting new people? Get them involved in larger events, or working alongside other volunteers on project work. What about wanting to enhance their resume? Give them valuable work experience in a relevant department of your organisation, and a well written reference for job application at the end of their placement.Just as each volunteer’s motivation will be different, each volunteer will have a preference about how their efforts are rewarded. Reward is another crucial component in engaging your volunteer.Your volunteer who wishes to increase their profile in their local or business community will want, if not expect, publicity for their efforts. Focus on press releases, photo opportunities and prominent ‘thank-you’ certificates which are easily displayed.Your volunteer who wishes to mix with new people may find that the social interaction is reward enough, so make sure to include them in any special volunteer conferences or events. Focus on putting this volunteer in touch with other like minded individuals in their area who already support your organisation.Finally, the volunteer who is purely ‘in it for the cause’ may object to anything other than being kept informed of your organisation’s progress and work. After all, they may wish to know that all of their hard work and effort is being put to good use. They may see any public recognition as a distraction or waste of your organisation‘s resources. Focus instead on tours of new projects, and letting them know before anyone else of any new progress that your organisation has made.Keeping volunteers engaged with your organisation is a delicate balance between motivation and recognition. Get it right and you will maintain a long and rewarding relationship with your volunteer that will reap rewards for both your organisation and your volunteer for years to come.
