Many people are attracted to the idea of changing the world for the better.\u00a0 Some like to\u00a0 make a positive change by donating their money to a cause that\u2019s important to their lives while others choose to donate their time volunteering.<\/p>\n
If you want to retain those who choose to\u00a0 volunteer, you must\u00a0 provide them with a positive volunteer experience both during, and after, their time working with you. In the same way that most people aren\u2019t going to give their best at a job where they don\u2019t feel appreciated, volunteers will likely be less willing to donate their time to a nonprofit that doesn\u2019t make them feel valued\u00a0 and appreciated.<\/p>\n
The most frequent causes<\/a> of burnout are tied to how staff is managed: unfair treatment, a lack of clarity, and unmanageable workload and time pressure. Volunteers are, in many ways, members of your nonprofit\u2019s staff and you should do everything in your power to prevent them from burning out.<\/p>\n Providing a good volunteer experience and retaining your volunteers becomes even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> as people seek ways to help others. Volunteer opportunities are a perfect way to help this goal.<\/p>\n If there are opportunities for in-person volunteering, people need to feel safe and be provided with necessary equipment. In addition, it is helpful to provide virtual volunteer opportunities to allow people who don\u2019t feel comfortable going outside a chance to share their skills.\u00a0Below, we\u2019ll walk you through three different tactics you can use to prevent volunteer burnout and provide a positive experience for your volunteers.<\/p>\n Many volunteers quit<\/a> because of a poor fit with the nonprofit or poor utilization of their skills. Volunteers are critical to the success of your nonprofit, and without their support you risk losing the necessary manpower to host events, appeal to donors, and ultimately fulfill your mission.<\/p>\n For that reason, it\u2019s important\u00a0 you take a focused, comprehensive approach to volunteer recruitment and onboarding<\/a>. Volunteers\u00a0 should, through training and orientation, understand everything they need to about your nonprofit to do their job well.<\/p>\n To start, take your initial volunteer recruitment message and think carefully\u00a0 about how it relates to your nonprofit\u2019s core values, mission, branding, voice, and tone.\u00a0 Then, consider the type of volunteer you want to attract. Aside from someone who shares your mission and values, you should also screen for other qualities with questions like:<\/p>\n With a solid idea of who you want to recruit and what you want to recruit them for, your next step is to draft your volunteer opportunity\u00a0 description. Focus on why <\/i>a volunteer might be interested in a particular position.<\/p>\n Maybe the volunteer experience looks good on a resume, or maybe they can gain essential skills through their volunteer work. Make sure you also include as much information about the position as possible, including responsibilities, expectations, start and end dates, and location.<\/p>\n From there, determine how you\u2019ll promote the volunteer opportunities. You could host a booth at a career festival, collaborate with other organizations and community groups, or take out web, print, or radio ads. Social media\u00a0 is also an excellent resource for promoting your volunteer opportunities.<\/p>\n With your recruitment process locked down, you should also examine how you onboard new volunteers. Focus on how they can fulfill the responsibilities outlined in the description, and provide them with the necessary training to accomplish the job.<\/p>\n A successful onboarding process should introduce new volunteers to your internal staff, other volunteers, and the leaders\u00a0 in your organization. It should also incorporate them into your volunteer database, providing leadership with everything it needs to know about who they are. To that end, you may also consider having someone on your board personally welcome new volunteers through an orientation seminar of some kind.<\/p>\n Your goal here isn\u2019t just to teach people how they can help your nonprofit. You want them to feel as though they\u2019re part of a community. You want to give them the tools they need to represent your brand and evangelize your mission, and inspire them to do so.<\/p>\n Create volunteer onboarding toolkits you can pass out to new arrivals. This kit should include the following information:<\/p>\n Use This Free Digital Marketing Checklist to Help<\/a><\/p>\n Just as poor communication and mismanagement frustrate paid employees, it\u2019s also highly damaging to your nonprofit\u2019s relationship with its volunteers. Without clear communications, your volunteers won\u2019t know what they should be doing and they won\u2019t have insight into the impact of their efforts.<\/p>\n Ensure there are clear lines of contact for volunteers to reach key staff within your nonprofit, such as volunteer managers. Volunteers should be able to easily reach out to these individuals, while your internal staff should have clear channels to elevate questions and concerns to other members of your team if needed. .<\/p>\n Start\u00a0 by understanding the different volunteer committees <\/a>within your organization,\u00a0 such as marketing, communications, philanthropy, service, and strategic planning.\u00a0 Remember, each group has different responsibilities and needs, and will be interested in different information. Beyond that, the most important thing is to keep in regular contact with all volunteers.<\/p>\n Email is likely the simplest avenue, allowing you to create highly-segmented, trackable mailing lists through a platform such as Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign. You may also want to consider establishing a Facebook<\/a> group through which you can coordinate volunteer activities and enable your volunteers to provide direct feedback.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget to showcase the effort your volunteers contribute to internal teams as well: write up a monthly volunteer newsletter to distribute to your co-workers. Include data points, photos, and other tangible evidence that shows your nonprofit is reaching its milestones, and emphasize that this is something you could not have done without your volunteers. For volunteers who are exceptionally hard-working, inspiring, or creative, include direct callouts as a special \u2018thank you.\u2019<\/p>\n This content might come in the\u00a0 form of an interview or story in your newsletter, on your site, or on your blog. You may even go so far as to establish a volunteer award or recognition program that gives out a gift card to your most dedicated volunteers.<\/p>\n No matter what you do,\u00a0 the important thing is that you put the focus on how each volunteer\u2019s contributions have helped you accomplish your mission. Include, with their consent, photos and video of your fundraisers. Demonstrate to them that they\u2019re making an impact, and that the work they do matters.<\/p>\n Free Download: 9 Email Templates for Nonprofit Annual Communication Plan<\/a><\/p>\n For many leaders in the nonprofit space, their mission is their life<\/a>. It\u2019s everything <\/i>to them. As a result, they hold their volunteers to a high standard of excellence.<\/p>\n Sometimes, not everyone is necessarily as passionate or engaged as you. Each volunteer will have a limit to how much effort they can put in, and how they can contribute to your organization.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s okay.\u00a0 Expecting or demanding each volunteer to contribute in exactly the same way<\/i> creates a level of pressure that\u2019s both exhausting and unsustainable. Instead, a better route is to provide flexible volunteer opportunities<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not every volunteer needs to be \u201cboots on the ground\u201d at your event. In fact, they may not need to put in more than a few hours a week with your organization.<\/p>\n Micro-volunteering, for instance, consists of small tasks that do not require an application or recruitment process. They also require a minimal time commitment. These might include providing goods for a bake sale, tweeting about an event or cause, or participating in a survey.<\/p>\n In that light, you should also consider online volunteer positions. Your nonprofit needs people to monitor its social feeds graphic designers, webmasters, and marketing experts. These are all jobs that can be done remotely, allowing you to leverage digital volunteers across multiple locations.<\/p>\n Volunteer management software such as InitLive or Volgistics can streamline your recruitment process and also makes volunteer scheduling much simpler, allowing volunteers to work flexible hours, trade shifts as-needed, and schedule their own shifts. In addition to utilizing such a system, emphasize to your volunteers that there are no expectations.<\/p>\n Each person should only work as much as they\u2019re able. Allowing people that level of flexibility can greatly reduce the chance that someone will feel stressed because they aren\u2019t contributing enough or pressured to do more. And that, in turn, can help prevent volunteer burnout.<\/p>\n There\u2019s always going to be some degree of turnover amongst volunteers, but there doesn\u2019t have to be burnout. By understanding how your actions influence and contribute to your volunteers\u2019 work ethic, you can get back to what really matters: changing the world.<\/p>\n3 Tips to Prevent Volunteer Burnout<\/strong><\/h2>\n
1. Optimize Volunteer Recruitment and Onboarding<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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2. Maintain Clear Communications\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
3. Treat Volunteers as People, Not Resources<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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