Has volunteer participation bounced back to pre-pandemic levels at your organization?
For many organizations, overcoming barriers—let alone increasing volunteer participation—has been a struggle. And let’s be honest, recruiting and retaining dedicated volunteers was often a challenge for nonprofits before the pandemic.
This week on The Responsive Weekly, Rob Peabody of VOMO joined us to talk about addressing barriers to volunteering and creating better volunteer experiences.
The Quick Summary
Top Takeaways
Prospective volunteers don’t know what you need or how to get involved.
A surefire way to increase volunteer participation and help volunteers get more engaged is to highlight volunteer opportunities on your website. Consider adding an online discovery process to the volunteer section, so prospective volunteers can begin to personalize their experience immediately.
Getting from good intentions to action.
Are you putting up hurdles that get in the way of increasing volunteer participation? Is the process of signing up inconvenient, complicated, or confusing? Every point of friction is an opportunity for drop-off, so look for ways to streamline the process. Volunteer management tools can help a lot here.
Impersonal Asks
Impersonal, general asks. Giving is personal, whether it’s money or time. Just like donors, volunteers want to make a difference and connect in a meaningful way. Use nonprofit marketing automation to personalize their experience, look for ways to highlight their unique skills and talents, and communicate regularly to build relationships.
When you use technology to create better experiences for volunteers and staff—you are cultivating pathways to increase volunteer participation.
