Episode #086 – Converting Episodic Volunteers into Long-term Supporters
Tobi: Welcome to the volunteer nation podcast, bringing you practical tips and big ideas on how to build, grow, and scale volunteer talent. I’m your host, Tobi Johnson. And if you rely on volunteers to fuel your charity, cause membership or movement. I made this podcast just for you. Hey there, everybody. I’m Tobi Johnson, your host of the Volunteer Nation podcast.
And I want to talk about something that’s so timely for so many of you right now. And that is the challenge of episodic volunteers. The real challenge is converting episodic volunteers into long term supporters. And at this time of year, in the holiday season, we have a lot of folks stepping up who really want to help out.
They either want to help out in soup kitchens. They want to help out in clothing drives. They want to help out with getting kids gifts. They want to help out in raising money. There are all kinds of ways that people want to help. And it’s really lovely during the holiday season to see the spirit of giving.
But what happens after the holidays are over? Then, your organization is once again on the hunt for new volunteers and really trying to keep your capacity up. And so today I wanted to really talk about this opportunity when folks have the passion, is there a way
And I want to talk about a few different strategies and maybe questions to ask yourself to see if you’re ready to make those conversions happen. Let’s get started right away. I know you’re busy probably right now this time of year, so what I’d like to do first is share my four-part culture of commitment formula that sets the stage for deeper levels of commitment.
It’s really about designing for commitment and there are some elements that need to be in place that keep people coming back. So, let’s start with the first thing you need to do, and this is really about working on your program, not in your program. These aren’t tips and tricks. These are strategies and infrastructure that you need to create a pipeline of volunteer support.
First thing is building a purposeful staffing plan. It seems like a no brainer, but I’m going to say it anyway, if you’re not aligning your volunteer roles with your agency’s goals, it’s really hard to make the case for people to volunteer if the only thing they’re volunteering for is to help you with a pair of hands.
We really got to make the connection between the work of volunteers and the outcomes and mission that your, your organization is trying to achieve. And when you can speak to that for whatever volunteer roles you have available, your appeal to continue to support you becomes all that more compelling.
The second thing, really, part of my culture of commitment formula is onboarding and placing volunteers. Now, there’s a point in your process, and I’ll talk about this a little bit later as well, where that transition and that ask needs to happen, where folks will transition from being an episodic volunteer to being a more long term supporter.
And a lot of that has to do with your onboarding process and all of those first touches that are so important. And if you want to think about preparing a brand-new volunteer, your episodic volunteers for longer term service, you’ve got to think about what is their first touch experience like? How does it feel? Is it exciting? Is it joyful or does it feel stressful, disorganized? Do people not feel welcome?
When you think about those first touch points, are you also educating that newcomer about what your needs are, and again we’ll talk some more later about some questions you can ask, but you really have to have a purposeful onboarding plan even for episodic one-time volunteers, because you never know they might want to come back year in, year out for that one event.
They might want to become a supporter. It’s not a loss if someone stops volunteering but starts contributing financially. So, we want to keep an open mind about the ways that people can support us. They might become a better advocate for your cause. And when we bring on a brand-new episodic volunteer, we want to think about how can we educate them in the short-term and give them an amazing experience that they want to talk about, when other people ask them, “Hey, what you been doing lately?”
The third part of a culture of commitment formula is to delegate and lead with ease. So, ask for and expect follow through from volunteers and support them every step of the way. So, this is about really clear communications. People will often talk about volunteers not showing up, not following through, especially our episodic volunteers because they really don’t understand how important their piece of the puzzle is.
So, it’s on us to be really clear about what this delegation looks like, what tasks they’re going to be involved in, and what happens if they don’t show up. And I think it’s really important to double down on that in today’s world because people are so busy and they get distracted and sometimes they forget.
So, lots of reminders, but also really the messaging should be about what’s the consequence if they don’t show up. What’s going to happen? And if it doesn’t matter that they don’t show up, then what’s the point, right? Then they shouldn’t take it that seriously.
We really do want to make sure that people understand, and the work is meaningful, right? If it isn’t meaningful, then it’s really hard to make the case for them to show up.
The fourth thing, part of the four-part culture of commitment formula, is about using storytelling and sharing results. You can continue after these events, and I would always take the opportunity during one-time events for episodic volunteers to collect stories, collect testimonials, collect quotes, photographs, to show how volunteers and staff are contributing to the agency’s work, mission, sustainability, bottom line, to share those stories of why people wanted to give in the first place and what they realized when they were volunteering.
These stories are so important. A lot of times our episodic volunteers don’t really understand what they’re getting into and there’s a lot of joy and a lot of change going on in organizations and not all of it is easy. I know some of the populations that I used to work with, it would be shocking to our volunteers sometimes if they were helping out in our drop-in center for homeless youth, it was a little shocking because people didn’t realize what kids were living through on the streets of San Francisco. And it can be a little shocking. So, helping people process that, but also helping them see the good in their own work, right?
Because people often also get overwhelmed, and they feel like what can I do one person? And you need to continue to tell the story about what that one person has done.
So that’s my four-part culture of commitment formula –
Building a purposeful staffing plan – So you’re able to communicate and offer roles for folks and that they understand how vital all of these roles are.
Onboarding and placing volunteers – We don’t often think about episodic volunteers as needing any kind of onboarding. We just bring them on board, show up, and let’s get to work. But there’s plenty you can do to educate people before they even step foot in your organization, and that way you can do when they show up at your front door.
Delegating and leading with ease – Really communicating high expectations for volunteers that you take their work seriously and you want them to take your work seriously as well.
And then using storytelling and sharing results of their work – Part of it is an appreciation and gratitude strategy, but it’s also about really helping people reflect on how important their contribution has been, even if it’s only been for a day. That’s one day that somebody got an easier day because of it. Somebody’s day was lifted. Somebody had a little bit of more ray of sunshine in their day, depending on what folks have done.
So that’s my four-part culture of commitment formula. I also want to pose some questions and offer another strategy for thinking through how to convert episodic volunteers into long term supporters. I’m going to share that right after the break. So don’t go anywhere.
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Okay. We’re back with our discussion of my top tips for converting episodic volunteers into long-term supporters. And here’s another strategy I talked before the break about my four-part culture of commitment formula, but I also want to talk about journey mapping.
And I really went into deep dive on this in Volunteer Nation Episode 19, where I talked about how to improve the volunteer experience with a journey map. So, be sure to check that out because I go into much more detail than I’m going into here, but it’s a great way to think about where you can improve the volunteer experience.
Also, I wrote a Volunteer Pro blog post about three strategies to follow for a better volunteer onboarding journey. So, you can check that out as well. Those two that the collection of the blog and the podcast will be super helpful.
So, you want to think about journey mapping as mapping all of the touch points that a volunteer experiences from the very first time they hear about your organization, whether it’s online, in person, however they hear about you.
And you want to map each step and think about their informational and emotional needs at each step. And can you make any improvements to those? What’s happening now and what could be improved to make it even better? Now the assumption with journey mapping is that people have needs that evolve over time.
So, the needs of a brand-new visitor to your website might be … Hey, I want to know if I can trust this organization. I want to know if they’re legit. I want to know if there are opportunities that match what my interests are, those kinds of things. Where the needs of an episodic volunteer when they show up at your doorstep for their shift might be completely different.
It might be, will I know anybody here? Will I be able to do the work to the level that’s needed? Will I be welcomed? Will I belong? Those are all the kinds of things. Even with episodic volunteers, you want to think about what are the steps that they go through and how can you make each step a WOW experience.
And they’re going to want to come back, right? There’s also some questions you can ask about your journey map that help you assess and give you clues about, okay, where can we make some of these improvements? So, one is our episodic volunteers. greeted immediately when they arrive? Are they greeted immediately when they arrive, or are they poking around trying to figure out where they’re supposed to be?
Good question. Probably an area for improvement. Maybe not. Maybe you’re good at this. Are things super organized? The Time Well Spent study, which I talk about a lot, and I’m actually going to have someone on from NCVO to talk about the Time Well Spent Study. I can’t wait! We’re going to do a deep dive into that study.
What was said in that research study was that things could be more organized. So, they know. If you think volunteers don’t notice that your things are not organized, they do. And they comment on it when people survey them. So, we want to make sure things are super organized, that there’s no confusion.
And you know a lot about your comings and goings of your organization. Imagine from a newcomer who knows absolutely nothing about what you do, including where are the restrooms? Where am I going to put my backpack or my purse? What time does my shift start? When do I go on break? When do I go have lunch? All those things. Also, do you have a name tag ready for me? etc. Just are things super organized? Good questions.
Just assess for yourself. Does everyone on your team understand and are they evaluated on their role in supporting volunteers? And when I say your team, I mean everyone in your organization. Anyone who comes into contact with a volunteer, whether they’re passing them in the hallway or recruiting them for your next event, everyone should have a responsibility.
If your organization relies on volunteers, everyone should have some part to play in keeping volunteers happy and helping them find their way down the hallway in welcoming them in answering questions, et cetera.
It’s not a big task for most people, but if it’s not put on their job description it becomes a nice to have, not a need to have. So, we want to make sure it’s volunteer support is on everybody’s job description and that means they’ll get evaluated on it, so really important so volunteers don’t fall through the cracks.
Another question you might ask yourself is do volunteers understand your mission? And, you know, before an episodic volunteers show up for their first shift, maybe send out a video with some stories about your mission in action with an explanation about what you do. Because certainly if you’re a larger organization they won’t know all of your services and what you offer and what the opportunities to support you are.
If you’re a smaller organization, guaranteed they won’t understand why your organization started in the first place and exactly what you’re trying to achieve. Most of the time, people don’t get it. And our mission statements sometimes are either vague or super convoluted, and people from the general public don’t understand. Do they understand your mission truly?
Another question to ask is, do they understand what happens with and without volunteer support? What are the consequences of inaction? And I talked about this earlier, if someone doesn’t show up, what are the consequences?
I think being clear about that is helpful and being clear with people, Hey, if you sign up for a shift, it means someone else can’t participate in your spot. And so we take it seriously when people make a commitment. And when volunteers don’t step up to the plate, whether as a no show or not volunteering at all, here are the results. Here’s what happens when people aren’t here. And here’s what happens when people are here. And making the clear distinction between what happens with dedicated volunteers and what happens without dedicated volunteers and being very clear about that.
Another question to ask is, have your episodic volunteers during their time with you, maybe it’s only a day, maybe it’s only an afternoon, have they made friends with other volunteers? Is there an opportunity to socialize, to work shoulder to shoulder or side by side, to get to know other people?
When people make friends, they want to keep coming back because it’s a social exercise for a lot of people. It’s a social affair when people volunteer. It’s something they do for leisure. It’s something for fun. And so, when people are getting out volunteering, often they want to meet other people. So, figuring out a way to have some social interaction, even if it’s facilitated a little bit, just introducing people or figuring out who you might buddy up with another person, and if they seem like they might be a good match, they might have similar interests or come from a similar neighborhood or whatever it is.
Are they making friends? Are you creating an opportunity for friendship to occur? Another question. Did you or your team make a personal connection with each volunteer now this might be before during or after this episodic volunteering event?
Now, if you’re working with thousands of volunteers, this is difficult and the way to do it is to designate volunteer leaders who are responsible for a specific group, maybe up to 10 people with smaller groups. It’s a little bit easier and you can make all kinds of personal connections.
You can make personal connections with phone calls. You can send videos using Bomb Bomb or Bonjoro personal videos to volunteers. You can then make sure at the event itself that you go around and you say hello and chat with each volunteer. Now if it’s a big event, again, you’ve got to start delegating some of this. It can’t just be you, but if it’s a smaller event with a smaller group of volunteers, you certainly can do that.
But people need to be seen and heard. They need to know that they’re not just another cog in the machine. Another question to ask, have you. or did you at the last event or the next event, are you planning on sharing exciting things that are coming up? So, it’s nice to do a debrief at the end of a shift and just thank everybody for coming and saying, Hey, here’s a few things that you might be interested in that are coming up and have a clipboard ready if people want to sign up.
Now, some of the exciting things don’t have to be volunteer opportunities. They can be other initiatives and projects. And then you can make a soft ask and say we’ll be sending out information about this if you’d like to support it financially, that’s great, be on the lookout for an email. Super low pressure, that’s important, super low pressure.
But a soft ask is totally fine at the end of a shift. Also, if you’re making an ask for a volunteer to step up from an episodic or one-time volunteering commitment to something longer, did you make that ask in person while they were there? Did you mention, Hey, you know what? We have this thing going on and I think you would be perfect for it. Are you interested? Can I tell you more about it?
That is the way to feel comfortable about this. I know people feel uncomfortable. Well, they’ve already contributed. You know what? People like to be asked to support further. So, the way to do it is to first note something you’ve noticed about them that might be appropriate or might match well or align well. Maybe it’s a skillset or characteristic that would match well with an opportunity you have coming up. And then ask them, would you like me to tell you about it? And if they give you permission, then you’ve been given permission to make that ask, Hey, well here’s what’s happening. How does that sound to you?
Or is there something else? It’s a conversation you’re having. You’re not, Hey, I’ve got a shift next Friday. Can you show up? That’s not the kind of conversation this is. This is really about interests. You’re doing a little bit more interviewing, but on the fly. Along those lines, do you have a variety of flexible roles to choose from?
Because as you’re getting to know people, And that’s a big part of converting episodic volunteers into longer term volunteers. You got to get to know people in a really short amount of time. That means you can’t be the person in the soup kitchen line. You’ve got to be, or you can’t be the person wrapping kid’s gifts.
You’ve got to be the person that moving around, talking to people, getting to know people, thanking people. You are the social butterfly. Or your delegates, if you have volunteer leaders doing that for you, but you want to talk to people and find out when are they available? What different roles do you have available that might match their interests and schedule?
Similarly, is another question, is there a clear beginning, middle, and end of the commitment you are asking people to make after the episodic commitment? Now part of the reason episodic volunteering is so interesting and appealing to people is because they know it has an end. And if you’ve ever asked a volunteer, and I’ve asked a few, why don’t you volunteer or why didn’t you volunteer? And they’ll say exactly these words, quote, I didn’t want to sign my life away, unquote.
So, people need to know that there are boundaries and barriers on what they’re committing to. You know, when people make a financial contribution to your nonprofit, they don’t just give you a blank check and say, Hey, go ahead and put whatever you want in there. Or they don’t give you their access to their bank information so that you can make an electronic funds transfer and just say, you know what, put whatever you want in there and just take what you want. It’s fine. No, that’s not how it works.
Similarly with volunteering, people are giving something of value, and they need to know how much value they’re giving you because they’ve got to fit it into their lives, how much of a commitment they’re making. So, we need to give people that beginning, middle, and end. So, this commitment would start here, it would run about six weeks or six months.
Now, if you’re asking volunteers to make an annual commitment, it’s a long time in today’s world. It’s a long time. So, consider breaking that out into quarterly or six-month commitments that at the end they can re-up.
Now, I understand for some of your roles it takes a long time to learn that role well. I have run programs like that where it takes months for a volunteer to actually learn their role and do it really effectively on their own. So, there’s a tremendous amount of investment. That’s something to have a conversation around. Hey, we find that, you know what, it takes a little while for people to, to really get up to speed. And so that’s why we ask for the longer-term commitment.
The reason you ask for the longer-term commitment can’t be just because, you know what, we have a hard time finding volunteers. That’s on you, not on them, right? The more flexible we can be and the more time, if we can give people specific time constraints, we’re going to be better off.
And then my final question you should ask yourself is, do your episodic volunteers have fun? Are they having fun? Are they laughing? Are they smiling? If they’re not, you’ve got to make some changes because people don’t want to do stuff in their leisure time that’s not fun.
Now that doesn’t mean things can’t be hard or difficult. Difficult things can still be fun, and they can be satisfying. So, it doesn’t mean that everything’s a cakewalk all the time. Think of all the different things you can ask people who train for. Iron Man, for example. Okay, it’s fun, but it’s also really painful and really hard. It takes a ton of commitment to make that happen, but people would still describe it as fun. So there you go. Doesn’t have to be super easy.
The work, some of our work is hard. It’s difficult. Want to think about that, but you want to make sure people are having fun. At least the work is meaningful and enjoyable in some way.
That’s it. That’s, those are my tips on converting episodic volunteers into long term supporters. Remember that volunteerism isn’t the only way. For someone to support your organization, they can make financial contributions. They can talk you up. You’re “talker uppers” as my husband calls it.
Those kinds of volunteers are “talker uppers.” People that are going around the community, just talking you up, just talking and spreading good news about what you do. That is worth a lot. Think about when people are thinking about where they want to contribute money.
Think about. When people need to understand a cause on a deeper level, having all of these ambassadors throughout the community is a good thing and it has value, and they have social connections and social capital that they can bring to bear for your organization.
They can call their elected officials. If you need some advocacy, they can tell your story to others and even identify people who might benefit from what you do. There are so many different ways that people can, the “talker uppers,” can also help you.
So, think about you’re converting your episodic volunteers into long term supporters that are either volunteers, financial contributors, even potential leaders or staff in the future and potential advocates. Any or all of those things are, would be considered support in my mind. So, think flexibly about how you can keep people coming back and staying connected to what you do.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Volunteer Nation. That’s all I got for this week. Join us next time. Same time, same place. And I’ll share some more of my tips and advice about engaging communities in your good cause. So, take care, everybody.
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Thanks for listening to this episode of the Volunteer Nation podcast. If you enjoyed it, please be sure to subscribe, rate, and review so we can reach people like you who want to improve the impact of their good cause. For more tips and notes from the show, check us out at Tobijohnson.com. We’ll see you next week for another installment of Volunteer Nation.