Volunteer Recruitment Strategies That Work: Behind the Scenes of Our New Coaching Program
When it comes to volunteer recruitment strategies, many nonprofits spin their wheels to find a solution that actually works.
In fact, year after year, volunteer recruitment is noted as one of the top three challenges for volunteer-involving organizations in our annual industry survey.
Whether it’s finding specific kinds of volunteers or finding enough volunteers at all, it is a perennial struggle.
So, if you’re having a hard time locating dedicated volunteer talent, you are not alone.
Gone are the days when you could rely on the positive word of mouth marketing of your volunteer fans to help you fill your open opportunities.
And say goodbye to the days when a volunteer flier could do the trick.
And see ya later to the “build it and they will come” approach.
Times have changed.
Not only do people get their information from new sources (e.g., Google and social media), they are also bombarded with information every day, most of which gets filtered out.
So, it’s hard to break through the noise.
In addition, sharing face-to-face information seamlessly in a lockdown? Nearly impossible!
Things have become much more difficult in recent years.
And you may even doubt whether people really want to volunteer anymore.
Rest assured, people are out there. They’re just waiting to be welcomed into service.
Why do we know?
Because we have worked with, interviewed, and trained nonprofits that still find themselves having to turn away interested volunteers … even in a pandemic.
So, somebody’s doing something right.
It’s not that people aren’t interested in helping. It’s that most nonprofits don’t know how to reach them.
Why Bother? Volunteers Drive Financial Resilience for Nonprofits
But why go to the effort to connect with volunteers if it’s so challenging?
There are plenty of reasons to include volunteers as part of your nonprofit’s human resources strategy.
Moreover, a compelling case can be made for investing time and energy in developing a well-considered system to mobilize them.
According to the Independent Sector, the current estimated national value of each volunteer hour is $28.54 USD. To put this in perspective, the wage equivalent for 100 volunteers who contribute 16 hours each over the course of a month is $45,664 or 10 FTEs.
For budget-conscious nonprofits, volunteers can be an immense support, but it’s not just about free labor.
Many volunteers are happy to give both time and money to causes they care about, making engaging them a double win.
According to the Nonprofit Quarterly’s second Illustrated Nonprofit Economy, individual donors play a significant role in nonprofit sustainability.
Contributions made by individuals are third, only behind government funding and fee-for-serve nonprofit revenue, in terms of funding sources, beating out foundation and corporate support and more.
It’s clear that individual community members are really the ones driving much of the nonprofit sector’s work, a sector that contributed an estimated $1.047. 2 trillion to the US economy in 2016, composing 5.6% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
And volunteers are a key revenue resource for nonprofits.
Research has shown that volunteer donated to charity at least twice, and as much as ten times, the rate of non-volunteers. In addition, volunteers invested in community-building. They did something good for the neighborhood at three times the rate of non-volunteers and did favors for neighbors at nearly twice the rate of non-volunteers.
Volunteers are part of this powerful group of financial contributors. AmeriCorps Formerly the Corporation for National & Community Service) research shows that from 2013-2015, 40.3% of non-volunteers donated to charity while 78.7% of volunteers made cash contributions.
In a 2014 study, more than two-thirds (67%) committed 50 or more hours to volunteering, with nearly half (49%) volunteering for three or more organizations. 84% of volunteers expected to maintain or increase volunteering commitments in coming years.
87% of volunteers say there is an overlap between their volunteer and financial support, and half (50%) of volunteers say they give more financial support because they volunteer.
Volunteers are also a key to organizational sustainability in turbulent times.
Additional research shows that nonprofits lose from 57-61% of donors every year. 47% of donors do something with an organization (volunteer, attend events, or play a leadership role). High-wealth donors ($200,000+) are 16% more likely to volunteer, 80% in a leadership role.
The majority of donors give more than four times annually to their favorite organization, and most spreading their contributions to multiple organizations. And in-person events and the ability to get involved through volunteerism correlate closely with increased giving and engagement.
So, an investment in volunteers can also generate a real impact on your agency’s overall operating budget – both in reduced staffing costs and in greater revenue from individual giving.
Volunteer Recruitment Strategies: A Road Map for Success
Make no mistake, there is competition for volunteer time and talent in your community.
But, with a solid game plan, you can become the go-to nonprofit in your community to serve.
Most of today’s volunteer recruitment strategies fail because they lack a cohesive, multi-channel strategy that’s designed to attract an ideal volunteer.
The good news is that with a solid strategy, a clearly defined audience, and some tweaks to your communications — and by avoiding some of deadly mistakes that others make — you can start reaping the rewards of a smarter volunteer recruitment approach.
Too often organizations are working with an unfocused set of tactics and no real knowledge around what works in today’s marketing and outreach.
And they lack a trusted guide with proven experience who can work with them side-by-side to create and implement a plan that gets traction quickly and gains momentum over time.
That’s why I created the Volunteer Recruitment Accelerator coaching program.
Skill Building in Volunteer Recruitment Strategies 
While I’ve trained thousands of volunteer-driving organizations on how to attract relivable, committed volunteers, I’m never quite sure what they do with the information once they leave the workshop
Marketing is an ever-evolving process. You pinpoint an audience you want to reach, and then you test and refine how you reach them.
They process is iterative and you gain knowledge as you go.
But it’s hard to do that if you know what you’re looking for or how to improve.
Instead of one-off trainings, I decided I wanted to offer my audience a deeper way to get support directly from me.
I wanted to offer a fresh set of eyes on their strategy, approaches, progress, and specific key audiences.
I wanted to “teach them to fish” by helping them develop a repeatable system that would only improve with age and experience.
Because nonprofit staff are so strapped for time, I also wanted to accelerate their growth though a development sprint focused on a streamlined framework to get them over the finish line quickly.
Based on my own years of experience in marketing, here’s what I decided to include:
- A Personalized Audit the Organization’s Current Strategy (through a recruitment strategy audit and review with immediate recommendations for quick traction)
- A Framework for Pinpointing Clear Recruitment Goals (pinpoint volunteer roles and the total number needed per role or team)
- Assistance Identifying 1-3 Key Audience Targets (through the development of ideal audience personas that drive recruitment strategy and tactics)
- Guidance on Developing a Messaging Platform to Reach High Potentials (to create compelling calls to action)
- Help Selecting Relevant Marketing Channels & Implementing a Campaign Launch (tailored to reach their ideal volunteer)
- Ongoing Private Coaching Throughout Implementation (weekly private calls to refine and optimize)
These are the key strategic pillars to what I call the “Recruitment That Works System.”
Volunteer Recruitment Strategy Coaching
Participants progress through these focused stages during weekly coaching calls and build their foundational marketing and recruitment skills through on-demand lessons in our program learning portal.
By focusing on these select areas, organizations become better equipped to modernize their volunteer recruitment strategies while narrowing the focus on potential volunteers that are the right fit for the right role.
Rather than “any warm body recruiting,” this coordinated approach results in less turnover and better retention rates.
Ready to Get Started? Re-Build Your Volunteer Team with our NEW! Coaching Program
We’ve got just the ticket for organizations who are ready and willing to invest in growing a sustainable volunteer effort through solid marketing strategies designed to reach today’s volunteers.
This is the ONLY coaching program of its kind that helps you build and implement a cohesive, customized volunteer recruitment strategy and set the stage for the exponential growth needed to carry your mission forward.
Get The Complete A-Z Volunteer Recruitment Blueprint
Get the direct strategic support and tools you need for creating and implementing a strategic volunteer recruitment plan that will bring in engaged, enthusiastic volunteers who want to stay and help your organization meet its mission.
By using today’s tactics, you’ll experience the benefits of expanding your audience beyond what you ever dreamed possible and reach a whole new generation of volunteers (and donors) who can’t wait to help you succeed.
The end result …
An incredibly effective system that will kick start your volunteer recruitment results and will be easily repeatable to be deployed over and over again as you grow volunteer engagement at your nonprofit.
A few things to know ….
This program is only for nonprofit who are serious about meeting their volunteer recruitment needs and are ready to invest in growing their volunteer talent.
The only way to receive an invitation to join is by applying for a Discovery Call.
During the call, we will help diagnose your nonprofit’s biggest barriers to recruiting committed, enthusiastic volunteer talent and suggest the best road forward.
Don’t delay. For this exclusive program, we will be accepting a very small number of clients. Once we reach our limit, the doors will close.
