Why Volunteers Stop Serving

Introduction

In spite of the economic downturn, many individuals continue to serve in their communities–helping their neighbors and organizing service projects.

In  2008, 61.8 million adults donated approximately 8 billion hours of time, and yet, over one-third of these individuals (35.5%) stopped volunteering and did not serve with any organization the following year.  This high rate of volunteer turnover has forced nonprofits to focus on replacing volunteers instead of maximizing impact and building organizational capacity.

A July 2009 report titled Pathways to Service posted on Volunteering In America identified five barriers that may keep individuals from volunteering or returning to service.

Key Findings

1.  Personal invitations to serve are more appealing to prospective volunteers.

Many individuals said they had never volunteered because they had never been asked. These same non-volunteers also said that if they were asked, they would be open to volunteering.

Organizations need to address this misconception in order to effectively recruit new volunteers.  Having existing volunteers share their stories can help non-volunteers see that they are just like those who serve.

2.  Non-volunteers see themselves as essentially different from volunteers.

Non-volunteers saw volunteers as retired, without children, and with an abundance of free time. While this may be true for some volunteers, data shows that the majority of volunteers tend to have busy schedules filled with work, children, and other commitments.

Organizations need to address this misconception in order to effectively recruit new volunteers.  Having existing volunteers share their stories can help non-volunteers see that they are just like those who serve.

3. Non-volunteers worry about having enough time to volunteer.

The term time poverty was coined over a decade ago.  Organizations are competing with people’s free time and time with family and friends.  They need to offer a variety of jobs—both short and long term.

Data shows that 65.5% of all US volunteers are episodic volunteers (volunteering less than 100 hours a year with all organizations) whereas 34.5% of individuals are intensive volunteers (volunteering 100 hours or more per year).

4.  Poor volunteer management turns people off of service.

Individuals who had a bad experience volunteering with one organization often did not volunteer again.  Individuals complained about poorly trained and unprepared leaders,  inadequate orientation and  skills training, restrictive volunteer assignments, lack of recognition and more.

5.  Skills-based volunteering can bring in new volunteers.

Non-volunteers reported that using their skills and learning new skills was important to them.  Pro bono and skills-based volunteering gives nonprofits access to needed expertise at a time when many are short staffed.

Organizations need to develop sound business strategies, models, and protocols. In support of this effort, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation recently initiated a challenge to leverage $1 billion in skilled volunteering and pro bono services from the corporate community. This three-year campaign, titled A Billion + Change, is led by the Corporation for National and Community Service to help nonprofit organizations benefit from professional skills, skills-based volunteering, and pro-bono contributions.

To see the full report:

“Pathways to Service: Learning from the potential volunteer’s perspective,” July 2009.

For another excellent report see:

The New Volunteer Workforce, By David Eisner, Robert T. Grimm Jr., Shannon Maynard, & Susannah Washburn, Winter 2009

United We Serve

On June 17th, President Obama announced a new initiative to encourage service in America United We Serve and asked Americans of all ages to volunteer over the summer.

“I’m calling on all of you to make volunteerism and community service part of your daily life and the life of this nation,” said President Obama in a video release. “And when I say ‘all,’ I mean everyone young and old, from every background, all across this country. We need individuals, community organizations, corporations, foundations, and our government to be part of this effort.”

Click here for the entire announcement:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/United-We-Serve

Click here for Michelle Obama announcement:  http://www.allforgood.org/

Related links:

Online resource for service:  http://www.serve.gov/

Notes from 2009 National Conference on Volunteering and Service:  http://philanthropy.com/news/conference/

Conference blog:  http://www.casefoundation.org/blog/united-we-serve-new-rally-cry

Related article:

Jobless Professionals Yearn to Do Good, Kyle Stock, The Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2009

Add Tech Volunteers to Your Team

It’s almost impossible to effectively recruit and manage volunteers today without fully engaging technology.  Successful volunteer managers increasingly…

• Use volunteer management software to streamline their operations
• Maximize their organization’s website by posting volunteer applications, newsletters, position descriptions, photos,  videos, and more
• Utilize social networking sites
• Post and update volunteer positions on online recruitment sites
• Take advantage of free online software and tools like wikis and Google docs
• Blog and Twitter
• Employ multiple methods to communicate with volunteers including text messaging, Skype, and list-serves.

If you don’t have the staff or skills to manage this brave new world, you can improve your chances of success by adding tech volunteers to your team.  And, these individuals don’t  have to live in your community to be helpful!

Before you go in search of help, be sure to download TechSoup’s free manual,  Working with Technical Volunteers: A Manual for NPOs. This recently updated guide includes the latest tech specs to use during volunteer interviews. The manual also includes comprehensive worksheets, sample applications, volunteer contracts, and questionnaires.

Once you’ve developed your plan and written your volunteer position descriptions, you”ll want to begin your search.

Here are a few suggestions for building your team and finding individuals with the right skills:

1. Contact your local volunteer center, RSVP, or national volunteer matching programs such as http://www.volunteermatch.com or http://www.techsoup.org.
2. Get permission to put a notice on an electronic bulletin board or get included in an in-house newsletter at local corporations and high-tech companies.
3. Check with instructors at area high schools, colleges or technical schools for qualified students who may want some actual experience designing web sites and working on similar projects.
4. Try contacting university departments and campus organizations related to technology such as engineering and computer science.
5. Ask  colleagues at other nonprofits in  your community where they go for technical volunteers.
6. Ask board members and volunteers if they know of someone or if they can tell you where to post a job description.
7. User groups or clubs meet either in person or online to discuss different types of hardware and software. Look for them in your local computer newspaper (if you have one) or on the Internet. Yahoo! and Google user groups, Craigslist.org, and Yahoo’s hardware user groups are good places to start.

Related articles:

“Engaging Techie Volunteers,”  Judicious Web, April 23, 2009

“Technology Acceleration: Grab Hold and Hang On,”  Susan Ellis, Energizeinc.com, June 2007

Older Adult Volunteers Bring New Expertise and New Life to Nonprofits

(ARA) -When Margaret Ross retired from a career in nursing, she had no idea that her new life as a volunteer would lead her right back into healthcare. Neither did Mike Chesnut, whose work building retail partnerships looks a lot like his volunteer service for a group of Denver nonprofits that are fighting homelessness. The same is true for retiree Berlin Hall. Since leaving his accounting executive career, Hall’s desire to help at-risk families led him to volunteer to manage the books for a family services agency.

As they move into roles in service and volunteering, older adults like these are discovering that what they know is just as important as how much time they can give. Their help couldn’t have come at a better time. With demand for nonprofit services skyrocketing, fundraising and revenues are way down. Some experts predict as many as 100,000 nonprofit organizations could run out of money for their programs completely.

The recession has spurred more interest in volunteering among older adults, particularly among boomers, says Jill Friedman Fixler, a nonprofit consultant and co-author of “Boomer Volunteer Engagement.”

“This is a group with abundant skills and profound circles of influence and they believe they can have an impact in their community right now,” she says.

That was the idea for Chesnut. After leaving his job as a retail sales executive with Procter & Gamble, Chesnut, 64, spent several years as a counselor for small business owners. When he moved to Denver a few years ago, he decided to focus on helping nonprofits. As he explored his options, Chesnut was struck by Denver’s homeless problem. Millions of dollars were being spent pulling families out of shelters, but programs that were trying to keep families out of them to begin with were underfunded. After organizing a coalition of local nonprofits, Chesnut began a research project that eventually led to a successful $600,000 grant.

“Coming from the corporate world and working with large retailers, you learn to look for common interest,” he says. “What I did was put numbers to the problem.”

Nancy Benyamin, a volunteer coordinator for Jewish Family Service who worked with Chesnut, says he’s an example of the increasing importance of skilled volunteers to nonprofits that want to expand their capacity in lean times.

“Mike really enabled us to apply for this large grant,” Benyamin says. “Without his assistance, the new funding just wouldn’t be happening.”

For Ross, 72, the serious needs she saw as a volunteer for SeniorsPlus in Lewiston, Maine, made her rethink the decision to step away from healthcare completely. After retiring as director of nursing for a state Medicare program, Ross signed up to help answer a referral phone line for SeniorsPlus, an agency that helps the local aging population get services and support. The organization was so impressed by her knowledge of medicine and healthcare benefits that they asked her to take on a new role as a counselor, and even get additional training. Seeing the healthcare system from the point of view of at-risk seniors has been an eye-opener, Ross says.

“[In my old job], I rarely was aware whether the patient was insured or not,” she says. “Now I’m on the other side of the fence saying, ‘Let’s get this person the coverage they need.’”

For Hall, a Hughes Aircraft retiree, volunteering for Family Assessment, Counseling & Education Services (F.A.C.E.S.) was a way to shield some families from the challenges his own family faced when his father, an alcoholic, left. After reviewing Hall’s background, Mary O’Connor, the executive director at the Southern California nonprofit, asked him to set up a new accounting system for the cash-strapped group. Five months later, the books are on the way to being balanced and Hall has become a strong F.A.C.E.S. supporter. He says his experience getting involved on a skilled basis, while frustrating at times, has been extraordinary.

“If my mother had access to this kind of thing, I can see how much better off we would have been,” he says with emotion. “But I had no idea that the kind of challenges this organization faces even existed.”

To find skilled volunteer opportunities, visit www.VolunteerMatch.org.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Shifting Course: Why You Should Be Preparing For The New Volunteer

If you did a survey of hospital volunteer programs, you would discover the majority of them were formed in the early-to-mid 1950’s.    These programs were organized by GI Generation women, many of whom had worked and volunteered to support the war.  Once their soldiers returned, the women returned home too, raising children and putting their time, organizing skills, and energy into volunteering and raising funds for civic organizations…and community hospitals.

Many in the GI Generation were shaped by two world wars and a great depression, and so were their workplace values.  These are the values that have defined hospital volunteer programs for more than 50 years–serving on a regular-ongoing basis, performing repetitive, lower skilled, highly defined roles. An annual banquet and a pin for their service hours were standard and desirable forms of recognition.  A pink pinafore was a source of pride.  Now the youngest members of the GI Generation are 85 years of age.

What is your healthcare institution doing to create new systems and new opportunities for the next volunteer generation?

Your volunteer pool is dwindling and you are not alone.  But looking to younger volunteers to work in “old” systems won’t succeed.   This next generation says they prefer short-term commitments.  They want meaningful work and opportunities to use their professional skills.  They want autonomy, self-direction and lots of choice when volunteering.  They are time-poor and you are competing for their recreational time and time with friends and loved ones.  What they want in exchange is a valuable experience-reflective of their ideals, their skills, and their values!

By 2010, nearly 64 million Boomers will be poised to retire.  Because of the long-term effects of the current recession, many will have to work, but not all of them full time.  Research tells us almost two-thirds of Boomers plan to volunteer. Serving community becomes more important to them as they age.   They are willing to roll up their sleeves to solve society’s problems, but it may be between jobs or on a project basis.

What can you do to attract this next volunteer generation?   Consider…

• Hire a professional volunteer director–preferably one who has completed their Certified Administrator of Volunteer Services (CAVS) designation through the American Hospital Association.  Or support your existing director in getting certified.

• Give your volunteer director time and resources to create new volunteer management systems.

• Expand volunteer opportunities for highly skilled individuals.   Use words like pro bono consultant, team leader, virtual volunteer and entrepreneur words when marketing.

• Train employees to work with a more educated and professionally trained volunteer workforce.   Recognize and compensate them for doing so.

• Create a new range of incentives for a more diverse volunteer team.

Create a win-win for all

An AARP poll found that nearly 54% of volunteers and 48% of non-volunteers would give 15-hours a week if they were provided compensation such as reduced drug costs, gas, and small monthly stipends.   For individuals who have just lost a job and half of their retirement, a stipend (contract labor at below market wages) could create a win-win for all.  The poll also found that the 50+ volunteer workforce could be doubled through small inducements such as learning new things, making friends, and putting career skills to use.

Changing a half century-old volunteer management system requires time and strategic planning.  Current volunteers will need to be brought on board.  And, it will take time to find out what works, change what doesn’t, and make course corrections.

What are the benefits to you?

• Because they are “private citizens,” volunteers are free to advocate on your behalf.

• They extend the budget by providing time philanthropy, and, if managed effectively, can have a large impact on your ability to reach your mission.

• Volunteers have the luxury to concentrate their time and expertise on a particular issue, customer or service area.

• They are an abundant resource that can compliment your workforce.

• Volunteers are twice as likely to donate money as non-volunteers.

Healthcare volunteer programs have been making incremental changes for decades.  But shifting demographics and transformational changes now occurring in our country and healthcare institutions, have made it critical that hospitals make fundamental and meaningful changes in how volunteers are recruited, managed and supported.

Volunteers can improve your hospital’s effectiveness and services to both patients and your community.  Are you ready to succeed with this new talent pool?

Volunteers Are An Excellent Source Of Fundraising Ideas

This Tip of the Week is reprinted with permission from The Nonprofit Times Weekly. Go to http://nptimes.com for more information.

Do you have so much to do for your capital campaign, with so little time? Think about including your most zealous volunteers in your fundraising program, according to Michael J. David-Wilson, executive director for the Middlesex County College Foundation in Edison, N.J. Why not use your best supporters to cultivate other organization members?

David-Wilson presented his ideas in a session at the 46th annual Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) international fundraising conference in New Orleans. Here’s how to turn your volunteers into development participants:

• Volunteer participation. Volunteers can be a great addition to your fundraising team. Just make sure if they are asking others for gifts, they make one of their own.

• Major gift donations. Try to tackle big gifts early. Use your own board’s participation as examples of campaign giving.

• Volunteer training. Ensure that your volunteer solicitors are properly trained before they ask for gifts. Team your professional fundraisers with volunteers for some role-playing in donation asks.

• Give information. Compile important donor information for your fundraising team. Set up a gift amount to ask for and what that gift amount would do for the campaign.

• Set up success. Everyone needs a boost of confidence. Arrange some telephone solicitations for your volunteers with donors most likely to give. That will put your volunteers on the right foot for in-person asks.

• Provide backup. Volunteers don’t normally ask donors for gifts – so they may lose their confidence at the meeting. Couple volunteers with a professional development staff member who can move in if the volunteer gets too nervous.

• Celebrate successes. Make volunteer solicitors excited about their hard work. Think about building some friendly competition among volunteers by tracking donor visits or the amount raised.

Tracking the Value of Volunteer Contributions

I was cautioned early in my career, never to say that volunteers save money.  Unless you are prepared to deduct all program expenses, it’s best to look at volunteers as enhancing services to clients and community and building organizational capacity.

Tracking volunteer hours is important to funders, good data for annual reports, and important when recognizing volunteer contributions.

The Independent Sector tracks the value of volunteer hours. The most recent figure is $19.51, which includes a 12 percent estimate for fringe benefit costs. This figure does not adequately account for  individuals who provide specialized skills like attorneys.

By 2010, almost 64 million boomers are poised to retire. They represent a highly educated work force. As they begin knocking on nonprofit doors and offering more specialized skills, it is in your organization’s best interest to find a simple way to track the value of these hours.

One way is way is to utilize volunteer management software.  My favorite is Volgistics. You determine the value of the job based on what the local market will bear, plug in the figure and the software does the rest. Volunteers enter hours through your website portal and they are downloaded into your database.

The Points of Light Foundation has created a free tool, a calculator, which makes it possible to estimate the appropriate wage rate for volunteer time based on the volunteer’s position.

The calculator is simple to use! You just need to search for the job description and enter the number of hours given by the volunteer. Repeat this process until all volunteer hours have been entered. The system will automatically calculate the total for each job category and for the total across all volunteer jobs.

Calculating the value of volunteer hours is just one step in measuring your volunteer program’s effectiveness.

For more information about tracking volunteer hours and determing their value, check out the following articles:
• “Tracking Volunteer Time to Boost Your Bottom Line,” by Dennis Walsh, CPA.
• “Pro Bono Work Pegged At $120/hour,”  The Nonprofit Times, March 30, 2009.

You Can Organize Volunteers with Free Online Tool

What is VolunteerSpot?

VolunteerSpot is a free, online sign-up tool that makes grass-roots volunteering easier.  Volunteer leaders now have the ability to easily and quickly mobilize and coordinate volunteers in their community, congregation or social network.

VolunteerSpot is the brain child of Karen Bantuveris, an Austin, Texas, management consultant who launched the website in the fall of 2008.   ”I got involved with volunteering through leadership positions in PTA and Scouts,” she said. “Anyone who has volunteered knows how difficult it can be to organize groups of people.  There are a lot of phone calls, sign-up sheets and back-and-forth e-mails. Good people sometimes stop volunteering because it’s such a hassle.”

How does VolunteerSpot work?

There are three simple steps.

1. The leader creates a schedule of volunteer needs on the online calendar and invites people to sign up with an e-mail.

2. Volunteers click a link to see what spots are available and choose when and how they want to help.

3. VolunteerSpot sends automated confirmation and reminder messages which help everyone keep their commitments.

Because all of this happens in real-time, the schedule is always current.  This significantly reduces coordination time and makes the process easier for everyone.

VolunteerSpot will always offer a free service to local-level volunteers. They will, however, charge corporations and groups wanting to brand the Web site, and will be adding premium features, such as hours tracking.

“We’re thrilled with the positive customer feedback and how fast we are spreading to new groups,” says Karen. “It feels good to already be helping so many people.”  

Volunteer leaders have received a real gift from this free management tool.   Karen’s goal is that grass-root groups and nonprofits from all over the United States will use their Web site to make a big difference in their communities.

ABC’s of Volunteer Retention

Recruiting and retaining volunteers is an on going challenge for most non-profit organizations.  Once THE place to volunteer, hospitals have seen an overall decline in the number of individuals who choose to volunteer their time in  auxiliaries and volunteer departments.  So when you do find those precious volunteers, keeping them should become a number one priority!

After careful thought and a little bit of research, it is my opinion that successful volunteer retention can be enhanced with a few simple steps.

A. Make your organization attractive. Shar McBee, in To Lead is To Serve, says that when you are feeling positive about your work (and your organization) it attracts others to participate.  On the other hand, when you feel overwhelmed or burdened, no one volunteers to join in.  A great exercise to rekindle a feeling of spirit at your next meeting is to have members break into pairs, and ask the following questions:

• What did you love about your volunteer work in the beginning?
• What was important about this work?
• What is challenging about it now?
• What is fun about it?

Take the feedback from this exercise and put it in your newsletters and promotional materials, post quotes and pictures of these folks on your bulletin board and website, and share it with the staff and friends of your hospital.  And then, watch as the energy of your organization goes up!

B. Create a great, big welcome mat! Individuals who “join”  volunteer organizations want to be able to network and build quality relationships that fulfill both their personal and professional needs. Cynthia D’Amour’s, How to Turn Generation Me into Active Members of Your Association, has some great tips on helping your new members make a successful entry:

• Create a new member welcome kit which includes a current directory, a welcome letter from your President or leader, details about membership benefits, a current newsletter and information on how to get involved in fundraising, special events, etc. Get it to your new members as soon as possible.

• Have enthusiastic volunteers call and personally welcome new volunteers to your organization.

• Don’t stop contacting them after the first month. Call again in three months. Survey them in six months to see how they are doing.

• Provide board members with a list of new volunteers at each board meeting. Discuss how to tap into their skills.

• Get board members to call individuals who come a few times and drop out. The feedback you get from these interviews will tell you if you need to shore up your systems and make course corrections.

C. Remember the WIIFM’s!

That’s right-the “what’s in it for me.”  In days past, hospital auxiliaries often had waiting lists.  If you wanted to be a member, you often had to start out in a job that did not necessarily match your interests or skills.  Today’s volunteer will remain if personal and professional development is honored and encouraged.

• Do your volunteers perform meaningful work?

• Do they have a chance to learn new skills or use the ones they have?

• If they chose, can volunteers move up–gaining increased responsibility?

• How much flexibility do you create in your scheduling? Do you have interesting work for individuals who have limited time?

Because of the increased competition for their time, volunteers are frequently reevaluating whether or not your organization is a worthy investment for them.  Therefore, helping your volunteers stay involved requires a bit of effort, a willingness to actively serve your new and old members, and regular communication from leadership.

Finally, if people are to give up free time to volunteer–away from friends and family–their work environment must be enjoyable.  I recently started a new job, and one of the main reasons that I took the position was because staff showed me great courtesy.  But most importantly, I could tell that they enjoyed their work and were committed to making a difference in the lives of the people they served.  I saw a lot of smiling faces.   As Shar McBee says, “nothing attracts like joyous heart!”