Common Volunteer Management Issues & How to Surpass Them
A healthy volunteer program can help your organization build community, mobilize grassroots support for your cause, and so much more. But what does a healthy volunteer program look like, and what steps can you take to improve yours?
First, remember that no volunteer program is perfect. You’re bound to run into challenges and setbacks as you work to build a strong, dedicated volunteer community. These challenges are normal, and working through them will help your volunteer managers grow into more capable, compassionate leaders.
In this article, we’ll explore a few common issues you might run into as you manage volunteers and steps you can take to move through them.
1. Difficulty Recruiting Volunteers
Volunteer recruitment is often a challenge, especially for newer and smaller organizations. Your nonprofit might not have a large network of supporters yet, or you may need more volunteers than usual to help with a major project. Then there are other times when you have a lull in recruitment without any easy explanation for it.
How to Address This Issue
When you encounter a period where recruiting volunteers is more difficult, take stock of your marketing strategy. Note which channels you’ve been using and how effectively you’ve reached prospective volunteers with each one. Compare the click-through and conversion rates of recruitment emails, text messages, and social media posts to learn which channels work best.
Keeping this insight in mind, try one or more of the following strategies for amplifying your nonprofit’s recruitment efforts:
Partner with local organizations. Joining forces with other like-minded organizations or community groups will introduce your nonprofit to new audiences who are already primed to be interested in your work. Identify potential partner organizations, and ask if they’d be willing to run a joint volunteer recruitment campaign on social media or hand out your flyers at their next event.
Ask existing volunteers for testimonials. Social proof is a powerful motivator. If any current volunteers are willing to speak to the positive impact of your volunteer program publicly, incorporate their testimonials into your recruitment materials.
Invite registered volunteers to bring a friend. Email registered volunteers ahead of your next volunteer event and encourage them to share the opportunity with friends and family. Or, add a call to action (CTA) to your website’s registration confirmation page so volunteers can invite friends right away.
When in doubt, refer to your nonprofit’s data. Analyze your recruitment and marketing metrics to find trends that indicate which strategies or channels are particularly effective for recruitment. For example, if you notice a spike in volunteer sign-ups after you posted a flyer on social media and asked current volunteers to share it, you can repeat this strategy in the future.
2. Ineffective Communication
Do your volunteers frequently miss shifts or say that they didn’t know about a policy you already communicated to them? Or do you have volunteers who are extremely helpful in person but rarely answer your emails? Each of these situations can be the result of ineffective communication.
How to Address This Issue
To improve your communication strategy and better engage current and prospective volunteers, start by meeting them where they are. This means using the same communication channels that your volunteers use, whether that’s text messages (text banking), email, group chats, or anything else. Preferences may vary, so pay attention to who engages with each type of communication and segment volunteers accordingly.
Additionally, consider sending out a survey to ask for volunteer feedback about your nonprofit’s communication strategies. Ask questions like:
How would you prefer to receive informational messages from us? (Text, email, etc.)
Do you find our volunteer communications useful? Why or why not?
When you volunteer, do you feel like you have all the information you need ahead of time? Is there anything missing?
Do you feel like you’re in the loop of our volunteer program and know about upcoming opportunities?
Do you know who to contact with questions and how to reach them?
Have you had a positive experience communicating with us in the past?
What would you like to know more about in the future? What information would be useful?
Listen to volunteers’ opinions and change your strategy to better meet their needs. If you still find yourself struggling to communicate effectively or just want to improve your skills, attend a nonprofit workshop or training session to learn more about communication that builds community.
3. Low Volunteer Retention
Similar to facing recruitment challenges, it’s very common to have trouble retaining volunteers from year to year. Some supporters may only volunteer once, while others might lapse due to factors like lifestyle changes, stress, or feeling underappreciated. However, it’s often easier and more cost-effective to retain volunteers than recruit new ones, so retention should be a priority.
How to Address This Issue
Retain more volunteers by showing them that you value them and that their contributions are needed. You might do this by sending volunteer thank-you letters, collecting (and acting on) their feedback regularly, and putting more effort into relationship-building overall.
Volunteer managers should get to know as many volunteers as possible, learning about their personal interests and communicating that they belong there. All of these efforts will help you build a stronger, more accepting, and supportive volunteer community that inspires long-term commitment to your nonprofit.
4. Volunteer Burnout
Burnout is common throughout the social good sector, especially among volunteers. Individuals might burn out due to stress, being overworked, feeling underappreciated, or not seeing the fruits of their labor (i.e., clear, meaningful impact). Volunteers who feel under-utilized are also at risk of burnout.
For instance, say you have a volunteer named Re who has been successfully canvassing for years and has shown interest in taking on more responsibilities. If you continue to assign Re to her usual position without offering anything more, she may start to feel discouraged and burnt out.
How to Address This Issue
In some cases, like the example above, addressing volunteer burnout can feel easy. Just by giving Re the opportunity to lead a canvassing event or manage a team of new volunteer canvassers, she might feel empowered and re-engaged with your organization. More often, however, addressing burnout requires more nuanced action.
You can help prevent burnout from occurring in the first place by following a few best practices:
Efficiently schedule volunteers so no individual feels overloaded or like they’re not contributing enough.
Use volunteer management software to keep track of volunteers’ skills, interests, and participation history so you can assign them to the best-fitting roles.
Set a maximum hourly working limit, such as 15 hours per week, to reduce the risk of volunteers overworking themselves.
Encourage volunteers to talk to leadership at any time. Volunteers should feel comfortable coming to you with any issues they’re facing, including feeling the effects of burnout.
When a volunteer does get burnt out, give them whatever support they need and reassure them that you want what’s best for them. Ask them directly how you can help, and check in periodically to see how they’re doing if they decide to take a break from volunteering.
Volunteer management, like any other worthwhile endeavor, has its fair share of challenges. But when you work to address them and keep positive relationships at the heart of your strategy, both your organization and your volunteers will come out stronger.