May 2, 2025 • 23 mins
Volunteers are the lifeblood of nonprofit organizations, yet a staggering 35% don't return year after year. Why is this happening, and what can your organization do about it? In this eye-opening conversation with Eric Burger, Director of Marketing at Volunteer Hub, we unpack the critical importance of volunteer communication and management strategies that keep supporters coming back. When you consider that each volunteer hour is valued at $33.49, retention becomes not just a mission imperative but a financial one too. Burger shares practical insights on why volunteers leave—from feeling underappreciated to lacking proper training—and offers actionable solutions for addressing these challenges. We explore how treating volunteers with the same structured approach used for employees can dramatically improve retention rates, including proper onboarding, clear role definitions, and systematic feedback mechanisms. Whether you're struggling with volunteer recruitment or looking to enhance your existing program, you'll take away concrete strategies for creating streamlined, efficient processes that respect volunteers' time while deepening their connection to your mission. Looking to transform your volunteer program? Connect with Eric on LinkedIn or visit volunteerhub.com to explore comprehensive volunteer management solutions built specifically for nonprofit needs.
Get free nonprofit professional development resources, connections to cause work peers, and more at https://nonprofithub.org
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Marketing Support Network is proud to serve the
nonprofit community by offeringfull-service contact center
fulfillment, digital marketingand fundraising services.
Your vision is our mission andwe can't wait to partner with
you.
Visitmarketingsupportnetworkcom for
more information.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome back to the Nonprofit Hub Podcast.
I'm your host, megan Spear,joined today by Eric Berger,
who's the Director of Marketingat Volunteer Hub, and we're
going to be digging into thatvolunteer topic, which is
something we haven't gotten totalk a lot about on the podcast
today.
So I'm excited for thisconversation, eric.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thanks, megan, I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, good to have you.
So before we dig into thevolunteer part, maybe give us a
little bit of an introduction toyourself.
How did you get into thisnonprofit journey and become a
part of Volunteer Hub?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah.
So I essentially, like eightyears ago I was working in the
software space but it wasconfigure price quote software
and I didn't really feelfulfilled at that company.
Didn't really feel fulfilled atthat company.
So I started looking foropportunities that I can be
involved in some way in thegreater good.
(01:10):
And I saw a job opening formarketing communications manager
at Volunteer Hub and I foundout it was software that helps
nonprofits better recruit,engage and manage volunteers and
I just kind of fell in lovewith that offering because I
knew that the software weprovide would kind of help
(01:31):
organizations reach theirmission.
So I applied at that job andI've been here ever since.
So that was eight years ago andnow I'm the director of
marketing for BetterGood, whichis the maker of Volunteer Hub.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I love it Well, and volunteers are something that so
many nonprofits cannot functionwithout right.
They make such a big impact,and so I'm excited to dig into
this topic today.
I'd seen a blog post thatVolunteer Hub put out recently
talking about why communicationwith your volunteers matters so
much so I'd love to kind of usethat as a jumping off point.
(02:04):
Matters so much so I'd love tokind of use that as a jumping
off point.
Talk to me about that blog postspecifically.
Why is this such a passionpoint for you guys and what was
your main takeaway from that?
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yeah, so I mean without volunteers, nonprofits
definitely aren't able to reachtheir mission.
So I think the challenge is 35%of nonprofits don't return year
over year to the nonprofit thatthey serve.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Hold on, say that side again.
35% of volunteers don't comeback the next year.
Yeah, so 35%, that's so muchhigher than I would have thought
it was.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah.
So the retention to retainvolunteers means everything, and
communication has a lot to dowith retaining volunteers.
So you know, bettercommunication can lead to a lot
of things.
It can enhance engagement andconnection.
It can reduce uncertainty andfrustration for volunteers.
(03:04):
It can obviously strengthen therelationship that a nonprofit
has with their volunteers.
Volunteers want to beappreciated, so communication
can do that.
It can encourage ongoingparticipation, which obviously
has everything to do withretention.
And then just remindingvolunteers of their upcoming
shifts is so important.
I don't know if you're likethis, megan, but a lot of times
(03:26):
I'll commit to something youknow several weeks in advance
and my schedule gets so busythat I totally forgot that I
committed to it.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
If it doesn't get in the Google calendar right away,
chances are slim that I'm goingto remember.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, and that's happening to volunteers all the
time.
So, yeah, communication is just.
It's the root of retainingvolunteers.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So let's talk a little bit about that, because I
think sometimes there might bea mindset right Of like oh yeah,
we have this volunteer.
They're great, they alreadyknow who we are, they already
know what we're doing, they'resuper.
You know, just because theyshow up once a week doesn't
actually mean that they have anyidea what's going on, right.
But it sounds like that's maybethe mindset that has to get
(04:12):
broken from what you're sayingstatistics, the average American
has four to five hours ofdowntime per day.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
So a volunteer that's committing their time is
invaluable, yeah, yeah.
So the communication that anonprofit has with their
volunteers, their currentvolunteers that are in their
database and then also volunteerprospects, it needs to tell
their story.
And for nonprofits, I meanstory is everything.
They're touching lives all thetime through their mission.
So for nonprofits, I mean storyis everything.
They're touching lives all thetime through their mission.
So those are stories that needto be told and I don't see
(04:52):
volunteers as saying, no, wedon't want to see those stories.
So I think in the nonprofitspace, more communication is
okay, as long as thecommunication is targeted,
personalized and really tellsthe story of what the
nonprofit's achieving.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Interesting.
So I think one of the things toat least.
So I'm going to use myself as apersonal experience right,
there's an organization here inthe Pittsburgh area that I've
been volunteering with forprobably 13, 14 years now.
I have a long history with them, but I know that where I
volunteer is in one tiny part ofthe organization.
(05:28):
Right, they have seven otherprograms that are running
throughout the year.
There's different age groupsthat people are working with,
and so I think that's a reallyvalid point, that the stories
that I see on a weekly basis asI'm working with students in
their program, those arehappening all over the place,
and so, as a volunteer, it isstill encouraging to hear what
else is happening instead ofjust leaving it on your own
(05:50):
little piece.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, and it's important to expose volunteers
to those other areas within theorganization.
Like, I think, a lot ofvolunteers are looking to build
their own skill sets, so it'simportant that volunteer
managers, volunteer coordinatorsget to know the volunteers and
what their goals are, because,you know, chances are a lot of
(06:11):
volunteers go there because ofthe impact, but a lot of
volunteers also want to use thisopportunity for the betterment
of their own life, andunderstanding a volunteer's
motivation means everything.
And you may find that somevolunteers should be in those
other areas of the programbecause those other areas
directly impact what they'retrying to gain from volunteering
(06:34):
.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah, is there.
When it comes to thatcommunication, I'm wondering
what you all have seen as kindof the trend or what works well,
or what your recommendationsmight be.
Is that email, is it text, isit phone?
What medium tends to work bestand what frequency tends to work
best in that?
Because we don't literally thelast thing I want is more emails
.
I realize I'm speaking out ofboth sides of my mouth right now
(06:57):
, like, yes, as a volunteer, Iwant to know the things, but
also I don't want any more email.
So I understand that it's alittle bit of a both and, but
I'm just wondering if there'sany thoughts you have on what
that looks like.
Best practice wise.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, I'm with you.
I'm not a big email person, I'mmore of a text person.
So I think it's as part of theonboarding process for
volunteers, it's understandingwhat communication channel they
prefer, that's such a greatpoint.
Yeah, I mean, some may want text, some may want email, and it's
important whatever volunteermanagement solution an
(07:31):
organization's using has thecapability to provide both of
those.
As far as notifications andcommunication avenues, it's
important that those are bothoptions, as well as social media
, I mean social media.
It's important that those areboth options.
As well as social media, I meansocial media, especially with
some of the younger generations.
That's everything.
So having social mediaintegrations are important too
(07:52):
in whatever solution nonprofitsusing to coordinate their
volunteers.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I want to jump off of that for a second, because I
think that sometimes volunteeras like a volunteer recruiter,
volunteer manager sometimesthat's a pretty overlooked
position within the organizationor it gets left to seven
different people within theorganization to recruit their
(08:17):
own volunteers.
Talk to me a little bit aboutthat idea of volunteer
recruitment and once we havethem in there, then what?
Talk to me a little bit aboutthat from a both from a
communication standpoint and howdo we connect them better to
the organization?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yeah, and I would say it's something that shouldn't
be overlooked.
Yeah, considering the value.
The estimated value of avolunteer hour is $33.49.
That's as of 2023.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Say that number again .
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Yeah, $33.49 is the average value of just one single
volunteer hour, so that's huge.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, that's definitely higher than I would
have expected.
That's great.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, there's a huge return on investment from
retaining volunteers and doingit effectively.
In order to really retainvolunteers, though, you have to
understand why are they notreturning, and then you also
have to have a method forcollecting data.
So if you really think of whydo volunteers leave?
There's a few reasons.
(09:23):
One is time constraints one'slack of engagement or
appreciation.
Is time constraints one's lackof engagement or appreciation?
One's feeling underutilized,burnout, overcommitment, lack of
proper training and onboarding,unclear volunteer roles,
negative experiences, whichcould be conflict with staff or
other volunteers, or just a poorfit between the volunteer and
(09:45):
the role.
Life changes and shiftingpriorities, fit between the
volunteer and the role, lifechanges and shifting priorities,
lack of impact or fulfillment.
So there's lots of reasons why avolunteer stops returning and
giving their time to a nonprofit, and it's key that the
nonprofit, in particular thevolunteer manager, understands
(10:06):
why people are leaving, and Ithink to me, what I hear the
most from nonprofits as far as amethod of collecting that data
is to really focus on theirsatisfaction survey.
So you know, after a volunteerprovides their time, optimize
their satisfaction survey inorder to find out how the
(10:27):
volunteer felt after each shiftand start calculating that data
to see if there's a trend.
I mean, for example, lack ofproper training and onboarding.
That's something that candefinitely be captured in the
satisfaction survey and ifthat's the case, then the
nonprofit can make someadjustments in order to address
that problem, to retain morevolunteers, because there's a
(10:48):
high probability that if onevolunteer feels as though they
weren't getting adequatetraining or their onboarding
experience wasn't good, there'sa very high probability that
other volunteers that volunteerat a specific organization with
that particular issue are alsofeeling the same.
So it's important to capturethat data and then see if you
can identify trends and then fixpotential problems.
(11:11):
It's not like a one and done.
I mean it's an ongoingoptimization of creating a
volunteer program that'ssuccessful.
It requires ongoing amount ofwork.
It should never just be anoversight.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
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(11:50):
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Speaker 2 (12:01):
Something that I want to kind of point out in the way
that you have talked about allof this and I think is maybe a
mindset shift for nonprofits, isterms like onboarding and
training and exit survey, whichtend to be how we would treat
employees right Very much.
(12:22):
We have a program for that, butI think that that's maybe a
piece Very much.
We have a program for that, butI think that that's maybe a
piece, a mindset shift thatneeds to happen in the nonprofit
space.
Even just thinking about thelife cycle of a volunteer in the
way that you've described itand all of those different
connection points that couldmake them want to not return
(12:43):
again and managing that.
I think sometimes we tend toalmost just assume we're really
great, we're doing really goodthings, people want to be a part
of it and that'll be enough.
But I really like the call outthat you've made in that to like
no, this ultimately nonprofitand I've said this on the
podcast a number of timesnonprofit is just a tax status,
(13:05):
right, it still has to runefficiently and it's still kind
of.
We tend to sometimes lose thatbusiness mindset.
So I really appreciate the callout here, especially given the
stat you had about how much avolunteer hour is worth.
We really need to be treatingthose folks in the same way that
we would in bringing on anemployee, because they deserve
that same amount of training.
(13:26):
They deserve to be equippedcorrectly to do the work that
you're asking them to do.
I think that's a reallyimportant piece of what you've
just said.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yeah, I've.
I've talked to nonprofits overthe years that are a hundred
percent run using volunteers.
So if volunteer retention isn'ton their mind, what is?
Because their entire program isdependent upon volunteers.
So yeah, I agree with you.
(13:54):
It's one of those things whereI think sometimes volunteers,
because they're not paid,they're not necessarily looked
at as the same status asemployees.
But I don't foresee a way thatmost nonprofits can run without
volunteers.
So they're definitely worth theinvestment.
It's definitely worth theinvestment to engage them and
(14:17):
make them feel as though theircontributions matter if the
nonprofit is so dependent onthem.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, and even just from a word of mouth standpoint.
Right, if I've had a badexperience volunteering with
someone or with an organization,I'm not likely to recommend
that to anyone else.
I'm also not likely to supportthem financially.
Right, so you're puttingyourself at risk for future
donor issues.
But if you rely so heavily onvolunteers, then you need your
(14:47):
volunteers to be recruiting foryou, and if they have not had a
good experience, then that's notgoing to help.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, I don't know the number off the top of my
head, but I think it's around60% of donors or volunteers are
also donors.
So, yeah, if you're notretaining your volunteers,
you're not also retaining yourdonors.
If 60% of your donors arevolunteering.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah, if all of a sudden you are not retaining
volunteers or donors, thatnonprofit is going to be in a
world of hurt.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Yeah, so I mean.
Oftentimes your best volunteersare the people your missions
touching, obviously those thatare directly impacted by your
work, your long-term donors andsupporters.
Former volunteers returninginto new roles Volunteers may
find an area within anorganization that they haven't
volunteered with before, butit's a better fit.
(15:39):
So you may have some volunteersreturning to take advantage of
those opportunities.
And then people with personalexperience related to an
organization's mission, skilledprofessionals looking for
purpose-driven work, retireesthat are trying to have
opportunities to connect withother people and then also
contribute in meaningful ways totheir community.
(16:01):
College students, youngprofessionals, employees from
corporate volunteer programs andthen community members that
align with an organization'smission.
So volunteers come from allwalks of life and it's important
to treat each one differentlyand really fully understand that
motivation behind why they'regiving.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
So I would love to know your opinion when it comes
to kind of that crossover,because we don't again, it's
always a fine line of asking toomuch or making too many asks,
but I'm curious about the kindof the crossing over of moving
somebody into hey, you've been alongtime donor, would you like
to come down and volunteer?
(16:44):
Or hey, you've been a volunteerfor a long time, would you like
to also financially support theorganization?
So often those two things livein different silos, but I think
this is a really greatopportunity for some crossover
and working together to deepenconnections with everybody that
is associated with yournonprofit.
I'm curious your thoughts,though, on maybe what the timing
(17:07):
of that looks like or thefrequency.
How do we do that effectively?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Yeah, yeah, so, like with our software, for example,
we have an opportunity to addlike a link to fundraising
within our volunteer pages.
So I don't, you know, asking isimportant.
I think a lot of times,actually, it's more of
organizations continuing to lookat volunteers and asking them
(17:33):
to become donors versus theother way.
I think a lot of donors wouldbe interested in volunteering
and I think that's an ask that'snot made very often.
So I think nonprofits that arelistening to this podcast may
want to consider asking theirdonors to volunteer versus just
(17:55):
asking volunteers to donate.
From what I've read over theyears and my knowledge and
talking to nonprofits, I don'tthink that volunteers get
offended when they're asked tobe donors.
I don't think it should besomething where you're asking
every time they volunteer todonate, but maybe asking every
(18:16):
couple times they volunteer isfine.
But, yeah, I think there's thismisinterpretation that
volunteers are going to beoffended that you're asking for
financial donations, and I justhaven't heard that.
As far as that being the case,yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
So, as we're kind of wrapping up, I'm curious to know
if you were speaking to and wehave a lot of nonprofit leaders
that listen to the podcast Ifyou were speaking to somebody
who is either directly likemaybe the volunteer manager,
volunteer coordinator, somethinglike that, or even the
executive director right, who iskind of overseeing all of those
(18:54):
folks, what would be your onepiece of advice, like, what's
the one thing that they could doin their volunteer either
recruitment strategy, retentionstrategy, what's the one piece
of advice you would give themthat they could do this week,
today, this month, to impact thelong run for them?
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I would say just organizing their volunteer
program.
I mean, volunteers want anorganized and efficient
experience.
They don't want to spendforever onboarding.
They don't streamlined methodof getting to your page to see
your volunteer opportunitiesquickly registering for them
(19:43):
without having to make a phonecall.
They want to do that online andthen they want a flexible, easy
onboarding process that can getthem to doing what they
ultimately want to do, which isvolunteer.
So if you can streamline thosethings, it's going to make a
huge difference as far as yourability to retain and engage
(20:04):
volunteers.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
That's great and communicate with them
effectively through the process.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yes, yes, and you have to have a method to do that
.
You have to really strategizehow you want to communicate with
volunteers and find ways tosegment volunteers, to make
those communicationspersonalized.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
We have talked about segmentation so many times on
the podcast so far this year andit just continues to be more
and more important, yep.
So, to use my examplepreviously, the area in the
program that I volunteer with isin the performing arts.
I teach musical theater toinner city middle school and
high school students.
I don't want listen.
(20:45):
I have a lot of skills in life.
They are not athletic in anyway.
That is not my area.
I'm just not that girl, and soif you just consistently send me
things to come volunteer forthe basketball program, you're
never going to hear a responsefrom me.
But if you know that I'veraised my hand on the performing
arts side, then I might bewilling to come in and help with
(21:05):
fill in the blank art program.
Right, that segmentation is notjust a donor thing, and so I'm
really glad that you put that inas a call out.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Yeah, it's huge.
Yeah, definitely important.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, so, eric, if somebody wanted to learn more
about Volunteer Hub, how do wefind you and connect with you to
ask questions and how do weconnect with Volunteer Hub?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, so you can.
If you just go tovolunteerhubcom, you can see all
of the features that ourvolunteer management software
provides.
If you go to our blog, we havea ton of thought leadership
specifically around how tobetter manage volunteers.
And then you know I'm alwaysaccessible via LinkedIn.
Anybody can reach out if theyhave questions about optimizing
(21:49):
their volunteer program.
Feel free to reach out to me.
But yeah, I mean Volunteer Hub.
We've been around since 1996.
We've helped thousands oforganizations optimize their
volunteer program.
We're solely focused onvolunteer management.
I think right now one of thebig buzzwords is all-in-one,
which a lot of times seems to belike volunteer management is
(22:12):
like a module.
We're not that.
We're a streamlined volunteermanagement solution that helps
organizations get every ounce ofvalue from their volunteers and
do it in a streamlined way.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I love it and I do feel, all of a sudden, it just
occurred to me maybe we shouldmake this distinction.
Volunteer Hub and Nonprofit Hubare not actually connected,
right.
Right, volunteer Hub has been agreat partner for us.
We loved having them at CauseCamp last year, but the Hub
thing could be confusing.
So, no, we are to answer anyquestion.
No, we are two differentorganizations.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Awesome.
Well, eric, thank you so muchfor doing this.
We appreciate all the wisdomthat you had to share.
I know there's going to beplenty of very happy volunteer
coordinators for getting all ofthese reminders, so thanks so
much for sharing what you had tosay and all that wisdom.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Yeah, thanks, Megan.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks for the invite.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Again.
My guest has been Eric Berger,who's the Director of Marketing
at Volunteer Hub.
This has been another episodeof the Nonprofit Hub Radio
Podcast.
My name's Megan Spear and we'llsee you next time.
Marketing Support Network is proud to serve the
nonprofit community by offeringfull-service contact center
fulfillment, digital marketingand fundraising services.
Your vision is our mission andwe can't wait to partner with
you.
Visitmarketingsupportnetworkcom for
more information.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome back to the Nonprofit Hub Podcast.
I'm your host, megan Spear,joined today by Eric Berger,
who's the Director of Marketingat Volunteer Hub, and we're
going to be digging into thatvolunteer topic, which is
something we haven't gotten totalk a lot about on the podcast
today.
So I'm excited for thisconversation, eric.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thanks, megan, I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, good to have you.
So before we dig into thevolunteer part, maybe give us a
little bit of an introduction toyourself.
How did you get into thisnonprofit journey and become a
part of Volunteer Hub?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Yeah.
So I essentially, like eightyears ago I was working in the
software space but it wasconfigure price quote software
and I didn't really feelfulfilled at that company.
Didn't really feel fulfilled atthat company.
So I started looking foropportunities that I can be
involved in some way in thegreater good.
(01:10):
And I saw a job opening formarketing communications manager
at Volunteer Hub and I foundout it was software that helps
nonprofits better recruit,engage and manage volunteers and
I just kind of fell in lovewith that offering because I
knew that the software weprovide would kind of help
(01:31):
organizations reach theirmission.
So I applied at that job andI've been here ever since.
So that was eight years ago andnow I'm the director of
marketing for BetterGood, whichis the maker of Volunteer Hub.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I love it Well, and volunteers are something that so
many nonprofits cannot functionwithout right.
They make such a big impact,and so I'm excited to dig into
this topic today.
I'd seen a blog post thatVolunteer Hub put out recently
talking about why communicationwith your volunteers matters so
much so I'd love to kind of usethat as a jumping off point.
(02:04):
Matters so much so I'd love tokind of use that as a jumping
off point.
Talk to me about that blog postspecifically.
Why is this such a passionpoint for you guys and what was
your main takeaway from that?
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yeah, so I mean without volunteers, nonprofits
definitely aren't able to reachtheir mission.
So I think the challenge is 35%of nonprofits don't return year
over year to the nonprofit thatthey serve.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Hold on, say that side again.
35% of volunteers don't comeback the next year.
Yeah, so 35%, that's so muchhigher than I would have thought
it was.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah.
So the retention to retainvolunteers means everything, and
communication has a lot to dowith retaining volunteers.
So you know, bettercommunication can lead to a lot
of things.
It can enhance engagement andconnection.
It can reduce uncertainty andfrustration for volunteers.
(03:04):
It can obviously strengthen therelationship that a nonprofit
has with their volunteers.
Volunteers want to beappreciated, so communication
can do that.
It can encourage ongoingparticipation, which obviously
has everything to do withretention.
And then just remindingvolunteers of their upcoming
shifts is so important.
I don't know if you're likethis, megan, but a lot of times
(03:26):
I'll commit to something youknow several weeks in advance
and my schedule gets so busythat I totally forgot that I
committed to it.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
If it doesn't get in the Google calendar right away,
chances are slim that I'm goingto remember.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, and that's happening to volunteers all the
time.
So, yeah, communication is just.
It's the root of retainingvolunteers.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
So let's talk a little bit about that, because I
think sometimes there might bea mindset right Of like oh yeah,
we have this volunteer.
They're great, they alreadyknow who we are, they already
know what we're doing, they'resuper.
You know, just because theyshow up once a week doesn't
actually mean that they have anyidea what's going on, right.
But it sounds like that's maybethe mindset that has to get
(04:12):
broken from what you're sayingstatistics, the average American
has four to five hours ofdowntime per day.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
So a volunteer that's committing their time is
invaluable, yeah, yeah.
So the communication that anonprofit has with their
volunteers, their currentvolunteers that are in their
database and then also volunteerprospects, it needs to tell
their story.
And for nonprofits, I meanstory is everything.
They're touching lives all thetime through their mission.
So for nonprofits, I mean storyis everything.
They're touching lives all thetime through their mission.
So those are stories that needto be told and I don't see
(04:52):
volunteers as saying, no, wedon't want to see those stories.
So I think in the nonprofitspace, more communication is
okay, as long as thecommunication is targeted,
personalized and really tellsthe story of what the
nonprofit's achieving.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Interesting.
So I think one of the things toat least.
So I'm going to use myself as apersonal experience right,
there's an organization here inthe Pittsburgh area that I've
been volunteering with forprobably 13, 14 years now.
I have a long history with them, but I know that where I
volunteer is in one tiny part ofthe organization.
(05:28):
Right, they have seven otherprograms that are running
throughout the year.
There's different age groupsthat people are working with,
and so I think that's a reallyvalid point, that the stories
that I see on a weekly basis asI'm working with students in
their program, those arehappening all over the place,
and so, as a volunteer, it isstill encouraging to hear what
else is happening instead ofjust leaving it on your own
(05:50):
little piece.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, and it's important to expose volunteers
to those other areas within theorganization.
Like, I think, a lot ofvolunteers are looking to build
their own skill sets, so it'simportant that volunteer
managers, volunteer coordinatorsget to know the volunteers and
what their goals are, because,you know, chances are a lot of
(06:11):
volunteers go there because ofthe impact, but a lot of
volunteers also want to use thisopportunity for the betterment
of their own life, andunderstanding a volunteer's
motivation means everything.
And you may find that somevolunteers should be in those
other areas of the programbecause those other areas
directly impact what they'retrying to gain from volunteering
(06:34):
.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah, is there.
When it comes to thatcommunication, I'm wondering
what you all have seen as kindof the trend or what works well,
or what your recommendationsmight be.
Is that email, is it text, isit phone?
What medium tends to work bestand what frequency tends to work
best in that?
Because we don't literally thelast thing I want is more emails
.
I realize I'm speaking out ofboth sides of my mouth right now
(06:57):
, like, yes, as a volunteer, Iwant to know the things, but
also I don't want any more email.
So I understand that it's alittle bit of a both and, but
I'm just wondering if there'sany thoughts you have on what
that looks like.
Best practice wise.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah, I'm with you.
I'm not a big email person, I'mmore of a text person.
So I think it's as part of theonboarding process for
volunteers, it's understandingwhat communication channel they
prefer, that's such a greatpoint.
Yeah, I mean, some may want text, some may want email, and it's
important whatever volunteermanagement solution an
(07:31):
organization's using has thecapability to provide both of
those.
As far as notifications andcommunication avenues, it's
important that those are bothoptions, as well as social media
, I mean social media.
It's important that those areboth options.
As well as social media, I meansocial media, especially with
some of the younger generations.
That's everything.
So having social mediaintegrations are important too
(07:52):
in whatever solution nonprofitsusing to coordinate their
volunteers.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I want to jump off of that for a second, because I
think that sometimes volunteeras like a volunteer recruiter,
volunteer manager sometimesthat's a pretty overlooked
position within the organizationor it gets left to seven
different people within theorganization to recruit their
(08:17):
own volunteers.
Talk to me a little bit aboutthat idea of volunteer
recruitment and once we havethem in there, then what?
Talk to me a little bit aboutthat from a both from a
communication standpoint and howdo we connect them better to
the organization?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Yeah, and I would say it's something that shouldn't
be overlooked.
Yeah, considering the value.
The estimated value of avolunteer hour is $33.49.
That's as of 2023.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Say that number again .
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Yeah, $33.49 is the average value of just one single
volunteer hour, so that's huge.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, that's definitely higher than I would
have expected.
That's great.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, there's a huge return on investment from
retaining volunteers and doingit effectively.
In order to really retainvolunteers, though, you have to
understand why are they notreturning, and then you also
have to have a method forcollecting data.
So if you really think of whydo volunteers leave?
There's a few reasons.
(09:23):
One is time constraints one'slack of engagement or
appreciation.
Is time constraints one's lackof engagement or appreciation?
One's feeling underutilized,burnout, overcommitment, lack of
proper training and onboarding,unclear volunteer roles,
negative experiences, whichcould be conflict with staff or
other volunteers, or just a poorfit between the volunteer and
(09:45):
the role.
Life changes and shiftingpriorities, fit between the
volunteer and the role, lifechanges and shifting priorities,
lack of impact or fulfillment.
So there's lots of reasons why avolunteer stops returning and
giving their time to a nonprofit, and it's key that the
nonprofit, in particular thevolunteer manager, understands
(10:06):
why people are leaving, and Ithink to me, what I hear the
most from nonprofits as far as amethod of collecting that data
is to really focus on theirsatisfaction survey.
So you know, after a volunteerprovides their time, optimize
their satisfaction survey inorder to find out how the
(10:27):
volunteer felt after each shiftand start calculating that data
to see if there's a trend.
I mean, for example, lack ofproper training and onboarding.
That's something that candefinitely be captured in the
satisfaction survey and ifthat's the case, then the
nonprofit can make someadjustments in order to address
that problem, to retain morevolunteers, because there's a
(10:48):
high probability that if onevolunteer feels as though they
weren't getting adequatetraining or their onboarding
experience wasn't good, there'sa very high probability that
other volunteers that volunteerat a specific organization with
that particular issue are alsofeeling the same.
So it's important to capturethat data and then see if you
can identify trends and then fixpotential problems.
(11:11):
It's not like a one and done.
I mean it's an ongoingoptimization of creating a
volunteer program that'ssuccessful.
It requires ongoing amount ofwork.
It should never just be anoversight.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
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(11:50):
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Speaker 2 (12:01):
Something that I want to kind of point out in the way
that you have talked about allof this and I think is maybe a
mindset shift for nonprofits, isterms like onboarding and
training and exit survey, whichtend to be how we would treat
employees right Very much.
(12:22):
We have a program for that, butI think that that's maybe a
piece Very much.
We have a program for that, butI think that that's maybe a
piece, a mindset shift thatneeds to happen in the nonprofit
space.
Even just thinking about thelife cycle of a volunteer in the
way that you've described itand all of those different
connection points that couldmake them want to not return
(12:43):
again and managing that.
I think sometimes we tend toalmost just assume we're really
great, we're doing really goodthings, people want to be a part
of it and that'll be enough.
But I really like the call outthat you've made in that to like
no, this ultimately nonprofitand I've said this on the
podcast a number of timesnonprofit is just a tax status,
(13:05):
right, it still has to runefficiently and it's still kind
of.
We tend to sometimes lose thatbusiness mindset.
So I really appreciate the callout here, especially given the
stat you had about how much avolunteer hour is worth.
We really need to be treatingthose folks in the same way that
we would in bringing on anemployee, because they deserve
that same amount of training.
(13:26):
They deserve to be equippedcorrectly to do the work that
you're asking them to do.
I think that's a reallyimportant piece of what you've
just said.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yeah, I've.
I've talked to nonprofits overthe years that are a hundred
percent run using volunteers.
So if volunteer retention isn'ton their mind, what is?
Because their entire program isdependent upon volunteers.
So yeah, I agree with you.
(13:54):
It's one of those things whereI think sometimes volunteers,
because they're not paid,they're not necessarily looked
at as the same status asemployees.
But I don't foresee a way thatmost nonprofits can run without
volunteers.
So they're definitely worth theinvestment.
It's definitely worth theinvestment to engage them and
(14:17):
make them feel as though theircontributions matter if the
nonprofit is so dependent onthem.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, and even just from a word of mouth standpoint.
Right, if I've had a badexperience volunteering with
someone or with an organization,I'm not likely to recommend
that to anyone else.
I'm also not likely to supportthem financially.
Right, so you're puttingyourself at risk for future
donor issues.
But if you rely so heavily onvolunteers, then you need your
(14:47):
volunteers to be recruiting foryou, and if they have not had a
good experience, then that's notgoing to help.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, I don't know the number off the top of my
head, but I think it's around60% of donors or volunteers are
also donors.
So, yeah, if you're notretaining your volunteers,
you're not also retaining yourdonors.
If 60% of your donors arevolunteering.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah, if all of a sudden you are not retaining
volunteers or donors, thatnonprofit is going to be in a
world of hurt.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Yeah, so I mean.
Oftentimes your best volunteersare the people your missions
touching, obviously those thatare directly impacted by your
work, your long-term donors andsupporters.
Former volunteers returninginto new roles Volunteers may
find an area within anorganization that they haven't
volunteered with before, butit's a better fit.
(15:39):
So you may have some volunteersreturning to take advantage of
those opportunities.
And then people with personalexperience related to an
organization's mission, skilledprofessionals looking for
purpose-driven work, retireesthat are trying to have
opportunities to connect withother people and then also
contribute in meaningful ways totheir community.
(16:01):
College students, youngprofessionals, employees from
corporate volunteer programs andthen community members that
align with an organization'smission.
So volunteers come from allwalks of life and it's important
to treat each one differentlyand really fully understand that
motivation behind why they'regiving.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
So I would love to know your opinion when it comes
to kind of that crossover,because we don't again, it's
always a fine line of asking toomuch or making too many asks,
but I'm curious about the kindof the crossing over of moving
somebody into hey, you've been alongtime donor, would you like
to come down and volunteer?
(16:44):
Or hey, you've been a volunteerfor a long time, would you like
to also financially support theorganization?
So often those two things livein different silos, but I think
this is a really greatopportunity for some crossover
and working together to deepenconnections with everybody that
is associated with yournonprofit.
I'm curious your thoughts,though, on maybe what the timing
(17:07):
of that looks like or thefrequency.
How do we do that effectively?
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Yeah, yeah, so, like with our software, for example,
we have an opportunity to addlike a link to fundraising
within our volunteer pages.
So I don't, you know, asking isimportant.
I think a lot of times,actually, it's more of
organizations continuing to lookat volunteers and asking them
(17:33):
to become donors versus theother way.
I think a lot of donors wouldbe interested in volunteering
and I think that's an ask that'snot made very often.
So I think nonprofits that arelistening to this podcast may
want to consider asking theirdonors to volunteer versus just
(17:55):
asking volunteers to donate.
From what I've read over theyears and my knowledge and
talking to nonprofits, I don'tthink that volunteers get
offended when they're asked tobe donors.
I don't think it should besomething where you're asking
every time they volunteer todonate, but maybe asking every
(18:16):
couple times they volunteer isfine.
But, yeah, I think there's thismisinterpretation that
volunteers are going to beoffended that you're asking for
financial donations, and I justhaven't heard that.
As far as that being the case,yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
So, as we're kind of wrapping up, I'm curious to know
if you were speaking to and wehave a lot of nonprofit leaders
that listen to the podcast Ifyou were speaking to somebody
who is either directly likemaybe the volunteer manager,
volunteer coordinator, somethinglike that, or even the
executive director right, who iskind of overseeing all of those
(18:54):
folks, what would be your onepiece of advice, like, what's
the one thing that they could doin their volunteer either
recruitment strategy, retentionstrategy, what's the one piece
of advice you would give themthat they could do this week,
today, this month, to impact thelong run for them?
Speaker 3 (19:12):
I would say just organizing their volunteer
program.
I mean, volunteers want anorganized and efficient
experience.
They don't want to spendforever onboarding.
They don't streamlined methodof getting to your page to see
your volunteer opportunitiesquickly registering for them
(19:43):
without having to make a phonecall.
They want to do that online andthen they want a flexible, easy
onboarding process that can getthem to doing what they
ultimately want to do, which isvolunteer.
So if you can streamline thosethings, it's going to make a
huge difference as far as yourability to retain and engage
(20:04):
volunteers.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
That's great and communicate with them
effectively through the process.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yes, yes, and you have to have a method to do that
.
You have to really strategizehow you want to communicate with
volunteers and find ways tosegment volunteers, to make
those communicationspersonalized.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
We have talked about segmentation so many times on
the podcast so far this year andit just continues to be more
and more important, yep.
So, to use my examplepreviously, the area in the
program that I volunteer with isin the performing arts.
I teach musical theater toinner city middle school and
high school students.
I don't want listen.
(20:45):
I have a lot of skills in life.
They are not athletic in anyway.
That is not my area.
I'm just not that girl, and soif you just consistently send me
things to come volunteer forthe basketball program, you're
never going to hear a responsefrom me.
But if you know that I'veraised my hand on the performing
arts side, then I might bewilling to come in and help with
(21:05):
fill in the blank art program.
Right, that segmentation is notjust a donor thing, and so I'm
really glad that you put that inas a call out.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Yeah, it's huge.
Yeah, definitely important.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, so, eric, if somebody wanted to learn more
about Volunteer Hub, how do wefind you and connect with you to
ask questions and how do weconnect with Volunteer Hub?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, so you can.
If you just go tovolunteerhubcom, you can see all
of the features that ourvolunteer management software
provides.
If you go to our blog, we havea ton of thought leadership
specifically around how tobetter manage volunteers.
And then you know I'm alwaysaccessible via LinkedIn.
Anybody can reach out if theyhave questions about optimizing
(21:49):
their volunteer program.
Feel free to reach out to me.
But yeah, I mean Volunteer Hub.
We've been around since 1996.
We've helped thousands oforganizations optimize their
volunteer program.
We're solely focused onvolunteer management.
I think right now one of thebig buzzwords is all-in-one,
which a lot of times seems to belike volunteer management is
(22:12):
like a module.
We're not that.
We're a streamlined volunteermanagement solution that helps
organizations get every ounce ofvalue from their volunteers and
do it in a streamlined way.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I love it and I do feel, all of a sudden, it just
occurred to me maybe we shouldmake this distinction.
Volunteer Hub and Nonprofit Hubare not actually connected,
right.
Right, volunteer Hub has been agreat partner for us.
We loved having them at CauseCamp last year, but the Hub
thing could be confusing.
So, no, we are to answer anyquestion.
No, we are two differentorganizations.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
Awesome.
Well, eric, thank you so muchfor doing this.
We appreciate all the wisdomthat you had to share.
I know there's going to beplenty of very happy volunteer
coordinators for getting all ofthese reminders, so thanks so
much for sharing what you had tosay and all that wisdom.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Yeah, thanks, Megan.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks for the invite.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Again.
My guest has been Eric Berger,who's the Director of Marketing
at Volunteer Hub.
This has been another episodeof the Nonprofit Hub Radio
Podcast.
My name's Megan Spear and we'llsee you next time.
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