Volunteer Retention: Efficient Event Management
Posted by mark on Feb 2, 2012 in Volunteering | No Comments »
The proper volunteer management system to get the job done
More than nine in ten organizations are ready to take on more volunteers at their present capacity, with a median of 20 new volunteers (The Urban Institute, Volunteer Management Capacity in America’s Charities and Congregations). Without any capacity enhancements, charities could take on an estimated 3.4 million new volunteers and congregational social service outreach activities could take on an estimated 2.5 million new volunteers. The greatest challenges that charities and congregations face is an inability to dedicate staff resources to and adopt best practices in volunteer management. However, the adopting of the proper tools and resources can greatly reduce time requirements. Investments in volunteer coordination and benefits derived from volunteers feed on each other, with investments bringing benefits and these benefits justify greater investments.
Volunteer coordinators who manage dozens if not hundreds or thousands of people are typically asked to do more with less than their for-profit counterparts. I recently spoke with a volunteer coordinator that managed 115 part-time volunteer tour guides. Her budget for her “department”, aside from her salary was under $2,000/yr. Could you imagine if you told a corporate manager that aside from their salary they would be given $2,000 to manage a staff of 115 part-time employees? The lesson is that non-profits need to be very smart with their investments. To be more specific, volunteer coordinators have to make wise investments to make sure their volunteers are managed efficiently. Efficient management of volunteers means they are better trained, more effective, happier, and more likely to continue to donate their time. As an added bonus, those same volunteers are more likely to donate money and spread the word about your organization to their friends and family. Volunteers should feel the organization is professional, organized, and responsive. With most volunteer coordinators working with fewer resources than their for-profit counterparts it is absolutely critical that they be given the right volunteer software to get the job done. In some cases those tools may only cost $55/mo 
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More than one-third of those who volunteer one year do not donate their time the next year at any nonprofit (CNCS Analysis of Volunteer Supplement to the Current Population Survey, 2007). That adds up to an estimated $38 billion in lost labor. The 2004 Volunteer Management Capacity Study conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Urban Institute, and the UPS Foundation provides some clues. Despite the willingness of charities and congregations to take on volunteers, challenges prevent them from meeting their full potential. A number of actions will improve the ability of charities to work effectively with and take on new volunteers.
