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Nonprofit Hub Radio
Whether starting a nonprofit or taking an existing cause to the next level, The Nonprofit Hub Radio Podcast is about breaking down how nonprofits can grow. Each episode features an interview with a sector star with insight, stories, or ideas that can take your nonprofit from good to excellence. Join host Meghan Speer every week to make your good go further!
Nonprofit Hub Radio
Maximizing Volunteer Impact: Communication Strategies for Retention
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 2:Welcome back to the Nonprofit Hub Podcast. I'm your host, megan Spear, joined today by Eric Berger, who's the Director of Marketing at Volunteer Hub, and we're going to be digging into that volunteer topic, which is something we haven't gotten to talk a lot about on the podcast today. So I'm excited for this conversation, eric. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thanks, megan, I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good to have you. So before we dig into the volunteer part, maybe give us a little bit of an introduction to yourself. How did you get into this nonprofit journey and become a part of Volunteer Hub?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I essentially, like eight years ago I was working in the software space but it was configure price quote software and I didn't really feel fulfilled at that company. Didn't really feel fulfilled at that company. So I started looking for opportunities that I can be involved in some way in the greater good. And I saw a job opening for marketing communications manager at Volunteer Hub and I found out it was software that helps nonprofits better recruit, engage and manage volunteers and I just kind of fell in love with that offering because I knew that the software we provide would kind of help organizations reach their mission. So I applied at that job and I've been here ever since. So that was eight years ago and now I'm the director of marketing for BetterGood, which is the maker of Volunteer Hub.
Speaker 2:I love it Well, and volunteers are something that so many nonprofits cannot function without right. They make such a big impact, and so I'm excited to dig into this topic today. I'd seen a blog post that Volunteer Hub put out recently talking about why communication with your volunteers matters so much so I'd love to kind of use that as a jumping off point. Matters so much so I'd love to kind of use that as a jumping off point. Talk to me about that blog post specifically. Why is this such a passion point for you guys and what was your main takeaway from that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I mean without volunteers, nonprofits definitely aren't able to reach their mission. So I think the challenge is 35% of nonprofits don't return year over year to the nonprofit that they serve.
Speaker 2:Hold on, say that side again. 35% of volunteers don't come back the next year. Yeah, so 35%, that's so much higher than I would have thought it was.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So the retention to retain volunteers means everything, and communication has a lot to do with retaining volunteers. So you know, better communication can lead to a lot of things. It can enhance engagement and connection. It can reduce uncertainty and frustration for volunteers. It can obviously strengthen the relationship that a nonprofit has with their volunteers. Volunteers want to be appreciated, so communication can do that. It can encourage ongoing participation, which obviously has everything to do with retention. And then just reminding volunteers of their upcoming shifts is so important. I don't know if you're like this, megan, but a lot of times I'll commit to something you know several weeks in advance and my schedule gets so busy that I totally forgot that I committed to it.
Speaker 2:If it doesn't get in the Google calendar right away, chances are slim that I'm going to remember.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's happening to volunteers all the time. So, yeah, communication is just. It's the root of retaining volunteers.
Speaker 2:So let's talk a little bit about that, because I think sometimes there might be a mindset right Of like oh yeah, we have this volunteer. They're great, they already know who we are, they already know what we're doing, they're super. You know, just because they show up once a week doesn't actually mean that they have any idea what's going on, right. But it sounds like that's maybe the mindset that has to get broken from what you're saying statistics, the average American has four to five hours of downtime per day.
Speaker 3:So a volunteer that's committing their time is invaluable, yeah, yeah. So the communication that a nonprofit has with their volunteers, their current volunteers that are in their database and then also volunteer prospects, it needs to tell their story. And for nonprofits, I mean story is everything. They're touching lives all the time through their mission. So for nonprofits, I mean story is everything. They're touching lives all the time through their mission. So those are stories that need to be told and I don't see volunteers as saying, no, we don't want to see those stories. So I think in the nonprofit space, more communication is okay, as long as the communication is targeted, personalized and really tells the story of what the nonprofit's achieving.
Speaker 2:Interesting. So I think one of the things to at least. So I'm going to use myself as a personal experience right, there's an organization here in the Pittsburgh area that I've been volunteering with for probably 13, 14 years now. I have a long history with them, but I know that where I volunteer is in one tiny part of the organization. Right, they have seven other programs that are running throughout the year. There's different age groups that people are working with, and so I think that's a really valid point, that the stories that I see on a weekly basis as I'm working with students in their program, those are happening all over the place, and so, as a volunteer, it is still encouraging to hear what else is happening instead of just leaving it on your own little piece.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's important to expose volunteers to those other areas within the organization. Like, I think, a lot of volunteers are looking to build their own skill sets, so it's important that volunteer managers, volunteer coordinators get to know the volunteers and what their goals are, because, you know, chances are a lot of volunteers go there because of the impact, but a lot of volunteers also want to use this opportunity for the betterment of their own life, and understanding a volunteer's motivation means everything. And you may find that some volunteers should be in those other areas of the program because those other areas directly impact what they're trying to gain from volunteering.
Speaker 2:Yeah, is there. When it comes to that communication, I'm wondering what you all have seen as kind of the trend or what works well, or what your recommendations might be. Is that email, is it text, is it phone? What medium tends to work best and what frequency tends to work best in that? Because we don't literally the last thing I want is more emails. I realize I'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth right now, like, yes, as a volunteer, I want to know the things, but also I don't want any more email. So I understand that it's a little bit of a both and, but I'm just wondering if there's any thoughts you have on what that looks like. Best practice wise.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm with you. I'm not a big email person, I'm more of a text person. So I think it's as part of the onboarding process for volunteers, it's understanding what communication channel they prefer, that's such a great point.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, some may want text, some may want email, and it's important whatever volunteer management solution an organization's using has the capability to provide both of those. As far as notifications and communication avenues, it's important that those are both options, as well as social media, I mean social media. It's important that those are both options. As well as social media, I mean social media, especially with some of the younger generations. That's everything. So having social media integrations are important too in whatever solution nonprofits using to coordinate their volunteers.
Speaker 2:I want to jump off of that for a second, because I think that sometimes volunteer as like a volunteer recruiter, volunteer manager sometimes that's a pretty overlooked position within the organization or it gets left to seven different people within the organization to recruit their own volunteers. Talk to me a little bit about that idea of volunteer recruitment and once we have them in there, then what? Talk to me a little bit about that from a both from a communication standpoint and how do we connect them better to the organization?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I would say it's something that shouldn't be overlooked. Yeah, considering the value. The estimated value of a volunteer hour is $33.49. That's as of 2023.
Speaker 2:Say that number again.
Speaker 3:Yeah, $33.49 is the average value of just one single volunteer hour, so that's huge.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's definitely higher than I would have expected. That's great.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's a huge return on investment from retaining volunteers and doing it effectively. In order to really retain volunteers, though, you have to understand why are they not returning, and then you also have to have a method for collecting data. So if you really think of why do volunteers leave? There's a few reasons. One is time constraints one's lack of engagement or appreciation. Is time constraints one's lack of engagement or appreciation? One's feeling underutilized, burnout, overcommitment, lack of proper training and onboarding, unclear volunteer roles, negative experiences, which could be conflict with staff or other volunteers, or just a poor fit between the volunteer and the role.
Speaker 3:Life changes and shifting priorities, fit between the volunteer and the role, life changes and shifting priorities, lack of impact or fulfillment.
Speaker 3:So there's lots of reasons why a volunteer stops returning and giving their time to a nonprofit, and it's key that the nonprofit, in particular the volunteer manager, understands why people are leaving, and I think to me, what I hear the most from nonprofits as far as a method of collecting that data is to really focus on their satisfaction survey.
Speaker 3:So you know, after a volunteer provides their time, optimize their satisfaction survey in order to find out how the volunteer felt after each shift and start calculating that data to see if there's a trend. I mean, for example, lack of proper training and onboarding. That's something that can definitely be captured in the satisfaction survey and if that's the case, then the nonprofit can make some adjustments in order to address that problem, to retain more volunteers, because there's a high probability that if one volunteer feels as though they weren't getting adequate training or their onboarding experience wasn't good, there's a very high probability that other volunteers that volunteer at a specific organization with that particular issue are also feeling the same. So it's important to capture that data and then see if you can identify trends and then fix potential problems. It's not like a one and done. I mean it's an ongoing optimization of creating a volunteer program that's successful. It requires ongoing amount of work. It should never just be an oversight.
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Speaker 2:Something that I want to kind of point out in the way that you have talked about all of this and I think is maybe a mindset shift for nonprofits, is terms like onboarding and training and exit survey, which tend to be how we would treat employees right Very much. We have a program for that, but I think that that's maybe a piece Very much. We have a program for that, but I think that that's maybe a piece, a mindset shift that needs to happen in the nonprofit space. Even just thinking about the life cycle of a volunteer in the way that you've described it and all of those different connection points that could make them want to not return again and managing that. I think sometimes we tend to almost just assume we're really great, we're doing really good things, people want to be a part of it and that'll be enough.
Speaker 2:But I really like the call out that you've made in that to like no, this ultimately nonprofit and I've said this on the podcast a number of times nonprofit is just a tax status, right, it still has to run efficiently and it's still kind of. We tend to sometimes lose that business mindset. So I really appreciate the call out here, especially given the stat you had about how much a volunteer hour is worth. We really need to be treating those folks in the same way that we would in bringing on an employee, because they deserve that same amount of training. They deserve to be equipped correctly to do the work that you're asking them to do. I think that's a really important piece of what you've just said.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I've. I've talked to nonprofits over the years that are a hundred percent run using volunteers. So if volunteer retention isn't on their mind, what is? Because their entire program is dependent upon volunteers. So yeah, I agree with you. It's one of those things where I think sometimes volunteers, because they're not paid, they're not necessarily looked at as the same status as employees. But I don't foresee a way that most nonprofits can run without volunteers. So they're definitely worth the investment. It's definitely worth the investment to engage them and make them feel as though their contributions matter if the nonprofit is so dependent on them. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, and even just from a word of mouth standpoint. Right, if I've had a bad experience volunteering with someone or with an organization, I'm not likely to recommend that to anyone else. I'm also not likely to support them financially. Right, so you're putting yourself at risk for future donor issues. But if you rely so heavily on volunteers, then you need your volunteers to be recruiting for you, and if they have not had a good experience, then that's not going to help.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I don't know the number off the top of my head, but I think it's around 60% of donors or volunteers are also donors. So, yeah, if you're not retaining your volunteers, you're not also retaining your donors. If 60% of your donors are volunteering.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if all of a sudden you are not retaining volunteers or donors, that nonprofit is going to be in a world of hurt.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I mean. Oftentimes your best volunteers are the people your missions touching, obviously those that are directly impacted by your work, your long-term donors and supporters. Former volunteers returning into new roles Volunteers may find an area within an organization that they haven't volunteered with before, but it's a better fit. So you may have some volunteers returning to take advantage of those opportunities. And then people with personal experience related to an organization's mission, skilled professionals looking for purpose-driven work, retirees that are trying to have opportunities to connect with other people and then also contribute in meaningful ways to their community. College students, young professionals, employees from corporate volunteer programs and then community members that align with an organization's mission. So volunteers come from all walks of life and it's important to treat each one differently and really fully understand that motivation behind why they're giving.
Speaker 2: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 too much or making too many asks, but I'm curious about the kind of the crossing over of moving somebody into hey, you've been a longtime donor, would you like to come down and volunteer? Or hey, you've been a volunteer for a long time, would you like to also financially support the organization? So often those two things live in different silos, but I think this is a really great opportunity for some crossover and working together to deepen connections with everybody that is associated with your nonprofit. I'm curious your thoughts, though, on maybe what the timing of that looks like or the frequency. How do we do that effectively?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so, like with our software, for example, we have an opportunity to add like a link to fundraising within our volunteer pages. So I don't, you know, asking is important. I think a lot of times, actually, it's more of organizations continuing to look at volunteers and asking them to become donors versus the other way. I think a lot of donors would be interested in volunteering and I think that's an ask that's not made very often. So I think nonprofits that are listening to this podcast may want to consider asking their donors to volunteer versus just asking volunteers to donate. From what I've read over the years and my knowledge and talking to nonprofits, I don't think that volunteers get offended when they're asked to be donors. I don't think it should be something where you're asking every time they volunteer to donate, but maybe asking every couple times they volunteer is fine. But, yeah, I think there's this misinterpretation that volunteers are going to be offended that you're asking for financial donations, and I just haven't heard that. As far as that being the case, yeah.
Speaker 2:So, as we're kind of wrapping up, I'm curious to know if you were speaking to and we have a lot of nonprofit leaders that listen to the podcast If you were speaking to somebody who is either directly like maybe the volunteer manager, volunteer coordinator, something like that, or even the executive director right, who is kind of overseeing all of those folks, what would be your one piece of advice, like, what's the one thing that they could do in their volunteer either recruitment strategy, retention strategy, what's the one piece of advice you would give them that they could do this week, today, this month, to impact the long run for them?
Speaker 3:I would say just organizing their volunteer program. I mean, volunteers want an organized and efficient experience. They don't want to spend forever onboarding. They don't streamlined method of getting to your page to see your volunteer opportunities quickly registering for them without having to make a phone call. They want to do that online and then they want a flexible, easy onboarding process that can get them to doing what they ultimately want to do, which is volunteer. So if you can streamline those things, it's going to make a huge difference as far as your ability to retain and engage volunteers.
Speaker 2:That's great and communicate with them effectively through the process.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, and you have to have a method to do that. You have to really strategize how you want to communicate with volunteers and find ways to segment volunteers, to make those communications personalized.
Speaker 2:We have talked about segmentation so many times on the podcast so far this year and it just continues to be more and more important, yep. So, to use my example previously, the area in the program that I volunteer with is in the performing arts. I teach musical theater to inner city middle school and high school students. I don't want listen. I have a lot of skills in life. They are not athletic in any way. That is not my area. I'm just not that girl, and so if you just consistently send me things to come volunteer for the basketball program, you're never going to hear a response from me. But if you know that I've raised my hand on the performing arts side, then I might be willing to come in and help with fill in the blank art program. Right, that segmentation is not just a donor thing, and so I'm really glad that you put that in as a call out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's huge. Yeah, definitely important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, eric, if somebody wanted to learn more about Volunteer Hub, how do we find you and connect with you to ask questions and how do we connect with Volunteer Hub?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you can. If you just go to volunteerhubcom, you can see all of the features that our volunteer management software provides. If you go to our blog, we have a ton of thought leadership specifically around how to better manage volunteers. And then you know I'm always accessible via LinkedIn. Anybody can reach out if they have questions about optimizing 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 of organizations optimize their volunteer program. We're solely focused on volunteer management. I think right now one of the big buzzwords is all-in-one, which a lot of times seems to be like volunteer management is like a module. We're not that. We're a streamlined volunteer management solution that helps organizations get every ounce of value from their volunteers and do it in a streamlined way.
Speaker 2:I love it and I do feel, all of a sudden, it just occurred to me maybe we should make this distinction. Volunteer Hub and Nonprofit Hub are not actually connected, right. Right, volunteer Hub has been a great partner for us. We loved having them at Cause Camp last year, but the Hub thing could be confusing. So, no, we are to answer any question. No, we are two different organizations.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, eric, thank you so much for doing this. We appreciate all the wisdom that you had to share. I know there's going to be plenty of very happy volunteer coordinators for getting all of these reminders, so thanks so much for sharing what you had to say and all that wisdom.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thanks, Megan. I really appreciate it. Thanks for the invite.
Speaker 2:Again. My guest has been Eric Berger, who's the Director of Marketing at Volunteer Hub. This has been another episode of the Nonprofit Hub Radio Podcast. My name's Megan Spear and we'll see you next time.