Volunteer disengagement is a gradual process—so gradual that often your volunteer coordinator won’t notice it until the volunteer has already turned over. So how can you identify less active individuals and re-engage them before it is too late? The answer is simple: listen to your volunteers. In this comprehensive guide, we will show you how to implement meaningful feedback loops to improve retention rates and volunteer engagement levels—building strong, sustainable systems that can support your volunteer program for years to come.
Why Listening to Your Volunteers Matters
Communication is a two-way street. Sometimes, volunteer managers focus so much on the messages they are conveying that they forget to stop and listen to their volunteer base. However, listening to your volunteers is crucial to building a program that is both impactful and enjoyable.
Listening to your volunteers and acting on their feedback directly leads to:
- Higher volunteer retention rates
- Increased productivity and efficiency
- Enhanced organizational reputation
- More successful fundraising campaigns
- Higher volunteer-to-donor conversion rates
- Improved return-on-investment
- A supportive, positive program culture
- Stronger bonds between your organization, your volunteers, and your community
To put it simply, when your volunteers feel heard, they work more effectively, and your organization can make even more of a difference!
However, when volunteers feel unheard, they begin to disengage. Unmet expectations and ignored concerns can escalate from minor annoyances to major issues before you even recognize them. According to a 2023 study, the most reliable predictors of volunteer turnover are attitude-related variables like organizational commitment, the relationship between volunteers and leadership, and job satisfaction. That means that you cannot ignore how a volunteer feels; it’s key to their engagement levels!
Common Volunteer Feedback Mistakes Organizations Make
Does your organization already have some volunteer feedback systems in place? If so, are you sure that they are effective? Gathering and acting on feedback is a layered process, and there are plenty of pitfalls that even the most well-meaning volunteer managers can fall into.
Evaluate your current feedback practices for these common mistakes:
- No way to give feedback outside of surveys. Volunteer surveys are one of the most critical feedback mechanisms you have at your disposal, but they are not the only way you can listen to your volunteers! Offer formal methods for volunteers to raise concerns in between surveys, such as suggestion boxes or office hours, and create a culture that encourages individuals to give feedback organically, like chatting with the volunteer manager after an event.
- Infrequent data collection. If you only survey your volunteers once a year, you’re not getting nearly enough information! Many volunteers may be reluctant to offer criticism unprompted, so you must ask for it regularly. We recommend implementing regular cadences of surveys, including follow-ups immediately after events, satisfaction surveys, and engagement surveys.
- Unfocused surveys. For a survey to give you meaningful data, it needs to have a clear purpose. Confine your survey to a single topic (i.e., training, role placement, event satisfaction, etc.) so that you can analyze one aspect of your program at a time.
- Incorrect segmentation. Make sure you distribute your surveys to the correct volunteer segments. Not every survey will be relevant to every volunteer. For example, a long-time volunteer won’t be able to give you very valuable information on the onboarding process. If you reach out to the wrong segment, you may not get the most constructive feedback. And if you consistently bombard your entire volunteer base with surveys that don’t relate to their experiences, participation levels will suffer.
- Unclear survey questions. Make sure that your questions are clear and to the point. The longer a question is, the harder it will be for volunteers to figure out what you are asking. Stick to short, simple questions and avoid leading language.
- Question uniformity. If your survey is made up entirely of one type of question, you are limiting its efficacy. Multiple choice, sliding scale, and yes/no questions are easier to analyze, but you should also include some short answers and open-ended questions to encourage volunteers to leave more nuanced feedback.
- Low survey participation. No matter how well-crafted your survey is, it is meaningless if you can’t get strong participation levels. Make participation easy by keeping the survey short (3-10 questions), hosting it on an online platform, and making it mobile device-friendly. Then, mobilize your volunteers with reminders and small incentives, like gift cards or branded merchandise.
- Poor analysis. Once you collect your data, you have to analyze it to find actionable insights. Leverage reporting, visual, and analytical tools to help you make sense of the feedback you receive.
- Lack of follow through. Follow-through is the most crucial step in the volunteer feedback process. If you do not act on the feedback you receive, volunteers will feel unheard and begin to disengage. While not every suggestion will be feasible, you must act on issues that come up repeatedly. Close the loop and make it clear to your volunteers that their impact made a difference.
Any of these issues can negatively impact your ability to listen to your volunteers—and lead to volunteer disengagement and turnover—so you must reevaluate your feedback strategies.
Feedback Strategies That Work
Now that you know the common pitfalls to avoid, what feedback strategies should you implement? If your current feedback processes aren’t working, don’t be overwhelmed. Start small and then scale as clear, honest communication becomes part of your organizational culture.
Here are some practical, low-barrier techniques that you can implement to boost volunteer engagement, optimize your program, and build an open, supportive culture:
- Micro-feedback loops. Try sending out short micro-surveys (1-3 questions) to get immediate feedback that requires a minimal time commitment from your volunteers.
- Individual check-ins. Check in with your volunteers on an individual basis every few months. You can schedule short, in-person meetings, give them a phone call, or send an e-mail.
- Anonymous suggestion boxes. Anonymous suggestion boxes allow volunteers to share candid feedback, without any pressure. Try keeping an anonymous Google Form or survey open so that volunteers can share their opinions at any time.
- Volunteer focus groups. Focus groups encourage open dialogue and effective brainstorming. Ask your volunteers to participate in a focus group whenever you are looking at making changes to your program, such as revamping training modules, incorporating volunteer software, or switching to a new self-scheduling
- Office hours. Have your volunteer manager and other organizational leaders schedule regular office hours. That way, volunteers have a dedicated time when they can stop by, voice their concerns, and ask questions.
- Peer feedback liaisons. If volunteers feel uncomfortable giving feedback directly to organizational leaders, assign a specific volunteer to act as a liaison. A peer liaison can be much easier to talk to, and they can help translate volunteers’ raw feedback into meaningful insights for leadership.
- Exit interviews. Conduct exit interviews with every volunteer who leaves your organization so you can get honest information about why they are leaving. Sometimes, their reasons may be out of your control (such as moving across the country or having a new child); however, lapsed volunteers may also be able to offer key insights into what made them disengage and how you can improve your program.
- Feedback-to-action visibility. Show your volunteers exactly how you are acting on their feedback. Schedule a special meeting or send a newsletter to communicate program changes and explain how they are direct responses to the comments you received.
Above all, the key to effective feedback is being proactive. If you implement these simple changes, you will be well on your way to reducing volunteer disengagement by showing your volunteers that you are listening to them!
How to Create a Feedback Culture
Implementing one new feedback strategy is good; ongoing listening is much better. As you continue strengthening your program’s communication loops, you build a strong, constructive feedback culture that will encourage volunteer engagement in both the short- and long term.
Consider these best practices for creating a feedback culture:
- Encourage organizational leadership to model open communication and active listening.
- Prioritize dialogue over direction.
- Outline clear, specific policies for reporting more serious issues, like misconduct or harassment.
- Embed surveys and feedback prompts into every part of your program’s operations.
- Leverage technology, like volunteer management software, to automate feedback requests.
- Publicly thank volunteers for their constructive suggestions.
- Create leadership positions for volunteers so that they can take more active roles in improving the organization.
- Regularly praise volunteers for their hard work and continued engagement, both through formal appreciation events and more informal methods, like verbal praise and social media shout-outs.
Strive to make every volunteer feel supported and valued. When volunteers know that they matter, they will be more likely to share their opinions—and more engaged overall.
Leverage Feedback to Improve Volunteer Engagement with VolunteerHub
Volunteer disengagement can be prevented with simple, consistent feedback efforts, and if you need a helping hand, look no further than VolunteerHub.
VolunteerHub is a top volunteer management software solution. We have helped thousands of organizations manage billions of volunteer hours, and we can help your organization boost volunteer engagement and retention levels.
VolunteerHub has multiple key features that can revolutionize how your organization collects, analyzes, and acts on volunteer feedback. With VolunteerHub, you can:
- Create personalized landing pages.
- Use automated text and emails to distribute surveys and encourage participation.
- Leverage an advanced database with personalized user groups to segment your volunteers and track survey responses.
- Run meaningful reports with actionable insights for your program.
- Make volunteers feel valued with rewards and recognition options, including points-based reward systems.
