Struggling to keep your volunteers engaged? Before you take any drastic measures, there may be a simple solution that could make a world of difference: communication.
In any good relationship, open communication is key. Failing to keep volunteers in the loop leads to frustration, which ultimately leads to a disengaged volunteer corps.
Want to take your process of communicating with volunteers from good to great? We’ve rounded up some great resources from several nonprofit experts to help you do just that. Check them out below.
Have a resource you’d like to add to the list? Tweet your ideas and helpful links to @VolunteerHub. We’ll retweet the article and mention your organization on Twitter.
A Volunteer Communications Strategy: 13 Steps to Driving Recruitment, Engagement and Leadership
A solid communications strategy is key to keeping volunteers engaged. If your organization is looking for some ways to open the lines of communicating with volunteers, check out this article by Nancy Schwartz of GettingAttention.org. In the article, Schwartz provides a 13-step plan that nonprofits can follow to better communicate with volunteers. http://gettingattention.org/articles/1429/volunteer-communications/13-steps-effective-volunteer-communications.html
8 Questions Every Social Media Strategy Needs To Answer
Is your organization on all the important social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)? More importantly, what does your social media strategy look like? If you’ve never considered the second question (and your social media strategy is nonexistent), then it’s time to get serious about developing one. Social platforms offer a great way for nonprofits to communicate and connect with volunteers. Make sure your efforts are well spent by following this valuable advice from John Haydon. http://www.socialbrite.org/2012/12/19/8-questions-every-social-media-strategy-needs-to-answer/
5 Keys to Communicating with Volunteers
Communicate early. Communicate often. These are just two of the tips offered in this article for enhancing communication with volunteers. Continue reading the article for additional advice. http://pastors.com/5-keys-to-communicating-with-volunteers/
Constituent Engagement: 3 Tips for Bonding with Volunteers Through Tech
Connecting with volunteers via social media can go a long way in building trust with your supporters. However, there’s a big difference between just having a presence on sites like Facebook and Twitter and actively engaging your followers. How do you accomplish that? It all starts with a carefully crafted social media plan. Here are three tips every nonprofit should know. http://www.volunteerhub.com/blog/constituent-engagement-3-tips-for-bonding-with-volunteers-through-tech/
5 Tips for Communicating with Volunteers
How well you communicate with volunteers can play a huge role in retention rates. Just think about it, a volunteer who constantly feels left out in the dark probably isn’t going to feel like his/her time is being valued. This article provides some straightforward tips your nonprofit can follow to improve communication efforts and make sure your volunteer corps feels like a valued part of the team. http://messagecom.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/5-tips-for-better-communication-with-volunteers/
6 Great Online Tools to Better Manage Your Nonprofit Volunteers
Is your nonprofit utilizing any of the free tools available today (like Hootsuite, Google Docs, etc.) to collaborate with volunteers? If not, you could be missing out. Our friends over at Nonprofit Hub put together a handy list of online tools that can help streamline communication with volunteers. Check it out here: http://www.nonprofithub.org/volunteer-management/6-great-online-tools-to-better-manage-your-nonprofit-volunteers/
How Your Nonprofit Can Benefit from Texting
Why send texts to volunteers? Studies confirm that texting is now the preferred method of communication over making phone calls. For nonprofits, the ability to send bulk texts to volunteers is invaluable. In a matter of seconds, an organization can relay important messages to its entire volunteer force. If your nonprofit isn’t leveraging the power of text messaging, this article may convince you to do so immediately. http://www.volunteerhub.com/blog/volunteer-texting/
Your Volunteers Have “Gone Mobile”…Shouldn’t You?
How many people do you know who don’t own a smartphone? If you’re like me, I can think of maybe one person (out of all my relatives, friends, and coworkers) who has yet to come into the 21st century. For nonprofits, a more “mobile” America represents a huge opportunity to connect with and engage volunteers on an entirely new level. The following tips, offered on the GuideStar blog, are a great starting point for organizations looking to build efficiency through technology. http://trust.guidestar.org/2013/08/16/why-inefficiencies-might-be-damaging-your-volunteer-relationships/
Is Your Nonprofit’s Website “Converting”?
Does your website perform up to its potential in terms of converting viewers into donors and volunteers? What is an acceptable conversion rate? Learn the answers to these important questions and more in this article from the ManagementHelp.org blog. http://managementhelp.org/blogs/marketing/2011/11/nonprofit-website-converting/
Bookmark this page and check back often! As we come across new articles and resources relating to this topic, we will add them to the list.
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