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The new year is upon us and now is a great time to improve your nonprofits volunteer appreciation strategies. In fact, every season of the year is a great time to acknowledge and demonstrate volunteer appreciation. Volunteers are helping nonprofits all over the world achieve their mission and provide much-needed assistance to the communities these organizations serve.
In 2015, volunteers provided 7.9 billion hours of service valued at over 184 billion dollars. The overall value for a volunteer hour has increased substantially over the past 10 years. In 2001, a volunteer hour was estimated to be worth $16.27 and today that same hour is worth over $24.00.
Volunteers are a valuable asset for nonprofits and many organizations need more support from volunteerism. 92% of nonprofit organizations say they do not have enough pro bono support. In 2015, 25% of the adult population volunteered their time to make a difference. Retention rates for volunteers in the nonprofit industry are continuing to fall according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nonprofits today need to engage volunteers in an effort to retain them.
Did you know that 88% of nonprofits believe that engagement programs help attract and retain employees? According to 2015 data, only 55% of nonprofits, however, measure the impact volunteers have on their mission and goals.
The first step in thanking volunteers is understanding how important they are towards your nonprofit achieving its desired outcome. A recent study showed that volunteer retention is not a volunteer impact indicator by most nonprofits today.
If most nonprofits need more volunteers to achieve their mission and goals then why is retention, not a more measured data set? It should be.
There are many reasons why a volunteer may stop providing their time to your organization. Here are a few of the most common issues:
Today, we are going to talk about one of the easiest ways your nonprofit can engage and retain volunteers…by thanking them.
There are many great ways that your nonprofit organization can thank and show appreciation to your organizational volunteers. Many times, just a verbal thank you or an acknowledgment of their achievements will do. A study by Cicero, found that 50% of surveyed employees believe being thanked by managers improved their relationship and also built trust. It is safe to say that the same would apply to the nonprofit world…do you agree?
Here are 3 ways your nonprofit can thank volunteers and increase retention rates.
Communicating effectively can go a long way with your nonprofit volunteers. Keeping volunteers and prospects up to date with opportunities and organizational updates can help to deliver great experiences and convey an internal process to your supporters.
A survey in the for-profit industry found that 39% of surveyed employees believe that people in their organization do not collaborate enough.
Given that volunteers typically commit a smaller number of hours than full-time counterparts there is even a greater chance of communication issues.
Here are a few ways to improve volunteer communication:
The act of volunteering should be a rewarding and enriching experience for all involved. Volunteers should be offered a rewarding and memorable experience in exchange for their time. One of the best ways to provide these types of experiences is by being dependable. Make sure that your volunteers have the tools they need to perform their role and are involved in a task they enjoy.
Your nonprofit should also remind volunteers of your organization’s mission whenever you can to spark the emotion that led volunteers there in the first place.
Here are some additional ideas to create memorable experiences for volunteers:
Check out this case study on a nonprofit who looks at volunteerism differently! For City Rescue Mission, volunteer opportunities are all about building relationships. 🙂
Another great way to thank volunteers is to recognize their individual contributions towards achieving your organization’s mission and goals. Recognition is important because it creates a personal link between a specific volunteer and the impact your nonprofit is making in the community.
Providing recognition impacts engagement increases productivity, and can create new referral channels for your organization. According to a for-profit study disengaged employees cost businesses an estimated 550 billion dollars last year alone.
The impact of volunteer recognition programs is very real.
Here are a few ways to recognize your supporters:
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