How Can the Nonprofit Field Better Support Volunteerism?

This is the fourth in a series of six NPQ articles that first challenge—and then change—the way we think about volunteers. In this series, The Unexpected Value of Volunteers, author Jan Masaoka takes on the underappreciated topic of volunteerism, provides some unexpected ideas, and points the way toward a public policy agenda on volunteerism.

I’ve examined the unexpected and varied scale of volunteerism, how volunteers can be leaders, and the large role played in the nonprofit sector by all-volunteer organizations. Yet, nonprofit volunteers are continually either overlooked or treated as an afterthought.

While volunteers can play a role in boosting their own role and status by demanding they be treated with respect—instead of our saying, “I’m just a volunteer,” say instead, “I’m happy to be a volunteer here”—what does a sector that supports volunteerism look like?

To answer that question, let’s look at the roles of nonprofit staff, nonprofit leaders, and philanthropy.

How Nonprofit Staff Can Support Volunteers

Are there volunteers at the nonprofit where you work? Do you have only a little contact, just passing them by in the hall, or do you work alongside them? Here are simple ways to adjust your language:

• Be specific: Instead of blandly saying, “Thank you for helping us today,” acknowledge their actual contribution. For example: “Thank you for helping our patients today,” or “Thank you for helping our audience members today.”
• Center the people being helped: For example, instead of saying, “I don’t know what we’d do without our volunteers,” say, “I don’t know what our students would do without our volunteers” or “I don’t know how our homebound seniors would manage without our volunteers.”
• Count volunteers as full team members: Instead of saying, “We have 40 staff, and maybe 50 volunteers,” say instead, “We have a team of 90, of whom 40 are paid staff and 50 are part-time volunteers.”
• Change how volunteer contributions are described: Instead of saying “We don’t have many staff, so we’re forced to rely on volunteers,” say “Because we have so many volunteers, we don’t need a huge staff.”

Pay volunteer directors as if they were fundraisers, because they are.

If there is a volunteer director or coordinator where you work (and it isn’t you), thank her (volunteer coordinators are mostly women) for doing so much for the organization. And ask her if there’s anything you can do to help her or anything you can do to make volunteers more effective or more valued.

Beyond the conventional advice on appreciating volunteers, here are some additional pointers that in my experience have proved helpful:

• Friend volunteers on Facebook. At least four times a year post a “kudos” (rather than a thank you) to their page. Post to your organization’s page first, then post it to their own pages.
• Instead of having staff write thank-you notes to volunteers, have the people they have impacted—patients, parents, museum patrons, and others—write them when possible.
• Is there a bakery within a few blocks? Give cookie coupons to volunteers, and give them to two people at once as they leave to encourage them to go to the bakery together on their way home.
• Mark three great parking spaces as reserved for volunteers—most volunteers drive to where they volunteer. This small gesture will be appreciated!
• Give identifying and stature-enhancing merch to volunteers, such as branded t-shirts, hats, and name badges they can wear while volunteering. Volunteers want to belong to something and have a visible sign of that belonging. Create a branded jacket for long-term volunteers.

How Nonprofit Organizations Can Support Volunteers

As noted above, nonprofit staff can do a lot to create a desirable work environment for volunteers. But organizational culture starts at the top. This means that if your organization is truly to create a welcoming culture for volunteers, nonprofit executives and managers must play a leading role. Here are some steps on how to do so:

• Value the volunteer coordinator position: Make the volunteer coordinator position into a job that represents the value of volunteerism in your organization. To demonstrate the importance of the role, give the volunteer coordinator a different job title (such as “volunteer concierge,” “director of volunteerism,” “director of volunteer human resources,” or “community involvement director”) that signifies that importance and demonstrates the value of the position. This shift should also be reflected in the job description, reporting structures, and compensation. Pay volunteer directors as if they were fundraisers, because they are. Think about how much in monetary value is brought by your volunteers. If this amount were brought in by development staff, how much would they be paid?
• Reward long tenure: Volunteer coordinators are typically undervalued and underpaid. As a result, turnover in that role is high. Make being a volunteer coordinator a career position by paying more, supporting professional development, and giving them public roles to play at fundraising events, conferences, staff meetings, and so on.
• Support volunteer recruitment: Many organizations give a small bonus to a staff person who recruits a new staff member. These same organizations should give a small bonus to staff who recruit volunteers.
• Appreciate staff volunteering at other organizations: You create a culture of volunteerism not just by supporting your own volunteers but by supporting the field. If staff volunteer at other organizations, acknowledge them in a staff meeting or internal newsletter. Ask them to share the highs and lows of their volunteer work.

If your organization hosts convenings or conferences, it is also important to support the culture of volunteerism at these venues. This can include:

• Having breakout sessions on volunteerism topics
• Having a keynote speaker talk about volunteerism and why it is meaningful
• Offering a workshop on volunteerism for your members as part of your management offerings
• Thinking about volunteers and contractors when considering your workforce and taking steps to manage a blended workforce of staff, volunteers, and contractors

The Role of Philanthropy

In general, foundations are pretty quiet when it comes to talking with grantees about volunteers. Foundations can do better!

The bottom line: Volunteers are underappreciated—and the failure to invest in volunteers is costing nonprofits resources and capacity.

One simple tweak: Many foundations ask grantees to fill out a form that asks demographic questions about staff. It is pretty simple to add similar questions about the volunteer section of nonprofits’ workforce to build awareness and perhaps encourage grantees to recruit more volunteers.

Foundations can also fund volunteer-related positions at grantee organizations. For example, a foundation can offer to make a small “bump” grant to its grantee if the nonprofit is about to hire a new volunteer coordinator, so that the nonprofit can afford to offer a higher salary.

The Time Is Now

The bottom line: Volunteers are underappreciated—and the failure to invest in volunteers is costing nonprofits resources and capacity at a time when both are sorely needed.

This is no time to settle for the ordinary or the expected. Rather, it is time to get together and to move the field forward. Contact me at jan@philanthropyproject.net and let’s talk!