Volunteer Recruitment and Retention for Non-Profits

Non-profit organizations, from churches to citizen watchdog groups, frequently rely on volunteer participation. Even large non-profit organizations like hospitals frequently utilize volunteers for auxiliary functions. Volunteers are an integral part of the operations of many non-profits, and these organizations could not achieve their missions without the assistance of volunteers. Volunteer recruitment and retention is a high priority for these non-profits.

More than 61 million Americans volunteer their time with an organization at least once per year according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That number, equal to approximately 26 percent of the US population, has been in decline since 2002 when the agency first began tracking these statistics. British surveys report that around 20 million citizens volunteer their time in that country. These volunteer surveys suggest that volunteerism may actually be on the rise in Britain. While worldwide statistics are difficult to obtain it is obvious that many millions of people around the world volunteer their time for causes that are important to them. These volunteers represent millions of hours worth of volunteer effort and labor each year.

Recruiting volunteers is a constant challenge for non-profit organizations. Most non-profits find it necessary to develop some type of formal recruitment program to maintain a constant influx of new volunteers. Recruitment efforts often start in-house with current volunteers. Current volunteers can be a great source of new volunteers. Many non-profits already maintain a list of supporters and interested individuals. Contacting these supporters through either a direct mail campaign or advertisements placed in a newsletter is a great way to further involve people who are already committed to the organizations mission.