How to attract and retain volunteers?
(4-5 min read time)
Have you ever heard from a church or non-profit leader: "We don't have enough volunteers!" Chances are that if you are involved in a community that relies on volunteer work, you've heard it so many times you can't even count. And at the same time in these same communities, there are several volunteers who have served for years and are not even considering quitting.
This is the puzzle to solve for anyone in a a leadership position for a church, school, or other kind of non-profit. It is a conundrum for professional and lay leaders alike. Without the incentives of pay and bonuses, career advancements, health benefits, or paid time off, what is there that keeps people engaged in volunteer work?
If you think about your experiences in different kinds of work environments, what has been the most meaningful for you? What has been the main encouragement to keep at it even when the going gets tough? From many conversations with my friends and acquintances, who you work for is one of the crucial questions. Your daily experience is heavily defined by the tone your manager sets for the work and collaboration. Another one that's related to this is the culture of the team. If you have people around you that you can rely on and who work well together with you, the likelihood of you enjoying the job is exponentially higher. Personally I think that the type of work you do is even not that meaningful as long as you're in a great team doing the job.
With non-profits, however, the cause and purpose is of much importance. Think about for example Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, or UN volunteers. It's quite likely that the people volunteering in these organizations feel strongly about the cause of the organization. Or think about a church. The whole motivation behind attending a church is because Christian faith and/or community is important to you.
When it comes to keeping volunteers engaged, at least these three major factors stand out—leadership, team culture, and purpose. However, these aren’t just keys to volunteer retention; they’re essential to building a thriving community in the long run. And here’s the thing—volunteers aren’t just people who sign up to help. They have real, deep-seated needs for belonging, purpose, and connection. These are the reasons why people join and stay in communities, and have very practical implications for how you lead and support your people. As you reflect on their interplay, consider these eight fundamental questions.
What are your members passionate about? What energizes them to serve?
How does your community encourage people to form genuine relationships and work together with someone else?
How do your people form teams and what do they do together?
What are the regular gatherings where everyone is invited and the community's cause, people, and values celebrated ?
How does your community serve those in need? Who benefits the most and how do they experience that impact?
In what ways does your leadership support and encourage those who serve? How do the teams empower its members?
How do people’s unique talents and passions shape their roles in serving the community?
To what extent do the structures of your community support or limit people from doing their best work for the greater good?
As a leader, which of these questions are new to you? Is your organization already excelling in some of them? And most importantly, which one should you focus on right now as you lead your community? The most effective way to invest your time and energy is to one thing at a time—instead of multiple lukewarm efforts here and there.
This approach of eight health characteristics and intentional focus on one of them is what I use in my coaching with churches and other non-profit leaders. It is based on the work of Christian A. Schwarz and others in Natural Church/Community/Character Development (NCD). A healthy life—obth personal and in community—thrives on passion, love, holistic care, and inspiration, while being need-oriented, gift-based, empowering, and effective in service. As a coach I help you identify the current key area for growth and find your unique path forward while considering the current resources and circumstances.
I love the NCD approach because it combines everything I've learned and experienced about communities and their meaning to individuals. First of all, it's based on research which pleases me as a Master of Social Work. Furthermore, it's intercultural emphasis speaks to me as I've lived in three different countries with unique local communities and churches. And finally, as a life-long student of people's purpose and behavior, it provides practical tools for development that align with universal truth.
While NCD provides the basic principles for any healthy community, its empirical research focuses on Christian communities worldwide. In the context of a church, the eight quality characteristics are defined as passionate spirituality, loving relationships, holistic small groups, inspiring worship service, need-oriented evangelism, gift-based ministry, empowering leadership, and effective structures. If you are a leader in a church, Natural Church Development survey will let you identify the right growth area and provides a mindset and a variety of practical tools to find your path for greater health.
If you're interested in exploring your personal or community's potential, schedule a discovery call with me. This call is your first step toward a thriving future with volunteers—and there's no obligation.