Non-Profit Update

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Advice for attracting and retaining the "right" volunteers for your organization.

Are you making a concerted effort to seek out and attract those volunteers who can really add value to your cause? Do you place as much emphasis on recruiting volunteers for the long-term as you do when hiring employees?

Arguably, the answers to all of these questions should be a resounding "yes."

If you were looking for a highly qualified, seasoned executive to shepherd your organization's next fund-raising campaign, you'd likely sift through a stack of resumes, arrange a handful of interviews and check dozens of references. You might even hire a headhunter to help in your search.

Regardless of your strategy, however, at the end of the day you'd choose the person best suited for the job--the one with the skills and experience to meet your needs. Time and time again, you'll hire the one with the most potential to benefit your organization.

Just for the sake of argument, think now about how this process stacks up with how your organization currently recruits volunteers. Is the screening and selection process as calculated? Is the background research as complete? Are you making a concerted effort to seek out and attract those volunteers who can really add value to your cause? Do you place as much emphasis on recruiting volunteers for the long-term as you do when hiring employees? Arguably, the answers to all of these questions should be a resounding "yes." Attracting--and retaining--the best volunteers for your organization requires a strategic approach, careful planning, and equally as important, the ability to tap into and capitalize on the strengths, skills and experience of those most willing to commit time and energy to help your organization reach its goals.

Not surprisingly, in recent years many organizations--faced with the realities of leaner staffs and less money--have taken note of the tremendous importance of successful volunteer recruitment. They've become more proactive in their methods for attracting qualified volunteers--and for good reason. Volunteers bring invaluable resources to the table.

Whether it's knowledge, experience, community contacts, reputation-building value or financial resources, each and every volunteer likely has something to contribute. Consequently, the savviest not-for-profit organizations, paving the way for much-needed change, have largely abandoned the "sign-up sheet" approach to volunteer recruitment in favor of more strategically planned methods. With worthwhile rewards at stake, a wealth of opportunity exists for any organization to improve its volunteer recruitment efforts. Attracting the "Right" Volunteers for Your Organization Fundamentally, successful volunteer recruitment means attracting the "right" volunteers--people with the qualities, skills and experience you want and need. Perhaps you're already doing this. If you're not, or if you're not completely sure if you are, then it's best to start by analyzing your current volunteer base and ask, "Who are we currently attracting?" Once you've established this, then take some time to brainstorm and create a prototype of the "ideal" volunteer for your organization. What skills do we ideally want our volunteers to have? Are we looking for people with specific areas of expertise or those with networking capabilities within the community? Do we need consultants or people with the necessary community ties to influence public opinion and garner support for our ideas?

Compare what you learned about your current volunteer base with the traits and characteristics of your "ideal" volunteer. How do they differ? Then finally, the ultimate question, "How can we restructure or adjust our volunteer recruitment activities to attract more of the volunteers we want? Answering this question--and putting it into action--will ultimately help you steer your recruitment initiatives in the right direction.

Partnering with Corporate America

In addition to improving general methods for recruiting volunteers, organizations must not overlook the importance of corporations in any strategic volunteer recruitment plan. Corporations nationwide view volunteerism as an important part of their overall philanthropy programs.

In fact, in a 2000 Walker Information and Council on Foundations study that measured the business value of corporate philanthropy, companies ranked volunteerism (along with cash, in-kind donations and sponsorships) as one of the four ways that they routinely fulfill their philanthropic commitments.

Increasingly, companies are discovering that volunteerism provides tremendous benefits at relatively low cost. According to a 1999 Walker Information survey with U.S. employees concerning volunteerism, 63 percent of U.S. workers indicate that their employers provide opportunities for associates to become involved in community support activities, and close to a third (31%) say that formal programs involving volunteerism are offered at work.

There is little doubt these statistics have strong implications for fund-raising organizations and not-for-profits that are looking for corporate volunteer partners. The issue for these groups is how to leverage the obvious interest in volunteerism among most U.S. companies.

The answer lies in the ability to do some homework and in a willingness to follow the example set by American corporations. Operating in an era of limited financial and human resources, companies are becoming more and more strategic about where their contributions go, and just as importantly, where and for whom they encourage their employees to volunteer. Likewise, organizations, subject to these same limitations, should more readily adopt this philosophy when deciding whom they should approach for volunteer support. That means doing some homework--carefully identifying those companies that offer the most potential to be good corporate volunteer partners for your organization. In the end, it's really all about exchanging value and meeting respective needs. The organization needs qualified volunteers who, with the support of their employers, will provide much-needed time and talent. In return, the company must be able to meet its philanthropic and business objectives.

When embarking upon corporate volunteer recruitment initiatives, the organization must never fail to ask, "Which companies will most likely derive some business benefit from being associated with our cause" and the company, in mm should ask, "Will a partnership with this organization enhance our business relationships with customers? shareholders? the public?"

Making a Successful "Pitch"

Once you've identified the companies to approach, it's time to plan the all-important "pitch." Again, it's essential to remember that any successful volunteer partnership requires exchanging value. Although companies may altruistically be inclined to do so, they probably won't recruit employee volunteers for your organization simply because you represent a worthy cause. Companies must be able to show that in addition to the satisfaction derived from supporting your organization through volunteerism, they are gaining additional benefits. Understanding this reality will be crucial to developing a persuasive presentation or proposal. Here's a case in point. It won't help your chances of success to approach a company's director of human resources by simply stating, "I need 10 of your employees to help my organization." You must offer reasons why establishing a volunteer partnership with your organization will help him or her address everyday human resource issues, such as job skill improvement, employee retention and company loyalty. It's far more effective to say, "Our organization would like to give 10 of your young and less experienced managers the opportunity to help us plan, market and implement a new fund-raising program. We think their participation would really complement and enhance the skills they're already using here on the job."

If company loyalty and morale are "hot buttons," you might cite some statistics from the employee volunteerism study I mentioned earlier. This research indicated that people who know their company offers volunteer activities think more highly of their firms and are more likely to recommend their companies to prospective employees. The study found that 59 percent of those from companies supporting volunteerism recommend their firms as good places to work. From those whose companies did not support volunteerism, only 37 percent recommend their companies as good places to work.

These "pitch" strategies also apply to persuading individuals to volunteer. It's absolutely essential that you find out what each and every prospective volunteer hopes to gain from a volunteer opportunity. Again, personal satisfaction and altruism are compelling reasons to volunteer, but in most cases, people must be assured of additional benefits before they'll commit their personal time and energies to your cause. Does a young, sharp business executive desire opportunities to learn supervisory skills to better his chances for an upcoming promotion at work? If so, why not offer him a chance to lead one of your organization's volunteer committees? It's a classic example of the power of exchanging value. You've gained a qualified, energetic leader for an important committee, and he's able to add some real-world supervisory experience to his budding resume.

Capitalizing on Strengths and Retaining Volunteers I mentioned earlier that the success of a volunteer recruitment strategy largely depended upon an organization's ability to recruit the "right" volunteers. In reality, however, that's only the first part of the equation for success. Once the right people have agreed to help, it's equally important to capitalize on their strengths. In any way possible, leverage their experience. Use their knowledge. By all means, rely on their expertise to help you meet your organization's goals.

To maximize success, you'll need to think strategically about the best ways to use the volunteer resources that you worked so hard to obtain. To illustrate, does it make sense to ask five CPAs to make five phone calls with the hopes of raising $500? Or, is your organization better served in the long run by asking these same five CPAs to spend a Saturday morning streamlining your organization's cash flow management system--a move that could potentially save you far more over the long-term? You be the judge.

Capitalizing on a volunteer's strengths will do more than just help you reach your goals. Arguably, it will help you retain volunteers as well. It all goes back to that concept of exchanging value. If volunteers feel as if they are making a real difference--or if they're learning new skills, making important community contacts, or gaining new experiences in the process--then they'll be more likely to stay with you.

Is your volunteer program meeting all of your expectations? If so, congratulations. You've managed to strategically develop a volunteer recruitment and retention program that works for you. If, however, you're among the organizations that may have fallen short of success, it's never too late to apply new strategies. There are plenty of would-be volunteers out there and plenty of value to be exchanged--you just have to know how and where to look.

A Word About The Research

Issues related to volunteerism in U.S. corporations were addressed as part of two major Walker Information research studies, referred to in the accompanying article. In 2000, Walker Information collaborated with the Council on Foundations to conduct research measuring the overall business value of corporate philanthropy. Research results pointed to a "chain of effects" from corporate philanthropy activities to business outcomes. The purpose of the measurement tool was to demonstrate a tangible link between corporate philanthropy and business success.

The second piece of research is the 1999 Employee Relationship Report Benchmark, which was conducted by Walker Information and Indianapolis-based Hudson Institute. This study represents the attitudes and experiences of U.S. workers from business, government and non-profit organizations in 48 states. Participants were full- or part-time workers, at least 18 years old, and from organizations of at least 50 employees, representing a cross-section of industries. A portion of the study captured information about volunteerism and U.S. employees.

These reports can be found online at www.walkefinfo.com or www.cof.org.

By Frank Walker