How volunteers can amplify your cause

Volunteers are indispensable to many charities, whether they are helping to deliver services, assisting with fundraising, or working behind the scenes to keep the charity’s wheels turning. Volunteers contribute their enthusiasm, care, and unique abilities, collectively contributing the equivalent of £18 billion per year to a wide range of charitable causes by donating their time.

But according to research by Nottingham Trent University, six in ten charities are finding it challenging to recruit volunteers. And without enough volunteers, it can be harder for charities to make the difference they strive for towards their mission. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In this article, we explore Access’s whitepaper, ‘Volunteer Sector Challenges: How large charities can make more impact with less resources’ to find out how charities can turn things around to make a greater impact with volunteers.

Exploring the challenge

The cost-of-living crisis has been one factor in charities’ recruitment challenges, with many people understandably prioritising paid work over hobbies. Nearly three fifths of organisations say a key barrier to beginning volunteering is a lack of time, while half say it is that potential volunteers don’t have sufficient interest.

Of those who were already volunteering, major barriers include family and caring responsibilities, work responsibilities, and a decline in flexible working. It is no surprise, then, that a third of charities have said that volunteer retention is an issue, with 42% stating that the commitment is proving too big for volunteers.

Pressures on charities themselves have meant that they’ve been less likely to invest time, money, and training into volunteer recruitment and retention. There has been a significant decline in in-person events and social media activity, with a huge 84% predominantly using a word-of-mouth approach to recruit volunteers.

In this situation, adaptation is the magic word. That doesn’t mean charities need to push beyond their capacity: next, we explore how charities can work smarter to achieve greater impact with volunteers. 

Personalise volunteer recruitment and retention 

There are a wide range of factors that can influence a person’s desire and ability to volunteer, both at the point of application and later on when weighing up whether to remain in a role.

For retaining current volunteers, learn what demographics they belong to and the factors that might encourage those specific groups to stay on board. Similarly, if struggling with recruitment, learn the demographics of new potential volunteers and the needs and priorities and preferences of those groups. Collecting data about volunteers’ demographics at the point of application can give you insights to develop a more personalised volunteering strategy. 

Embrace flexible and virtual volunteering

To enable volunteers to balance their other priorities with volunteering, explore flexible and virtual volunteering methods. Make it as simple as possible for volunteers to engage with the charity, for example providing digital ways for volunteers to engage with the application process, complete onboarding tasks, manage their shifts, and communicate with their manager.

Allowing volunteers to choose their own shifts through a flexible rota system could also help volunteers balance volunteering with other priorities. Digital volunteer management software can help you achieve this while saving time internally on scheduling.

Focus on benefits

People become volunteers because they care about your charity’s cause. But some might need a little more information to know whether volunteering is right for them, and whether a specific charity is a good match.

In volunteer recruitment adverts, make sure to give all of the key details for each person to make their decision easily. Make sure to include the benefits of both the role and the organisation. If you have a great cause, and you’ve set everything up to be simple and flexible for volunteers, be sure to shout about it!

Keep diversity and inclusion front of mind

Be wary of solely recruiting volunteers through word of mouth, as this could present risks to the diversity and inclusion of your volunteers, limiting who gets to hear about opportunities.

Make sure you have volunteering opportunities listed on your website in addition to offline methods so that it can be accessed by a wide range of people – particularly those who are already interested in your cause. At the same time, keeping track of your volunteers’ demographics through digital volunteer management software can help you measure the success of the charity’s diversity and inclusion efforts.