Why Charities Should Revive a Declining Vital Resource - Volunteers Ben Gose - The Chronicle of Philanthropy
go to original September 13, 2022

Volunteerism had been declining for years before COVID-19, and the pandemic sent many charities’ volunteer programs into disarray. As many as 30 percent of managers of volunteers got reassigned or laid off in the six months after COVID struck, according to a 2021 report by VolunteerPro, run by Tobi Johnson, a volunteer-management expert.

With fewer people around to coordinate activities, the volunteers drifted away. A 2020 study by Fidelity Charitable found that two-thirds of volunteers decreased their activity or stopped volunteering entirely after the pandemic began.

Jennifer Bennett, director of education and training at VolunteerMatch, a nonprofit that helps other organizations recruit volunteers, says charities that made few efforts to remain connected to volunteers in 2020 and 2021 will spend years rebuilding volunteer programs.

“That’s a hole that we’re looking at in the field,” Bennett says. “It’s not just a lack of institutional knowledge, but a rupture in the relationship. Charities that laid off volunteer managers and didn’t have a strategy for keeping the communication lines open with volunteers are back to starting from scratch.”

It’s also a missed opportunity, some experts point out. The return on investment in a strong volunteer program — primarily, the donated work that organizations might otherwise have to pay for — often far exceeds the money they spend on oversight and salaries for volunteerism professionals. And a talented cadre of volunteers can help depleted charities continue to serve clients at a time when many organizations are struggling to fill open positions.

The disruption hasn’t been all bad — some charities did stay in touch with their volunteers and responded to the pandemic by revamping programs that had grown stale, providing new opportunities for people to get involved. Some of those charities now have more volunteers than ever.

Read the rest at The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Related: Many Nonprofits Struggle to Recruit a Diverse Volunteer Force (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)

Related: 4 Ways to Make Your Donor Relations Recession Proof (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)