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If you're a nonprofit organization, you know that you need dedicated volunteers to make your event a success. But skilled, reliable volunteers don't appear magically. Every time you hold an event or program, you need to make sure you have strategies in place that will attract and retain top-quality, trainable volunteers that you can count on. Read on to learn about five retention strategies for nonprofits.
1. Attract and empower self-motivated volunteers with auto-sign up.
Start your recruitment process on the right foot by attracting self-motivated volunteers. Use an app that provides for self-registration, and have all the information online viewers need to make educated decisions about how they wish to spend their volunteer time. Include a list of roles with a detailed description; a chain of command; a list of policies and safety procedures; and contact information where they can communicate directly with a real person who is savvy about the details of the event.
2. Provide online training and tutorials.
Prepare your volunteers as possible for the event, and provide the online tools. Allow for online training and tutorials, post-training videos, and hold orientations online. That way, all your volunteers will have what they need to succeed before they step onto the event premises.
3. Provide a supportive environment for your volunteers with flexible scheduling.
This means scheduling breaks, having enough shifts, and providing food, water, and snacks as appropriate. To deliver this type of supportive work environment, you need to have scheduling under control. Give your volunteers some autonomy and a sense of empowerment by allowing them to sign up for their shifts. And make them responsible for shifts they can't work by having them find their own replacements. (You'll need an app like InitLive that allows you to give your users varied levels of access).
4. Track volunteer data.
Make sure you have the right software in place to track volunteer data. You'll need a flexible volunteer platform like InitLive, which not only allows you to create and store customized applications, but also lets you track performance, attendance, latenesses, and no-shows. Your volunteers will appreciate showing up to an event that is fully staffed and completely operational.
Are you looking to learn more about how to best untilize volunteer data? Then check out - Why Collecting Data From Staff & Volunteers Is Valuable
5. Respect volunteers' time: Have a quality planning process.
Finally, map out every step of your event planning process so that you'll have a well-organized event. Use an all-in-one tool like InitLive to plan each step. These stages include everything that event planners used to perform on paper and keep in those heavy binders: vendor contracts; budget, volunteer recruitment, and training program; supplies; advertising; staffing; and alternative plans for each step when things don't go as expected. Streamline these processes by keeping them all in one place with a tool like InitLive.
InitLive is the industry's leading volunteer management tool. Complete with scheduling, multi-level access, real-time communication, storage, and so much more, you'll be able to plan every step of your event and keep your volunteers coming back, time and again. For more information about InitLive, check out our website and our blog.
