How to Retain and Reward Volunteers

The “salary increase” approach is a solution to a majority of job satisfaction issues. But, when it comes to volunteers who work without any pay, how do you make them stay with your organization long-term?

A strong volunteer retention strategy is the secret of NGO prosperity. By setting up staff nomination and awarding programs, you can reward the commitment of volunteers and highlight their work that has a huge impact on the community.

Why do you need volunteers?

But, first things first. Volunteer service is vital to the existence of non-profit organizations because it helps cut costs and reach NGO missions without depleting limited budgets. Therefore, there are two essential reasons why you need to keep volunteers working in your NGO: 1) cost-efficiency; 2) dedicated staff that really enjoys helping your organization.

Why is retaining and rewarding volunteers important and difficult?

For most people, there’s no such concept as a long-term volunteer career. The majority of volunteers work for NGOs for the sake of gaining some valuable life experience, traveling, becoming an expert in a specific area or just having fun. These are goals that can be easily reached over a short period of time. Investing your time and efforts into noble initiatives can help people express themselves and get volumes of satisfaction, but if it doesn’t pay the bills, they start looking for alternative benefits.

A smart reward program which is a balance between personal achievement recognition and the creation of new perspectives for a volunteer is a life-saver for any NGO. Here are the basic reasons you should be interested in volunteers sticking with your NGO long-term:

• Reduce labor and cost. Looking for new people to join your organization every week wastes much time and money you could spend on NGO goals.
• Avoid a training loop. You have to explain things to new people before they can start working with the NGO. If you don’t want to find yourself stuck in an endless training loop, you’d better think about how to retain volunteers.
• Grow ideas. People who know the organization and its missions from A to Z have more chances to develop working ideas that can help an NGO move forward.

The ways to retain and reward volunteers

A volunteer retention strategy is really a “make or break” deal for a non-profit. To make your organization a home for devoted volunteers, consider embedding the following tactics to your strategy:

Have a career ladder for everyone

According to Huffington Post, one of the best practices that unites leading non-profits is preparing different roles for every volunteer. In fact, there are often some paid positions and numerous personal development opportunities in every NGO. When hiring a volunteer, try to explore his/her intentions and find out whether this person is interested in a long-term engagement with your NGO. Clarify that a volunteer can always switch to a different role, try to implement his/her own ideas, look for funding or become a paid employee.

Provide “take a break” opportunities

Volunteer services are often connected with emotional overloads. While many NGOs work with disabled people, poor communities, and struggling families, people who are highly empathetic can burn out very quickly. The Burnout Research concludes that the majority of volunteers serving in the US between 2011 and 2012 were forced to quit because of their emotional states. To reduce volunteer turnout, inform your organization members that they have an option to take a break during their service and continue working with the option to return in the future.

Launch awarding projects

The best way to keep volunteers is to demonstrate that they really are the lifeblood of your NGO. Through the recognition of vital volunteering contributions, you motivate people to move forward with their mission and reveal the positive impacts that their work produces.

To launch a successful awarding campaign, focus on particular volunteers, their goals, hours of service, or special achievements. At the next stage, create award nomination letters and start promoting the event. Lastly, provide worthy prizes and outline the future perspectives for your NGO leaders.

How to inspire people for building projects through an online contest

Awards events are not only about figuring out how to keep volunteers, but also about encouraging progress in your organization. To make volunteer service more exciting, consider launching online contests that will inspire people to build their own projects within an NGO.

Check out three fresh ideas that you can leverage to stretch the longevity of volunteer service in your organization and motivate people to do the great things:

Dare to care. This is the type of online contest that asks volunteers to submit their visual or textual projects based on a specific social mission to a common platform, and then, encourages people to vote for the best idea. Once the winner has been picked, you have the whole world observing how your NGO team strives to implement the selected idea.The Great Penguin Rescue story proves that there’s no limit to human willingness to help the world. Why not let your volunteers be the planet-savers?

Make volunteering viral. In 2015, BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra launched an inspiring #1MillionHours project asking listeners to dedicate 1 million hours of their time to some good causes. This social action demonstrates that volunteering is no longer an exception, it’s a viral trend that is embedded in the routine of millennials and can be an inspiring example of how to retain volunteers worldwide.

Learn from big brands. Volunteering initiatives is a part of corporate missions of many large businesses. Disney, as an example, organizes engaging FamilyFun Contests that ask children to volunteer with their parents. Such world-recognized programs can be quite successful with NGOs as well, given all the attention that companies like Disney can generate.

Conclusion

To help NGOs enhance inspiring projects and reward volunteers, you can benefit from automated contest organization platforms. With a Free Plan available to non-profit organizations, we make Judgify work for your success without depleting your budget.