Volunteer Engagement Rates and Non Profits

The distinction that Non Profits have that sets them apart from For Profits is that in addition to paid staff, Non Profits rely heavily on volunteers to help them get work accomplished. At the same time, there are actions that Non Profits engage in that function very much like a For Profit, with people who could accurately be labeled as a customer of their services (although, admittedly, they will have a different name that is more consistent with their industry.)

Therefore, there is a special category for engagement rates that Non Profits have: volunteers. This is an important category, because your volunteers represent more than just free labor. They can go a long way in obtaining grants, sponsorship's, and donations because these organizations see the number of volunteers who believe in your mission and are giving of their time and energy to help your organization successfully achieve it.

At this point, a very important question needs to be asked: how do you engage with your volunteers? What are the different channels of communication, as well as opportunities to sit and talk with them? Do you have special social events? Do you have social media groups? Do you send out email blasts specifically for volunteers? Obviously, a Non Profit doesn’t need to have all of these (and will likely have quite a few more that what was listed above), but at the end of the day, can you identify the different channels that are at your disposal for engaging with volunteers?

Once you have the channels identified, the next big question is do you solicit and review feedback from volunteers? It is quite possible that you will learn a great deal. Some volunteers might not be aware of other offerings that you have. Some might be able to participate if circumstances were modified. Some might enjoy volunteering, but because of the current structure, it is becoming more of a hindrance than a help for their participation. If you do not have a way to get feedback from your volunteers, you will never know what the issues are here that are interfering with their engagement rate.

At this point, you will likely begin to notice that the engagement rate used here is a bit different than with For Profits. That is because with volunteers, the engagement rate does not have anything to do with a business conversion. Here, it has everything to do with how often they are interacting with your Non Profit. As a result, engagement rates will look substantially different.

Improving your engagement rate here also will look substantially different than when it comes to the For Profit world. That is because the motivations are different. Your volunteers are there because of the mission that you have. They want to help you succeed; therefore, your engagement rate with your volunteers can tell you a great deal in their perception of how your organization is executing its mission. 

At the end of the day, it is important to realize that people will not be as engaged for legitimate reasons. Life circumstances might change, as well as people will move out of the area. Having said that, if things change substantially (noticeable drop in the engagement rate, as well as a jump in your turnover rate), view these things as red flags. Something is wrong, and there is a chance that if you do not intervene, you might reach a point where you have a greatly reduced pool of volunteers or you will have a large group of people on your volunteer lists with little to no interaction.

If your engagement rate is blinking a red emergency light, what needs to happen is for you to solicit feedback and listen. Do not attempt to explain yourself. Something is clearly wrong, and you need to diagnose the problem now. It is possible that it will take some time, especially if things have gotten to this point. Most likely, major changes will need to be made before you can see across the board improvements.

The temptation might be very strong for you to offer an explanation or a defense of what you have done. Resist this, since it could be viewed very negatively. At this point, trust needs to be regained, with the sense that you are not only willing to listen to feedback, but also that you are going to do everything in your power to help implement your feedback as quickly as possible.

In conclusion, engagement rates mean something entirely different for Non Profits, especially when it comes to volunteers. The key at the end of the day is to make sure that you fully understand all of the necessary channels for communicating with volunteers. Additionally, you need to make sure to deal with problems as they arise, or else you will find yourself in a situation where you are substantially lacking in volunteer resources.