Volunteer retention is an important component of volunteer management. After all, it takes much more time and effort to find new volunteers than it does to keep the volunteers you already have.
Volunteer Canada’s Management model outlines how careful attention to each facet of the model: planning, recruitment, training, support, and recognition, work together to improve an agency’s ability to retain volunteers.
CLO research shows that Ontario’s literacy agencies are doing a good job of retaining their volunteers. On average, volunteers have been involved with their agencies for 3.5 years and report high levels of satisfaction with what they are doing. It remains true however, that attention to retaining volunteers must remain a priority in the changing world of volunteerism.
Retention Strategies Used By Literacy Agencies
Agency responses from the Value Added survey indicate that as rule literacy organizations have an accurate picture of what they need to do to keep their current volunteers.
| Strategy for Volunteer Retention | Frequency of response (%) |
|---|---|
| Offer ongoing support from agency staff | 92% |
| Provide opportunities to meet with other volunteers | 81% |
| Offer training to strengthen skills | 79% |
| Hold regular meetings in person/over the phone | 74% |
| Provide opportunities to learn new skills | 68% |
| Offer new opportunities/tasks to challenge and encourage growth | 53% |
| Provide employment experience | 49% |
| Survey volunteer needs | 49% |
| Assess and review volunteer performance with them | 42% |
To learn more about specific retention strategies used by literacy practitioners, just click here.
Volunteer Scorecard
One simple way to gauge how well your agency is doing with volunteer retention is to conduct a simple audit using the tool below. To increase the usefulness of the tool, ask several different people who fill different roles in your agency to complete an audit.
Instructions:
- Assign a score from 1 to 5 for each retention category using the following scale:
1- poor 2- fair 3- good 4- very good 5- excellent
| Volunteers Need | How Well Do We Provide our Volunteers with… | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Resources | …adequate resources to do their job? | _____ |
| Rewarding Opportunities | …opportunities that match their original motivations for volunteering? | _____ |
| Responsibility | …enough Responsibility (the first six months with an organization are the most critical for retaining volunteers. It is important to provide opportunities that allow responsibility without giving volunteers cause for fearing burnout. | _____ |
| Recreation | …fun opportunities to meet other volunteers? (Many volunteers have reported that one of the main reasons they stay with an organization is because of opportunities to meet with other volunteers, e.g. workshops, idea sharing, etc.). | _____ |
| Recognition | …recognition in a way that is appropriate and meaningful? | _____ |
Total your score. If you scored 18 or more, your agency is doing very well at retention. If you scored between 13 and 17, your agency is probably doing well, but has some areas for improvement. If you scored 12 or below, you may want to examine your retention practices closely to see where you can improve.
