Volunteers are a vital part of the nonprofit workforce. In an Urban Institute study, 75% of nonprofit respondents said that volunteers were important to their organizations for delivering key tasks. 43% of nonprofits are all-volunteer organizations. These are just two of the reasons that volunteers are included in Independent Sector’s Center for Nonprofit Workforce Excellence. To omit volunteers would mean omitting a significant amount of the labor, talent, connections, fundraising, friendraising, and community trust that nonprofits rely on to be successful.
Staff + Volunteers = Extended Reach
The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, a participant in the Strategic Volunteer Engagement (SVE) Project in Arizona, demonstrates the power of the staff-volunteer partnership every day. Nine staff, 18 Core Leadership Team (CLT) volunteers, and hundreds of volunteer stewards deliver the organization’s services, which range from public education and guided recreation activities to collecting data for research purposes. Having a team of employees, leadership volunteers, and traditional volunteers ensures that day-to-day tasks are completed while broadening the reach of programs beyond what the small paid staff could achieve alone.
Volunteers as a Complement or Supplement, Not a Replacement
The paid staff at the organization do not perceive volunteers as a threat to their jobs. They know volunteers are there to complement and extend the paid staff’s work, not to replace them. Conservancy leaders have determined which roles are best filled by paid staff or volunteers and structured them accordingly. They repeat the assessment process as new needs arise.
Volunteers as a Unique Form of Labor
Including volunteers as part of the nonprofit workforce acknowledges the unique value add that volunteers contribute. The fact that volunteers are unpaid means they can be heard differently than paid staff, research indicates. Volunteers may be seen as more authentic—which positions them as ideal fundraisers or ambassadors for organizations. Volunteer tutors and mentors are also highly valuable because they may be able to provide deeper attention to a single individual than paid staff can.
Knowing this, the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy wanted their volunteers to feel well-equipped as ambassadors. Conversations between volunteers and staff generated an idea to create a small business card with a QR code that volunteers could hand out while they were serving as well as in their non-volunteer capacities.
Each card is an opportunity for the volunteer to share their service experience and to invite others to get involved too: as visitors, participants, volunteers, members, and/or donors. Since it comes from a volunteer, it feels like an offer from a neighbor and helps build a sense of community.
Volunteer Engagement as an Important Investment
Because volunteers are a key part of the nonprofit workforce, it is important to invest in their engagement and staffing. Research shows that the more organizations invest in volunteer engagement, the greater the benefits. Unfortunately, volunteer engagement is often under-resourced, particularly when compared to other nonprofit functions like fund development, human resources, and program.
Independent Sector’s commitment to investing in the nonprofit workforce in general is an opportunity to invest in the staffing that supports effective volunteer engagement specifically. The Conservancy has committed to SVE investment by designating a staff member to facilitate volunteer engagement and budgeting other time and resources to its volunteer efforts and training. Participating in the SVE Project and renewing certification as an accredited Service Enterprise are other examples of their dedication to engaging volunteers well.
The Power of the Staff-Volunteer Partnership
One of the findings of a 2023 study on strategic volunteer engagement was that volunteers are often hidden in plain sight. Highlighting the critical work that volunteers accomplish, not just their hours served, is an important step in making their efforts more visible. Connecting volunteer and staff labor goes one step further by painting a picture of what it takes to run a nonprofit. For the Conservancy, and thousands of other nonprofits, it’s how the work gets done.
Sue Carter Kahl, PhD is President of Sue Carter Kahl Consulting. Her work helps bridge the gap between research and practice in volunteer engagement.
Photo credit: Diva Plavalaguna from Pexels
