Volunteers in the Non-Profit World

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers are valuable and even critical assets to nonprofit organizations. If you work with volunteers, you also know that sometimes managing volunteers can be a real pain in the assets, if you know what I mean.

The Do Good Institute, a part of the University of Maryland, creates an annual report called The Independent Sector estimating the value of each volunteer hour. As of this writing, the estimate is $33.49 per hour, or an hourly rate equivalent to a full-time person making a nearly $79,000 annual salary. The Do Good Institute states that volunteers contribute $200 billion of value to our communities annually.

Millions of people across the country give their time, skills, and energy to help nonprofit organizations serve their beneficiaries and accomplish their mission. Hopefully, you’re one of those people and can name the organizations you’ve served with.

I’ve served with my local church, local food banks, advocacy groups, youth sports, Cub Scouts, tutoring programs, the local library, job training programs, and in schools. I’ve also spent the last 14 years as a leader in nonprofit organizations. Most of the nonprofits I have worked with would not be able to do what they do without volunteers…but next to financial concerns, volunteers are often the most exhausting element of working in a nonprofit.

When an employee doesn’t respond to an email or show up for training, their paycheck is in jeopardy. If a volunteer doesn’t show up or respond to your sixty-third text message, they have more time to watch football or take their dog for a walk. The leverage is different.

Nonetheless, communicating with volunteers is an essential skill for any nonprofit leader…unless we can find an extra $200 billion lying around to make some additional hires.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when communicating with volunteers.

Volunteers have empathy, not telepathy.

Unless it’s court-ordered or a school project, the volunteers you have are likely engaged because they resonate with your mission and vision. They probably do not know the details of how your nonprofit works or how their volunteering fits into the puzzle, and I’m fairly certain none of them can read your mind.

Clear communication is essential. Be detailed and direct.

My church meets in a school that we rent on Sunday mornings. Volunteers are essential to the weekly set-up and tear-down of equipment. Once after church, a volunteer came to the stage to help put gear into our carts so the carts could be returned to our trailer. I pointed at some wires on the ground and said, “Please help us get those wires into that cart,” whereupon I pointed to a cart on the other side of the stage. The next weekend, I opened the cart to find the wires arranged in what can affectionately be described as a rat’s nest. Untangling dozens of wires cost us significant time.

Once, at a food bank, we spent a good 45 minutes standing around doing nothing because volunteers the previous evening had put several pallets of donations in the wrong place, and we needed help from a forklift operator.

In both cases, the volunteers did exactly what they were told, but they missed details their leader did not adequately communicate. I should have told my volunteers how to wrap the wires and shown them what cubby to put the wires in. Instead, I hoped they could read my mind.

They couldn’t.

You’re a cheerleader, not a drill sergeant.

This is just a good leadership posture in general, but it should especially be heeded when engaging with volunteers. If you saw the 1995 film “Major Payne” starring Damon Wayans when you were 14 as I did, you may have a notion that barking orders and doling out extreme consequences for missteps will lead to camaraderie, democratic division of labor, and in the end, winning. Usually, it doesn’t.

A 2020 study of factors leading to volunteers’ intention to continue participation in their volunteering found that well-managed volunteers are more likely to continue volunteering. Volunteers felt they were best managed when they were given rewards and recognition. Second to rewards and recognition, a sense of empowerment contributed to volunteer satisfaction and intention to continue volunteering.

Maybe ditch the “I have eight weeks to turn you gaggle of maggots into a well- disciplined cadet unit!” Instead, try, “Give me a ‘V’” for volunteers!

REMEMBER GOLDILOCKS

When you’re communicating with volunteers, a balance between over-communicating and under-communicating must be struck.

If you’re communicating with volunteers, chances are it is a part of your job. Don’t forget that the volunteer you are communicating with is giving their time on top of their job and whatever other life commitments they have. When the volunteers that bolster your organization are working alongside you, they are doing that in their own time while you are probably getting paid. All your communication to them is on top of what they are getting from their boss, their coworkers, their kids, their spouse, and their fantasy football league-mates.

Establish a schedule for your communication and stick to it. A human trafficking organization I volunteered with sends me an email every single Friday morning.

Skimming through it for opportunities and updates has become a part of my morning routine. Two different churches I’ve volunteered with send their updates inconsistently, and if it comes during a time that doesn’t fit my rhythm, I don’t read it. If they were regular, I’d build my rhythms around them.

This balance extends to communication methodology as well. If you’re reading a blog about communicating with people, chances are you know that email use is in decline. Texting, Slack, and other real-time or real-time feeling tools are increasingly used, especially by younger people. The chances of a text being read is substantially higher than an email. It’s cool to use texting, but remember that texting feels a little bit more invasive to people than email because it comes with a little buzz or whistle. Be wise about your method of communication.

Finally, regarding balance, consider the length of your communication. I have learned a lot from John Wasem, a colleague and inspiration in the field I work in. Recently, he posted a memory of the first sermon he ever preached. 50 years ago, John finished his sermon and stepped away from that pulpit in rural Jonesboro, TN. An elder at the church gave him this feedback, “Now John, someday you’ll make a fair preacher. But in my line of work, we don’t feed the cows the whole barn of hay.” This advice John received and has relayed to so many people who have learned from him is always informing my communication.

If you communicate effectively, you’ll get more opportunities. You can communicate some now and more later. I don’t know anyone who likes getting an email with 2000 words. If I have to scroll to read your whole text, it’s too long. If your preamble to instructing me on how to be a good volunteer takes an hour, I’ve probably started playing Sudoku on my phone. I neither want nor need the whole barn of hay.

Quick aside: If you’re working in a job where interacting with volunteers is commonplace, I STRONGLY recommend finding a place where you can regularly volunteer…not at the same place that also pays you. Experience volunteering from the other side.

REPEAT

In the end, communicating with volunteers has just two steps that repeat over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.

Inspire, Inform, Repeat.

Inspire people by celebrating the change your organization is making in the world.

Inform them that they can be a part of that change by volunteering.

Inspire people to invest their time and talents in specific ways that help you engage your beneficiaries.

Inform people on the specifics of what they should do.

Inspire people to continue to invest by celebrating how their specific investment led to the change your organization is pursuing.

Inform them on how they can grow in their role with the organization.

Etc.

Inform. Inspire. Repeat.

Be specific. Be the cheerleader. Be sensitive to the rest of their world.

The day I had to untangle the rat’s nest of microphone cables, extension cords, and other wires is one I will never forget. The untangling process added more than 40 minutes to our normal morning workflow. Once it was done and everything was plugged in, my friend Kenny, who was also one of our lead volunteers, went to the soundboard to get music playing in the room.

Nothing came out of our speakers.

I glanced around the space, and saw that all the lights indicating things were powered and glowing. “What is wrong now?? We’re already way behind,” I thought to myself. Exasperated with hands aching from wrapping dozens of cables, I ran to the stage to see what had happened.

Kenny was sitting on the stage with a wire in his hand that had four color-coded plugs each corresponding with four color-coded inputs on the stage. These being plugged in was essential to getting sound to come out.

“Kenny, what the heck? Why haven’t you plugged those in?”

Kenny looked up sheepishly, “I’m colorblind. I can’t tell which wire goes with which input.”

“Oh.” I grabbed the wires and 15 seconds later, we had sound.

Maybe when you’re informing an inspired volunteer where they can help, make sure they have the physical ability or basic knowledge necessary to complete the task. Sorry for not checking first, Kenny!

What’s your best volunteer story?

By Matt Murphy - COO, Sojourners

Matt is a regular contributor for the Speak with People Blog, providing valuable insight laced with humor. He has an MBA from the University of Maryland and vast experience working with volunteers.