Volunteers

Your volunteer has two relationships you need to worry about: one with the organization you represent, and one with the mission of that organization. We’ve all seen a volunteer became disenchanted with an organization, but not with the mission...

It’s no secret that volunteers are one of the most important components to the success of your nonprofit and its ability to achieve goals. If volunteers engage in a positive experience with your nonprofit organization, they can fill multiple opportunities of need and take part in your fundraising campaigns. The truth of the matter is that providing an outstanding experience for your volunteers starts from the first communication you have with them...

A cursory search on the Internet for “volunteer handbooks” produces disappointing results. Most examples are no more than a couple of pages stapled together, highlighting dress codes, attendance policies and general volunteering expectations...

While meeting with Turnkey’s clients in New York City this week, a recurring question came up: What is the state of fundraising walks? Is the walk dying off? Will DIY someday edge out the tried and true mainstay that has raised millions—sometimes billions—of dollars for so many nonprofits?...

I have spoken at and attended many of my clients’ national leadership meetings, supporting their peer-to-peer income streams. I have been in a lot of bars (for the sake of science), have been in a lot of conference hotels and have spoken with a lot of volunteer leaders about how they came to be there...

When we look at the people who serve on volunteer leadership committees for nonprofit peer-to-peer fundraising, we assume those people are our highest fundraisers and that’s how they came to be on the committees. Or we assume that these folks have a strong mission connection and that is why they are on the committee...

Evaluating—or re-evaluating—recruiting strategy, community outreach and ways to improve volunteer programs should include a thorough understanding of current trends and changes impacting the nonprofit sector. In conducting our latest research into the state of volunteerism and volunteer screening in America, we asked for feedback from more than 700 nonprofit professionals...

The day after Thanksgiving, the holidays hit full-force. And it’s not just the radio stations blasting “Here Comes Santa Claus” every half hour—it’s the shopping frenzies of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Thankfully, (no pun intended) for the past four years, we’ve had a day to shift the focus away from materialism and back to the true spirit of the holidays: Giving Tuesday...

When the time draws near for the yearly 10K run or the cleaning drive at the local park, nonprofits always call on their volunteers to take the lead and make sure things run smoothly. If your nonprofit hasn’t gotten around to setting up a workflow for volunteer management or if you’re still on the fence about using volunteers...

From 2015 to 2016, the number of nonprofit organizations with 50 or more volunteers increased from 55 percent to 76 percent. Growing numbers of volunteers could mean major benefits to the nonprofit sector. Volunteers are an important source of labor, expanding fundraising networks and saving many organizations thousands of dollars with their unpaid service...