Four Tips to Increase Retention of Baby Boomer Volunteers

4. Recruit volunteers directly, rather than having corporations recruit their employees to volunteer for you. “An individual that is pressured — or feels pressured — to volunteer by an employer may respond to the initial request but is far less likely to make a long-term commitment,” according to the report.

Putting practices in place to increase volunteer retention rates will increase your overall volunteer rates. As the report states, “Volunteer turnover should be seen as just as undesirable as turnover among paid employees. For most businesses and nonprofits, a 30 percent employee turnover rate would be an indication of a workplace problem. The same should be true for volunteers.”

Cultivating existing volunteers in much the same way you do donors can lead to increased retention, as does viewing volunteers as integral parts of your organization’s success, as opposed to a source of free labor.

To read the complete report, http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/07_0307_boomer_report.pdf