After writing the blog post last week on the need for nonprofits to focus on building an engaged volunteer force, I came across a study recently published by The Journal of Marketing that hypothesizes that today’s volunteer doesn’t want to be intimately involved with the organizations they donate their time to. The writers call this attitude a “Neither Growing nor Fading” (NGNF) relationship. These volunteers want to maintain a more distant and seemingly disinterested relationship with nonprofits. These consumers engage with organizations sporadically but regularly without a desire to deepen the relationship.
The Vienna Red Cross
The study followed Red Cross volunteers in Austria. The organization noticed newer volunteers weren’t as willing to commit to long-term volunteer opportunities. A certain event or need inspired them to help, and then they would be done. They also weren’t interested in having to undergo training or even participate in social activities. They favored shorter, less dedicated, more flexible engagements. Yet, they returned for more opportunities when inspired, just not on a scheduled basis. Furthermore, the activities and messaging the Red Cross was deploying to deepen the relationship with these new volunteers were turning them off.
This is Simultaneously Concerning and Exciting
It’s concerning to know that some of the engagement best practices I’ve always thought were pivotal to building a solid and strong volunteer base may actually be harmful to the strategy. It’s also concerning to know that new volunteers will not be as regularly committed to a cause. I assume that the lack of regular commitment of time is also reflected in their commitment to purse. That can make long-term sustainability challenging for many nonprofits. Regular donors are the lifeblood of most nonprofits.
However, knowledge is power. It’s also exciting to know and understand how the new generations think about volunteering. Now, we can adjust our strategies for recruiting, engaging, and retaining volunteers. In fact, that’s precisely what the Vienna Red Cross did, and the results are fascinating. They focused on two strategies: acquiring and activating NGNF volunteers.
Here’s What They Did
- Embrace the New Volunteering Logic: Accept that volunteers may become dormant between activations and plan accordingly.
- Leverage Media Partnerships: Develop partnerships with reporters to reach larger audiences and use social media to share your organization’s volunteering story and needs, driving traffic to your platforms.
- Understand Volunteer Needs: Identify volunteer profiles for specific jobs and include key skillset information, such as education and training, in the registration form.
- Provide Identifiable Materials: Produce logoed apparel like jackets or baseball caps to identify volunteers during their shifts.
A crucial difference between these strategies and previous engagement strategies is that the relationship is not forced in any way. The Red Cross did not try to bring volunteers back once they finished an engagement until another event or opportunity that fits the volunteer’s interests happened. Even then, the outreach was not to ask for help but to inform them of the opportunity.
It’s a Numbers Game
It’s the equivalent of stuffing the top of the funnel with as many leads (qualified or not) as possible in sales. The Red Cross asked each volunteer to provide detailed information about their interests, preferences, and skills so they could match them to the perfect volunteer opportunity. Then, they enhanced that opportunity to be as personal as possible, hence the branded gear.
What We Don’t Know
What’s also interesting about the study is that the writers didn’t include any tangible results. We don’t know if the Red Cross increased their volunteer force or maintained the retention of new volunteers. They also didn’t include much anecdotal information about how the volunteers or employees felt about the new strategies. Did the volunteers appreciate this approach? Did they feel like they made an impact? Did the volunteer and program managers understand why they were working with untrained and “one-off” volunteers? Did they feel like the volunteers contributed to the mission? I can’t tell from the study
The bottom line is that our understanding why people volunteer is changing. We need to consider how organizations effectively cultivate relationships with volunteers whose interests and motivations are changing.
