What are the best ways to meet volunteer needs and expectations?

1 Understand their motivations

The first step to meeting volunteer needs and expectations is to understand why they chose to volunteer for your organization. Different volunteers may have different motivations, such as learning new skills, making a difference, meeting new people, or fulfilling a personal or professional goal. By knowing their motivations, you can tailor your recruitment, orientation, training, and recognition strategies to match their interests and needs. You can also use surveys, interviews, or focus groups to gather feedback from your volunteers and learn more about their expectations and challenges.

2 Provide clear roles and responsibilities

The second step to meeting volunteer needs and expectations is to provide clear roles and responsibilities for each volunteer position. Volunteers need to know what they are expected to do, how they fit into the bigger picture, and who they can contact for support or guidance. By providing clear roles and responsibilities, you can avoid confusion, frustration, and duplication of work among your volunteers. You can also create a volunteer handbook, a job description, or a contract that outlines the scope, goals, and expectations of each volunteer role.

3 Offer training and development opportunities

The third step to meeting volunteer needs and expectations is to offer training and development opportunities for your volunteers. Volunteers need to feel confident and competent in their tasks, and they also need to learn new skills and grow as individuals. By offering training and development opportunities, you can enhance your volunteers' performance, engagement, and retention. You can also create a learning culture that values feedback, coaching, and mentoring among your volunteers and staff.

4 Communicate effectively and regularly

The fourth step to meeting volunteer needs and expectations is to communicate effectively and regularly with your volunteers. Volunteers need to feel informed, appreciated, and involved in your organization. By communicating effectively and regularly, you can build trust, rapport, and loyalty with your volunteers. You can also share your vision, mission, and goals, update them on the progress and impact of their work, and solicit their input and suggestions. You can use various channels and methods to communicate with your volunteers, such as newsletters, emails, phone calls, social media, or meetings.

5 Recognize and reward their contributions

The fifth step to meeting volunteer needs and expectations is to recognize and reward their contributions. Volunteers need to feel valued, respected, and acknowledged for their work. By recognizing and rewarding their contributions, you can boost their morale, motivation, and satisfaction. You can also inspire them to continue or increase their involvement, and attract new or potential volunteers. You can use various ways to recognize and reward your volunteers, such as certificates, letters, gifts, events, or testimonials.

6 Evaluate and improve your volunteer program

The sixth and final step to meeting volunteer needs and expectations is to evaluate and improve your volunteer program. Volunteers need to see that their feedback and opinions matter, and that you are committed to improving your volunteer program. By evaluating and improving your volunteer program, you can measure your outcomes, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and implement changes or improvements. You can also demonstrate your accountability, transparency, and responsiveness to your volunteers and stakeholders. You can use various tools and techniques to evaluate and improve your volunteer program, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, SWOT analysis, or action plans.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?