Why Volunteers Quit

Those of you who know me reasonably well know that I've been in development for about a decade now, and have also been involved with many nonprofits and organizations. Over the years, an issue that's always concerned me has been volunteer turnover and burnout. And I'm extrapolating here both from nonprofits and all-volunteer organizations to for-profit businesses and other more commercial enterprises -- because, let's face it, even in a business environment there's a gulf between what's required and what a lot of people choose to do.

But, too, every environment loses people and loses talent because, for whatever reason, the talent isn't motivated or engaged appropriately or well enough, and as a result the talent chooses to apply itself elsewhere.

Listed in no particular order are some of the reasons this happens:

• Burn out -- Usually this happens when willing volunteers find themselves unable or unwilling to contribute to the degree demanded by the organization.



• Cool out -- When people who offer their talent find it unused. Usually they're offering because they have a desire to contribute. And if your organization won't give them a meaningful way to contribute, they contribute elsewhere.



• A lack of context -- What are we doing, why are we doing it, and what does it matter if we do it? People volunteer to achieve things. They want to see the significance of their work.



• Static opportunity -- People volunteer out of enlightened self-interest, and one thing they're interested in is taking on more responsibility, learning new things, and being able to grow within their volunteer role.



• Excluded stakeholders -- Usually this means the volunteer's family, who may not have a meaningful way to be involved in the volunteer's philanthropy, and may resent the conflict that volunteering can create with shared time. However, there are a lot of people competing for your volunteer's time and attention, and if you want to avoid losing your volunteer you have to keep this in mind and engage those competing interests as well.



• A Bad Environment -- People volunteer because they enjoy it. And when they don't enjoy it, they quit. Usual reasons for this are that they don't feel well-enough respected, they're not having fun doing it, etc.

So, what's the solution? There are many things that can improve issues with volunteer morale, but it all comes down to the Aretha Franklin Solution: R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.

Sorry for the hokey rhyme, but this really is approximately 90% of the solution to issues with volunteer engagement.

Broken down:

1. Give respect to your volunteers, your stakeholders, and your staff. If your professionalism is lacking, fix that first. Nothing is more detrimental to morale than the failure to communicate appropriately and respectfully with everyone who's engaged in the mission of your organization.

A corollary to this is that transparency and fair practices will serve you well.

2. "Find out what it means to me" means exactly that -- what is meaningful to your stakeholders? There are some stakeholders who want a limited role -- they may want to be respected and given relatively free reign to perform tasks which they feel adept at performing. Do that for them. Others will want to grow, to learn, and to get more deeply engaged with the organization -- help them do that. Keep in mind that while they give you their time, talent, and treasure, you're also giving them a meaningful way to be engaged in your organization. Take your side of the exchange seriously.

Summarized greatly, do what, within the needs of your organization, would be meaningful for your volunteers. That's how you keep them.