How to Convert Your Volunteers into Donors
How a nonprofit treats its volunteers can have far-flung effects on its immediate and long-term results. A nonprofit organization that fosters positive relationships with its volunteers can position itself for success. Meanwhile, the organization also increases the likelihood of converting its volunteers into donors.
Research indicates individuals who volunteer are more likely than others to give to charity. Furthermore, if volunteers feel engaged in their work, their friends and family members may be willing to give money toward their cause.
Your nonprofit wants its volunteers to enjoy what they do. That way, your volunteers can deliver outstanding results. They can even become advocates for your organization, to the point where they donate to it, and encourage others to do the same.
Now, let’s look at four things you can do to encourage your nonprofit volunteers to become donors.
Provide Volunteers with Unforgettable Experiences
Prioritize the volunteer experience. This ensures finding ways to make the experience working with your organization a positive one for every volunteer, every time.
Organizational development can play a key role in delivering terrific volunteer experiences. Your nonprofit can take a top-down approach to identify opportunities to connect with volunteers. This helps to establish and maintain a nonprofit that can consistently keep its volunteers happy.
Generally, it helps to learn from your current volunteers and find out what they have liked and disliked about their experiences with your organization to date. From here, you can gather and analyze feedback and use it to reimagine the volunteer experience.
It is also important that you collect feedback from volunteers regularly. You can then use this feedback to identify innovative ways to engage with volunteers. Over time, these experiences can lead volunteers to commit time and energy to help your organization. They can drive volunteers to donate to your organization as well.
Celebrate and Reward Your Volunteers
Honour your volunteers. You can host a fundraiser that also recognizes your volunteers and those who support your nonprofit. These events create golden opportunities to celebrate your volunteers’ achievements. They open the door to invite volunteers to donate to your organization.
You can also award volunteers who go above and beyond the call of duty. For example, trophies and other accolades let you show your volunteers you appreciate their hard work and dedication. . At the same time, they lay the groundwork for long-lasting relationships with volunteers that may lead these individuals to become donors.
Of course, you should celebrate and award volunteers without the intent of getting donations from them. If you treat your volunteers with the respect and dignity they deserve, they will likely do the same toward your organization. Therefore, these volunteers may be more prone than ever before to support your organization in any way possible.
Let Volunteers Share Their Experiences
Ask volunteers to tell others about their experiences with your nonprofit. You can publish volunteer experiences on your nonprofit’s website, in a newsletter, or on social media. Or, volunteers can post videos online that describe their experiences with your organization.
Your volunteers may have a lot to say about your nonprofit and its dedication to its community. By letting your volunteers share their experiences with others, you give them opportunities to advocate on behalf of your organization. As a result, they can tell others why they should support your nonprofit through volunteering or donations.
Moreover, allowing your volunteers to share their experiences shows you value what they have to say about your nonprofit. It illustrates your trust in your volunteers and gives them opportunities to express how they feel about your organization. Ultimately, this may lead volunteers to feel a strong connection to your nonprofit. And it can increase the likelihood that your volunteers or people they know will donate to your organization.
Be Inclusive and Diverse
Encourage people of all backgrounds to volunteer with your nonprofit. This helps you create a culture where inclusion and diversity reign supreme. It lets you highlight your organization’s commitment to fostering equity, too.
Volunteers are often willing to make sacrifices to support the greater good. By showcasing your nonprofit’s devotion to inclusion, diversity, and equity, you can generate trust with people in your community. This can help you get people to volunteer to complete myriad tasks across your organization. Moreover, it can drive volunteers to give money to your organization to further promote its mission, goals, and values.
Keep the lines of communication open with volunteers, to learn how you can enhance your inclusion, diversity, and equity initiatives. The more you connect with your volunteers, the more you can learn from them. This can result in positive relationships with volunteers, along with donations from them.
Enhance Your Relationships with Volunteers and Donors
There are many things your nonprofit can do to convert its volunteers into donors. Regardless, you must do everything in your power to continuously enhance your relationships with volunteers, donors, and anyone else who engages with your organization.
Anyone can volunteer or donate to your organization. If you work diligently on behalf of your stakeholders, you can identify the best ways to connect with them. The result: your nonprofit engages with stakeholders, expands its volunteer and donor base, and thrives long into the future.
About the Author
Ainsley Lawrence
