Four Tips for a Successful Volunteer Program

Cheryl Pompeo

Most nonprofits readily embrace the idea of a volunteer program. Every nonprofit has tasks they lack resources to complete and enjoy having help from individuals who support their mission. However, starting a volunteer program and keeping it running is something to approach with care. Here are some tips to ensure your volunteer program runs smoothly.

Spread the word. One of the best ways to recruit volunteers is to be highly visible in the community. This can take several forms. Spread the word about your activities by having a good website and being actively engaged on social media. Use current volunteers to recruit new volunteers — people sympathetic to your cause often have friends who also identify with your mission. It’s hard to predict who will be drawn to your mission or good works, so exposing the largest possible number of people to your nonprofit is the best way to attract volunteers. Make sure all your communications project a clear brand and message and get your name in front of community members as often as possible by participating in local events where you can interact with like-minded people.

Focus on fit. Often, a volunteer will say “I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” but a nonprofit needs to drill deeper and find the right role for the volunteer. It’s always best to go over the opportunities and help guide a volunteer to select a role in which they will find value and feel they can make an impact. Putting someone in a job just because it has to be done can backfire if it isn’t a good fit for the volunteer. Get to know your volunteers. Talk to them and find out what attracts them to the work you do. Once you know your volunteers’ interests and motivations, you can find roles in your organization that suit their preferences and personalities.

Show appreciation. The relationship with volunteers must be stewarded like any other. Talk to volunteers to learn what type of recognition is most meaningful. Some volunteers are modest and don’t want accolades. Some enjoy having their photo in Facebook, whereas others really feel adequately rewarded by a warm and heartfelt thank you note. Creating opportunities for regular interaction with other volunteers and holding volunteer events can reinforce your appreciation and keep volunteers connected to your organization.

Check in regularly. It’s good to have ongoing contact with volunteers. As the relationship develops, ask for their feedback. After an event, ask what they think went well or didn’t? How would they have done things differently? Invest time in showing that you value your volunteer’s opinion. The stronger the relationship becomes, the more likely it is that the volunteer will bring more resources and contacts, which would be a long term win for the organization.

Whether your nonprofit is starting a new volunteer program or wants to improve an existing one, Dunleavy can help. We work with institutions large and small to build programs that set them—and their volunteers—up for success. To learn more about what Dunleavy & Associates can do for your nonprofit, contact us today.

About the author: Cheryl Pompeo is Senior Project Manager at Dunleavy & Associates. She brings nearly a decade of experience in special event and volunteer management experience to the firm. Formerly a Director of Special Events and a Regional Executive Director for a Philadelphia area healthcare nonprofit, Cheryl also specializes in campaign fundraising, corporate development, donor cultivation, board and committee development, and program delivery. Cheryl uses her knowledge to help Dunleavy’s clients strategically plan and implement endurance events, including walks, runs, and marathon campaigns.

What can be done to get our nonprofit board focused on fundraising?

By Nancy Dunleavy

In a perfect nonprofit world, all of your board members would be fundraising champions. They’d flip their rolodex from back to front to back again, seeking donations from friends and colleagues, and even reach deep into their own wallets to ensure the financial stability of the organization they’ve committed to support.

While such boardroom all-stars do exist, it’s rare that an organization is fortunate enough to have an entire roster of them. It’s actually a more common problem for a nonprofit to struggle with board members who are disengaged or reluctant to participate in the fundraising process. So what can be done to drum up the support that your nonprofit needs?

Really, it comes down to inspiration trumping hesitation. Many board members are not accustomed to the relationship cultivation and solicitation that is required to land major donations, and are fearful because they don’t know how to do it. It’s the job of a nonprofit’s leadership to work with such board members to help them feel both passionate about the cause and confident in the fundraising process.

Board members will often gravitate toward special-event fundraising such as selling tickets to a cocktail party or a golf outing, because it’s an easy way to solicit support without having to make the case in person. However, leadership should help board members realize that people typically only give major donations to other people, not to paper. Even the most inspiring newsletter can’t match the emotional connection of a face-to-face appeal.

Board members are best equipped to make these appeals when they’re passionate about what they’re “selling.” Leadership should help board members identify which services speak most to them, and make them the heart of each person’s appeal. For example, as chairwoman of the Gwynedd Mercy University Board of Trustees, I have gravitated toward supporting internship programs for students because I believe in the power of real world experience.

The success of these internship programs in helping students to secure jobs, and companies to cultivate promising employees, has given me confidence in asking for donations. It’s much easier for me to solicit donations for the programs when I believe in their purpose and have evidence of their importance.

Leadership can also help assuage the concerns of board members by reassuring them that success rates are higher than they might think. While its unrealistic to expect a 100 percent conversion rate, prospects will more often than not become donors when courted by an honest and enthusiastic board member. Even better, it only takes the landing of one major donor to receive a potentially transformative donation that even the best golf outing could never match.

About the author: Nancy Dunleavy is the President and CEO of Dunleavy & Associates, which she founded in 2001. Chair of Gwynedd Mercy University Board of Trustees, Nancy also serves on the Board of Directors of The Union League of Philadelphia, and is Treasurer of Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board.  She is a popular public speaker and has received numerous accolades for her work and leadership, but most prides herself on being an “extraordinary talent scout” in recruiting phenomenal clients, colleagues, and collaborators.

Non-Profit Strategic Planning with a For-Profit Mindset

By Carolyn Rammel

In the for-profit world, much of an organization’s success is tied to producing a solid return on the investments of its shareholders and continuously increasing shareholder and enterprise value. For most non-profit organizations, this concept of return on investment (ROI), or shareholder/enterprise value, gets ignored. While it is true non-profit organizations do not have traditional “shareholders,” they do have investors. And these investors are looking to understand the impact (return) their investments are making.

But before an organization can report on an investor or funder’s return, it must first determine for itself the impact its mission and work is looking to create. Until this is clearly articulated, an organization cannot measure and monitor its success and ROI. So, how can non-profits incorporate this performance and measurement based mindset? For most it will start with a strategic planning initiative.

During the strategic planning process, the mission is affirmed and adjusted and the impact of that mission is clearly defined. Determining how the organization will assess its performance against those impact goals comes next. And it is this assessment practice, as defined by the non-profit, (not its funders), that establishes a true culture of performing to outcomes and knowing if one is on or off track in achieving the mission.

Not all non-profits find it easy to shift from a purely mission-aligned strategy to one based on impact and outcomes. What is the actual financial impact of putting someone in a home of his or her own? It’s incalculable. Yet, even when impact is difficult to measure in a quantifiable way, the idea of managing to an outcome or managing to a specific action in and of itself, still counts.

Having an external consultant facilitate this process is very helpful because initially, managing to outcomes is scary. The right consulting partner preserves an atmosphere of safety and trust while simultaneously revealing exciting possibilities. As seasoned strategic planning partners we help non-profits think deeply about their mission. We help design a pathway for achieving that mission, and set up management approaches to support the collection of data to channel into quantitative claims that not only satisfy funders, but ensure organizations have a clear method for understanding whether they are achieving their mission.

Once an organization reaches the end of this process, its leaders have immense confidence and clarity. They develop a culture of alignment because everyone knows what they are doing, why they are doing it, and just how well they are doing it. And it is in this moment of clarity and alignment that outcomes and ROI become benchmarks of success rather than merely data points.

About the author: Carolyn Rammel is a seasoned executive and consultant with 30 years of experience in the financial services, travel management, non-profit and consulting services industries. She has held leadership roles in marketing and product management, executed numerous international joint venture initiatives, and served as executive director of a Philadelphia based non-profit organization. As a consultant she specializes in the areas of strategic planning, facilitation, governance and leadership alignment, while teaching an executive global leadership program in locations around the world.

How a volunteer planning committee can make or break a signature event

By Kate Goffredo Dougherty

A signature event can be a truly seminal moment for a nonprofit. Execute well, and your organization is likely to receive a windfall of donations and a surge of support from stakeholders and prospects. Execute poorly, and you may find yourself with dwindling coffers and finger-pointing within the ranks.

That’s a lot of responsibility to place upon the shoulders of a volunteer planning committee. Fortunately, there are tried and true methods that Dunleavy & Associates has honed while helping to plan signature events for our nonprofit clients.

The first thing we tell any nonprofit in the early stages of planning an event is to assemble a committee of volunteers with a diverse set of networks and availability. It’s best that committee members have varying work schedules, ensuring someone is always available to complete tasks, and also varying social and professional networks, creating a large pool from which to solicit funds. A tried-and-true recipe is to have high-powered committee members use their network to pursue large donations, while volunteers with more free time handle day-to-day administrative or communications tasks.

Once you have formed the volunteer planning committee for a signature event, the next step is to organize. Subcommittees and their chairpersons should be selected on merit, and tasked with clearly defined responsibilities. Exact positions will vary based on the needs of each event, but all subcommittees will work best when chairs are chosen for their skill set and experience, not their seniority or patronage. In most cases, it’s wise to select a committee chairperson who is high-energy and experienced in planning, and who can take charge, grease the wheels daily, and motivate the committee throughout the process.

Perhaps just as important as utilizing the strengths of the people you do have, is to recognize the weaknesses presented by skills that are lacking. Common examples are organizations that are planning an event for the first time and don’t have experience in securing a location, or those that lack the capacity to handle the large volume of communications that successful event planning requires.

You’ll need to fill these gaps, lest one becomes the Achilles heel of your event. If you’re unable to find the expertise or capacity required within your own network, it’s at this point that enlisting the services of a firm such as Dunleavy & Associates should be considered.

Once you have all of your role players in place, it’s crucial to make sure everyone knows what is expected of them and follows through on those responsibilities. Often times, well-meaning subcommittee members will step outside the lines; a person responsible for securing a location will start nosing around the catering menu, or a volunteer tasked with calling donors will start shopping around for flower arrangements. While their intentions are to help, such blurring of responsibilities often ends up wasting time and annoying committee members already assigned to those tasks.

If you’re not sure you have the right people or enough experience to knock your next signature event out of the park, be sure to follow these best practices and consider bringing an organization like Dunleavy & Associates on board if there are gaps within your volunteer team.

About the author: Kate Goffredo Dougherty is Senior Project Manager, Operations at Dunleavy & Associates. With a background in nonprofit administration, Kate oversees the lion's share of Dunleavy's operations, and shares her expertise with clients seeking to improve their operational and organizational management. She also specializes in event planning.

How can nonprofits maintain authentic donor relationships throughout the year?

by Debi Hoxter

Congratulations! You’ve identified, cultivated and solicited your donor and he/she has just made a major gift (the amount of a major gift will vary depending on the size of your organization).

At this point, many nonprofits believe their work is complete, but nothing could be further from the truth, for this is when authentic donor stewardship begins.

What is authentic donor stewardship? It is the stewarding of the individual, not just the gift, and is grounded in the desire to treat donors as partners by honoring their generosity and demonstrating how their gifts make a difference.

Remember, donors have contributed to your nonprofit because they feel a connection to your organization, its mission and the individuals involved. Nurturing donor relationships enables those who give to connect more deeply to your organization and those you serve and, as a result, make future contributions. Follow these steps to keep them connected to your nonprofit and aware their gift is appreciated.

Step One: Learn a prospective donor’s stewardship expectations before the gift is secured – or soon after

Ask the donor prospect what would be the most meaningful way to steward his/her gift, and what that would look like. Importantly, determine his/her preferred means of communication early on and for all outreach going forward, whether it be by phone or email (donors always appreciate being asked). This conversation enables you to learn more about who the donor is and what motivates him/her to give.

Step Two: Place a phone call within 24 hours of receiving the gift

Within 24 hours a phone call should be placed by your organization’s Executive Director/CEO and the person with whom the donor has the closest relationship. There is nothing that can substitute for a gracious and heartfelt “thank you,” and a donor will always remember the personal outreach.

Step Three: Send a personalized acknowledgment letter within two business days of receiving the gift

Ideally, a letter should be sent to acknowledge the donor’s gift within two days of receipt. If a template is used to create the letter, it should be personalized so that it appears to be written specifically for that donor and the donor’s partner should also be acknowledged in the letter. The dollar value of the gift should be listed in the letter and a brief explanation of the gift’s benefit to the organization.

The acknowledgment letter should always include a short, handwritten post-script.

Step Four: Communicate with your donor throughout the year to demonstrate the impact of his or her gift

Oftentimes donors feel that the nonprofit they support communicates with them only when it’s time to solicit another gift. To set your organization apart, it is critical to build your donor relationships throughout the year through authentic, customized stewardship tactics, identifying a plan that is meaningful to each donor.

For example, invite the donor to visit your organization and make introductions to staff and clients who have benefited from their generosity. Similarly, a letter from a staff member or client expressing his thanks to your donor for his gift and its impact is especially meaningful.

Smaller, donor-only events are also an ideal way to express thanks to your donors and build a sense of camaraderie among your donor base. If your nonprofit has just completed a renovation, plan an event to thank donors for their contributions and conduct first-look tours of the new offices. For those who prefer one-on-one interactions, a lunch invitation to update a donor on how his or her gift is impacting your organization would be especially meaningful.

Step Five: Make personal connections/touches throughout the year

Staying in touch on a personal basis throughout the year is certain to build your relationships with donors. Invite your donor to participate in a Career Day if applicable to your organization. Send your donor a note when a child is getting married or if a grandchild is born. These milestones should be in your database of details gathered during the cultivation step. Or, in lieu of the standard holiday card, consider sending a Thanksgiving card that expresses your gratitude.

Most important is creating a stewardship plan for each donor and developing a calendar of “touches” throughout the year. Dunleavy & Associates’ development professionals have the expertise to guide you throughout the donor cultivation, solicitation and stewardship process. To learn more, visit our website at http://matchingmissions.com

About the author: Debi Hoxter is Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations at Dunleavy & Associates. Pulling from her prior experience as Executive Director, Corporate Underwriting at WHYY, Debi works with clients to build donor and corporate relationships and create strategies for meeting revenue goals. She began her career in advertising, working first at Ted Bates and Grey advertising agencies in New York before serving as Advertising Sales Manager at Philadelphia Magazine.