08 Feb Engage and Retain Volunteers: 3 Marketing Strategies For Your Nonprofit

The success of any nonprofit organization is influenced by its volunteers. It’s estimated that volunteers contribute nearly $200 billion in value to U.S. communities, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and AmeriCorps. With the help of these dedicated individuals, a nonprofit can achieve its mission and impact the community. For this reason, nonprofits must have an effective strategy to retain their volunteers. Here are three marketing strategies you can use to keep your volunteers engaged with your nonprofit organization and ensure long-term volunteer commitment.

Keep Volunteers Updated on Their Impact 

Volunteer retention is a crucial concern for nonprofit leaders, and one way to ensure that volunteers stick around is by keeping them informed about the impact of their work. Most often, volunteers are motivated by a desire to make a difference, so nonprofit leaders need to ensure they feel their work is making a difference. This can be done via email, newsletters, or social media platforms. When you show your volunteers the results of their efforts, they’ll feel more inclined to continue to engage with your organization.

Ensure They Feel a Part of the Team 

An effective way to retain your volunteers as nonprofit leaders is by keeping them engaged and making them feel a part of the team. This includes recognizing their efforts and creating a community with other volunteers. Here are some ways to develop a sense of inclusion

• Create a private social media group for volunteers to connect and support each other and post updates about their work and accomplishments.
• Give your volunteers access to inside information, such as staff meetings or conference calls so that they can stay informed about the organization’s activities and plans.
• Encourage volunteers to develop new ideas, suggest improvements, and share feedback with staff members.

By creating meaningful relationships with volunteers and ensuring they feel like they’re a part of your team, nonprofit leaders can ensure that their organizations retain their volunteers and reach their goals.

Utilize Social Media To Show Your Appreciation 

Social media is a powerful tool for nonprofits to utilize for increasing donations and showing your volunteers how much you appreciate them and their commitment. Highlighting and showing off your volunteers on social media boosts morale and serves as a reminder of their work’s value. In addition, creating posts, images, or video clips fosters a sense of community within your organization.

As you can see, many marketing strategies can be used to engage and retain your volunteers! We’d love to hear what your organization does!

 About Jennifer Vickery: Jennifer is the President and CEO of National Strategies Public Relations, a PR firm that focuses on nonprofits and organizations with corporate social responsibility initiatives. Her background is in national public relations campaigns, where she oversees every aspect of PR strategy utilizing her 16+ years of senior-level experience. She’s worked for hundreds of national clientele through every facet of PR. Jennifer has extensive experience, including writing a regular column for a newspaper, producing a health television segment, serving as a radio personality for advocacy issues, producing a weekly radio show, to owning and running a successful public relations firm. Jennifer states media relations, community outreach and goodwill, in addition to strategic planning, as her favorite aspects of PR.

Jennifer is truly inspired and lives every day knowing she is making an impact on the lives of people in the community by providing expert information and the best-of-the-best in businesses, community involvement and goodwill.