14 Apr Four Inspiring Ways to Keep Volunteers Engaged Using Public Relations

By Jennifer Vickery, National Strategies Public Relations

One of the top concerns we heard from our nonprofits this and last year is the need for more volunteers. With the COVID pandemic, many volunteers dropped off to focus on their own health, safety and priorities. Also, jobs changed dramatically this past year, creating new circumstances for many people (either moving for work, new job hours, etc.) therefore limiting their volunteering capacity.

From a public relations perspective, here are four tips that can help engage your volunteer base; keeping them onboard longer and more involved while attracting new volunteers.

1. Tell your story: many people don’t just simply volunteer; they act in service to truly help others and connect with the community. A great way to connect them with your community is to tell the story of how they will help actual people by volunteering. This can be in the form of how many people they’re feeding, how many lives they’re saving, how many people are getting access to help, etc. Connecting the real details with their efforts is sure to make a difference when people consider volunteering. Instead of ‘We need volunteers from 1 to 4 p.m. to prep bags of food,’ state, ‘We need volunteers from 1 to 4 p.m. to create bags to feed 60 local families this weekend.’
2. Find out your volunteer’s stories: Why do they volunteer? What makes them so passionate? Everyone has a story and finding out about your volunteers’ is a terrific way to understand them better and to highlight their background. You can send your volunteer’s story to media outlets, spotlight on social media, your nonprofit’s newsletter and more! Imagine getting heart-felt news coverage featuring your volunteer’s story all while garnering awareness from a mass audience (the news) for your organization.
3. Plan engaging activities each month: This can be a Zoom call coffee break to get everyone together or an activity that is fun, enjoyable and helps the mission. Don’t let your volunteers hear from you only once a year! Keep them engaged all year long. Create 12 ideas and stick to them!
4. Have a PR committee: Ask volunteers interested in getting the organization’s message heard to be a part of a committee that can share ideas and contribute to new partnerships and resources.

Your volunteers make such a big difference in so many lives;  getting them engaged for the long run is an essential piece to your nonprofit’s success.

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.