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17 posts tagged with "Retention"

Strategies for retaining volunteers

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Year-Round Engagement: Beyond the Annual Event

· 7 min read
Giang (Jen) Tran
Operations & Account Manager
TL;DR
  • Event-only engagement costs you: recruitment overhead, lost institutional knowledge, broken relationships, reduced event quality
  • Build a year-round rhythm: monthly touchpoints (newsletters, spotlights), quarterly deeper engagement (appreciation events, training)
  • Create ongoing opportunities: administrative support, committee roles, mentorship programs between major events
  • Treat volunteers like alumni: stay connected even when inactive, make returning frictionless ("Welcome back!")
  • Retention benchmarks: below 50% signals problems; strong programs achieve 70-80% year-over-year retention

Gamification Done Right: Engaging Volunteers Without Being Gimmicky

· 7 min read
Giang (Jen) Tran
Operations & Account Manager
TL;DR
  • Gamification taps into psychology: recognition, progress tracking, and community connection—not manipulation
  • Avoid common pitfalls: competition that creates stress, trivializing work, recognition without substance, ignoring intrinsic motivation
  • Design authentic recognition: celebrate real accomplishments, make progress visible, create opt-in elements, keep it simple
  • Practical milestones work: hour-based tiers (25/50/100/250/500), tenure badges, event-specific recognition, team achievements
  • Recognition should honor service, not cheapen it—the 500-hour volunteer deserves acknowledgment

The Burnout Crisis: Protecting Your Volunteer Coordinators (and Yourself)

· 7 min read
Giang (Jen) Tran
Operations & Account Manager

I need to talk about something that doesn't get discussed enough in our field: burnout. Not volunteer burnout—though that's real too—but the burnout epidemic affecting the very people who manage volunteer programs. If you're reading this while eating lunch at your desk, answering emails at 9 PM, or wondering when you last took a real vacation, this one's for you.

TL;DR
  • 95% of nonprofit leaders cite burnout as a concern; 75% say it impacts their mission achievement
  • Volunteer coordinators are especially vulnerable: emotional labor, manual administrative burden, and the "do more with less" trap
  • Technology reduces burnout by automating tedious tasks (hour tracking, reminders, reporting) and enabling delegation
  • Structural solutions matter: appropriate staffing, clear boundaries, measuring coordinator wellbeing, and investing in professional development
  • Your wellbeing matters—not just instrumentally, but intrinsically. A burned-out coordinator helps no one

Revolutionizing Volunteer Registration Management

· 4 min read
Giang (Jen) Tran
Operations & Account Manager

The volunteer landscape continues to evolve rapidly in 2025, with registration management taking center stage as organizations compete for committed helpers in an increasingly digital world. With new technologies and shifting volunteer expectations, staying ahead of these trends isn't just nice-to-have, it's essential for organizational success.

THE GIVERS MODEL

· 4 min read
Florence (Fleck) May
President

THE GIVERS MODEL: VOLUNTEER MANAGER MUST READ​

Updated: Feb 26, 2020

Recently I stumbled across a new volunteer management study for growing and retaining event volunteers that stuck with me. The study by Fujiwara, Lawton and Watt has a rather long name, “Using behavioral science to recruit and retain volunteers more effectively” or it is better known as the GIVERS study in the UK where it was commissioned. The study isn’t quite a book but at 140 pages in length you need a little time to invest in reading the entire study.