Re-designing Volunteer Roles for the Modern World: Part 1

In my nonprofit training and consulting practice, I often hear a common challenge repeated about volunteer roles. In short, that what’s on offer doesn’t meet the preferences and needs of today’s volunteers.

The result? Lackluster volunteer recruitment and high turnover of volunteer talent.

The fact is that time has become more valuable. People don’t feel like they have enough of it. And, with COVID, they only want to spend it on truly meaningful actions.

This reshuffling of priorities is also impacting nonprofits.

Volunteers are busier than ever, and more selective about how they spend their time, making it difficult to make long-term commitments to an organization.

But volunteer-driven organizations still need deep, ongoing volunteer support to meet their missions.

The community challenges nonprofits are working to resolve aren’t easy. And they often lack the budget, expertise, and paid workforce to get it all done.

An active, engaged volunteer workforce can make all the difference between simply limping along or making a large and sustained impact.

But, like any great collaboration, it’s going to take some creativity to bridge the divide between what volunteers want and what nonprofits need.

It will require some creative thinking and a willingness to re-consider how volunteer roles are designed.

In this blog post, we’ll break down the kinds of roles that might be offered and how to approach re-constructing them to appeal to our valued supporters.

11 Diverse Types of Volunteer Roles

First, it helps to understand the diverse array of options volunteer-involving organizations have at their fingertips when it comes to volunteer roles.

Below are eleven different ways to engage volunteer talent and expertise to help you build the community support you need to meet your mission head on.

While you may believe that there is only one type of volunteer than can meet a need, the reality is that there are many ways to engage talent and arrive at the same place.

Some of these volunteer types might overlap at your organization, or you may not include them at all yet. This list helps you explore a wider range of options than you may have been aware of.

Also, important to note – volunteer roles are not intended to replace paid employees. Rather, they supplement their work and can expand it into communities you may not have reached yet.

Volunteers also offer an added layer of community credibility, and their presence can improve the experiences of your customers, clients, patrons, or patients.

Wondering how to differentiate between volunteers and employees? Check out What is a Volunteer? The Difference Between Supporters & Employees HERE >>

So, read on with an open mind, and think about how each might be deployed inside your organization to help get things done.

Traditional

One of the most common volunteer roles, the traditional (also known as formal volunteering) volunteer role is generally highly structured and requires a regular commitment or schedule on the part of volunteers. In general, the expectation is that volunteers stay for at least six months, but often a year or more. These are often trained direct service volunteers, but can also include administrative roles, as well.

Examples include – tutors, healthcare navigators, reception desk, friendly visitors, dog walkers, museum docents, intake specialists, meal delivery drivers, and more.

Governance

Governance volunteers have a special role to play in nonprofit organizations, whether they be all-volunteer run or inlcude a mix of volunteer and paid employees. Governance volunteers, most often part of a nonprofit’s unpaid board of directors, are the peak authority for finances, sustainability, and risk management. Nonprofit boards also hire and set the compensation for the CEO and executive director who manages the day-to-day operations. Governance volunteers should also review and approve all policies related to the engagement and support of all other types of volunteers at the organization.

Examples include – board of directors, task forces, committees, advisory groups, trustees, and more

Event-based

A second common type of volunteer are volunteers who organize and support special events. They may participate in a single event, or they may return every year to support the same event. Events can be for the benefit of the community, as in arts and culture and sporting events, can be for the benefit of supporters, or can raise funds for the organization or coalition that is in charge.

Examples include – fun run safety teams, festival ticket takers, concert ushers, pancake breakfast cooks, info tabling, and more

Project-based

Project-based volunteers commit to working on a single project with a beginning, middle and an end. While they may be a pro bono volunteer (see below), they do not necessarily come equipped with professional-level expertise. Also, they can either be trained to follow a specific process for a project or develop their own way of doing things. They may also be involved in organizing special events.

Examples include – robotics competitions coaches, sport league coaches, campaign phone banking or canvassing teams, gala committees, sporting event organizers, and more

Pro Bono

Pro bono (also known as skills-based) volunteers are most associated with attorneys who contribute their time, but there are a variety of other professions who might be engaged as well. These kinds of volunteers have specific expertise that is often licensed or requires a degree, but not always. In most cases, they have knowledge or expertise that the nonprofit doesn’t not have in its current employee talent pool. Pro bono volunteers can be brought on for a one-time, project-based, or ongoing on-call basis depending on the need and availability of the volunteer.

Examples include – legal advisors, website designers, strategic planners, instructional designers, technology consultants, loaned executives, medical professionals, and more

Service-Learning

Service-learning is gaining popularity in both secondary and post-secondary educational environments to compliment student learning. In this type of volunteer experience, students learn theories in the classroom and then get real-world experience with a non-profit or public sector agency. The focus in in grow skills in a structured experience that also includes reflection activities to deepen understanding.

Examples include – citizen science projects, tax preparers, advocacy work, communications campaigns, research and data analysis, and more

For more on service-learning, check out our 8 Free Service-Learning Resources for Better Internships HERE >>

Internships

While some internships can be categorized as service-learning, not all include the same level of structured curriculum. Internships can be initiated by learners or their school, and they are focused on building workplace knowledge and skills. Internships may be unpaid, paid an hourly rate, or offered a stipend. If you decided to pay your interns, make sure you follow labor laws.

Examples include – project launches, food drives, rescue animal enrichment, executive leadership support, program development, perception surveying, and more

Make sure you’re following all of the legal guidelines; check out Volunteer Stipends, Interns, and Employee Volunteers: Some Important Things to Know HERE >>

Travel-based

Also known as volun-tourism, travel-based volunteer roles include travel away from home, sometimes out of country but also nearby. This travel may be paid for by the volunteer or the organization. Students are often seeking service projects and ways to make a difference during alternative spring breaks. Retirees are also seeking new and meaningful ways to spend their “second careers” as volunteers.

Examples include – travel companions for people with special needs, camp counselors, home builders, trail maintenance, and more

Mission-based

Similar to travel-based volunteers, mission-based volunteers often work away from home to support a faith-based imitative often sponsored by their congregation or place of worship. Mission-based volunteers may also work in their own communities.

Examples include – clothing drives, disaster relief and humanitarian aid, advocacy campaigns, vacation bible school, sports or cultural activities, tutoring, and more

Micro

Micro-volunteers (also referred to as “slacktivists”) take small actions, in 30 minutes or less, that contribute to a greater whole. Often, these actions are taken using a digital device and app. These opportunities directly meet the needs of busy volunteers who want to help but need flexible short-term ways to do so.

Examples include – petition signing, letter writing, tell-a-friend campaigns, making phone calls, peer-to-peer fundraising, social media advocacy, completing a survey, and more

Self-activated

Also known as informal volunteers, self-activated volunteers contribute time and talent most often in their own communities in reaction to a natural disaster, war or conflict, or disease. They most often work outside a formal organization and may even develop their own informal network. During COVID millions of people stepped forward to help neighbors, friends, and family navigate tough circumstances bringing needed supplies and support. Similarly, during floods, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes, local community members are often the first lie of support to those in their community.

Examples include – filling sandbags in a flood area, driving a neighbor to a doctor’s appointment, sharing food and water, cleaning up damaged property, conducting food, setting up fundraising campaigns for a local family, setting up a schedule for meal delivery to a neighbor in need, and more

It’s important to note that none of these options are intended to completely replace another. Rather, several types of roles can be combined to more effectively successful attain the organizations strategic objectives through the engagement of community talent.

Different organizations will decide to use them differently. The goal is to increase the variety, and thus flexibility, of what you can offer volunteers who want to make a difference.

FREE Tool: Map Your Volunteer Onboarding Journey

As you plan for your new roles, take steps to ensure your new volunteers stay happy. Sometimes nonprofits lose sight of what their new volunteers might need. So, take a moment to pause and consider their points of view.

A tremendous amount of time and energy goes into finding and selecting volunteer talent. Consider how a purposeful, integrated new volunteer induction process might ensure deeper commitment and foster future volunteer leaders.

Use our free Volunteer Experience Roadmap to chart your new volunteer journey step-by-step and see how it can help propel your mission forward.

Through thoughtful journey mapping, you can …

Enhance Value – What do volunteers need (or not need)?
Streamline Recruitment and Onboarding – What’s the most efficient way to go about things?
Deploy Team Members – What’s the best way to involve your team at each touch point?
Achieve Outcomes – What tools, technology, and training does the team need?