Volunteer Engagement Strategy Versus Tactics for 2023 

Strategy versus tactics – what’s driving your volunteer engagement plan for 2023?  

If you are directly responsible for recruiting and retaining committed volunteers – or are an executive who wants to grow volunteer impact at your organization – now’s the time to come up with your plan for 2023. 

Do you have a plan yet? If not, what’s holding you back? 

The Top Reasons Volunteer-driven Organizations Don’t Have a Plan Yet 

We often hear about the following barriers to getting a plan in place. However, what may lie at the heart of the problem is a lack of past success with planning.  

Many plans are merely a brainstormed list of tasks, responsibilities, and due dates. Rarely do they include deeper thinking about the context of the work and how the organization’s response must be tailored to it.  

In the end it comes down to strategies versus tactics. Many volunteer organizations rely heavily on tactics and forget the strategy that should drive them. 

Regardless of the hesitation in launching the planning process, it’s time to overcome our trepidations. By working through these limiting beliefs now, you will be better positioned to begin planning with confidence. 

Ask yourself – are any of these doubts blocking my ability to get a plan started and completed? 

• I Don’t Have Enough Time to Plan – Frankly speaking, you don’t have enough time NOT to plan.  When you create a strategic vision for volunteer engagement at your organization, accompanied by an implementation strategy and calendar, you can generate support before you start the new year. Only then, can you move forward with confidence without having to stop at every step to run your next plan up the flagpole for approval. Imagine how much time you can save having it all done at once versus in bits and pieces throughout the year.

• Things Are Too Uncertain to Plan – Times of uncertainty and disruption create opportunities for those who are ready to seize them, so the time to act is now. Ask yourself – what are the positives of the changes afoot and how can they help my volunteer strategy? In addition, in times of major uncertainty, it helps to include contingencies when things don’t go entirely to plan. By predicting bumps in the road and how you might react, you can be better prepared.  

• I’d Rather Wait Until Things Calm Down – If you’re waiting flat-footed for some version of “normalcy” to resume, you may be waiting a long time. The COVID-19 pandemic has now become endemic in our lives and the pace of change is only increasing. By having a plan, you are better positioned to weather the winds of change, rather than being blown over by them.

• People Will Be Resistant to Any Changes I Recommend in a Plan – As the saying goes – People are down on what they’re not up on. If you create an annual plan for volunteer engagement that is strategic and inspired, you can then begin to explain it to others and discuss what it will take to get there. Better yet, include both your staunchest supporters and detractors on your planning team, so that you bake in buy-in for the plan before it’s released.

• Having a Plan Won’t Make a Difference – If you are a leader of volunteers who is struggling to get the respect and support you need, or you are an executive who is having a hard time convincing employees that volunteers are the answer, having a documented strategic roadmap for volunteer engagement can be the difference maker. Employees who are not familiar with what goes into volunteer coordination may not see the bigger picture when it comes to volunteers’ impact on the mission. Documenting your plan with details and dates can help others see the vision you already do.

• I Don’t Know Where to Start – If you are a leader who has never developed a strategic plan for volunteer engagement, beyond simply a list of scheduled events and to-dos throughout the years, there’s no time like now. Check out the resource below to help you get started… 

Wonder what goes into a plan? Check out How to Build a Strategic Volunteer Engagement Plan (and Why You Should!) HERE >> 

The Difference Maker: Strategy Versus Tactics 

Once you’ve overcome any barriers or limiting beliefs about developing your plan, it’s time to get the foundation in place. Essential to the process is understanding the difference between strategy and tactics. 

In the volunteer space the term ”strategic volunteer engagement” is used often to describe a new, more innovative way of doing things. So, we thought it might be helpful to describe the difference between strategy versus tactics and how this distinction can affect the success of your planning process. 

Unfortunately, many who are working on a plan will focus most of their energy on developing a list of tactics to get the work done, but it’s strategy that will get you further. 

Strategy versus tactics – What’s the difference? 

Strategy is a focus on a wide lens and the long view. The strategy answers – WHAT will we achieve? 

Tactics are the interim activities taken in the short term to reach the goals outlined in the plan. The tactics answer – HOW will we achieve? 

In general, your organization’s leadership is responsible for the formulation of your agency’s overall strategy, which is detailed in its strategic plan. This planning process will include whatever resources executive leadership considers necessary to that process, which often include staff, board, and volunteers. 

When the volunteer pro is included in the organization’s strategic planning team, the plan is more likely to specifically include volunteers who will be engaged to further the agency’s goals.  

Then the strategic plan for volunteer engagement can be developed to work through the details of how those volunteers will be engaged and supported. 

Staff (and volunteer leaders) also formulate tactics to help achieve the agency’s goals as outlined in the nonprofit strategic plan and define how they will make it work in the day-to-day reality. Through this process, they take steps to translate the “concept” into “reality.” 

Are you ready to get started planning? Check out our VisionWeek strategic planning workshop HERE >> 

Examples of Strategies Versus Tactics for Volunteer Planning 

Your plan for volunteer engagement should include specific strategies that are supported by tactics. In other words, tactics are activities that further your strategy – they go hand in hand.  

In addition, volunteer strategies and tactics should not live in an isolated bubble. To prevent silos, your chosen strategies for volunteer engagement should also roll up to your organization’s larger goals or strategies outlined in your agency’s strategic plan.  

To help you visualize these relationships, below are some examples of organizational goals, supported by volunteer services strategies and tactics. 

• Organizational Goal – Improve outcomes by 25% across all programs by end of year 
  • Volunteer Services Strategy – Ensure the right people are in the right seats and equipped properly to make an impact 
    • Tactic: Assess current KSAs and pinpoint gaps

• Organizational Goal – Increase total number of active volunteers by 15% by end of Q1 
  • Volunteer Services Strategy – Optimize the volunteer lifecycle to reduce turnover and boost retention rates 
    • Tactic: Pinpoint informational and emotional needs at each step of lifecycle  

• Organizational Goal – Engage a team of 3-5 experienced volunteer leaders in each department to aid with employee workload by end of Q1 
  • Volunteer Services Strategy – Re-engage lapsed volunteers to reduce training time and deepen available expertise 
    • Tactic: Develop a specific “win-back” recruitment campaign aimed at former volunteers  

• Organizational Goal – Boost results of fundraising and marketing campaigns through better word-of-mouth and social media shares 
  • Volunteer Services Strategy – Deepen volunteer satisfaction and encourage participation in “tell-a-friend” campaigns 
    • Tactic: Write individual thank you letters to each volunteer  

• Organizational Goal – Ensure volunteer teams are active in furthering the goals of every department by the end of the year 
  • Volunteer Services Strategy – Improve staff buy-in for volunteer involvement across the agency 
    • Tactic: Train all staff on the value of volunteers and their role in supporting them (regardless of their job title) 

As you can see, not all organizational goals mention volunteers directly. However, for many organization-wide goals, volunteer engagement can supply a creative solution that involves volunteer talent. 

By understanding strategy versus tactics, nonprofit staff and develop plans that are more likely to achieve the intended results. 

Further, by aligning organizational goals with the goals of the volunteer program, staff can work more efficiently to reach goals that are designed to be mutually supportive. In addition, it fosters a deeper understanding of the connection between volunteers and the organization’s larger aims.  

Volunteerism becomes not only noble, but necessary to achieving the organization’s biggest goals.