Volunteers: The Nonprofit Organization’s Superheroes
Staffing a nonprofit is essential to working towards the organization's mission. However, nonprofits operate on minimal full-time and part-time staff. So how do core initiatives get accomplished? Meet volunteers, the nonprofit’s superheroes.
Volunteers make the world go round for any nonprofit as they are an extension of staff and become like family. These individuals enable nonprofits to carry out important programs and services.
Volunteers Save Money
Nonprofits have very big hearts but may not have enough resources to pay people for labor. This is why volunteers are so special. These individuals are enthusiastic about helping others and are very committed to seeing projects through until the end. With these dedicated volunteers, nonprofits save thousands of dollars a year but can still offer high quality services and programs.
Volunteers Are Impactful
Imagine if no volunteer showed up for their assigned duties for a week. If that thought caused your heart to skip a beat, that alone shows the impact of these individuals. The support of volunteers fill in the gaps for an organization which allow for important tasks to be accomplished.
Many volunteers are very loyal to the organization and even recruit volunteers to their favorite nonprofit organizations. This typically happens through conversations with their networks. More hands equal more scaling of offered programs.
Volunteers to Donors
Donors are people that are bought into the nonprofit's mission and services. Who knows more about the impact of an organization than a volunteer? Volunteers have their feet on the ground seeing firsthand the impacts on the customers and community and know where donated funds are going.
Remember to Show Volunteers You Care
Volunteers work very hard for nonprofit organizations. As stated throughout this entire blog, the nonprofit would probably not be able to operate without them. Since they aren't on payroll, it’s important to do something nice to show appreciation.
You can show appreciation in many ways. Many organizations send thank you emails after every event; some of those emails even include personalized videos from the nonprofit’s President. Acknowledgement posts on social media is another common way to show thanks to volunteers. Minnetrista hosts a thank you event each year that includes dinner and gifts for the volunteers. Other nonprofits dedicate awards, hand out free swag (Hello, DWNTWN T-shirts!); however your organization recognizes volunteers, be sure that it starts and ends with a THANK YOU.
