The good news for non-profits that depend on the labors of volunteers is that more people are taking to heart the old adage, "the most valuable thing you can give of yourself
is not your money, but your time." A study from the Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofits, foundations and corporations, reveals an all-time high for volunteering in
recent years: over 56% of adults over 18 gave 19.9 billion hours of service in 1998.
But there are many concerns competing for that almost-20 billion hours of service, and recruiting volunteers is no church-charity cakewalk. Understaffed nonprofits must devise
crafty ways to entice warm bodies on the cheap. Organizations doing work in areas that typically aren't as attractive to volunteers must work harder to get them (for example, most
people would rather supervise activities for homeless kids than deliver meals to AIDS patients.) And because most volunteers tend to do so occasionally, retaining top-quality
people to fulfill an organization's mission is an even more daunting challenge.
"One of our missions is to engage people in what we do," says Steven Spalos, executive director of City Year Boston. His organization recruits teens and twenty-somethings to
dedicate a year of their lives to urban renewal projects. "We have a saying, if a tree falls in the woods, try to have as many people as possible hearing it."
One way that Spalos' organization draws recruits is effective, low-cost, and very visual. A few times a week several hundred City Year volunteers, clad in work-boots,
khakis, and red windbreakers, invade a huge plaza near the city's Government Center subway stop to do calisthenics. The group exercises, barked military-style, epitomize City
Year's collective identity and dedication to teamwork. It's great grassroots branding, because both working professionals and students - two groups the organization targets to
volunteer - drive by and walk through the open space. "We do have people inquire about who we are and what we are about," says City Year recruitment director Sam Williams.
And City Year has also found practical ways to foster volunteer interest at the corporate level. The organization works with area companies who give regular financial support
to recruit "corporate captains." The "captains," identified as more socially-aware employees by their managers, are conduits to spread the word internally about upcoming projects,
usually massive one-day cleanup efforts in drug-infested neighborhoods. "Captains work with us to generate excitement, distribute promotional materials, to answer the questions of
people who've never volunteered before," says Spalos. "These are go-getters in these companies dying to separate themselves from the rest of the pack."
Appreciation Is the Best Retention Tool
Kim Cates knows that her volunteers as less likely to get that feeling of instant satisfaction that goes along with restoring inner-city neighborhoods. She's program
coordinator of the Boston Chapter of the Samaritans, a 24-hour suicide hotline. Cates has found that recruiting efforts aimed not only at people who want to give something back to
the community, but also at those who might be interested in pursuing a career in mental health services, have been a great way to keep a reliable staff of 120 round-the-clock
volunteers. So Sociology and Psychology departments at local colleges and universities are a significant source of volunteers for the Samaritans. The organization has gone a step
further with some of the colleges and universities in the area and set up partnerships that offer students class credit for their work on the hotline.
Cates says that a little appreciation goes a long way when it comes to retaining volunteers. "When we send them birthday cards you would think that we sent them a Rolls Royce,"
she says. Also, it's important to keep volunteers in the loop about an organization's overall impact. Cates regularly mails cards that let volunteers know how many calls the
hotline is taking, and how their individual efforts are making a difference for hundreds.
(Independent Sector, 202/467-6100; Spalos, 617/927-2344; Williams, 617/927-2472; Cates, 617/536-2460)
One place to find volunteers is so obvious that many nonprofits might not even think to look. Barbara Brown, principal and co-owner of Brown Flynn Communications in Cleveland,
Ohio, says why not hit up your board? "It can't hurt to ask the executives on your board of trustees to recruit volunteers from their companies," she says. For example, Inc.
Magazine editor-in-chief George Gendron sits on the board of Boston's City Year, and annually invites employees of the magazine to take a day off to work on a service
project.