Using CRM for volunteer management
Volunteers are indispensable to countless charities; their contributions often play a pivotal role in the organisation's capacity to enact positive change effectively. However, successfully managing and retaining volunteers has often posed a significant challenge to charities.
This is where a customer relationship management (CRM) system comes in. Originally designed for customer relationships, CRMs can be tailored to effectively manage volunteers, enhancing engagement and retention rates.
Volunteer management comes with its fair share of hurdles. Limited resources, lack of engagement, difficulty matching skills with opportunities, and communication barriers are just a few of the common challenges charities face in this regard. Let us explore these in more detail below:
LOW ENGAGEMENT. When volunteers feel their contributions are not valued or their skills are not being effectively utilised, they may become disengaged. This can occur when charities fail to match volunteers with tasks that align with their interests and abilities, do not clearly communicate the impact volunteers are having, and overlook opportunities for volunteers to provide feedback and input. As a result, volunteers may feel disconnected and unfulfilled, leading to decreased motivation and retention rates.
Effective communication is crucial
LACK OF COMMUNICATION. Effective communication is crucial for nurturing strong relationships with volunteers. However, charities often struggle to establish clear and consistent communication channels, typically due to limited resources and time constraints. This deficiency in communication can leave volunteers feeling undervalued and overlooked.
INSUFFICIENT TRAINING AND SUPPORT. Providing volunteers with adequate training, guidance, and support is crucial for their success and satisfaction in their roles. When charities neglect to invest in volunteer training or fail to offer ongoing support and feedback opportunities, volunteers may feel ill-equipped to fulfil their responsibilities effectively, driving volunteers to seek opportunities where they feel more supported and valued.
PERSONAL LIFE CONFLICTS. Balancing volunteer responsibilities with personal commitments can be challenging for many individuals. According to the Community Life Survey, 48% of respondents identified work commitments as their primary reason for not volunteering more. However, factors such as family obligations, educational pursuits, and social activities also play a substantial role in influencing volunteering decisions.
Failure to keep track of volunteers' preferences and availability can hinder long term engagement. Without this understanding, charities may find it difficult to sustain volunteer involvement, as competing life priorities inevitably arise.
These challenges collectively lead to high turnover rates among volunteers and impede the successful execution of projects within charities.
The decline in volunteer participation, from 23% in 2020/21 to 17% in 2021/22, among adults engaged in formal volunteering at least once a month over the past year1, underscores the urgent need to address how charities recruit, train, manage and retain volunteers more effectively than ever before.
There are several ways in which a CRM system can help your charity solve some of the challenges mentioned above, streamlining volunteer management and increasing volunteer retention.
KEEPING TRACK OF ALL YOUR VOLUNTEERS WITHIN A SINGLE PLACE. A CRM solution offers your charity the capability to consolidate all vital volunteer information - such as name, contact details, volunteering hours etc. - within a single platform. Having a centralised hub of information makes it easy for employees to find the information they need quickly.
Identifying and contacting candidates
For example, when additional volunteers are needed for a specific location, using a CRM regular staff can filter volunteers in seconds, making it easy to identify and contact suitable candidates.
Furthermore, a CRM can handle more intricate information, including volunteer skills, hours contributed, background checks, contact preferences and more. Charities can customise the data they track, tailoring the solution to their unique requirements. This ensures that your charity has all the necessary information to efficiently manage volunteers, while simultaneously enhancing regular staff productivity.
STAYING CONNECTED WITH PERSONALISED COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES. Maintaining regular contact with your volunteers is crucial to keep them engaged and foster strong relationships that last. In fact, 80% of donors consider it important to know the real outcomes of their charitable donations or volunteer work with charities.
A CRM simplifies communications, making it effortless to send relevant and regular updates to volunteers. Whether it's distributing newsletters, sharing volunteer impact stories, announcing upcoming opportunities, or any other form of communication, a CRM can manage it all.
Moreover, a CRM streamlines communication workflows through automation, ensuring consistent engagement with volunteers. For example, an automated email campaign can be set up to provide volunteers with updates on their contributed hours and the impact of their efforts. This ensures that volunteers stay informed about their contributions without needing manual intervention from staff members.
BOOSTING VOLUNTEER SATISFACTION WITH AUTOMATED FEEDBACK PROCESSES. In any volunteer management system, it is essential to have mechanisms in place for gathering feedback and addressing any issues or concerns that may arise. A CRM system can play a crucial role in facilitating feedback collection and problem resolution, ensuring that volunteers feel heard and supported.
Gathering impact from volunteers
With a CRM, non-profit organisations can easily create feedback forms and surveys to gather input from volunteers. These forms can be customised to collect feedback on various aspects of the volunteer experience, such as training programmes, event organisation or overall satisfaction with the charity. By regularly asking for feedback charities can gain valuable insights into areas for improvement and make informed decisions that enhance the volunteer experience.
In addition to gathering feedback, a CRM can also help streamline the process of problem resolution. Issues reported by volunteers can be logged directly into the CRM system, allowing staff members to track and manage them efficiently. Automated workflows can be set up to escalate and assign issues to the appropriate team members for resolution, ensuring that no problems fall through the cracks.
MATCHING OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER PREFERENCES. Correctly matching opportunities to your volunteers is crucial for keeping them engaged and motivated. A CRM system proves to be a valuable tool in achieving this, making it effortless to track and align the interests and abilities of each volunteer with the current opportunities available.
For instance, a volunteer with a background in marketing may find fulfilment in tasks such as social media management or event promotion. Conversely, a volunteer passionate about working with children may gravitate towards opportunities like youth mentoring or tutoring. A CRM makes it possible to provide each volunteer with opportunities specific to their preferences.
By accurately identifying the right volunteer for the right opportunity, volunteers are more likely to feel enthusiastic and engaged with their contributions.
HARNESSING DATA AND INSIGHTS ABOUT YOUR VOLUNTEERS. A CRM system not only helps track volunteer information but also generates valuable insights that can drive continuous improvement in volunteer programmes.
By capturing data on volunteer engagement, participation rates and feedback, charities can gain a deeper understanding of what motivates volunteers and what barriers they may face. For example, analysis of volunteer activity patterns may reveal trends such as peak volunteering times or preferred types of activities. With this knowledge, charities can optimise their volunteer scheduling and programme offerings to better account for volunteer trends.
Reasons for volunteer attrition
Furthermore, a CRM can provide insights into volunteer retention rates and reasons for volunteer attrition. By identifying common reasons why volunteers leave, such as lack of recognition or insufficient training, charities can implement targeted strategies to address these issues and improve retention.
To conclude, charities face numerous challenges in managing and retaining volunteers. A CRM system emerges as a valuable tool to address these challenges, streamlining volunteer management and fostering stronger relationships with volunteers. Ultimately, this will enable charities to maximise their impact, achieve their goals and create positive change within their communities.
