Jim Eskin Says: Volunteers are a Major Gifts Fundraiser’s Best Friend explores how volunteers are the driving force behind nonprofit success—fueling missions with time, passion, and generosity. This article explores why volunteers are more likely to become donors, how to deepen their engagement, and 10 proven strategies to transform them into powerful advocates, leaders, and major gift contributors.
April is National Volunteer Month. For those of us engaged in the vast philanthropic sector, we have a keen appreciation that volunteers deserve our heartfelt gratitude 365 days a year.
Their passion, enthusiasm and unwavering commitment fuel America’s nearly 2 million non-profits through their inspiring examples of sharing time, talent and treasure.
When you’ve been in this business for long enough, you have a profound understanding that time is actually a more precious gift than money because, unlike money, it can never be replaced.
Even if they never donated one cent, their awesome leadership contributions to the social sector are priceless. As a snapshot, an estimated 75.7 million Americans, or 28.3% of the adult population, formally volunteer through organizations. This formal volunteering results in 4.99 billion hours of service, with an estimated economic value of $167.2 billion.
Each and every day they touch, improve and save more lives, especially helping those who are struggling through countless roles — mentoring at-risk children, feeding hungry people at food banks, cleaning playgrounds, bringing smiles to the faces of seniors, introducing children for the first time to the wonders of museums and the arts, fostering stray dogs and cats, and making a huge difference through countless other ways by applying elbow grease.
Simply put, America’s vibrant non-profit sector can’t propel their missions forward without volunteers. In fact, according to IRS data, about 85 percent of all charitable non-profits have no paid staff and are run entirely by volunteers.
Here’s even better news: Volunteers demonstrate an enormous propensity to make annual gifts, major gifts, legacy gifts and give not until it hurts but until it feels good.
For good reason: They benefit from such profound connection and understanding for all the noble missions to which they contribute their time. They don’t need fact sheets or bullet points to convey the impact of missions. They observe close up how lives of men, women and children are being lifted.
Most volunteers are extraordinarily busy people. But champions of good causes whose time and resources are already stretched reach back and find a way to give more time and more money to improve the lives of others. And they do so with smiles on their faces. The secret is that they are energized, not taxed, by their labors of love.
There is genuine synergy between volunteering and donating. Research indicates that giving and volunteering work collaboratively to support each other and that volunteers are 14.5 percent more likely to donate, while donors are 9.3 percent more likely to volunteer for non-profits they support.
Make no doubt about it, the competition for volunteers is as fierce as the competition for donors. Based on our experience of the past eight years working closely with non-profits of all different missions, sizes and parts of the country, here are 10 lessons on achieving the strongest possible engagement and potential of those wonderful men and women who are the unpaid heroes of your organizations.
1. Match skill sets and areas of interest with organizational priorities.
This is even more important than doing so with paid staff. If a volunteer is donating their time, it should match their highest value abilities and provide a genuine sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
2. Showcase them as brand ambassadors.
Passion for the mission is infectious, and volunteers are the best at sharing the joy of doing something grander than themselves and achieving real impact. Their enthusiasm cannot be faked and will excite and motivate others to join the cause. By all means, highlight their stories, photos and voices in multimedia marketing efforts.
3. Begin their donor journeys by committing to modest annual gifts.
Note that the second gift is huge and is a strong indicator that they will be donating at least at that level for years to come.
4. Being so close to operations they should have a natural affinity to appreciate the role of unrestricted gifts.
MacKenzie Scott has set an inspiring example by contributing $26 billion with no strings attached, recognizing that recipients understand best how to put the money to good use. Too many non-profits shy away from such solicitations with self-defeating attitudes that donors won’t respond favorably. Volunteers intuitively get it.
5. Recruit them for leadership roles such as chairing committees, or better yet, serving on the board of directors.
As Brand ambassadors, their passion sets a fine example for other board members who might have been passively engaged.
6. Passionate volunteers make powerful solicitors.
They can tell the story so powerfully because their commitment runs so deep.
7. Climbing up the gift ladder.
As their capacity allows, ask them to consider major gifts for special projects and campaigns. Remember, keep the door wide open to spread larger financial commitments over multi-year pledge periods.
8. They are prime prospects to join legacy societies.
Remember that gift consistency is a much more likely indicator than size of gifts. The timing couldn’t be more opportune with the greatest wealth transfer in history already in motion. There are only three places that these treasure chests can go to — loved ones, government or charity. Donors can typically make legacy gifts from estates several-fold larger than gifts from income, while potentially postponing any out-of-pocket expenditure. The overwhelming majority of these are charitable bequests, retirement plans and life insurance policies, so get ready for the mind-numbing $84 trillion wealth transfer from older to younger generations.
9. They should be near the top of the list of those asked for advice and counsel on the future direction, priorities and timely decisions facing the organization.
It might be cliché but always bears fruit: Ask for money and you get advice but ask for advice and you are well rewarded for listening closely.
10. Feature their enthusiasm in orientation sessions for new board members and other leaders.
Take full advantage of their first-person experiences and gifts for putting in their own words why the organization merits support in a competitive environment in which donors are forced to choose not between the good and the bad but between the good and the good.
Even the largest of non-profits have to make resource strapped budget decisions. It is abundantly clear that a compelling case can be made to robustly invest in recruiting, training, motivating and showcasing volunteers throughout the life of non-profits. In philanthropy, decision making is driven by both the brain and the heart. You won’t find any individuals with the mission of non-profits more deeply ingrained in brains and hearts than devoted volunteers. Harness this boundless energy to its full potential. For starters, recognize and thank them profusely during National Volunteer Month.
Jim Eskin Says: Volunteers are a Major Gifts Fundraiser’s Best Friend was first posted at MajorGiftsRampUp.com
For more articles like Jim Eskin Says: Volunteers are a Major Gifts Fundraiser’s Best Friend VISIT HERE
