23 May 2008 - Volunteer Retention and Recognition

The task of retaining volunteers starts as soon as you start to recruit them - was the central message of this training session by Jeanette Harley the new Volunteer Centre manager at Three Rivers. 

This course was aimed at those with a responsibility for managing volunteers and covered issues such as why do people volunteer; why do they stay and why do they leave; what can your organisation do to help retention of volunteers; what is recognition? 

Many organisations have no problem attracting volunteers but a common lament is the rate of turnover of those volunteers.  Just when you've got them trained they leave. Why is that?  Understanding what motivates a person to volunteer is the foundation stone for building retention and ensuring that your volunteer programme becomes one that volunteers and staff are proud to be involved with.  An integral part of retaining volunteers is recognition, from a simple 'thank you' to a glittering events evening and everything in between.  The course explored different types of recognition, understanding how recognition works, and putting it all together.