Not-For Profit Pulse on Volunteerism: The Results are In!

The long-awaited Not-for-Profit Pulse on Volunteerism has arrived...with some very interesting results! Read on for the highlights:

Volunteer Levels Holding Steady Despite Downturn

Despite a very difficult couple of years for the non-profit sector, volunteerism levels haven’t declined as some would have expected.  In fact, most of the participants in this survey saw little or no change in the ratio between volunteers to staff over the past two years.

Participants are also fairly positive about the future, with most predicting the ratio between volunteers and staff will hold steady or grow in the next five years.

NFP’s Continue to Rely on Traditional Methods for Attracting Volunteers

Participants continue to rely heavily on ‘tried-and-true’ methods when it comes to attracting volunteers.  Leveraging existing donor and other stakeholder networks as well as targeting the private sector are the most common ways for participants to mobilize volunteers to join their ranks. 

Social media and the internet is growing in popularity as a way to attract volunteers but just a fraction of participants feel that it is effective at achieving this goal. As appears to be the case in many areas to do with this evolving medium, while non-profits seem to recognize the potential of social media and the internet to attract volunteers, they haven’t yet seen a significant ‘return’ on the time, money and energy they have invested...at least, not yet.

Formal Volunteer Training Not Widely Offered by Non-Profits

There is very little being offered by participants in the way of formal training to their volunteers.  While most offer informal on-the-job training or at least some general information to their volunteers about their organization or cause, a surprising one-fifth offer absolutely no volunteer training, whatsoever.

NFP Opportunities Evolving to Meet Hectic Volunteer Schedules:

Shorter, project-based volunteer opportunities are becoming more popular as non-profits struggle to align with peoples’ hectic schedules. Looking forward, participants expect project-based volunteer opportunities to continue to replace a growing number of the ongoing opportunities that currently exist.

Despite their relative newness in non-profit circles, virtual volunteering (volunteering remotely via the internet) and micro-volunteering (volunteering in short, task-based bursts remotely via computer or mobile phone) is also being offered by a significant number of participants. 

That said, micro and virtual volunteering are still not widely perceived by participants to be the most effective method of volunteerism – As appears to be the case with social media and volunteerism, it seems as if people are still working out how to leverage this new technology effectively in this arena.

Free Access to the Full Not-for-Profit Pulse Highlight Report

If you would like to access the full highlight report (PDF), complete with tables and statistical analysis, please access it here. For those interested, we are also offering free access this week to the first two editions of the Not-for-Profit Pulse on Social Media and the Generation Shift.

If you like what you see, please sign up here to participate in our upcoming NFP Pulse on Recruitment and Retention of Members and Donors, scheduled to be launched in just a few days.  Results are always free to participants.

Summer Is Here! Celebrate With Free Access to the Not-for-Profit Pulse!

The Summer Solstice is upon us! To celebrate, we’ve decided this week only to provide public access to the first three volumes of Not-for-Profit Pulse. These free highlight survey reports each provide an analysis of a different trend that is top-of-mind for today’s not-for-profit sector based on a series of short surveys of the Canadian not-for-profit community.

Topics covered to date include:

• The Evolution of Volunteerism (New - Released Today!)
• The Impact of the Generation Gap on NFP’s (February 2010)
• Social Media and the NFP Sector (December 2009)

If you like what you see, we hope you will sign up here for an email notification to participate in our next NFP Pulse, which will launch in the coming days.

Our upcoming five-minute survey will focus on the recruitment and retention of members and donors – a trend that has been identified by several Pulse participants as something they would like to see covered in this publication.

Happy Solstice everyone – I hope it is a sunny one!

(This great photo taken by: Todd Baker)

Volunteerism in a Changing World: How is Your NFP Adapting?

Volunteerism is an evolving phenomenon that is having a significant impact on associations and charities alike.  Whether they manage your organization at the board or committee level, support your staff, or carry out your mission through their day-to-day activities, volunteers are clearly the lifeblood of the not-for-profit sector.

We received a lot of great topic suggestions for our upcoming NFP Pulse but a surprising number of you asked for a survey on volunteerism.  Specifically, you wanted to know what other NFP’s are doing in the way of volunteer recruitment and retention in an era where changing demographics, priorities and lifestyles are conflicting in many ways with the traditional way in which people have volunteered in the past.

The March edition of the Not-for-Profit Pulse will be launched next week and we hope you will take the opportunity to participate.  Your input will be used to help you and other NFP's to better understand how associations and charities are positionning themselves to succeed in light of this evolving trend. 

More information about the NFP Pulse can be found here. As always, participants will be provided with a free copy of the results as a thanks for their participation. 

Stay tuned, more info to come soon!

Everybody’s Doing It...Social Media, That Is: But is it Right for Your NFP?

I don't mean to sound like your Mother but, if everyone was jumping off of a cliff would you do it too? Despite all the hype suggesting otherwise, social media isn’t for everyone. Just like you would for any new strategic initiative, you should carefully think through whether it is a ‘fit’ with your organization. I see the decision framed around three central questions...

Click to read more ...

NPO's Neither Panicked Nor Overly Prepared for the Generation Shift

Well, the results for last month’s NFP Pulse on the Generation Shift have been tallied and analysed...and I have to say I’m a little surprised at some of the results.

It seems that the demographic changes about to occur are definitely on the radar of the 95 NPO’s we surveyed...but it’s not an issue that is keeping non-profit leaders awake at night. When asked how concerned respondents were about this issue on a 1-7 scale with 7 being 'extremely concerned', the average response was a moderate 4.4.

What was really interesting is that most respondents acknowledge the issue will become critical within the next 5 (36%) or 10 years (28%). Despite this, very few (13%) claim their organizations are “extremely” or “very well prepared” for what’s coming down the pipe in the not-too-distant future.

Let’s take a step back and think about this for just a minute: Next year, the first Baby Boomers will hit the golden age of 65. This massive demographic bulge represents 26% of the American population (U.S. Census 2006) and 30% of the Canadian population (Statistics Canada 2006)...they are going to start leaving the workforce in growing numbers without enough new workers entering the labour force to fill their shoes.

The private sector is already scrambling to position themselves for the impending shift by creating strategies to appeal to, attract and retain quality personnel from generations X and Y and shifting business models to appeal to evolving customer demographics...so why haven’t non-profits (at least the ones we surveyed) adopted a similarly proactive approach?

It’s not too hard to see that all of the not-for-profit sector’s core stakeholder groups are extremely vulnerable to the impact of the demographic shift:

Staff and Leadership: Not only will good personnel and leadership become harder to find, but necessity will dictate that younger people with less tacit knowledge and experience will be put into roles of increased leadership and responsibility.

Membership: Maintaining and growing membership is already a core challenge for many non-profits. Not only will this be exacerbated because of membership losses due to aging, they will also have to battle it out to attract the comparatively smaller number of younger members needed to ensure the organization’s survival into the future.

Volunteers and Donors: As with members, there is and will continue to be a shrinking number of volunteers and donors relative to the organizations in need of their support. Volunteers and donors will also contribute in different ways than their predecessors.

Now, I’m the first to take my hat off and acknowledge that non-profit leaders are extremely busy people, many who struggle to cram 30 hours of work (or more) into a 24 hour day. Staff, volunteer and funding shortages are the ‘norm’ for many NPO’s, meaning they often need to prioritize which of the many “critical” issues to focus their already-stretched resources on.

Whether it is a current priority or not, what is clear is that demographics are becoming a big issue. Non-profits are going to have to be ready to change in a number of different ways, ranging from how they communicate and appeal to younger demographics as well as to evolving programs, services and volunteer opportunities to fit the needs, values and priorities of their evolving stakeholder base.

In some cases, it isn’t too unrealistic to predict that organizations may have to evolve their very mission, vision and/or structure if they are to continue to fit stakeholder needs in terms of value and meaning in the years to come.

So, why wait for the crisis to hit? Given the expected timeframe predicted by survey participants if for this issue to become critical within the next 5 or 10 years, perhaps now is the time for non-profits who haven’t already done so to put this issue on the agenda for their next strategic plan.

Am I right when I suggest that the reason why non-profits aren't dealing with this issue is because they are busy dealing with other priorities? What is your experience in terms of concern and preparedness with this impending issue? Is it a priority for your non-profit? 

This is the first in a series of blog posts reflecting on the results of the Association Resource Centre's second edition of the Not-for-Profit Pulse, which highlights the level of concern and preparedness of not-for-profit organizations relative to the impending generation shift. The sample for this survey comprises a total of 95 Canadian not-for-profit organizations with representation from industry/trade, professional, charity and special interest groups. It is important to note that the results of this survey reflect the responses from those surveyed only and are not necessarily representative of the entire not-for-profit sector.