Giving Australia (2017) has highlighted the strong connection between volunteers and philanthropy and noted that volunteers have a higher giving participation rate and a higher average financial donation than those who do not volunteer.  Furthermore, their research articulates that volunteers donate almost twice as many dollars as non-volunteers and that volunteers are more likely than non-volunteers to have a Will and accordingly, are more likely to have left a charitable bequest.

Put simply, it is the position of Giving Australia (2017) that people are more likely to give to organisations that they know and trust and those they believe can genuinely make a difference.  This finding points to the need for organisations to strategically examine their relationships with volunteers and devote more time to foster the activities that will facilitate and grow trust over a sustained period.

While there are numerous reasons why it is beneficial for not-for-profits to ensure their volunteers have a positive and rewarding experience, it is this connection where volunteers themselves (or members of their families and social networks) can be greatly influenced to give based on a rewarding volunteering experience. 

With this opportunity to drive giving and philanthropy through your volunteers, it stands to reason we should examine a critical component which may impact volunteer satisfaction.

Employee and Volunteer Conflict

Historically one of the challenges leaders of volunteers face is the relationships between volunteers and the employees they work alongside. Ideally these would be positive, productive and collaborative relationships yet unfortunately, all too often there is a lack of buy-in and resistance for volunteer involvement from employees.  This can result in tension and an unwelcoming and negative environment for the volunteers. In fact, in the 2020 Volunteer Management Progress Report, Tobi Johnson has cited the second biggest challenge that leaders of volunteers encounter as being “respect and buy-in from co-workers and leadership.” If we can eliminate this as a point of conflict detracting from volunteer satisfaction then we give ourselves the greatest possible opportunity to drive giving and philanthropy through our volunteers.

There are many actions we can take to alleviate this resistance and increase the buy-in from employees. For example, providing training to staff on how to work with volunteers, demonstrating the impact of volunteers on achieving your mission, increasing the integration of volunteers throughout your organisation and including staff in the development and review of the volunteer roles which support their work. One less widely used avenue to influence and demonstrate the importance of positive working relationships with volunteers is to raise awareness about the connection between volunteers and philanthropy.

Actions for Leaders of Volunteers

Exploring this connection between your volunteers and philanthropy may put you out of your comfort zone.  After all, volunteers already give generously their time, skills and knowledge to your organisation. However consider this, many of your volunteers are likely already donating to your cause and shouldn’t we as leaders of volunteers use that information to benefit the volunteer experience and elevate the importance of their role?

Here are some actions to consider implementing:

• Educate yourself by gathering data: Speak to your fundraising team and gather data from them as to how many of your volunteers have donated. How much have they donated, and do they know if any volunteers are leaving a bequest to your organisation? Have any of your volunteers successfully encouraged their workplace to provide a corporate donation or goods and services? Have any of your volunteers introduced your organisation to a philanthropist who has donated to your organisation?
• Educate others: Once you have the data about your volunteers and the financial giving they have contributed or facilitated it’s time to share this with your co-workers. Being mindful of respecting confidentiality, share high level statistics with your co-workers. For example, sharing this information as another benefit of your organisation engaging volunteers at employee inductions.

Have you explored the connection between your volunteers and philanthropy? Were you surprised with your findings and how have you used this information to benefit volunteer engagement at your organisation?