Are Volunteers the Biggest Donors to Your Animal Shelter or Rescue?
Volunteers donate 50% more than non-volunteers according to a study several years ago. Is this true for your animal rescue or shelter?
A few weeks ago I volunteered to work at an animal group’s event. We’ve donated to this group for several years. I won’t donate or volunteer anytime soon. I was very turned off by what I saw and question how our donations are being spent. At this event I saw:
Poor handling of ticket sales. Many folks claimed to be part of the organization but there was no list to verify this; undoubtedly many got in without paying.
Complete lack of organization. The employee who was “directing” the volunteers had clearly never been to this facility. She didn’t even know the traffic flow, where people entered the facility, etc.
A director who wouldn’t listen to ideas of others and refused to relinquish control to other employees to make even the smallest decision.
No thank you to the volunteers that evening. I did receive a written thank you note several weeks later.
The last time I volunteered for this group I got the same impression. They very foolishly were spending many hours manually removing duplicate labels from a mailing rather than spending about $200 for the software to handle this. The attitude was “this is something the volunteers can do.”
Evaluate your volunteers in terms of their donations. Do their donations increase? Are they higher than donors who don’t volunteer? Do they volunteer once and never again? Or do they continue to volunteer when needed and become partners of your shelter or rescue?
Do a survey of your volunteers. Ask questions such as:
How could we have improved the event you just participated in?
Would you volunteer with us again? Why or why not?
Would you recommend to your friends that they volunteer with us?
Why did you choose to volunteer with us?
Information you gather can be used to improve how volunteers view your organization and give you ideas on how to communicate with future volunteers. Volunteers have many choices of where to volunteer, if at all. Cultivating a relationship with volunteers who believe in your cause could reap financial benefits and volunteer help in the future.
Reference: Transformational Giving Blog: Volunteers donate 50% more than non-volunteers, but ten years after that discovery nonprofits don’t seem to care by EFoley. That statistic comes from research undertaken by Independent Sector in 2001.
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Hello,thanks for work you are rendering.AM also doing the same work here in uganda(Africa).keep on updating me and conecting me to more volunteers.Thanks;Manager.
This seems to be the case all over. I think there is a crying need for the directors to take volunteers seriously and evaluate there capabilities instead of just using them as unpaid labour.
I have had the opposite experience. I have volunteered at this animal shelter for over one year; I started out at one day a week and now go there six days a week. These animals all depend on us to feed and give them fresh bedding and water and keep their litter boxes clean. We try to give them attention when we can. We have many 1 day a week volunteers who pick which day is convenient for them to help. I showed them what needs to be done and it is up to them as to how they want to do the feeding and cleaning. It is also up to them as to how long they stay; we are happy to have the help they provide. Many of our volunteers come to our fund-raisers and we all seem to have a good time; it’s hard work, but we all know we are there to help these animals. We also have meetings on upcoming events,fund-raisers,adoptions, etc. and everyone’s input is encouraged. I too am college educated,do not mind getting down and dirty and really enjoy seeing these animals content. We have about 450 cats and kittens in a free-roaming, cage-free environment so there is always some interesting interactions with all these cats. They have walkways beneath the ceiling and steps to climb and wooden boxes up high to sleep and hide in if they choose. They have lounging beds and various sleeping levels they can choose. Visit our website; we wiil be updating it as we are now getting more TV coverage on our shelter and our future plans.
This article is so true. I volunteer for many rescues and it seems the more you do the more they want you to do without a word of thanks! Just keep doing, doing, doing. And right, shelter directors always seem to want to do things their way and only their way. Absolutely no room for discussion. And certainly don’t invest $$$ to improve functionality – just let the volunteers do it! I still volunteer but on my terms and will not get involved in the “politics” of day to day rescue work. Too bad, I have a lot to offer as I am above average computer literate, college educated, trained in neo natal rescue, retired and have time to donate and not afraid to get down and dirty! Oh well…..