Why motivation is important
Understanding what has motivated someone to volunteer for your organisation is essential because this can affect what tasks they do, what support they need and what will encourage them to volunteer again.
A County Durham survey highlighted the main reasons why local people volunteered, these were:
- To learn new skills and gain experience.
- To feel more connected to the community.
- They had free time to give.
- To have fun/ increase social contact.
- They have lived experience in the sector and want to use these skills.
- To help themselves.
How to motivate volunteers
Understanding why someone wants to volunteer will help to match that person to a role that will give them job satisfaction. Monitoring them and having regular one to ones, whether these are formal or informal, will help you ascertain whether they would like to take on more responsibility, undertake training or be involved in other roles within the organisation.
For example, if a person is new to an area and wants to volunteer to meet people, then a role that involves team working might be ideal. Encouraging them to get involved, making sure that the volunteer is happy in the team environment and getting them to participate in other activities where they are likely to meet new people would be a great way to keep them motivated. It is a good idea to let your volunteers know if they can develop their existing roles further or move to a different role in your organisation to gain further experience. This might prevent a volunteer “out-growing” their role and leaving without giving you the opportunity to present this as an option.
Motivating volunteers isn’t a one size fits all solution. Motivation efforts do not have to be cash bought gifts; it can simply be a text message checking in on a volunteer after a session. The goal is to make the volunteer feel valued and appreciated at all levels of the organisation. Below are a few ideas/ examples of motivation activities:
- Checking in on volunteers and how they are feeling about their role
- A recognition scheme – this could be a ‘volunteer of the month’ on social media/ the organisations website
- Sending a birthday card on a volunteer’s birthday
- A volunteering year anniversary card
- A group walk – As some volunteers do it for the social aspect it can help motivate and build team relationships
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