Volunteers as Donors (plus Peek at New “From the Top Down”)

“Volunteers Donate, On Average, 10 Times More Money than Non-Volunteers.” That’s a headline sure to get the attention of anyone in the not-for-profit world. It’s just one of the important findings in a recent study released on December 3 by the Fidelity® Charitable Gift Fund and VolunteerMatch.  The findings support Energize’s long-held stance that volunteer-involving organizations should remember their “time donors” when looking to support volunteer involvement financially. In 1996, Energize President Susan J. Ellis wrote in her best-selling book From the Top Down, “studies have shown that satisfied volunteers frequently are so supportive of the organizations with which they serve that they become donors of money and goods as well.”

When revising her book, Susan greatly expanded her take on the connection between volunteering and donating funds.  Here’s an excerpt from the soon-to-be released 3rd edition of From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Successful Volunteer Involvement. This fully-revised edition will be available for purchase in early 2010 (keep checking back here or sign up for the Energize Book Buzz, which will announce the book’s release!).

The Volunteer-Donor Connection

Pre-publication excerpt from the manuscript of the 3rd revised edition of From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Successful Volunteer Involvement by Susan J. Ellis, © 2010, Energize, Inc.

As an executive, you do have to be concerned with the funding to keep your doors open. So while I have just stressed the importance of engaging volunteers for the benefits they bring as volunteers, consider this perspective as well: A check never writes itself. All contributions of money or valuables come from people who are voluntarily demonstrating their support of your cause. This implies a strong correlation between those who give time (to whom we refer as volunteers) and those who give money (to whom we refer as donors). Would your consideration of volunteers change if you were to start calling them “time donors”? Or speak of “fund raising” as “people raising”?

Do you regularly ask for a report on how many volunteers in your organization are also financial donors and vice versa? If not, why not? If yes, have you analyzed what this means? Are the databases for these two groups integrated or, at least, accessible to both volunteer administration and development staff?…

Asking Volunteers to Give Money, Too
Periodically the debate surfaces over whether it’s appropriate to solicit money from volunteers. Those who are uncomfortable doing so have a sense that this might be “double dipping.” Despite research showing that people who volunteer are more likely to also give cash than uninvolved people, the reluctance to ask for money from volunteers keeps the development office and the volunteer resources office operating in distinctly separate spheres.

One stereotype is that volunteers don’t have a lot of money. This, of course, is only understood for frontline volunteers, since those engaged in things like planning the gala dinner are conversely assumed to be wealthy enough to pay for anything requested of them. Beware all assumptions!…

But let’s get back to “it just doesn’t feel right” to ask faithful volunteers to give money, too. An organization can — and probably should — offer volunteers the opportunity to donate funds, but it has to be done in a way that is clearly different from soliciting people who are not already actively working for you. The key is to start by acknowledging that the prospective donor is a volunteer. It’s true “recognition” to know this important fact. Nothing is worse than a volunteer receiving the same mailing sent to everyone, as if his or her service is invisible.  Try the following sort of appeal:

We are so appreciative of the time and talent you share with us throughout the year as a volunteer. Thank you!

Please know that your volunteer contribution is of great value in many ways. Volunteers ensure that we can spend every dollar we have on needed services and still do more. We also know that giving us your time comes with various costs/expenses to you personally. But because you are so familiar with our work, you know that it takes both participation and money to accomplish our mission.

How can we ask strangers to contribute funds and not give you the chance to decide if you want to add a check to the ways in which you already help us?

Of course, there’s no obligation to give money. It’s completely your choice.

Done properly, such a solicitation can (and should) feel like a thank you. Possibly this request for a donation should be sent only once a year, without follow up. The point is to include volunteers in your fundraising efforts, but not to guilt them into writing a check.