Confessions of Volunteers and the People Who Recruit Them

Trent Community Research Centre project highlights why people help out and what stops them

By Lois Tuffin

Over the past several months, Volunteer Peterborough was fortunate to have student Anna Hykawy complete a Trent Community Research Centre project about why people do or do not step up to help.

Her report, Behind the Helping Hand: Addressing Barriers to Volunteerism in Peterborough, shared some fascinating insights. We are sharing them in hopes that they create empathy for those bringing on volunteers, so they can have more success.

First, her research showed that unclear and onerous onboarding processes can extinguish a volunteer’s spark right away. Potential volunteers often have to navigate confusing, complex, or poorly communicated onboarding procedures.

“When registration processes are unclear or onerous, potential volunteers may abandon the process altogether,” Anna wrote. “Organizations may unintentionally limit participation through processes that are not aligned with contemporary expectations for accessibility and efficiency.”

Secondly, participants identified onerous time commitments and training as another reason to quit.

“At one organization, you have to train for two months or six months,” one volunteer told Anna during an interview. “They want you to commit for a year. Another organization makes you read 50 pages of policy and watch four hours of videos.”

Another participant described a similarly intensive process. “It began with an extensive interview, CPIC police check, and reference checks. Then, if I thought that they were a good fit, I would join the training, which was 30 hours. So, it’s 10 weeks, 3 hours per week, which is a big commitment.”

Often, the person bringing aboard volunteers and managing their work already has additional responsibilities with other priorities. Without a dedicated support person, volunteers can feel undervalued and insufficiently supported, so they leave.

As one participant explained: “It’s somebody’s 4th other responsibility on top of fundraising and communication… Therefore, volunteers feel less supported, and they don’t show up because nobody cares anyway.”

Making things even more complicated, volunteers face structural and societal constraints beyond the control of individual organizations.

For example, transportation and geographic location arose as particularly significant problems. Some organizations are not accessible by public transit, so volunteers withdraw after their initial orientation.

Further, certain roles require a high level of physical ability, such as the ability to lift heavy objects. This can rule out participation by older adults or individuals with mobility constraints.

On the upside, Anna found that people she interviewed emphasized the importance of feeling tangible impact, social connection, and passion. That is what keeps them volunteering. They love engaging in meaningful work and seeing the direct impact of their contributions.

“If I’m going to put my time in, I really want it to matter,” one person told her. Showing volunteers those results helps keep them coming back.

Volunteering builds a sense of belonging — without question.

“We find most of our clientele are recent retirees or people that have just lost something that gave them some stability in their life,” one volunteer manager told Anna. “People are looking for something that is regular, that gives them a community. It’s almost like people want to have a place where they can check in.”

We understand that long-time volunteer managers have processes and rewards they feel serve them well. However, a more mobile generation of volunteers will seek out different conditions than their parents or grandparents.

By adapting, you will spend less time recruiting and more time celebrating their successes. When that happens, everyone wins.

We wish to congratulate Anna on her new role as the volunteer coordinator with Musicfest. She learned about the job while researching this topic and clearly walked in fully aware of what people need and want to thrive.

We will share more of her insights in a follow-up column as well.