Canadian senior volunteers felt erased during pandemic years, want meaningful work

Lorie Battershill always knew volunteering would be a big part of her retirement plans.

“I thought to myself, I’m going to try out a bunch of stuff and see what works,” she said. “So, I set up a different volunteer thing for each day of the week, and I tried out some different things.”

The former school librarian also set some ground rules: no rush hour traffic, no paying for parking.

But most importantly, the Winnipeg grandmother wanted flexible scheduling that worked with her family life.

“Life is always shifting, and what’s nice about volunteering is that you have control over what you want to do, something you didn’t have in the workplace,” Battershill said.

Lisa Mort-Putland, chair of Volunteer Canada’s board of directors and executive director at Volunteer Victoria, said flexibility is more important than ever before when it comes to recruiting and retaining older volunteers.

Post-pandemic volunteer opportunities need to offer senior volunteers more of a return on their time investment, she said.

In recent years, older adults have created new routines and found new passions, leaving non-profits to compete with everything from upstart hobbies to “a good book and a glass of wine,” she said.

Many organizations also failed to maintain relationships with senior volunteers during COVID-19 lockdowns.

“We severed the trust and loving relationship that we had with millions of volunteers during the pandemic; those relationships are gone forever,” Mort-Putland said.

When surveyed by Volunteer Canada, many older adults said social purpose organizations failed to check in with them or follow up when they stopped volunteering, or an organization went on hiatus.

“Most seniors said ‘The organization treated me as if I was dead when I left. They never contacted me again; they never treated me like a valued friend. It was like if I left them, I was no longer a person,’” relayed Mort-Putland.

She described the findings as “shocking” and said they represent a lost opportunity to re-engage much-needed volunteers.

Leah Gagnier, director of national volunteer engagement for Mission Thrift Store, said it’s important to let older volunteers know they’re valued, not just with thank you cards or events—although those measures can be important—but with purposeful tasking, personal communication, and regular check-ins.

“Seniors want meaningful work; they just don’t want to be pushed aside,” Gragnier said. 

“They really want to see that they’re making an impact.” 

Battershill volunteers with several organizations, including her grandson’s school, a local church, and a bustling thrift store. She doesn’t particularly value volunteer appreciation events or holiday gifts.

“What I find most meaningful … is if they see you doing something well and they just take a second to say, ‘Hey, I really like the way you did that or thanks for taking care of that,’” she said.

Tapping into a retired volunteer’s lifetime of work experience is an impactful way of showing seniors that their expertise and contributions are valued, said Gragnier.

“We have so many highly skilled senior volunteers. They have business skills; they might have been CEOs, bookkeepers, bankers or accountants,” she said. 

“Tap into that, involve them in decision-making, give them meaningful roles,” she said. 

“It’s good for them, and it’s good for your organization.”

Battershill puts her experience as a librarian to use at the Kildonan MCC Thrift Store, work she continues to find rewarding in retirement.

“I’ve never seen a box of books that I didn’t just want to dive into,” she said. 

“It just makes sense for me.”

Additionally, all volunteers, including seniors, need to feel confident their psychological wellbeing is valued, Gragnier said.

“Emotional safety, that is a psychological contract,” she said. “They’re not tangible, but they exist, even though they’re not a piece of paper.”

However, creating emotional safety does require tangible actions, which Gragnier said can include clear expectations, thorough job descriptions, and strong communication plans.

Volunteers also benefit from having access to human resources, Battershill said, adding volunteers are not immune to interpersonal issues, which, if left unresolved, can lead to attrition.

Still rebounding

Most volunteer coordinators point to the COVID-19 pandemic as the primary cause of declining volunteerism rates, although inflationary pressures are also contributing.

Volunteer Canada has found that as many as 65 per cent of non-profit organizations are experiencing volunteer shortages; 35 per cent have had to reduce services in recent years.

Replacing the expertise of one long-time volunteer often requires exponential resources, said Rob Jackson, a UK-based non-profit consultant.

“We need three new volunteers to do what one person used to do,” he said. “We need more volunteers than we ever have before to do the same level of service that we’ve done before. Plus, we need to provide more service.” 

“It’s the challenge that we’re facing at the moment.”

That makes retaining experienced, older volunteers all the more important, he said.

While the situation can seem overwhelming, Gragnier reminds volunteer coordinators and other non-profit managers not to lose sight of the bigger picture.

“Remember to have fun,” she said. 

“We can’t be serious all the time, and our volunteers can’t be serious all the time. We can be silly when the moment is right and build those relationships at the same time.”