As volunteer rates sink across the country, non-profit organizations are seeking ways to attract new, younger help and keep the current volunteers from burning out.

To help the conversation, 10 non-profit organizations shared their 2024 strategies to keep people engaged and woo new recruits to their volunteer ranks.

Surranna Sandy, CEO, Skills for Change. (Supplied)

Surranna Sandy, CEO, Skills for Change, Brampton, Ont.

Skills for Change has undergone its post-pandemic transformation.

The charity, which helps newcomers with language, skills and job training, always valued and respected its volunteer mentors, said Sandy, but historically, volunteers were told what they had and how to work with it.

Today, volunteers are viewed more as partners as they support meeting Skills for Change’s goals, Sandy said.

“How would it work for you? What would be beneficial for you? How many hours can you give?” she said. “We are customizing the experience to the volunteer’s capabilities and interests, more so than just the organization’s benefit.”

Volunteerism was challenged during COVID-19 by a lack of infrastructure to maintain social distancing safely. When able to return to the office, many volunteers were not eager to travel in person. Sandy said there wasn’t a dramatic fall-off in volunteer numbers, some of whom have served for 10-30 years.

“But it’s how they want to volunteer, how they want to give their time and adjusting our system and processes and what they do to encourage more virtual membership.”

While valuable, there are monetary costs to recruiting volunteers through digital or virtual means like social media or video calls.

“It’s just an adjustment you have to make.”

The downside is less personal engagement, which is at the heart of most volunteer experiences. Personally connecting with beneficiaries and seeing the results of their work resonated more with volunteers than doing things digitally.

That resonance is “stripped away” when you don’t volunteer in person, said Sandy.

Still, Skills For Change has adjusted its hours and how it communicates with volunteers.

“Tell us how we can work with you and use your abilities to the best for us.’”

Karen Ball, Executive Director, Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations/Supplied)

Karen Ball, Executive Director, Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations, Calgary, Alta.

Ball is watching the evolution of volunteerism and is respectful of that evolution.

Millennials or Gen Z’ers may or may not be inclined to volunteer traditionally. Still, they value advocacy and outreach, says Ball, whose organization advocates for Alberta’s more than 30,000 non-profit groups.

“How people show up to provide service in their community is changing,” she said.

While they may volunteer at a food bank, they might also start a letter-writing campaign to help create food security in their community.

Social media has enormous implications for entrenched systems, she added, noting how mass advocacy is challenging where power is held and showing how existing barriers can be dismantled.

People who want to make change happen are showing up as active, engaged citizens, she said.

“For the first time in a long time, we are seeing what grassroots advocacy can do to change systems.

“And who leads that work? It might not be the usual suspects we call leaders in our sector.”

Annika Voltan, Executive Director, Impact Organizations of Nova Scotia (Supplied)

Annika Voltan, Executive Director, Impact Organizations of Nova Scotia, Halifax, N.S.

Rather than speaking to specific volunteer recruitment strategy initiatives, Voltan raised a red flag around the findings of an internal collaborative study the community impact sector advocate did in the spring.

Impact Organizations of Nova Scotia conducted a study focused on groups that serve seniors, along with Community Links Nova Scotia, which advocates for age-friendly communities.

“The research we did was, I thought… staggering.”

The numbers she shared are representative rather than exact. However, the survey of around 250 senior-serving organizations revealed about 75 per cent of those were volunteer-run. Of those volunteers, roughly 80 per cent are more than 55 years old.

“It’s basically seniors serving seniors on a volunteer basis.”

Their numbers also challenged Voltan’s assumption that most seniors are in long-term care homes.

Instead, it’s only about five per cent, meaning most are aging in their homes, with some facing documented challenges, including isolation and loneliness.

Much of seniors’ infrastructure, such as transit, access to appointments, meals and social events, depends on older volunteers, she said.

“We need more understanding of what is happening and to not just assume it’s just a matter of getting more people out doing the same kinds of volunteer roles that have always been done.”

The ideal solution would be to source younger volunteers, but given the burnout in that demographic, Voltan believes it’s not that simple.

“The idea of taking on additional volunteer roles is just a non-starter for people in the, say, 30 to 50 age range.”

Stuart McReynolds, AVP, Programs & Advocacy, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities (Supplied)

Stuart McReynolds, AVP, Programs & Advocacy, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, Toronto, Ont.

Anecdotally, McReynolds believes the assumption that volunteering is impacted by the economic pressures people face is safe, particularly for low-income earners working multiple jobs.

“They are just literally trying to make it through.”

A difficult economic reality impacts people’s ability to engage in discretionary spending and activity, even before volunteerism expenses like transportation or equipment are factored in.

Volunteerism is undeniably in a tough spot, said McReynolds, but added that times of crisis are a chance to reveal flaws in the system.

“I think we’ve got an opportunity to reimagine what volunteering can look like. How do we provide those supports, and how do we work with others in the sector to align resources and capacity to make sure we can continue to stimulate and grow volunteerism?”

Reframing volunteerism’s importance to parents and families is one approach he suggested to attract youth volunteers to Canadian Tire Jumpstart, which funds community youth sports programs.

Crafting a positive long-term volunteer experience with training, support, and resources is also essential.

McReynolds says that most volunteers commit because they want to experience the connection between themselves and those they help.

“The experience and safety of participants is first and foremost. But we can’t lose sight of the experience of volunteers because we want them to come back. We want them to have a deeper engagement, a deeper impact.”

Fae Johnstone, Executive Director, Wisdom2Action (Supplied)

Fae Johnstone, Executive Director, Wisdom2Action, Halifax, N.S.

Rising hate toward the LGBTQ+ community has added another level of complication to contemporary volunteering challenges, according to Wisdom2Action’s executive director.

“A lot of the folks I know who might have been volunteering before are out at protest right now and scared instead,” said Johnstone, managing a wry laugh.

Wisdom2Action helps nonprofit, health and social service organizations better support local young people. Johnstone has heard from other organizations that volunteerism has taken a post-COVID hit, which she attributes partly to the disconnect associated with a virtual approach, seconded by affordability.

“When you’re struggling to put food on the table, volunteering is a ‘nice to do’ that is lower on your list than paying those bills.”

Wisdom2Action has a comparatively small non-profit component with limited capacity to tap into volunteers beyond a board of directors, helping guide the ‘broad strokes’ for the organization. Volunteering is a mutually beneficial activity Johnstone knows they need to lean into.

“Folks should feel connected to something, that they’re benefitting from something and achieving something from the time they’re offering us.

“That’s the dance we’re still trying to figure out.”

As the non-profit side and its associated efforts scale up, Johnstone hopes to use an unusually long waiting list of volunteers.

“We have 600 people who have signed up to volunteer, which is extremely sexy for a new thing.”

She also connects with around 20 people monthly about organizing work on gender and sexuality.

“They’re not necessarily volunteers, but folks we’ve tied a thread to.”

The individuals in the group are representative of many in the queer and trans advocacy space, said Johnstone.

As the organization scales nationally, they represent vital ties to grassroots mobilization, informing and helping channel campaigns.

“So that instead of the disorganized response of 100 gay people saying 100 different things in 100 different cities and towns, we have a bit more of a unified message.”

Nicolas Moyer, CEO, Cuso International. (Supplied)

Nicolas Moyer, CEO, Cuso International, Ottawa, Ont.

An organizational transition at Cuso International made it more challenging to ask volunteers to give up an extended period without a paycheque.

Cuso partners with local entities in Canada, sometimes governmental or private sector, but most often small NGOs or national associations involved in economic opportunities, gender and social inclusion and climate change.

Cuso assists these groups with resources or jointly develops programs but often will try to find experts with the skills the organizations need.

“We’ll work with them on the job description and then it’s our task to try and recruit the right person.”

There is a benefit to the volunteer, said Moyer; however, Cuso’s starting point is ensuring impact in the destination community.

“That’s what it all is about, that’s why we do it, that’s what we measure, that’s what we look at, and in the process, we want the volunteer to have a good experience. We know they’ll take a lot out of it, even as they put a lot into it.”

Some volunteers are sent to different countries worldwide to donate their skills. What used to be a standard two-year volunteer term has morphed into six to 12 months.

COVID-19 put the brakes on operations, with volunteer recruitment still challenged post-pandemic. People are more comfortable close to home, said Moyer. Those looking to volunteer internationally often want to reconnect with family or check off a bucket list item.

Their two primary volunteer sources are “retired but not tired” people and a younger cohort, vetted to ensure they have adequate skill sets.

“From events to job fairs to partnerships with corporations to access their professionals, to social media and advertising, and you name it.”

Kasandra James, Director of Programs, Volunteer Toronto (Supplied)

Kasandra James, Director of Programs, Volunteer Toronto, Toronto, Ont.

James’ strategy toward answering sector volunteer shortages is to create a community space of belonging.

“The focus has been a lot on how we get people to be more engaged, which I think we can do. But I actually think our focus should be on how we evolve our system.”

“Crisis and shortages” have been recent topics of conversation in the non-profit community, she said, noting Volunteer Toronto is Canada’s largest volunteer centre.

Still, James said they are part of a broader societal evolution around civic engagement extending well beyond volunteerism or how non-profits function.

“You can see the shift in volunteerism as a symptom of that evolution.”

There is no question there is a shortage of volunteers. Framing that reality within a broader understanding of civic engagement, reducing barriers and fostering belonging for community members is arguably a more productive long-term approach, said James.

She frequently faces questions on how organizations can get more recruitment, recruit more volunteers and get them to stay longer.

“I’m like, ‘How do we evolve the systems, our organizations, and our communities to be places of belonging? So the responsibility is not with people, more broadly, who should be volunteering; the responsibility is actually with us who work in this space to evolve.

“That, for me, is where strategy should focus.”

Dan Clement, President & CEO, United Way Centraide Canada. (Supplied)

Dan Clement, President & CEO, United Way Centraide Canada, Ottawa, Ont.

“Volunteerism has not recovered from the impacts of the pandemic, which is putting pressure on the capacity of local community service organizations and their delivery models,” said Clement, a refrain he hears constantly.

“That’s where we’re at today.”

Several factors are at play, including the generational shift of losing older volunteers, how patterns changed for volunteers during the lockdown, and elevated health concerns in what tends to be a more aging volunteer population may have subsided, he said.

As Canadians’ cost of living has risen, so has the need to work, impacting volunteer hours and resources.

This means Canada needs a renewed civic strategy for a new generation of new volunteers, said Clement.

Lydia Bardak, Victim Services Co-ordinator, Native Women’s Association of the NWT, Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Every aspect of Northwest Territories life, including volunteerism, was disrupted due to wildfires this year, forcing evacuations in Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith, among others.

“We are still reeling from that.”

In Yellowknife, Bardak has heard organizations are struggling for volunteers post-pandemic, including coaches for youth sports.

“You can see it around,” she added, “but I don’t have that direct experience.”

Victim Services has six to eight essential volunteers who stand on call from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m.

“They take any emergency calls through the night.”

The association, which supports local Indigenous women with training and education programs and victim’s services, has been fortunate in volunteer recruitment, said Bardak. Its website has an application portal, but most recruiters come via word-of-mouth, open houses or advertisements.

“They are dedicated and committed; we can always count on them.”

Commitment to the association’s work is one draw; there’s also an effort to create a positive sense of organizational community through training sessions, ‘swag’ and monthly lunch-and-learns.

Ashley Seymour, Executive Director, Volunteer Manitoba (Supplied)

Ashley Seymour, Executive Director, Volunteer Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.

Seymour encourages being visibly present in physical and virtual spaces to promote volunteerism in a post-pandemic world.

“You need to have your message out there. People have to know who you are.”

Volunteer Manitoba (VM) supports provincial non-profits by providing space to post volunteer opportunities on its website, which receives hundreds of thousands of views annually.

The organization also has a strong presence on social media, Seymour added and encourages other organizations to do the same.

“If you’re going to reach people, that’s where you need to be.”

VM also leverages a historical connection to a weekly column in The Winnipeg Free Press to establish a presence and communicate through mainstream print media, a diversified route they suggest for others.

Fourthly, VM hosts student volunteer recruitment fairs in partnership with high schools and post-secondary institutions. Organizations are invited to host information booths, providing an opportunity to speak directly to students.

Finally, VM has received funding for a large-scale recruitment event in the spring. It will take a broader approach, including students, seniors and everyone.

“Anyone and everyone who wants to come out and hopefully find something they want to connect with and give back to.”

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