Volunteers now expect more from volunteering experience

Volunteers now expect more from their experience and charities must do more to recruit and retain them, according to a report published by nfpSynergy.

According to the report, volunteers are no longer happy to do what they are told and most take on volunteer placements to develop new and existing skills.

Fewer of today’s volunteers are happy to take on traditional roles and instead they look for a personalised and flexible experience and the chance to test out roles before investing in training.

The research is based on in-depth interviews and surveys with 22 volunteer managers. Nearly half of those polled said they felt that young people volunteer to develop new or existing skills, while over a third said the same about the middle aged people.

The report states that older people volunteer for friendship and company with skills being a less important factor. The older the volunteers, the more likely they were to want to give something back according to the poll.

Between 19 and 25 percent of the volunteer managers surveyed thought volunteers from across the ages gave their time because they believed in the cause, while around three percent attributed it to religion.

Eighty per cent of volunteer managers said that today’s volunteers are more aware of what they want to gain from their experience.

The report claims that charities must treat volunteers more like employees with one-to-ones and tailored roles if they want to recruit and retain quality people.

To download the report visit http://nfpsynergy.net/press-release/life-and-work-skills-key-attracting-young-volunteers-says-new-report.