Tara McWinnie explains why.

What we found through an analysis was that many of the charities that had been increasing their numbers of volunteers still did not have the support they needed.

So I want to link this to another survey we did in 2024, because in 2024, CICP asked about the loss of volunteers since the pandemic, and 61% of charities indicated that their number of volunteers had decreased over that time.

And of those charities, 65% had still not returned to pre-pandemic volunteer numbers.

But headcount is an incomplete measure of capacity.

That capacity also depends on having the right volunteers with the right skills available at the right times, and also whether the organization has the resources to recruit, train, coordinate, and retain them.

We heard repeatedly that some charities have enough volunteers for one-time events or short-term roles, but they're really struggling to find volunteers for leadership positions, board roles, fundraising, any specialized technical work and for long-term commitments.

Tara McQuinney says non-profits may have more success if they meet young people where they are, creating easier ways to get involved initially and pathways to deeper engagement over time.