Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership Strategies, and Community-Centric Solutions
Oct 6, 2026 · 25 min · 10 segments
Send us Fan Mail What does your annual report say about your volunteers? If it's a headcount, a total of hours, and a dollar figure for how much they…
I definitely agree with you there, but before we jump into a little bit more, what is an ethical volunteer framework?
So an ethical volunteer engagement framework is really about respecting the volunteer as a whole person, shifting some of the preconceived notions that we have surrounding the idea of volunteerism.
So thinking of people as just a volunteer or saying, you know, "We're gonna use volunteers," that's super icky 'cause volunteers are people.
And also things like believing that volunteers are just there to do menial tasks like stuff envelopes or hand out water at an event, and they're not really adding anything.
But for those EDs out there who are listening who really have organizations where volunteers are at the core of your work, right? You wouldn't be serving food if volunteers weren't there to prep and serve it.
You wouldn't be providing mentorship and support to young people or newcomers if volunteers weren't there to share their lived experience, their career experience, to spend the time with the community that staff may not have.
I'm gonna ask all the EDs listening to think about their latest annual report or open it up.
What are you reporting on in terms of volunteers? Are you reporting on the number of volunteers, how many hours they donated? Maybe you've used a wage replacement rate to say like, "Well, because volunteers served, this is how much money our organization has saved." If you're just thinking about volunteers as a way to save money, that really doesn't reflect the true value that they're bringing to the organization.
It also keeps us a little bit stuck in our relationship building if we keep thinking of them as a resource, as a form to fuel the organization, as a thing, versus like whole people who have their own core beliefs leading them to the work and who have their own networks, who want to be more involved and be part of a community rather than being used.
Yeah, and I think the shift happened with donor stewardship, I would say, probably in the last 10 or 15 years, right? Going from really the view of donors are a wallet.
We're gonna go to the wallet and make our withdrawal, and let's not worry about them.
If the wallet runs dry, we'll find a different wallet, right? Again, volunteers aren't there just to be a time bank and a resource.
They are full people, and you really have to take a 360 view- Of all the relationships they have, all the experience and expertise that they can bring, which includes lived experience and expertise, as well as the trust that they have for your organization.
They could be hanging out with their kids and their grandkids or their pets, right? But they've chosen to spend that time to make a difference at your organization.
So how do you make that time meaningful, and how do you steward and deepen that relationship, not just for the hope that this person wants to come back, but also because they might be interested in giving in other ways.
And the volunteers who are actively survey, they're a great pipeline for your board.
You know, it's funny, we're always asking donors to give time, talent, or treasure, but we only really steward and deepen our relationships with people who give treasure, who give money.
I definitely agree with you there, but before we jump into a little bit more, what is an ethical volunteer framework?
So an ethical volunteer engagement framework is really about respecting the volunteer as a whole person, shifting some of the preconceived notions that we have surrounding the idea of volunteerism.
So thinking of people as just a volunteer or saying, you know, "We're gonna use volunteers," that's super icky 'cause volunteers are people.
And also things like believing that volunteers are just there to do menial tasks like stuff envelopes or hand out water at an event, and they're not really adding anything.
But for those EDs out there who are listening who really have organizations where volunteers are at the core of your work, right? You wouldn't be serving food if volunteers weren't there to prep and serve it.
You wouldn't be providing mentorship and support to young people or newcomers if volunteers weren't there to share their lived experience, their career experience, to spend the time with the community that staff may not have.
I'm gonna ask all the EDs listening to think about their latest annual report or open it up.
What are you reporting on in terms of volunteers? Are you reporting on the number of volunteers, how many hours they donated? Maybe you've used a wage replacement rate to say like, "Well, because volunteers served, this is how much money our organization has saved." If you're just thinking about volunteers as a way to save money, that really doesn't reflect the true value that they're bringing to the organization.
It also keeps us a little bit stuck in our relationship building if we keep thinking of them as a resource, as a form to fuel the organization, as a thing, versus like whole people who have their own core beliefs leading them to the work and who have their own networks, who want to be more involved and be part of a community rather than being used.
Yeah, and I think the shift happened with donor stewardship, I would say, probably in the last 10 or 15 years, right? Going from really the view of donors are a wallet.
We're gonna go to the wallet and make our withdrawal, and let's not worry about them.
If the wallet runs dry, we'll find a different wallet, right? Again, volunteers aren't there just to be a time bank and a resource.
They are full people, and you really have to take a 360 view- Of all the relationships they have, all the experience and expertise that they can bring, which includes lived experience and expertise, as well as the trust that they have for your organization.
They could be hanging out with their kids and their grandkids or their pets, right? But they've chosen to spend that time to make a difference at your organization.
So how do you make that time meaningful, and how do you steward and deepen that relationship, not just for the hope that this person wants to come back, but also because they might be interested in giving in other ways.
And the volunteers who are actively survey, they're a great pipeline for your board.
You know, it's funny, we're always asking donors to give time, talent, or treasure, but we only really steward and deepen our relationships with people who give treasure, who give money.
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