This is adapted from a blog originally published in January 2003 at the e-volunteerism Journal. I was living in Germany at the time, hence the comment at the start of the blog:

On a recent visit back to the USA, I heard very different opinions about volunteerism from two good friends.

The first said that she will never volunteer again. “I have tried to volunteer for more organizations than I can count. I have tried to volunteer with groups that help animals, with political groups, with women’s groups, and it’s always the same thing: they don’t return my calls, and if they do and they tell me to come in, they don’t care that I’m there once I show up. They don’t want to answer my questions, they look at me as a burden or, worse, as someone that has no feelings at all. I’m just free labor to them, and I’m sick of it.”

Harrumph.

The second friend said she couldn’t get enough of volunteering. Her favorite role has been head of the Parent-Teachers Association at her daughter’s elementary school. “I just love it! I get all this responsibility and respect I’ve never gotten in my job. I feel like I’m really doing something. I feel like I’m making a difference. I love just about everybody I get to work with and, when I don’t, I can still work something out. I just feed off this stuff.”

These two testimonies regarding volunteerism make me wonder if the organizations these two assisted are aware of their feelings. And so I ask volunteer managers reading this to consider: What would people who have volunteered with your organization say about their experience?

Do you know? Do you care?

If anything, these two episodes have made me realize yet again the value of surveying volunteers about their experience, and how easily this can be done using e-mail.

Granted, two people can have very different opinions about the same situation: one person will find my bi-weekly e-mail updates to current volunteers too detailed and too frequent; another will complain that there needs to be more information, sent more often. Still, for the most part, there will be enough similar responses to your questions about volunteering to see trends emerge for your organization.

Informal “Quickie” Surveys

Too many organizations survey only those who have completed at least one assignment with the agency, or survey those volunteers only once as part of some detailed, intensive evaluation program. Those kind of long, involved surveys are indeed important, but just as important are providing plenty of opportunities for current and potential volunteers to offer feedback, however brief, about their experiences at any point in the process.

Here are some suggestions:

• Require all volunteers attending a group event to sign out and complete a brief three-question/five-minute survey right then and there before they leave. Examples of questions for group events include:
  • Why did you come here today?
  • What benefits do you think the organization got as a result of your service today?
  • If you could change one thing about your experience today, what would it be?

• If you really can’t do a survey on the spot, then at least email everyone and ask them to fill out a quick survey. Follow up with reminders to ensure most volunteers respond.

• Conduct “walking around” informal surveys during events and activities. Simply ask volunteers you encounter questions such as “What else would be helpful to you?” or “How would you change what you are doing?” Sometimes these “heat of the moment” questions can elicit more frank opinions than post-event questionnaires, especially from those reluctant to commit to a written response.

• Once a year, send out an email to everyone who has ever expressed interest in volunteering and ask them if they did, indeed, volunteer at your organization and, if so, how would they describe the experience? If they didn’t volunteer, ask them what prevented them from doing so.

There are ways to get even more feedback:

• Put a notice on the Web page that describes volunteering at your organization, saying: “Have you volunteered with our organization? Tell us about your experience!” This invites feedback from anyone at anytime.
• Hand out a brief survey at a board meeting and ask the members three or four quick questions about their volunteering, to be completed in the first five minutes of the meeting. Let members stay anonymous in their responses. At the next board meeting, hand out their answers for discussion.
• Conduct exit interviews of any departing volunteers, where possible. Ask the volunteers to evaluate their experience and make suggestions for improvement.

Finding the Right Question

There are questions I like to ask beyond the “what did you like and dislike” traditional queries:

• What were your expectations before volunteering and how did your actual experience differ?
• What did you learn because of your volunteering?
• If you were to tell someone about your experience today, what would you say?
• How do you think our organization has benefited from your volunteering?
• How have you been recognized for your volunteer efforts at our organization?
• How does staff support you in your volunteering with our organization?
• Do you feel prepared for your volunteer work here? What else can we do to increase your skills?

These deeper questions may allow you to understand “why” volunteers are reacting the way they are and can surface helpful suggestions for improving your volunteer management system.

Here are sample questions a survey for volunteers at First Night Doylestown:

Did you enjoy volunteering?
Would you be likely to volunteer again?
How many hours were you on duty?
Was that amount of volunteer time
What could we have done better to help you in your volunteer position?
What was the best thing about volunteering for First Night Doylestown?
May we quote you? (we might want to use these comments in our recruiting efforts in the future)

Here are some survey questions that were asked by the Dartmouth University’s Oxbow student volunteer program:

What were your expectations at the beginning of the program?
Were your expectations fulfilled? Why or why not?
What were the strengths of the program? What was your favorite day and why?
What were the weaknesses of the program? What aspects need work?
Did you feel well informed and adequately trained? What information or training could we offer new volunteers in the future?
Do you plan to continue participating in this program?
What information can you provide that will be helpful to future volunteers?

Here is an example of a feedback form from the IVY project of Portland, OR

What would you tell your family and friends about what you did today?

Would you be interested in coming back to Forest Park to help with the Ivy Removal Project again?

What would you tell someone who came to remove Ivy for the first time in Forest Park?

What made the greatest impression on you today?

Do you have any suggestions or great idea to share?

Utilizing the Results

You will need to compile the feedback you receive from volunteer surveys and then share at least a summary with staff and the volunteers themselves. It’s especially important to note how any of the feedback is going to be acted upon in the coming weeks and months.

Just by asking such questions, you are demonstrating to supporters and potential supporters the importance of volunteers to your organization; the follow-up will reinforce that idea even more.

Reader Response Questions:

1. What are your favorite quick-survey methods to get information from volunteers?
2. What are your favorite non-traditional questions to ask of volunteers?

Also see:

Measuring the Impact of Volunteers: book announcement

Make volunteering transformative, not about # of hours

CNCS continues its old-fashioned measurement of volunteer value

Free: Planning, Monitoring & Evaluating for Development Results (handbook)

History & Evaluation of UNV’s Early Years

where are the evaluations of hacksforgood/appsforgood?

Also see: My consulting services

If you have benefited from this blog, my other blogs, or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.