Rethinking Retention: Building Great Volunteer Relationships

Consider a new and different approach to volunteer development.

About This Seminar

Many organizations struggle with recruiting and keeping good volunteers, especially in the wake of the pandemic. Traditionally, we talk about retention as something we do to volunteers – actions and activities designed to keep volunteers in our organizations. But what if we changed our focus to retention as an outcome? Particularly as an outcome of building good relationships with volunteers – whether they spend a day or a lifetime with our organization.

In this seminar, we’ll look at some of the challenges and barriers to this shift in thinking — organizational culture; the idea that this is solely the work of the volunteer manager; or that for some organizations, successful retention can only look like a lifetime of service. We’ll talk about strategies to successfully make this shift and how to engage others – both paid and volunteer staff – in strategic relationship-building.

Key Takeaways

  • Create a strategy to build effective relationships with volunteers
  • Find the role your organization’s current volunteer engagement culture plays in deciding what defines successful volunteer retention
  • Apply best practices to building relationships with volunteers including two-way communication and evaluation strategies

Who Should Attend:

This seminar is ideal for anyone who engages with volunteers.

Registration Fee

  • Early Bird : $75 (ends on 4/13)
  • General Admission: $99

Scholarships

If you are a CNM Member or Scholarship Recipient, please send an email to [email protected] to receive your discount code.

Virtual Seminar

Optimized for the virtual environment, this seminar will consist of presentations, group discussions, breakout group sessions, polls, and short breaks. This is an opportunity to do a deep dive on a topic and leave with tools that you can put into practice immediately.

Instructor

Jennifer Bennet, CVA, Director of Education & Training, VolunteerMatch

Jennifer joined VolunteerMatch to formalize and manage the organization’s volunteer engagement program. She is a strong nonprofit generalist, with more than 15 years of nonprofit management experience, most of those years spent directly working with volunteers. In her role, she shares her knowledge with volunteer managers and with national nonprofit clients while providing customized training and resources. Certified in Volunteer Administration in 2009, Jennifer joined the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration’s board in 2012.

Not what you’re looking for?

Visit our Request a Custom Training or Retreat page and learn how CNM can plan, facilitate, and host events tailored to your organization’s unique needs.

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Speak With an Expert

Need expert advice? We're only an email or phone call away. Use this form to get in touch or call the Nonprofit Answer Hotline at the number listed below. You can also schedule a free, 15-minute appointment and we’ll match you with an in-house expert.








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CNM Nonprofit Hotline

Need expert advice? We’re only an email or phone call away. Use this form to get in touch or call the Nonprofit Answer Hotline at the number listed below.

You can also schedule a free, 15-minute appointment and we’ll match you with an in-house expert.








To select more than one item, hold Command on Mac or Control on PC.