Return On Investment
VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT TRANSFORMS LIMITED ASSETS INTO BOUNDLESS RESOURCES
- Effective volunteer engagement has been shown to reap as much as $6 return on every dollar invested when considering the financial value of volunteer involvement. In addition to such strong return on investment, improved volunteer engagement has far reaching benefits.
- Volunteers donate ten times more money to nonprofits than those who don’t volunteer, and most donate to the organizations in which they are involved.
- Research shows nonprofits are stronger in all capacities and are more adaptable and capable of going to scale when they successfully engage at least 50 volunteers. In short, there is a clear connection between strong volunteer engagement practices and the overall effectiveness of an organization.
- Volunteer engagement is a critical component in helping nonprofit organizations deliver on their core mission by boosting human capacity cost-effectively.
- Funding volunteer capacity leverages your existing investment in the community—across all impact areas—and aligns with every type of grant making strategy.
PIKES PEAK VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVE (PPVEI)
Organizations at all levels are recognizing that they must actively commit to volunteer engagement as a core strategy in addressing the challenges of rising needs and decreasing resources. Our foundation saw an opportunity to help local organizations expand their impact by tapping into the rich pool of local human capital. Since 2011, we have convened community leaders, funders, and organizations at the board and executive level as well as staff and volunteers. We have partnered with them in offering vision, training, coaching, peer learning, cohort projects, and networking opportunities. We offered “time and talent” as well as “treasure,” and it has produced powerful results, impact and mission expansion.
PPVEI EXAMPLES OF RETURN ON INVESTMENT
- An increase of thousands of pounds of food was distributed by a local food pantry through restructuring and adding supervisory volunteers.
- A volunteer speaker’s bureau was recruited and trained for a local advocacy organization.
- Student and adult volunteers created a donated clothing store to support other students in foster homes.
- A pilot project was created through partnership between an organization and church to recruit mentors for kids aging out of the foster care system.
COMMMUNITY IMPACT: A RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL BOATS
The high impact volunteer experiences of 25 organizations have informed numerous other nonprofits in our community:
- Innovation has emerged as a key strategy in many organizations for expanding resources as well as developing a deeper reservoir of talent.
- Executive directors, development staff, and volunteer engagement leaders are recognizing the value and impact of volunteer resources and are willing to invest staff time and money to support and develop more effective partnerships with them.
- Corporations are joining the conversations and expanding their employee volunteer efforts.
- Directors of Volunteer Engagement are meeting regularly to share best practices and engage in peer learning. Many are working toward their national certification in volunteer administration.
- The work of the Initiative will continue under the leadership of our local Center for Nonprofit Excellence. The momentum will be sustained and The Leighty Foundation will be able to step into a support role.
- Our foundation will now turn its attention to the creation of capacity building resources and funding strategies for national distribution to grant makers and organizations.