Improving the Capital Campaign Volunteer Experience: 7 Tips

Capital campaigns are huge endeavors, and to succeed, you need all hands on deck. This call for assistance extends beyond your paid staff members to your volunteers. 

However, because capital campaigns are so lengthy (research shows that, on average, they last 3.2 years), it can be tricky to recruit, engage, and retain volunteers who enthusiastically support you throughout the process. More than likely volunteers will drop in and out, shifting roles at different stages of the campaign as your priorities change. This complicates the process of managing their experiences.

In this quick guide, we’ll explore seven tips you can use to improve the capital campaign volunteer experience. 

As you refine your volunteer management strategy, you’ll be able to connect with more volunteers who want to see you succeed, communicate the value your organization sees in volunteer work, and get the assistance you need to get your campaign over the finish line. Let’s begin! 

1. Match volunteers to roles they will enjoy.

Volunteering should be something that your supporters enjoy doing. Set them up to have a great experience helping out with your campaign by matching them to roles or tasks that they want to do. 

For instance, some of your closest supporters may be interested in the Campaign Core Committee or Cabinet. Some volunteers may be experienced event planners, who can help plan your kick-off celebrations. Other volunteers may be skilled in graphic design and offer to help create marketing assets like your capital campaign brochure. You may even find a seasoned grant writing professional in your volunteer community.

To match your volunteers with jobs they like, hopefully you already know information about them and store it in your donor and volunteer database. Consider adding a free response question to your volunteer registration form that allows volunteers to input special skills, interests, or preferences that will help your volunteer coordinator find the right role for them. 

It may take a little more time and effort to find the right fit for your volunteers, but remember, capital campaigns are long projects and include all kinds of important tasks. There’s a role for everyone—you’ll just need to put a little extra thought into who is best suited for what.

2. Offer flexibility. 

Research shows that formal volunteerism rates have decreased due to supporters having less time and flexibility. Counteract this trend by making it as easy as possible for your volunteers to sign up to help with your campaign. 

One way to do this is to offer short volunteering opportunities with clear beginning and end dates. After all, some volunteers may be able to commit to giving their time for the full duration of your campaign, but others may only be able to lend a helping hand every now and then. Plus, when volunteers participate in a short task or project, you can thank them for something specific and invite them back for more short tasks down the line. 

Another way to do this is to look for opportunities to let your volunteers complete tasks from home or online. For example, volunteers may be able to help you write donor thank-you notes from the comfort of their own homes or monitor the chat during a webinar where you report on the progress of your campaign. 

3. Prepare them for success. 

Volunteers will find their work more rewarding and more manageable when you prepare them to succeed up front. According to Double the Donation, this involves providing:  

• Training: Clearly explain and, if possible, demonstrate how you want your volunteers to complete their tasks. For example, if volunteers will be spreading the word about you at dinner parties or staff a booth for your organization at a local street festival, walk them through some talking points they can use to generate interest in your campaign. Show them how to direct interested individuals to your campaign page on a smartphone. 
• Resources: Document all the information a volunteer needs to complete the tasks their role requires so that they have something to turn to when they have questions. Also provide volunteers with the right tools for their work. If a team of volunteers is going to help you set up your kick-off event, for instance, you should have the decor, folding chairs, and tables ready to go before they arrive. 
• Someone they can turn to for assistance: Volunteers need to know they’re not alone in their work and that your organization is constantly supporting them. Ensure every volunteer knows who they can go to—whether that’s the leader of a committee or your volunteer coordinator—with questions, concerns, and requests for assistance. 

4. Set clear expectations. 

Everyone, including volunteers, needs to be on the same page about your campaign goals, objectives, and deadlines. Ensure they know what you need from them by: 

• Communicating the goals of the campaign and how each volunteer role or task contributes to that goal
• Sharing schedules and deadlines for specific tasks and milestones associated with the campaign
• Describing the quality of work you expect from your volunteers (provide examples or benchmarks if possible)
• Scheduling regular check-ins with your volunteers to ensure everyone stays on track 

When you set clear expectations for your volunteers, you pave the way for sustained momentum throughout the campaign. You also increase the likelihood that volunteers will feel satisfied and fully engaged in their roles, as they’ll be able to connect their work to your larger campaign and organizational goals. 

5. Provide leadership opportunities. 

Some of your volunteers may be interested in taking on more responsibility than others, either for the sake of personal growth or increasing their impact on your organization (or both!). Be prepared to provide leadership opportunities to volunteers who are willing to have a little more on their plates. 

In some cases, you may need to seek out volunteer leaders, whether you’re looking for someone to guide a campaign committee or even to take on the intensive role of campaign chair. Capital Campaign Pro recommends turning to senior volunteers in these situations. These individuals are intimately familiar with your organization and can be integral in helping you plan and implement your campaign. They may also be in a position to take on more public- and donor-facing work, like fundraising. 

6. Recognize and appreciate their efforts.

When all is said and done, volunteers need to know that you appreciate the hard work that went into making your capital campaign dreams a reality. Not only does this make their experience with your nonprofit more rewarding but it will also help you retain their support for years to come.

There are many ways to show your volunteers that you appreciate them. Here are a few ideas: 

• Write a thank-you letter. Ensure the letter is personalized to the volunteer and their specific contributions. For a more modern take on the thank-you letter, consider sending an eCard. 
• Spotlight your volunteers on your blog. Ask your volunteers for stories about their experiences working on your campaign and write up a blog post that talks about the impact that they made. You can share the blog post across your social media profiles to let the world know about your amazing volunteers!
• Give a memorable gift. Volunteers may appreciate getting a little something in return for all their hard work. Consider giving out campaign-specific gifts that will remind volunteers of what they helped accomplish. These might include a framed photo of the facility you built thanks to your campaign or merchandise branded to your organization.  

Tailor your recognition efforts to your volunteers’ preferences. For example, some volunteers may appreciate a more public shout-out on your blog or social media profiles, but others may prefer quieter forms of thanks, like a phone call and a small gift. Whatever the specifics look like, the end goal should be the same—to make your volunteers feel seen and valued. 

7. Gather and act on feedback. 

If you’re truly invested in improving the capital campaign volunteer experience, you won’t just stop making improvements after your campaign is complete. You’ll also want to optimize the general volunteer experience at your organization. 

One of the best ways to do this is to turn to your volunteers and ask for their feedback. Send out a survey or have one-on-one conversations with your volunteers in which you ask about what went well and what you could do to better support them or make volunteering more engaging and fulfilling. 

Pay attention to the trends and patterns you see in your volunteers’ responses. For instance, you may notice that volunteers wish your technology tools could support a more streamlined application process or that your volunteer coordinator would be clear during training sessions. Take this feedback in stride and assure your volunteers you will act on their suggestions. 

Capital campaigns offer an exciting opportunity to involve passionate volunteers in achieving a lofty goal for your shared community. Make assisting your campaign a fun and rewarding experience by implementing the tips above. You’ve got this!