Volunteer Advancement — Not Just Moving Up, but Also Continuing To Grow

By Megan Vixie

Editor’s Note: We appreciate this guest article by Megan, owner of Arrive Circa Now, LLC. There is more information about her and the executive coaching and consulting services she offers, following the article.

When we hear the word “advancement,” it’s easy to think of promotions, titles, or leadership positions. But advancement can look very different from this traditional definition. Instead, it can also look like ensuring volunteers continue to have opportunities that are meaningful, challenging, and aligned with who they are becoming. 

Throughout my career, I’ve led both volunteer engagement and human resources. While one group receives a paycheck and the other doesn’t, that distinction is inconsequential when it comes to the desire for advancement. People don’t stop growing because they volunteer instead of receiving a paycheck.

Whether employees or volunteers, individuals want to use their strengths, continue learning, build relationships, and feel their skills are being utilized. As HR professionals, we invest significant time in employee engagement through one-on-one meetings, career development conversations, succession planning, and growth opportunities because we know people evolve throughout their careers. The same principles apply to the work of volunteer engagement professionals.

Volunteers Want More Than the Opportunity to Give Back

One of the biggest misconceptions about volunteers is that they are motivated solely by the desire to “help others.” While making a difference is certainly a powerful motivator, it is rarely the only one.

Volunteers also choose to serve because they want to:

• Create friendships or build meaningful connections
• Expand their professional network
• Learn new skills or explore a new area of interest
• Stay mentally and socially engaged after retirement
• Apply decades of professional expertise in meaningful ways
• Gain leadership skills or experience for a future career
• Contribute to a legacy or cause they are deeply connected to 

Just like employees, these motivations can change over time. Someone who originally volunteered to meet people may later want to lead a project. Retired executives may discover they miss mentoring others. A college student may begin by seeking experience but eventually want leadership opportunities. Another volunteer may simply want to try something different after several years in the same assignment.

If our volunteer opportunities remain static while our volunteer motivations change or continue to grow, you may lose volunteers as their current pathways are not moving in the new direction they wish to take.

Silence Doesn’t Always Mean Satisfaction

Employees often have structured opportunities to discuss career aspirations, frustrations, or development goals through one-on-one meetings, annual reviews, or stay interviews that help uncover concerns before someone resigns. Volunteers rarely have those same opportunities.

Instead (as the saying goes), they often vote with their feet. One day, they just stop showing up. 

The volunteer who quietly disappears may be communicating something we never stopped to ask. Silence should never automatically be interpreted as satisfaction. It is important to adopt the same philosophies used for employees to volunteers, as a way to measure levels of engagement and opportunities for advancement.

Advancement Means Continuing to Monitor for the Right Fit

When volunteers first join your organization, you likely spend time matching them with an assignment that aligns with their current interests, skills, or experience. But do we continue to ask if the role continues to grow with the volunteer? Are we checking in to see if there is another more engaging pathway than the original one the volunteer began one year, five years, or ten years ago?

If you checked in with your volunteers today, you may find: One volunteer ready for greater responsibility. Another wants to mentor new volunteers. Someone else with professional expertise that your organization has never tapped into. Others ready for something entirely different after mastering their current assignment.

Advancement isn’t always upward. Sometimes it’s sideways, deeper, or just something completely different. The goal isn’t to move every volunteer up into a leadership level role. Rather, a volunteer engagement professional should continually align volunteers’ interests, strengths, and current motivations with opportunities that keep their experiences meaningful and still contribute intentionally to the organization.

Growth Conversations Matter

Another philosophy I’ve carried from HR into volunteer engagement is that people stay where they feel seen and heard. Employees are more engaged when someone has not only listened to their aspirations but also invested in their growth and development. Volunteers deserve that same investment. I have also heard from some volunteers over the years that they don’t want their volunteer work to feel like a “job.” So there is a balance in meeting the volunteer where they are and understanding the level of engagement they are seeking. This can only come from having these growth conversations.

Instead of waiting for volunteers to speak up, create intentional opportunities to ask questions, such as:

• What has been the most meaningful part of your volunteer experience?
• How can we better utilize your skills and experience? 
• Is there something new you’ve always wanted to try?
• Would you enjoy mentoring or training newer volunteers?
• How have your interests changed since you first started volunteering?
• Is there anything we can do to make your volunteer experience more engaging?

These conversations can reveal new pathways the volunteer may be ready for or opportunities for you to prepare them for a new role. Either way, you’ve strengthened the relationship by listening and being proactive to their needs.

Sometimes Advancement Means Adapting

Growth isn’t always about taking on more responsibility, but finding a better fit due to a particular life change. Normally, we think of something like age that presents risk. However, we need to think beyond what could be considered bias and challenge ourselves to ask: Can the volunteer safely and effectively perform the job? And are there any accommodations we can make for them to still perform at this level if needed?

Here are some examples of where life changes can come into play, and accommodations occur:

• A volunteer becomes a caregiver and needs a less emotionally demanding volunteer role, so they move from directly working with clients to an administrative role that still supports the program
• An administrative volunteer receives a medical diagnosis that requires them to sit for long periods of time and no heavy lifting, so they receive new duties to accommodate their needs
• A volunteer driver is losing eyesight and has now become a mentor to new volunteer drivers and trains them on their role in the field

These conversations require compassion, respect, and thoughtful creativity. Rather than viewing this as the end of a volunteer’s journey, volunteer engagement professionals need to look for ways they can still preserve the volunteer’s relationship with the organization in a safe and meaningful way. It may not always be possible, but it is worth the effort of exploration. 

Ways to Get Started

Consider integrating these actions into your current volunteer program infrastructure:

1. Schedule volunteer growth conversations. Just as organizations conduct these with employees, schedule annual or semiannual check-ins with volunteers to learn what keeps them engaged, what has changed, and where they’d like to grow. Revisit their motivations for volunteering. They may be looking to build new skills, expand their network, mentor others, or apply expertise that isn’t being utilized.
2. Create multiple growth pathways. Not every volunteer wants a formal leadership role. Review your current programs and see if there are additional ways volunteers can support a program outside of the traditional ways you’ve already created. So when a volunteer is looking for more or something different, you are ready to move them into a pathway that serves both their needs and the needs of the organization.
3. Review long-term volunteer assignments. Identify volunteers who have served in the same role for several years and ask whether the assignment still matches their interests, strengths, availability, and abilities. Sometimes a small change can reignite a volunteer’s passion and commitment.
4. Make growth conversations part of your culture. Normalize asking volunteers, “What’s next for you?” Whether the answer is greater responsibility, a different role, or a lighter commitment, these conversations communicate something to every volunteer — We don’t just value what you can do for us; we value who you are and where you want to go here.

Bottom Line

Volunteer advancement isn’t just about creating more leadership positions, but also recognizing that every volunteer brings a lifetime of experiences, talents, and aspirations that continue to evolve. The most successful volunteer programs continue to cultivate people. As leaders of volunteers, the greatest opportunity is to ensure volunteers continue to grow and make meaningful contributions to the organization long after their first day of service, with opportunities that evolve alongside them.

About the Author

Megan Vixie, MPA, CVA, PHR, SHRM-CP, CEC, is a respected and collaborative leader utilizing people strategy to execute the strategic direction of organizations. She is the owner of Arrive Circa Now, LLC, an executive coaching and consulting business where she consults and advises boards, CEOs and executive teams, specializing in strategic planning, workplace culture, organizational development, volunteer engagement strategy and career advancement for the emerging leader. She is a national trainer and licensed provider for Service Enterprise accreditation, coaching organizations on how to best leverage volunteer engagement strategy to achieve their mission. She is also the Chief Engagement Officer for Beach Cities Health District, one of the largest preventive health agencies in the nation. As a life-long volunteer and continuous learner, Megan serves on advisory councils for the Association for Leaders in Volunteer Engagement (AL!VE) and DOVIA-Los Angeles, and facilitates AL!VE’s Emerging Leaders Mentor Program.

Website: www.arrivecircanow.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganvixie/
Email: megan@arrivecircanow.com

About VIS

Volunteers Insurance Service Association, Inc. (VIS) is a membership organization serving more than 3,500 volunteer-based nonprofit organizations and public entities nationwide. VIS is the only association that offers these three insurance programs designed specifically for volunteers: volunteer accident, volunteer liability, and volunteer excess automobile liability.

If you are interested in protecting your volunteers through the unique VIS insurance program, please click on the “Get volunteer insurance now” link on the home page, or call 800.222.8920. For more information on VIS’s risk-management resources for members and our vendor partners, click on the “Member Benefits” tab.