Survey Highlights:
43% of charities say they currently have enough volunteers — but 45% say they do not.
Over the past year, volunteer numbers:
- Stayed about the same for 52%
- Increased for 28%
- Decreased for 21%
Impacts of Decreased Volunteers:
- 77% report increased staff/volunteer workloads
- 63% say it limits their capacity to take on new projects
- 41% say it reduces their ability to deliver services
Impacts of Increased Volunteers:
- 60% report improved ability to deliver services
- 59% say it helps better meet community needs
- 58% note reduced workloads for staff
Recruitment and Retention Challenges:
- Recruitment: 53% of charities face moderate to significant challenges
- Retention: 36% face moderate to significant challenges
What Else Charities are Saying:
“COVID cut our volunteer program to nothing, and we’ve been working to increase these numbers ever since.”
“Organizations need to have infrastructure to support volunteers or they won’t stay.”
“The main base of volunteers are aging and not being replaced with sustainable levels of volunteer recruitment in younger age brackets. Vacancies are more notable and difficult to fill in senior or experienced volunteer roles which require longer terms of commitment.”
“Worsening economic conditions make it harder to gain and retain volunteers as there is less time and resources for people to dedicate towards serving others when their struggling to make ends meet for their own family.”