Importance of organizational volunteer retention and communication with volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

We used the online survey method to explore the relationship between the importance of volunteer retention during the COVID-19 pandemic and organizational volunteer communication practices among nonprofit organizations’ leaders of local communities. The target population for our study was 696 nonprofit organizational leaders. The response rate was 10.6%. Organizational volunteer communication practices explain 63% of the importance of organizational volunteer retention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, organizations placed significant value on effective organizational communication practices, especially in developing trusting relationships with volunteers, encouraging free-flowing communication, and listening to volunteers. Outreach educators and volunteer administrators should educate local nonprofit leaders on effective communication practices during times of uncertainty. Organizations that depend heavily on volunteers must ensure that their leaders understand the importance of communication strategies and implement them effectively. For local community nonprofit leaders, organizational volunteer communication skills are even more crucial during crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Importance of organizational volunteer retention
• organization volunteer communication
• nonprofit community leaders
• COVID-19 pandemic

Disclosure statement

The research presented here is an offshoot of a more comprehensive organizations’ satisfaction with volunteer retention study that we conducted in 2022 (Windon et al. (2022). (What Explained Nonprofit Organizations’ Satisfaction with Volunteer Retention During the COVID-19 Pandemic?. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension, 10(1), 9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54718/YIUB2599.) Also, the comprehensive study was presented at the 2021 National Association for Agricultural Education annual conference in Oklahoma City, OK in May 16–19, 2022. In the comprehensive study, we examined nonprofit organizations’ satisfaction with volunteer retention during the global COVID-19 pandemic through volunteer management practices and organizational response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the quantitative study reported here, we investigated to what extent the importance of volunteer retention can be explained by the organization’s leaders’ perceptions about organizational volunteer communication during the COVID-19 global pandemic. The result of the comprehensive study published in the Journal of Human Sciences and Extension and presented at the 2022 AAAE conference does not create any potential conflict of interest to the study presented here, “Importance of Organizational Volunteer Retention and Communication with Volunteers during the COVID-19 Pandemic” due to different research variables of interests.