I Asked 50 Volunteers What They Actually Want. The Answers Surprised Me.

The Assumption

We'd been losing volunteers. Good ones—reliable, experienced, committed to the mission. Exit surveys said the usual: "schedule conflict," "personal reasons," "moving on to other opportunities."

I didn't believe it. So I started calling them.

What They Actually Said

The first few calls, I heard polite versions of the survey answers. But by the third or fourth call, patterns emerged.

"I didn't feel like I was making a difference."

"I never knew what happened after my shift."

"I was doing the same thing every week and never saw results."

Our volunteers weren't burning out from overwork. They were burning out from meaninglessness. They gave us hours of their time and got nothing back but a thank-you email.

What We Changed

We started sharing outcomes. Not just "thanks for your help"—actual data. "The people you served last month? Twelve of them are now in housing." "That family you checked in on? Their kids are enrolled in school."

We also started asking volunteers what they wanted to learn, then matching assignments to interests. Someone curious about case management shadows a case worker. Someone interested in data helps with intake.

The Results

Retention went up. Not dramatically—we're not a research study—but noticeably. More importantly, our volunteers started recruiting their friends. "This organization actually shows you what your work does," one of them told me.

That's the quote I think about now when I'm designing volunteer experiences. Show them what their work does.