Quick Stats about Millennials and Volunteers

I'm Teachers Assistant for an undergraduate nonprofit class this semester and a few weeks ago a panel of volunteer managers from Dovia spoke to our class. The panel provided great statistics about millennials.

• Millennials will have 10-14 jobs by the time they are 38.
• 1 in 4 millennials have been in a job less than 1 year.
• Millennials are 1/3 of the US population.
• They spend 170 billion a year.
• They appreciate family values and volunteer.
• 28% author a blog.
• 30.4% volunteer.

The panel also provided volunteering statstics and helpful tips about recruiting, managing, and retaining volunterrs.

• 25% of San Diegans Volunteer
• 28% of the US population volunteers
• 1 in 3 nonprofits do not do background checks of their volunteers.
• 1 in 8 nonprofits do not screen their volunteers or check references.

The Dovia panel said it is important for nonprofits to create policies and procedures to recruit, train, and retain volunteers. Nonprofits should assign a point person, a liaison between staff and volunteers, be clear with volunteers what is expected of them, and provide appropriate, timely and personal recongition of volunteer efforts. Nonprofits should be transparent with volunteers and share with them how money is spent in the organization, the volunteer's time is valued and help volunteers understand where they fit into the big picture of the organization.

Dovia has chapters around the country and provides ongoing training for nonprofits on best practices for volunteer management. Volunteer management is often avoided and overlooked by many nonprofits, however volunteers keep nonprofits thriving and surviving so it is important to invest in creating and maintaining a healthy volunteer program.

I thought these statistics and tips were very helpful -- do you have any interesting tips for managing volunteers that aren't listed here?