How much space in your organisation’s annual report is dedicated to volunteers and the volunteer program? If yours is like most, you’re happy to see a brief thank you in the Executive Director’s introductory letter or, at most, a mention of the number of volunteers and the hours they donated. It’s frustrating. An organisation can have hundreds of volunteers dedicating thousands of hours to work that is absolutely essential. Yet, when the annual report comes out, volunteers get relegated to a thank you line in the ED’s letter. We need to start getting volunteers into annual reports.
In my opinion, an annual report should tell the whole story of what an organisation accomplished during the year. If volunteers contributed significantly to those accomplishments, they should have same amount of attention in the report as their contribution.
Why is volunteer data so often missing?
Partly it’s because it’s often kept separate from other organisational data. Staff numbers, clients, programs delivered and fundraising are generally kept together in one program, while volunteer information hides on someone’s computer or inside a volunteer management system that nobody outside the program sees.
But there is a more insidious reason. Volunteer work is often taken for granted. When volunteers have been happily going about their tasks for years on end, they and their work become part of the background. People notice when the work doesn’t get done, but they don’t always notice when it does.
Getting volunteers into the annual report would fix that.
But how do you convince the executive to include volunteer data?
Just asking the ED to “put more volunteer information in the annual report” won’t do it, obviously. First, you need to connect volunteer data to the things the executive team already care about.
- Start with the mission.
Volunteers help deliver the mission, so their contribution belongs in the report. This isn’t about bragging rights or attention grabbing. It is about accurately reporting impact.
- Connect volunteers to outcomes.
This is probably the most persuasive argument. “Volunteers contributed 18,000 hours” is useful. “Those 18,000 hours allowed us to serve 2,000 additional clients in our community” is much more powerful.
- Show what other organisations are doing.
Annual reports from organisations such as Habitat for Humanity Canada demonstrate that volunteer contribution can be reported alongside other organisational achievements. Pointing that out proves it’s not an unusual request; just good impact reporting.
- Make it easy for them!
Don’t drop a list of stats and quotes on someone’s desk and leave them to figure out how to put it all together. Instead, draft up a page of information with the details, some infographics and two or three good impact stories, that they can easily cut and paste directly into the report. Then, as Martin Cowling once did, according to his interview on Rob Jackson’s podcast, just drop it on the ED’s desk and say “Here’s the volunteer page for the annual report.”
Okay, assuming that they agree to include the volunteer program, what should be covered?
At minimum, your information should include:
- Number of volunteers. How many people volunteered over the year?
- Volunteer hours. How many hours did they contribute? (Neither of these are really terribly important or informative, but they’re expected so throw them in.)
- Volunteer roles or areas of contribution. Where did those hours go? This can be powerful as it connects volunteers directly to the mission.
- Volunteer-led activities. Are there programs, events or services that are primarily delivered by volunteers? These are things that wouldn’t happen at all if it wasn’t for the volunteers. Again, connect this with the advancement of the mission.
- Growth or change. Did the volunteer program increase, decrease or change significantly during the year?
Quantitative data is important, but it’s not enough on its own. You need to combine it with qualitative data.
You could say, for example, that 1,200 volunteers contributed 35,000 hours, explain what those hours made possible, and then introduce one of the people behind the number. We care more about things when we know the people involved in them.
And/or include quotes. “Lily helps me do my errands. She’s always so cheerful! From being the hardest part of my week, errands have become my favourite!” You could even include quotes from staff stating how volunteers help with their program areas.
A good annual report should communicate all aspects of an organisation’s impact.
It sends a message internally that the volunteer program is important, and we all know that what gets measured and reported tends to get noticed and supported.
When volunteer contributions are listed with fundraising, program outcomes, client numbers and financial results, it reinforces the idea that volunteers are an integral part of the organisation’s mission, not a “nice to have”.
Volunteers aren’t ignored in annual reports because their contribution is small. They are ignored because organisations have become so accustomed to their help that they’ve become invisible.
Getting volunteers into annual reports is an opportunity to refocus the spotlight.
