Great volunteers aren’t always easy for a nonprofit to come by. When you find exceptional volunteers, you need to do your very best to keep them on board for as long as they’re able to help out. Here are some things that nonprofit organizations can do to retain their best volunteers.

Give People Duties That They’ll Find Enjoyable and Challenging

Try to avoid sticking your volunteers with only menial or laborious tasks. Give them some things to do that are engaging. It’s okay for some duties to be a little harder than others, but they should be challenging in a positive way. Try to mix up duties sometimes so they don’t seem monotonous. Also, be sure to give people the opportunity to do some things that they’ll be likely to find fun.

Thank Volunteers for Their Service

Expressing your gratitude to your volunteers can have a huge impact on volunteer retention. When people know that you really value their work, they’ll feel gratified by helping. If people feel like their efforts are going unnoticed, they’ll be likely to become disheartened and leave.

Provide Great References

Some volunteers are interested in being able to get a reference from the organization that they’re volunteering for. You need to respond to any reference requests that you receive promptly and positively.