Volunteer Development Archive - Darren Kizer
An archive of past work focused on volunteer development, team culture, and community engagement.
About This Site:
This page serves as an archive of volunteer development materials I created during earlier seasons of work in nonprofit and community-based organizational development. These resources come from writing, research, and training projects originally produced for educational settings and for a book that is no longer in print. I’ve preserved them here for anyone who may find the ideas helpful or applicable in their own work with volunteers and teams.
About Darren:
I’ve spent more than twenty years working in organizational development, educational program design, and volunteer engagement within nonprofit and community settings. My work has included designing assessment systems, developing training resources, coordinating multi-site programs, and supporting teams across a range of national and local organizations.
My academic background includes an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, an M.A. in Administration from Central Michigan University, and a B.S. from Clarks Summit University. The materials on this site reflect earlier research and writing related to volunteer development and team culture, preserved here as an archive for anyone who may find them helpful.
Archive of Volunteer Development Writings:
Below is a collection of articles adapted from earlier research, training modules, and published work. These pieces reflect concepts and frameworks developed to support volunteers, strengthen team culture, and build sustainable systems of care and engagement.
Note: The first six summaries presented here were adapted from a much longer work and were prepared with the assistance of AI to condense and organize the original material. All core ideas, concepts, and frameworks originate from the original research and writing.
Retention Over Recruitment: Building a Culture Volunteers Don’t Want to Leave
“A volunteer team thrives not because it recruits endlessly, but because the environment makes people want to stay. This post explores how retention-based cultures create stability, belonging, and natural volunteer growth.”
Many nonprofit and community organizations share a common challenge: the demand for volunteer support continues to rise, while volunteer availability and attention become increasingly fragmented. The instinctive reaction is often to intensify recruitment efforts—create more campaigns, post more requests, and widen the net. But organizations that consistently thrive with volunteer engagement share a different approach: instead of endlessly recruiting, they invest in retention.
Retention-centered cultures replace urgency with stability and turnover with continuity. They also attract more volunteers naturally because people talk about organizations where they feel valued, connected, and part of something meaningful. This shift begins with a mindset: volunteers are not a renewable resource, and every hour they give is a deliberate choice. Treating that investment with intentionality reshapes the entire volunteer experience.
The Zero Recruitment Mindset
This post introduces a concept known as a zero recruitment culture, where volunteers stay long-term and organically invite others to join. In these environments, volunteers describe their experience as energizing, purpose-filled, and enjoyable. Leaders in zero recruitment cultures focus less on filling vacancies and more on cultivating an environment volunteers don’t want to leave.
This mindset does not imply that recruitment disappears altogether. Growing organizations always need new team members. Instead, it reframes the priority: retention is the engine that makes recruitment easier. Satisfied volunteers tell their friends. Supportive environments keep people returning. Healthy cultures attract interest without aggressive appeals.
The “Four Before”: Foundational Mindsets That Precede Success
Before any strategy can strengthen retention, four foundational expectations must be present—the approach refers to them as the Four Before: excellence, mission, appreciation, and invitation. These set the tone for the entire volunteer experience.
Excellence. Volunteers notice details. They recognize when systems are smooth, communication is clear, and environments feel well prepared. Excellence does not require extensive budgets; it requires care. Doing the best with what is available signals to volunteers that their time and contributions matter.
Mission. People are motivated by meaningful work. A mission that is clearly articulated, simple to understand, and compelling enough to unify diverse individuals is a strong predictor of retention. Volunteers want to know how their role connects to a broader purpose.
Appreciation. A culture saturated with genuine gratitude keeps volunteers engaged. Appreciation is not an occasional event; it is a posture. Individuals want to feel seen—not only for what they do, but for who they are.
Invitation. A thriving volunteer environment is marked by atmosphere, not pressure. Inclusive, confident invitations draw people in. When volunteers feel welcomed, not coerced, they are more likely to stay and to bring others with them.
Bottom-Line Realities of Volunteer Leadership
Several recurring principles—“bottom lines”—emerge as universal truths of effective volunteer cultures. A few are especially relevant to retention:
If there is an excellence problem, there will be a volunteer problem.
Volunteers don’t need another job—make it enjoyable.
Volunteers feel valued when their time, energy, and strengths are respected.
Fulfilled volunteers naturally invite their friends.
Volunteers are more than the role they perform; develop the whole person.
These truths form the foundation for retention. They are simple yet transformative when leaders consistently model them.
Moving From Panic to Stability
Organizations often slip into a cycle of “recruit and replace.” When faced with urgent vacancies, leaders pour their effort into finding new people rather than strengthening the experience of those already serving. Over time, that urgency turns into exhaustion—for both leaders and volunteers.
A retention-first model reverses the dynamic. Investing in current volunteers fosters continuity, reduces stress, and increases the amount of time leaders can spend on support, training, and celebration rather than scrambling. Instead of reacting to shortages, organizations proactively build a magnetic culture.
Why Retention Works Better Than Recruitment
Retaining volunteers demands far less energy than constantly onboarding new ones. Orientation, training, and relational integration are resource-heavy; replacing volunteers repeatedly drains capacity. In contrast, retaining engaged volunteers produces:
Higher skill competency
Greater relational connection within teams
More confidence and consistency
Increased volunteer-led recruitment
Simply put, retention multiplies, while recruitment merely adds.
A Shift With Long-Term Impact
Retention over recruitment is not just a strategy—it is a leadership philosophy. When volunteers experience significance, support, connection, and empowerment, they stay. And when they stay, the organization strengthens.
This shift begins with one foundational question for leaders:
“What would our organization look like if volunteers consistently felt that their time was well spent?”
The answer to that question becomes the blueprint for a volunteer culture where people don’t just participate—they remain, contribute, and thrive.
Significance: Helping Volunteers See Why Their Contribution Matters
“Volunteers stay longer when they understand the meaning and impact of their work. This post outlines how leaders communicate significance and match volunteers to roles that energize them.”
Organizations often assume volunteers are motivated primarily by generosity or obligation. In reality, most individuals are driven by something deeper: the desire to make a meaningful contribution. When people feel that their time is purposeful and that their efforts genuinely matter, they stay engaged far longer and with far greater energy.
Creating a culture where volunteers experience significance is the first major step toward long-term retention. It is not about filling vacancies—it is about connecting individuals to roles where they can thrive, grow, and see the difference they make.
Helping Volunteers See Their Role in the Bigger Picture
Every volunteer role, whether public-facing or behind-the-scenes, contributes to advancing an organization’s mission. But volunteers do not automatically see the connection between their tasks and the impact those tasks create.
Leaders play a crucial role in making that connection visible. When volunteers understand how their actions create measurable or meaningful outcomes, their sense of significance increases dramatically.
For example, a volunteer performing logistical support may appreciate the task itself, but significance emerges when they learn how their work made it possible for a family to receive services smoothly or for a community event to run without disruption. Meaning comes from understanding impact, not just completing tasks.
People want to know that their time matters. Leaders who consistently communicate the “why” behind every role help volunteers experience pride and purpose in their contributions.
Meaning Begins With the Right Fit
Everyone can volunteer somewhere, but not everyone will thrive just anywhere. The concept of a “sweet spot” is essential: the intersection of a volunteer’s skills, personality, and passions.
When individuals serve in their sweet spot, their experience is energizing rather than draining. They describe their involvement as enjoyable, meaningful, and aligned with who they are. When they serve outside that sweet spot, the opposite occurs—fatigue sets in, motivation fades, and the likelihood of long-term engagement decreases.
Leaders who prioritize matching people with roles where they can flourish create a volunteer culture defined by enthusiasm and satisfaction. This begins with getting to know each individual, asking about their interests, observing their strengths, and being willing to adjust their placement when needed.
One of the most common pitfalls is the “whatever-you-need” trap—accepting someone’s eagerness to fill any role without ensuring it is the right role. Although well-intentioned, this approach often leads to burnout. Instead, thoughtful placement demonstrates respect for volunteers and increases the probability of keeping them long-term.
Why Significance Requires Continual Communication
People measure what they value. Volunteers want to know that their investment is seen—both by leadership and by the organization as a whole. Communicating significance involves both storytelling and numbers:
Share the outcomes their work enabled
Highlight contributions publicly and privately
Frame routine tasks as essential components of success
Use data to demonstrate scale and importance
Clear communication elevates the perceived value of volunteer contributions and reinforces their connection to the mission. When leaders intentionally share stories of impact, volunteers gain a richer understanding of how their efforts contribute to real change.
Improvement as a Form of Respect
Significance also grows when volunteers see that the organization is committed to improving systems, processes, and communication. A stagnant environment signals indifference; a learning environment signals value.
Volunteers feel most significant when they know their insights, feedback, and experiences help shape the organization’s future. Leaders who embrace continuous improvement not only enhance the quality of services—they cultivate a climate where volunteers feel respected as active contributors.
This includes evaluating what works, addressing what doesn’t, and inviting volunteers into conversations that refine the organization’s approach. Development becomes a shared journey, and volunteers feel like partners rather than placeholders.
Showing Appreciation in a Way That Resonates
Feeling significant is closely tied to feeling appreciated. Authentic appreciation goes beyond occasional gestures—it requires consistency, specificity, and sincerity.
Volunteers value:
Having their names remembered
Hearing specific examples of how their contributions made a difference
Receiving personalized thanks rather than generic recognition
Knowing their presence—not just their work—is valued
A culture of appreciation reinforces significance by reminding volunteers that what they do has real meaning. Even small gestures can fill emotional “buckets” and encourage long-term commitment.
Significance Is the Foundation of Retention
People remain where they feel they matter. By helping volunteers understand the impact of their work, aligning them with their strengths, improving organizational systems, and expressing appreciation with intention, organizations create an environment where significance is not the exception—it is the norm.
When volunteers experience genuine meaning in their service, recruitment becomes easier, turnover shrinks, and the organization benefits from a passionate, stable, and highly engaged team.