Is volunteer retention still a significant issue?
While many nonprofits have benefited from the increase in the number of hours volunteers spent serving, volunteer retention still remains a significant issue. Data from the Current Population Survey Volunteer Supplement show that about one third of volunteers tend to drop out of service each year. According to the most recent CPS data, 34.5 percent of 2008 volunteers – 21.3 million adults overall – did not volunteer again in 2009. This high rate of volunteer turn-over stunts the productivity of non-profit organizations as they focus on replacing volunteers instead of maximizing impact.
