Four questions your association’s volunteer survey should ask

Want to improve the volunteer experience for your association? Understand your volunteers better by asking these four questions in your volunteer survey.

Your volunteer program is an important part of your association. It helps your small staff get more done. It also gives your members an opportunity to become more engaged with your organization.

One of the best ways to get more members to volunteer, and to retain volunteers, is to get to know your volunteers better. And one of the best ways to get to know volunteers better is with a volunteer survey.

What is a volunteer survey?

A volunteer survey is simply a questionnaire that asks people about their volunteer experience with your association. The goal is for you to gain insights to help you provide a better volunteer experience so that your volunteers will continue to volunteer and even recommend volunteering to other members.

Ideally, you would send the survey shortly after they volunteer so that you can get feedback while the experience is fresh in their minds.

What are good survey questions for volunteers?

When you survey volunteers, you might ask a variety of questions. You might also have a slightly different set of questions for each type of volunteer opportunity. But no matter what, here are four questions your association’s volunteer survey should include:

1. What is the organization doing well?

This is a chance for volunteers to express what’s working with your organization’s volunteer program. Prompt volunteers to think about their entire volunteer experience – from sign-up and orientation to training and support – and ask what aspects were the most helpful and enjoyable.

2. What were the most challenging aspects of volunteering?

On the flip side, ask volunteers what they found most challenging about their volunteer experience. For example, you might prompt them to think about things like:

• Did they know all they needed about your organization to perform their role?
• Did they understand the expectations of their volunteer role?
• Did they have the tools, training, and support they needed to complete their volunteer opportunity?
• Did they feel appreciated for their work?

Make sure they understand that by providing this type of feedback, they’re helping your organization to improve the volunteer program.

3. What other types of volunteer opportunities interest you?

The answer to this question can uncover new opportunities for volunteer engagement. An ASAE Research Foundation study found that the third most common reason that non-volunteers hadn’t volunteered was because no one had asked them to. So, while your volunteer survey is surveying, well, volunteers, it’s also a chance to find out what other types of volunteer opportunities might interest them that they haven’t yet been invited to do.

4. Would you recommend volunteering to a friend?

This question is the ultimate measure of volunteer satisfaction. It helps you determine how well your volunteer program is meeting the needs of volunteers. It can also help you uncover ways to grow and evolve your volunteer program.

For volunteers who answer “yes,” this question is a subtle suggestion for them to recommend volunteering with your organization. You might even go a step further by asking them to make the recommendation today and provide them with a volunteer page link to share. This approach can be powerful. In the same ASAE Research Foundation study mentioned previously, about half of current volunteers said they became a volunteer after being asked to serve by another member.

For volunteers who answer “no,” this is an opportunity to dig into why they might not have had a good experience. Ask them to expand on what specific changes could be made to make them want to make the recommendation. Consider asking if they would be willing to have a brief conversation with your volunteer program staff to talk about what the organization can do to make the volunteer experience better.

Review and incorporate volunteer survey feedback

Be sure to regularly review responses from your volunteer survey and plan to incorporate what you learn into your volunteer program. Here are some tips for putting your volunteer survey responses to work for your association:

• Schedule a regular meeting with your team to go over the volunteer survey responses and think about how you can incorporate feedback into your volunteer program.
• If you need more details, follow up with select volunteers. Just consider, based on their survey answers, if they’ll likely be open to more contact from you.
• For volunteers who suggest changes your organization might make, consider presenting them with ideas for improvements and ask what they think. Then, let them know when you make changes that are a direct result of their feedback.