It all began at a webinar in May 2024. Volunteer Engagement: Reclaiming Community Roots featured the one and only Sue Carter Kahl. As Sue spoke about applying gift economy principles to volunteerism, she mentioned additional insights in her 2019 doctoral dissertation, titled “Making The Invisible Visible: Capturing the Multidimensional Value of Volunteerism to Nonprofit Organizations”.
I did a quick mental inventory and realized that I hadn’t yet read the dissertation! So, I made time in my calendar for the 131-page document, and asked in the webinar chat if anyone would be interested in a facilitated discussion.
Interest in the discussion poured in both during and after the webinar. I created a LinkedIn Group to facilitate asynchronous sharing and planned for a discussion via video call.
Thank you to Karen Whitestone, Anna Louise, Rachelle Horner, and Hanna Bell for joining this conversation and for allowing me to share parts of it with you. A special thanks to Sue Carter Kahl for her amazing dissertation (you can tell it was a labour of love) and for joining our chat as a special guest!
JPP: Thanks Sue for joining the call, could you please let us know what motivated you to pursue a PhD and a dissertation on the value of volunteerism?
SCK: I worked in nonprofit programming and fundraising roles for my whole career and noticed how volunteer engagement was how the work of the organization got done. Then, I worked at a volunteer center in San Diego where we connected people who wanted to volunteer with the organizations that needed them. I could see day in and day out how valuable that work was.
At the same time, it was enormously difficult to raise funds for volunteer engagement, to make a case for support for it, et cetera. So I looked for research to back up what I saw.
I couldn’t find the research, which made me think, “Do I have to go do that research?” That led me back to school and to think about intentional ways to conduct rigorous research that could be useful to practitioners.
My initial idea was to come up with indicators of volunteer value. Then, I wanted to figure out how to package these indicators for funders and executive directors so they would go, “Oh, I get it. Yes, let's invest time and energy and expertise in this.”
But, the data didn’t cooperate. Of course it didn't cooperate, because life's not that easy! A rich, diverse, nuanced, complex activity like volunteer engagement doesn't fit in nice, neat little Excel boxes. That realization led me to shift my research questions towards:
What do people think about the ways we usually talk about volunteer value in terms of numbers, hours, and financial value?
What are the other ways we could frame volunteer value?
Over the past five years, I’ve also been pulling out bite-sized pieces of this work through my blog and in other practitioner-friendly mediums like webinars.
JPP: Thanks for sharing! I know what you mean about trying to fit things into neat little boxes! I love creating matrices to analyze and define situations, but sometimes the lines in those matrices need to be very blurry. I can only imagine how much blurriness you managed as part of this research.
Let’s go around and share some of the key insights we got from Sue’s dissertation. Anna, could you start us off please?
AL: Hi, I’m Anna and I work for a water conservation non-profit in Middle Tennessee. The insight that stuck with me was not just letting volunteers be numbers.
A lot of the volunteers I work with are engaged because the cause speaks to them and they're looking for a broader sense of community. Nashville, one of the cities we serve, has a reputation around honky tonks, cowboys, and gun slinging, but there are a lot of folks who are passionate about the environment trying to find their place and community here. I am having these discussions and meeting these people.
So, they aren't just names and numbers that I report to leadership. I provide them with important volunteer context, like personalities and interests.
KW: I related to that as well! I thought it was interesting how Sue captured feedback on the value of volunteerism from people at different levels of the organization, from funders to practitioners and administrators.
There wasn't a clear cut stereotype or distinction in characterization of how different groups value volunteers. What I took away is that you really need to talk to people to understand where they're coming from. You can’t just assume, “they have this role so they must think this way.” You really need to do a community visioning assessment to understand the full picture.
JPP: Your insight, Karen, reminds me of how Sue talks about when people might wear different hats in relation to volunteerism. So, they might be an admin, but they might have been a service user or a practitioner in the past too.
Rochelle, what was an insight you took away from the dissertation?
RH: Something I've been craving since coming into this industry is exactly what Sue outlined in her introduction around how we capture and report on things that we are not able to standardize. Our work is qualitative and really, is about offering human experiences to support other humans.
I recently read a book called Measuring the Impact of Volunteers: A Balanced and Strategic Approach. They adapted the balanced scorecard, which is a common thing in business, for volunteer management to capture all of these qualitative metrics that are so essential for reporting our work.
It was so heartening to read Sue's dissertation and recognize that this work has been going on for so long. I’m excited to implement it at my own organization.
JPP: Thanks Rachelle! Hanna, could you share a takeaway with us?
HB: My biggest takeaway from Sue's dissertation was probably the idea of “it depends”. Different nonprofits and groups need different metrics. They will value different metrics, depending on their needs, their stakeholder needs, and their board needs. It’s subjective.
It's nice to know that there are other people that are going through those same things that you are, especially if you are newer to the volunteer management field. With this knowledge, I feel more confident in figuring things out.
JPP: I love the optimism Hanna! Contrary to you, I’m a bit pessimistic.
What I got from Sue's dissertation is there are issues that are going to keep coming up around volunteer value because we work within the market economy. We operate within capitalism.
What we can do is become more aware and shift our practice and advocate for others to shift their mindsets. And a place to start is by having conversations like this and reading resources like the book Rachelle mentioned and Sue’s dissertation.
SCK: I want to take a moment to dig into “it depends”.
Initially, I wanted to create a taxonomy from different volunteer value indicators. But I realized that sharing a list of different indicators would mean that people might pick measurement approaches that sound good because they are strapped for time, rather than considering:
What’s my purpose?
Why do we have volunteers?
That’s a tension I try to wrestle with in a generative kind of way. Like some of you were saying, you’re going to have to come up with measurement approaches specific to literacy or water conservation. These may not fit with directions from your boss or your AmeriCorps report.
So we must consider how we get to something that flows from purpose, which is meaningful, while still meeting compliance needs.
And, you know: it depends. This feels like a vastly unsatisfying kind of answer, and yet I think that's where we are at this point.
RH: That is a tension that I feel like I experience every single day in my work. This relates to the initial process of bringing a volunteer in and the rigorous screening processes we put them through. Like, where's the balance of their human value and their human contribution versus compliance?
I relate to this tension regularly and in pretty much every interaction that I have in my work.
KW: Sue- in the five years since you’ve written the dissertation, have you come across an organization that approaches measurement of volunteerism and volunteer impact in new ways that include the human element?
SCK: I’m always on the hunt for examples! So please pass along any that you find, even if they are not ideal.
One example I like is from an organization called Forever Balboa Park. Instead of just reporting on the number of volunteers they engaged, they made a pie chart that outlined how many volunteers were part of the visitor center, how many volunteers did tours, how many were part of the tree stewards program…That data helps paint a picture that the standard numbers don't.
When they outlined each volunteer role, they explained the impact in depth. For example, with the tree stewards, they explained that these volunteers not only plant the trees, but also make sure that they are mulched and watered. So, instead of simply saying, “we have volunteers”, they report that “volunteers are helping to grow and sustain the community forest.”
It’s an example that makes me wonder: if we have to collect compliance-related data as practitioners, how can we turn compliance into storytelling or education or decision making?
I would love to start a library of case studies highlighting new approaches to volunteerism reporting, but a lot of people aren't doing it yet and, or they're shy because they're only doing part of it. If you're willing to share your own examples of what you're trying, that's where it can start! And examples to share could include:
What you tried and flopped.
What you tried that cracked open a new door that was closed to you before.
KW: Thanks Sue, that’s so cool! I work at a library branch through AmeriCorps and I’d like to contribute to standardizing how we approach volunteer engagement across our library system. From what I see, we’ve had different strategies at different branches over the years, and then when one person moves on, it's not continued. I’d love to avoid reinventing the wheel!
I talked to a lot of the library programs in the Kansas City Metro Area and asked them about their volunteer programs, and they were widely different. The one that I thought was the coolest was Johnson County Public Library. They have a really cool AmeriCorps alum leading volunteers there and she takes an approach of community building and working together.
I would recommend chatting with peers in similar roles in your area to brainstorm new ways to measure volunteer impact and report on volunteerism.
JPP: Yes! Standardization and peer connections are so helpful in our work!
Speaking of examples we can refer to, I’m going to take us back to Sue’s dissertation and focus in on where she refers to four areas where volunteers bring a unique value-add to organizations:
Authenticity
Presence
Community witness and voice
Trust, transparency, and ownership
Where have you seen these unique value-adds in action?
KW: I have an example on community witness and voice. Through my AmeriCorps work, I am supporting a VISTA Member who is interested in expanding their volunteer description to share more of what they’re seeing in the community, addressing current issues that weren’t yet on anyone else’s mind when the position was created. As a videographer for a local neighborhood association, he wants to witness and capture stories from more people in the neighbourhood and bring more awareness to resources needed by homeless people living there.
For me this was interesting because he’s looking to collaborate with the library, which has lots of resources for homeless folks, and use his skills as a videographer to talk to a wider breadth of people than his organization had considered doing before. So, he’s taking a community collaboration approach instead of a top-down approach.
SCK: Videography is a creative way to share information. Not everything needs to be in a table or graph.
The qualitative impact of volunteerism that we’ve been talking about comes through stories, testimonials, and quotes. So often, these types of reporting feel beyond our capacity.
But I’ve seen creativity shine through social media posts and podcasts. So it can be done! In fact the Canadian Red Cross just did a couple posts about the impact one volunteer made on one person.
RH: I have an example around presence and authenticity, which I would love to tell in a report. I was speaking with a resident at one of the assisted living centers that's part of our large organization.
She reflected on what the volunteer who visits each Tuesday morning has added to her life. This resident is quite isolated and the volunteer’s authentic human presence makes a difference. It relates back to what Sue just said about, “one volunteer at a time”.
Now I’m thinking, how do I bring that to a report?
JPP: That’s beautiful. There are so many of those stories.
Whether you tell them or not, it's good to have the volunteer and the recipient of that authenticity and presence just to share their sentiments with one another. Maybe they don't want their story reported and that's okay.
What’s important is taking the time to make those connections and ask questions about what meaning is there for them. They need to recognize the meaning to nurture it.
AL: I remember a quote from Sue’s dissertation where research participants shared that volunteerism is a positive signal to the community about the organization. I'll often look to increase volunteer involvement through new funding sources - often small grants with volunteer-driven deliverables.
Having funding to organize and support a large stream restoration project serves as a positive beacon to the community. It shows folks that we are a safe place that people enjoy participating in.
I’ve spoken to my peers at similar organizations where their leadership discounts the power of these small grants for volunteer engagement. It’s really too bad because building community is essential in environmental action and volunteerism is one of the most popular ways for our supporters to feel like part of the community.
HB: I also feel that my organization does well with trust, transparency, and ownership. Prior to this year, the organization was mostly volunteer-led. Most of my colleagues and I were just recently hired.
We're in this transition between staff taking on the duties that board members and volunteers were previously responsible for. We are learning, but I think the culture we’re creating is supportive of an excellent volunteer experience.
When I have met many volunteers who say, “I used to do this, but I know that's now so-and-so's responsibility. What else can I do?” They don't necessarily have an idea of what they would want to do yet, but we explore possibilities together.
The fact that they are coming to us to express that they still want to be here, they still want to help, they still want to have an impact, to me, means we are on the right path.
JPP: It sounds like you've set some very healthy boundaries around the transition from a grassroots model to something a little bit more professionalized with staff leadership. I love how you are being intentional with sharing how responsibilities have shifted.
Which brings me to a theme I found through Sue’s dissertation: intentional language.
Throughout Sue’s dissertation, she's encouraging a shift in language for discussing volunteerism and measuring volunteer impact. So, how has language you used shifted as you progressed in your volunteer leadership career? And related to this, how can we nudge colleagues on other teams, funders and executives to use better or more accurate and meaningful language?
HB: I'll go ahead and take a stab at that second question. I think the most important thing to keep in mind is your audience:
Who is the information going to?
Who are you trying to get involved?
The answers to these questions will affect the simplicity or complexity of the language as well as the type of data that you're using.
For example, when we talk specifically to our fundraising committee, they want to see how volunteer hours translate into a monetary value. It's not necessarily the most important piece, but, for right now, that is something that is part of that report.
I also think it comes down to how you and the people that you're working with feel they can present themselves and what’s authentic to them. I'm a pretty blunt person and don’t beat around the bush. Some of my coworkers have different styles of communicating. If they were trying to emulate me, it wouldn't work out so well, and vice versa.
AL: I’ve shifted away from, “how many volunteers have we utilized?” and am now reaching more towards, “how many volunteers have we educated?”
I intentionally share our mission with volunteers and provide information about how they can continue to take action when they're not with the organization physically. My goal is for them to understand how other actions they can take connect to the volunteer work that they just completed.
I recognize there's a desire for people to get involved outside formal volunteering but a lot of it needs to be autonomous. So, they need a little bit of a push and a little bit of knowledge on what they can do, and they're looking at folks like me to be leaders for that information.
Because of this, I’m trying to give volunteers a more holistic educational experience so they feel empowered to keep taking action. I’ve been working with my colleagues on the communications team to get the messaging together for this new initiative.
KW: I’m also working on some messaging! I’d love to provide my colleagues with messaging guidance that leans on expertise from other departments.
For example, I’d love help from our DEI officer on messaging on saviorism in volunteer language. I’d love help from our HR department on messaging around background checks.
The more I do this work, the more I realize that we need to get buy-in from colleagues who don’t work directly with volunteers too.
JPP: I hear you Karen. Influencing without authority is so much of what we do.
Sue, do you have any final thoughts before we wrap up?
SCK: I’d love to continue the conversation over email or LinkedIn. I’m very curious to hear how practitioners are applying my research to their work. For me, seeing my tools “in the wild” is very rewarding.
JPP: And maybe you’ll write another paper about it with this new data?
SCK: Maybe. Stay tuned!
JPP: Thank you again to everyone for a great conversation that went way beyond measuring volunteer engagement! Please stay in touch!
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