The Hidden Reasons Your Volunteer Leaders Are Walking Away

Volunteer retention remains one of the most persistent challenges for organisations worldwide. Yet despite considerable investment in recruitment, training and induction, attrition among volunteers who take on leadership responsibilities continues at rates that threaten mission delivery.

This Research to Practice draws on research that has identified five distinct competency gaps that predict Volunteer Leader attrition. (Hint: It’s not what they know or don’t know that’s the issue). Author and leadership development researcher Paul Clarke explains what these findings mean for Leaders of Volunteer Engagement, and proposes an alternative to the front-loaded training approach that research suggests is contributing to the very attrition it was designed to prevent. As Clarke writes, “Most volunteer development programmes are designed around what organisations want volunteers to know, rather than around where individual volunteers are most likely to experience failure.”

Available November 23