You want to make your community volunteer project such a great experience that volunteers return again and again.

To make your project one that volunteers will love, think about your project from their perspective.

• What made your volunteers want to sign up for this project?
• What information did they receive in advance? Was it accurate? Did they understand what they would be doing? What they should wear?  What they should bring?
• Did they know ahead of time if refreshments would be provided or if they should bring them for themselves?
• If they had questions was it easy to get accurate and complete answers?
• Did they feel like their participation was enthusiastically received?
• When they arrived, what did they see?
• Did they know where to go when they arrived? Were they greeted?
• After arriving at the project site, did they receive clear directions on what to do?
• Did they understand why this work was important to the agency/school?
• Is what’s being asked of them reasonable? Is it safe and do they have the capability to do it?
• Was the project well organized?
• Did the volunteers feel like they accomplished something? Contributed in a meaningful way?
• Was it fun?
• Did someone check on them after they started working? Was there someone readily available to answer questions?
• Was there enough work to do and adequate materials and supplies to complete the work?
• Was there a place the volunteers could go to take a break, get something to drink, warm up, or cool down?
• If the volunteers didn’t enjoy what they were doing or felt ineffective, were there opportunities for them to be reassigned to a new task?
• After the work was finished, did someone thank the volunteers and let them know that what they did was important and effective?
• Were they thanked for their time and contributions?
• If they had ideas or complaints, was there an avenue for them to provide input or to make a suggestion?
• Do they know how to get involved again?  Did you ask them to come back?