Abstract

Volunteers leave for many reasons, including burnout. Sometimes the causes of burnout are within the volunteer and sometimes they are found within the service organization. There are several steps organizations can take to help volunteers avoid burning out, leaving and feeling terrible about it. This effective practice is from Nan Hawthorne, editor-in-chief of Volunteer Management Review and founder of CyberVPM online forum.

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Issue

How to prevent volunteers from leaving because of feelings of overwhelm and mental exhaustion.

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Action

According to Nan Hawthorne, effective practices for preventing volunteer burnout include the following:

• Know your volunteers
• Design volunteer positions that contribute directly to your organization's mission
• Make success achievable
• Keep the lines of communication open
• Make sure volunteers know they can so "no" if they are feeling overextended or overwhelmed
• Make sure the work environment isn't taxing
• Provide services to help with emotional overload
• Acknowledge their work
• Be prepared to make changes as you analyze the situation

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Context

Some common causes of volunteer burnout include:

• Poor self management by the volunteer
• Unrealistic expectations from the organization
• Lack of support from the organization

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Citation

Hawthorne, Nan. "Preventing Volunteer Burnout," Volunteer Management Review. Volume 1, Issue 25, May 15, 2002.

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Posted On

May 17, 2002

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For More Information

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Related Practices

• Calculating the attrition rate of volunteers
• Engaging staff in reducing the volunteer attrition rate

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Topic Areas

• Communication skills
• Recognition
• Retention
• Supervision
• Teambuilding
• Capacity building
• Nonprofit management
• Volunteer
• Cross-Stream
• Volunteer management

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