Strategies to Recruit Age-Diverse Volunteers for a Nonprofit Behavioral Health Organization

Volunteers are a crucial resource for behavioral health organizations, especially those that rely predominantly on a volunteer workforce for delivery of services. In such instances, the inability to maintain an adequate and age-diverse volunteer workforce threatens organizational sustainability and interrupts valued services to the community. A case study was completed to identify volunteer recruitment and retention challenges for a behavioral health nonprofit organization in the southwestern United States. The Baldrige Excellence Framework was used to guide the study, with emphasis placed on the assessment of the organization’s leadership, strategy, and workforce. Data sources included interviews with organizational leaders, organizational records, and academic and professional literature. Thematic content analysis was used to identify themes and patterns across data sources. Findings revealed themes related to recruitment strategies, knowledge management, and volunteer program structure. The implications for these results include the need for organizations to recognize the importance of age and population specific recruitment strategies and the value of continuous volunteer program improvement. Recommendations offered include incorporation of volunteer recruitment in strategic planning, formalization of volunteer program operations and policies, and standardization of knowledge management practices specific to volunteer recruitment and retention strategies. This study has implications for professional practice and positive social change as improved recruitment and retention of volunteers will support operations and sustainability for behavioral health organizations, enabling uninterrupted delivery of behavioral health services to populations in need