Summary

• This study is based on survey data collected from 1,210 nonprofit chief executive officers (CEOs) across the USA about the importance of volunteers to their organization, as well as 103 philanthropic grantmaking organizations (such as private foundations, community foundations, family foundations and corporate foundations).
• The survey found more demand for nonprofit services. In 2022, nearly two-thirds (64.4 percent) of nonprofits reported an increase in demand for their organizational services, with 51.1 percent increasing their delivery of services, and 48.5 percent increasing staff workloads to help meet demand. At the same time, 28.7 percent of nonprofits are operating with less funding and paid staff than they had before the pandemic. 
• Nonprofits are challenged by finding the right volunteer support as well as the capacity and infrastructure to sustain volunteer engagement. Nearly half (46.8 percent) of CEOs say that recruiting sufficient volunteers is a big problem for their organization, with many saying it's a “big problem” to find volunteers who are available during the traditional workday (38.4 percent) and who have the necessary skills (35.4 percent).
• Many nonprofits reported they were retaining very few volunteers today, with many sharing that their volunteers were doing less, rather than more, of any specific organizational activity today (such as delivery of services, fundraising, professional assistance or advocacy).
• Despite these challenges, nonprofits seem to be more convinced of the benefits of volunteer engagement compared to recent years. For instance, the percentage of nonprofit CEOs who believe “to a great extent” volunteers allow the organization to provide more detailed attention to the people served increased from 37 percent in 2019 to 65.6 percent in 2022. The percentage of nonprofit CEOs who believe “to a great extent” volunteers increase the organization’s return on its resource investments increased from 43 percent to 68.4 percent over the same time.