Bringing volunteers back year after year
Published on September 18, 2026
Recruiting a volunteer costs hours; bringing one back costs an email. Yet it is the recruiting that most organisers redo from scratch every year.
Why people do not come back
When former volunteers are asked why they did not return, the answers almost never mention the event itself:
- "Nobody asked me again." By far the most common. No one wrote, and the year went by.
- "I did not know what to do." Badly defined position, no briefing, manager nowhere to be found.
- "I waited two hours with nothing to do." Being overstaffed is as demoralising as being short.
- "I was promised a pass and never got it." A reward announced and not delivered costs more than a reward never announced.
- "It went on too long." Eight hours in a row with no relief.
Four of those five are settled in the preparation: sizing the need and building the schedule. The first one is settled in a fortnight.
The three things to do in the following fortnight
1. The thank-you, by name, within the week
Not a newsletter: a message that says what the person held and what it made possible. A targeted send per team, with the first name in it, takes an hour and beats a generic message to two hundred addresses. See email campaigns.
2. The question that will serve you next year
Just one: "what was missing?". Three questions push the response rate down, and you would only have used the first one anyway. Record the answers next to the position concerned, not in an inbox.
3. Next year's date
Even an approximate one: "we are doing it again the last weekend of June". That is what turns a one-off volunteer into a recurring one, because the date goes into their calendar before yours is even fixed.
Keeping the list, and knowing how to use it again
All of this assumes a list that outlives the edition: who came, on which position, with what availability, and what you made of it. That is precisely what a spreadsheet loses: it gets copied, pruned, renamed "final_v3", and last year's information disappears. See Volunteo or a spreadsheet.
A new edition is created by carrying over the previous one's structure (teams, positions, hours), then re-inviting last year's volunteers, who find their account again without retyping anything. Signing up then becomes confirming, which is an entirely different response rate.
One loyal volunteer is worth more than two new ones
They know the position, train the newcomers, spot problems before you do, and need no explaining. A team with a third of regulars runs without you; a team renewed from top to bottom needs you there permanently. That is why time spent on bringing volunteers back is the best-invested time in the whole organisation.
Frequently asked questions
When should you write to last year's volunteers?
Three months out, before any public outreach. They should get the pick of the slots: that is part of what they are coming back for.
Should loyal volunteers get bigger rewards?
Recognition rather than material advantage: the choice of position, responsibility for a team, being named in the thank-you message. Tiers of perks create more tension than they settle.
Can you keep a volunteer's details from one year to the next?
Yes, as long as the purpose stays the same (organising your event), the person is told, and they can object or ask to be erased. Retention periods and conditions are set out in our article on volunteers' personal data.