Your supporters volunteer for many reasons, from meeting like-minded people to honoring the memory of a loved one. Every volunteer has a story, and each of those stories matters. By learning and telling their stories, your nonprofit can not only improve supporter relationships but also inspire more action from its entire volunteer community.

In this quick guide, we’ll explore how volunteer managers can identify, collect, and tell volunteer stories in compelling ways that drive action. Whether you need to recruit volunteer canvassers or quickly reach a petition signature goal, these tips will help you motivate volunteers.

1. Invite volunteers to share stories on their own terms.

Before you can tell volunteers’ stories, you need to collect them. Develop a streamlined process for gathering stories supporters are willing and excited to share. Open the door for volunteers to share stories in whatever format works best for them, whether that’s a written paragraph, a short video, or an audio clip. 

To simplify the process for supporters, you might use one or more of the following tactics:

• Add a story collection form to your website. Use a story collection tool with built-in forms or create a short online form that allows volunteers to send in their stories at any time. Limit form fields so all they have to input is their contact information, story (in any file format), and consent to share their testimonial with your nonprofit’s audience. Remember, MemoryFox is a story collection tool with built-in process for collecting consent from storytellers.
  
• Invite individual volunteers to interview. If you already know volunteers with particularly compelling stories, consider asking them to sit down for a short in-person or video interview to provide more details. If no one comes to mind, browse the notes in your volunteer management software to see if any longtime volunteers stand out.
  
• Post a call for stories on social media. Highlight your need for volunteer testimonials and use tools like Instagram’s “Add Yours” Story sticker so volunteers can easily respond with a photo, video, or quote about what your nonprofit means to them. 

Regardless of your collection methods, be sure to remain flexible and provide several questions or prompts to guide your storytellers. Encourage volunteers to submit stories in any format and respond to as many prompts as they like. You might ask questions like, “What do you enjoy most about volunteering?” or “How has volunteering with us impacted your life?”

2. Select the most compelling stories.

Once volunteers have sent testimonials or participated in interviews, evaluate your compiled stories. Review each submission and group them based on format, topic, program, event, type of volunteer, etc. Use segments that make sense for your organization and its upcoming volunteer needs.

For instance, you might group all video stories together and divide them by peer-to-peer fundraisers, in-person volunteers, and online advocates. If your immediate goal is to inspire more volunteer sign-ups for an upcoming fundraising auction, pull out any stories from in-person volunteers that discuss volunteering at fundraising events. If you urgently need volunteers to contact their representatives, select an advocate’s story.

Along with supporting your immediate goals, the stories you choose to share should speak to the motivations of current and prospective volunteers. Consider your intended audience for a message (long-time volunteers, new donors, social media followers, etc.) and ensure that the stories you use align with their interests.

3. Pair stories with straightforward calls to action.

Next, outline the actions you want volunteers to take and how you can make them as easy as possible. For example, if you want volunteers to RSVP for an event, provide a link they can follow to fill out a short online form. The more convenient it is to participate, the more likely they’ll follow through with the action.

You might use your stories to promote calls to action (CTAs) like:

• Signing and sharing petitions. 
• Attending virtual training sessions.
• Text banking from home.
• Serving as a volunteer fundraiser.
• RSVPing for a volunteer event.
• Contacting representatives.
• Submitting volunteer grant requests.
• Filling out feedback surveys.

Ideally, the stories you tell should clearly correspond with the actions you’re asking volunteers to take. Use the segments you created earlier to help you match up stories with appropriate CTAs. Then, craft messages like the example below that tie the story and the CTA together:

“Seeing these puppies every Sunday has brought so much joy and light to my life, especially after I lost my family dog. All I had to do was one easy training, then I could drop in and volunteer any time I wanted!” – Shayla, Haven Shelter Volunteer

Want to experience the joy of helping animals in need? Join our volunteer team by attending just one two-hour training. Click here to sign up for an upcoming session!

4. Create interactive, story-based social media posts.

Share your stories and calls to action across multiple channels, including email, text messaging, and social media. Social media, in particular, can help you inspire action from wider audiences, especially if you include interactive multimedia elements. Whether you post video stories paired with CTAs in the captions or leverage platform-specific engagement features, you’ll encourage supporters to take action immediately.

Here are just a few ways you might turn volunteer stories into interactive posts:

• Quizzes: Pair a video or quote from a volunteer with a cause-relevant question followers can answer quickly. For instance, you might post a video of volunteers handing out bottled water and ask what percentage of Americans have access to clean water. After users see the answer, they might be more inspired to click the link to sign up for your next water for the community event.
• Polls: Use the poll sticker on Instagram to ask quick questions and gauge followers’ opinions. In the same example scenario, you might ask, “Do you think all community members should have access to clean water?” Follow the poll with a Story linking to your event sign-up page.
• Volunteer “day in the life” takeovers: Invite interested volunteers to take their stories even further with a social media takeover. A volunteer could host a Q&A session on your organization’s profile, post photos or quick clips throughout their political canvassing shift, or share their favorite volunteering memories with your page’s followers.

As you try out these strategies, be sure to track engagement metrics like click-through and bounce rates to determine their effectiveness. 

Volunteer storytelling comes with plenty of benefits for your nonprofit. Whenever you tell a volunteer’s story, you empower them to deepen their involvement with your organization while inspiring others to take action. Remember to respect every story and honor volunteers’ experiences, and you’ll start seeing the benefits in no time.